"Homecoming"

Many friends have asked - so here are the details of our upcoming 'homecoming' talks.

We will be speaking at the Sherwood Hills Ward in Provo Utah at 1:00 pm on July 12th.. The building is located at 345 East 4525 North. That is in NE Provo.



We expect quite a few visitors and hope to chat with everyone. I worry a little about causing noise and congestion at the chapel and we will be attending all three hours of church. So, we are opening up our house before church from 10-12 and after church from 4:30 (ish) until 6:00 (or whenever we finish visiting). We will have some snacks on hand. If you need directions to our house, please email me at dfrweb@gmail.com

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Today is our last day in the mission field.

Last night we had a wonderful fireside with the saints of Trinidad. We looked back over the church history of the country and the mission.

Did you know that three young missionaries on their way home by boat from Cape Town South Africa in 1940 stopped in Port of Spain and preached the Gospel to a Pentecostal congregation? As far as we know they were the first LDS missionaries to ever set foot on Trinidad. Richard G Sharp, one of those missionaries, sent us his story. I will type up the entire experience and post it later when I have more time (at home).

Anyway, it was nice to be with our Trinidad brothers and sisters one more time and we will miss them deeply.

Today we get to go to church in our home ward of Curepe. Bishop Alleyne has asked us to speak - so that will be our final time speaking as missionaries.

It's funny - we seem to be taking note of lots of "lasts" lately - our last time through immigration, last LIAT (leaves in any time) flight, last neighborhood walk, my husband even commented on the last time we would see the grass cut in the field on our street (is that a sign of trunkiness?).

This is such a sweet work and we hate to leave it but at the same time we're incredibly excited to see our family:









(sorry - I couldn't resist a few recent pictures!)

I thought I'd share a little on what we will be doing in the future. President Robison was asked to teach Organizational Behavior and Leadership at BYU starting fall semester. He will also teach a religion class in the future. He is looking forward to that experience.

I plan to take a few months to focus on famiy and get our house in order (single son lived there for the past two years!). Then I will look for ways to use the PhD in Instructional Psychology and Technology I completed just days before entering the mission field. I had such a stressful few weeks getting everything published and signed and in order that I think I was the only sister at the mission president training who was relieved to be going on a mission!

By the way - this mission was a far greater and deeper learning experience than anything I have ever done in school. I hope that if at all possible, anyone reading this blog will work towards serving a mission. Other than raising a family, it is the sweetest work in the world. It's interesting that every single young returning West Indies missionary I have asked is planning on serving a couple mission. Why is that? They love their missions and want to do it all over again. They admire the senior couples and see the incredible impact of their work. Above all, they have learned that this life is all about showing love for our Father by serving, teaching loving His children.


Just a note - I have two more blog posts I plan to do today

1 - details about our 'homecoming' talks at church in Provo on July 12
2 - a special final slideshow of our favorite images from three years in the West Indies

so - stay tuned :)

A few numbers

As we prepare to leave I have been looking back over the mission. I thought it might be fun to share a couple of numbers (I am a little strange - geeky according to my children - because I like numbers).


#Countries = 14 when we started, 10 now after a change in mission boundaries (those moved now in Puerto Rico East are in red)

1. St Martin
2. St Kitts and Nevis
3. Antigua
4. Guadeloupe
5. Dominica
6. Martinique
7. Barbados
8. St Lucia
9. St Vincent
10. Grenada
11. Trinidad and Tobago
12. Guyana
13. Suriname
14. French Guiana

#Languages = 3+

1. French (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, half of St Martin)
2. Dutch (Suriname)
3. English (all the rest)

Plus - Saramaccan and Sranan Tongo (Suriname) and Creole (any island with a French influence) plus a number of other dialects

#Currencies = 6

1. Eastern Caribbean Dollar (EC)
2. Euro
3. Trinidad and Tobago Dollar (TT)
4. US Dollar
5. Guyanese Dollar
6. Surinamese Guilder (SRD)

# Miles from top to bottom of this mission = 1000 (approximately)


#Young Sister Missionaries = 0 (but I have think this may change very soon)


#Senior Couples = 8 when we arrived

• 6 proselyting
• 1 CES
• 1 Humanitarian

22 now

• 2 CES
• 1 Humanitarian
• 1 Area
• 2 Local
• 16 Proselyting
  

#Young Elders = 130


So those are a few fun numbers. When my children make fun of me I'll remind them there is a book called Numbers in the Bible and then I just quote them this:

And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine (Moses 1:37)

Future of this Blog

I thought I'd do a little blog housekeeping and summarizing these last few days before going home. The new elders are out converting the island of Trinidad right now. I'll post pictures of them tonight.

Here's what I think will happen with West Indies mission blogging.

This blog is staying with me and will shift to a returned missionary focus and perhaps a look back at some fun pictures I never had time to organize and post. I would also love to take note of and record the ongoing impact of the West Indies mission in the lives of members, senior couples and young elders.

The last time I checked, President Gamiette said he wants to keep a West Indies Mission blog going. Sister Palmer, serving with her husband here in Trinidad, is prepared to help keep it up to date. So we set up a new blog at:

thewestindiesmission@blogspot.com

I will add plenty of information and links to the new blog before we leave.

I will certainly miss taking and sharing pictures of the amazing West Indies Missionaries. There is a special spirit (and look) about missionaries who are obedient and fully engaged in the work of the Lord. As Oliver Cowdery said, "These are days never to be forgotten."

On the (French) Road

We have been traveling for about a week now and internet access has not been good. We had great zone conferences in the islands (St Lucia) Wednesday and in Guadeloupe yesterday, along with a wonderful fireside last night. I took pictures, but just can't get anything uploaded. I'll keep trying!

Off on tour - for the last time

We fly to St Lucia tomorrow to start our final zone conference tour.

Yes - it is going to be tough - but sweet as well as we get to see each missionary one last time. I'll take 'plenty pictures' as they say here and post them as internet is available.

Also, I have the slideshow done (actually two of them - one a special 'favorite things' version) but I'm having technical problems with the website I use for hosting. I'll keep trying to post it.

Here is the schedule:

Wednesday, May 27 - Island Zone Conference in St Lucia (Martinique, St Vincent and Grenada fly in)

Friday, May 29 - French Zone Conference in Guadeloupe (St Martin flies in)

Monday, June 8 - Suriname Zone Conference (French Guiana travels to join us)

Wednesday, June 10 - Georgetown Zone Conference (Diamond, LaGrange and Georgetown zones)

Friday, June 12 - Canje Zone Conference (Canje and Berbice Zones)

Monday, June 15 - Trinidad Zone Conference (Tobago flies in)

(Note that if the conference is on a Monday, elders may not be able to email until the next day)

The Assistants will teach on the Preach my Gospel skill of study.

President Robison and I plan to have an open discussion based on the question - what doctrine, if understood, would motivate others to want to....(go to church, be baptized, live the law of chastity, etc). It think it will be an interesting series of conferences.

Creating a slideshow

I am working on my final mission slideshow and I came across this fabulous picture taken by Elder Cromwell. I thought I'd share it.

Here is how the slideshows work.

As President Robison does interviews, the elders who are waiting upload pictures onto one of our laptop computers (macs of course).

Then a few weeks before we start zone conferences, I sort through the pictures and pull out about 1/4th of them to use in the slideshow. I use a photo of every baptism, if possible, plus other pictures that are fun and appropriate.

Then comes the toughest part - finding music that feels right. That's where I am stalled right now. My music collection is wearing thin after three years.

It takes me a couple of days to get it all put together.

We share the slideshows at the beginning at each zone conference. This gives the missionaries a chance to see their 'brothers'. With 11 different countries in this mission, this is about the only way they can stay connected.

For the past three Christmases I have burned all the year's slideshows on a DVD as a gift for each missionary. I'll do that once more as a departing gift. The slideshows get shown at firesides and family home evenings and the members love seeing 'their' missionaries at work.

Homecoming

It seems early to think about this but I keep getting questions

so here it is

the information on when we will be speaking in our home ward

July 12
1:00 PM
Sherwood Hills Ward

4525 N Canyon Rd (345 E)
Provo, Utah
84604-5032

Here is a link to google maps

It is #1 on the map

Mother's Day Phone calls

Next Sunday is an exciting day for families of missionaries all over the world. I thought it would be helpful to let you know the guidelines for the upcoming Mother's Day phone call.

Here is what the missionary handbook states:

"You may telephone your parents on Christmas and one other time during the year (usually Mother's Day), according to the guidelines from your mission president. Take care that these calls do not pull your thoughts away from your service or create a financial problem for your family. Keep them short (preferably no longer than 30 or 40 minutes). Other than these calls, do not telephone family members or friends unless you have permission from your mission president." (p. 37)

Parents, not the mission, are responsible for the cost of the call. President Robison has told the missionaries that the call can last 40 minutes. This time can be split up if parents live apart. Each missionary needs to contact his parents via email this week to set up a contact number and time for the call.

It might be a good idea to email your son before tomorrow's preparation day and remind him to give you the information you need for the call, if you get a chance.

Enjoy those precious few minutes

Away for a few days

This picture doesn't have anything to do with the information below but a grandma just has to share special photos sometimes.

These five new Robison family grandsons (including the two newest little identical twins) got together this weekend for a picture. They are the elders of 2027 so I guess we we will start baby MTC as soon as we get home!

We will be away from internet until Saturday - so no blog posts for a week

Here is the schedule after that:

Sun 18-Jan Fly Trinidad to Suriname
Mon 19-Jan Suriname (and French Guiana) Zone Conference
Tues 20-Jan Fly Suriname to Guyana, drive to Canje
Wed 21-Jan Canje (Canje and Berbice) Zone Conference, drive to Georgetown
Thurs 22-Jan Georgetown (Georgetown and Diamond) Zone Conference
Fri 23-Jan Fly Georgetown to Trinidad
Sat 24-Jan Fly Trinidad to St Martin, connect to Guadeloupe
Sun 25-Jan Church in Guadeloupe Sunday evening leadership training
Mon 26-Jan French (Guadeloupe and St Martin) Zone Conference
Tues 27-Jan Fly Guadeloupe to St Lucia, leadership training in Castries
Wed 28-Jan Island (St Lucia, Grenada, and St Vincent) Zone Conference, leadership training in Vieux Fort
Thurs 29-Jan Fly St Lucia to Trinidad
Fri 30-Jan Trinidad Zone Conference

Note that elders serving in Suriname, Guadeloupe, and St Martin all have Monday zone conferences so their email day will be changed that week.

New Blog for Couples

Elder Young, serving with his companion Elder Richardson in Guyana came up with the idea of having 'Senior Moments' to highlight the wonderful work being done by couple missionaries. They asked me to create a blog for the couples to share their experiences. I set it up and it's underway. You can find it here if you are interested. It is also linked in my blog roll below.

Rubber Duckies

On the day we were trained by President Dorenbosch (the previous mission president) he shared the perfect metaphor for managing a mission:

Being a mission president is like leaning over a bathtub and trying to keep 120 rubber duckies under water at the same time. Just when you get one area in control, a few duckies pop up across the way. You reach for them and that lets others pop up. You fix that situation and another group pops up

and so on and so on and so on....

He was exactly right. Now, when I see a certain look on my husband’s face after a phone call, I ask, “rubber ducky?” And he nods, yes.

Rubber duckies, have been anything from losing two missionaries for three days on a volcano, to angry immigration agents deporting missionaries, to missionaries breaking mission rules.

Last year I gave my husband a big box of little rubber duckies for Christmas. He now has displays of them at home and in the office - to remind him to stay watchful.

For some reason we have had a lot of “rubber duckies” lately.

All I can figure out is - the first stake in the West Indies must be coming soon.

We want every missionary to be exactly obedient and receive the blessings he deserves. My husband often tells the missionaries, “it is your job to baptize. My job is to see that a miracle takes place within you!” We are determined that those miracles will happen.

I added information about internet usage (source of a few rubber duckies recently) in “Parent’s Information” on the mission website. Please take a look so you can help your missionary stay ‘in the water.’

We are in Canje

We traveled from Suriname to Canje, Guyana yesterday and will be having zone conference today and a missionary fireside tonight. I'll take plenty of pictures and try to get them posted. The internet is unreliable and slow here but I will try.

I just got this note from a blog follower in the Netherlands (took out the names).

Dear Sister Robison,

Sorry for using your eMail adress, but I cannot post a comment on your weblog. This is what I wrote:

Thank you for providing the possibiliy to read a lot about the WIM. You missed a country in your list. The Netherlands! I follow your website daily to read about the WIM.

I am an acquaintance of ....I am an investigator here in Holland. I discussed a lot with... prior to his mission. So it's nice to be able to follow him.

I want to thank you for putting the homework for the missionaries on the internet. I will study the same in the meantime. I asked the Elders here for a copy of the Bookof Mormon and printed "Preach My Gospel" from the internet. So I can "join" your teaching. Thanks again for providing that possibility.

I wish you and your husband all the best.


I am so glad that many of you are enjoying the blog. My goal is to connect you with the mission and to share the gospel in any way I can. Please share any ideas you have on how to make this better - questions I can answer? information I can share?

Hurrah for Israel!

(post by President Robison)


You have seen the mission slide shows. What is the story behind the missionaries and new converts raising their arms in the air during pictures?


President and Sister Robison in Canje, Guyana, South America




The wife of one of the students in the Grenada branch commented on how she loved to see the West Indies missionaries and their converts in those slide shows saying "we did it!" as they came out of the water.

Early in our mission, I related the Brigham Young/Heber C. Kimball story in a zone conference and I started signing letters with Hurrah for Israel! at the bottom of the letter. Shortly thereafter, Elder Thomason and an elderly man raised their arms high above the head in the water on the island of Dominica and his companion captured the moment in a photo. At that instant, the mission logo was born. (A year later, Dominica was given to the Puerto Rico San Juan East Mission, but the image of that baptism stuck in our minds.)

Elder Thomason

From Hurrah

Hurrah for Israel became the mission theme as we strived to foster a band of brothers feeling. It was on letterhead, zone conference printed orders of service, and training handouts.


Here is the actual Hurrah for Israel story:

In the October 2004 General Conference entitled "What is a Quorum?", Elder L. Tom Perry related the Hurrah for Israel story: "We have a rich tradition of the work of the Twelve as we have traveled throughout the world proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, it was on Sunday, the 4th of June of 1837, that the Prophet Joseph Smith approached Heber C. Kimball in the Kirtland Temple and whispered to him, saying, "Brother Heber, the Spirit of the Lord has whispered to me: 'Let my servant Heber go to England and proclaim my Gospel, and open the door of salvation to that nation' " (quoted in Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball [1945], 104).

The account of Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young leaving their homes for England certainly shows the sacrifice they were willing to make for the callings they had received. The account reads:

"September 14th, [1839], President Brigham Young left his home at Montrose to start on the mission to England. He was so sick that he was unable to go to the Mississippi [River], a distance of thirty rods, without assistance. After he had crossed the river he rode behind Israel Barlow on his horse to my house, where he continued sick until the 18th. He left his wife sick with a babe only three weeks old, and all his other children were sick and unable to wait upon each other. Not one soul of them was able to go to the well for a pail of water, and they were without a second suit to their backs, for the mob in Missouri had taken nearly all he had. On the 17th, Sister Mary Ann Young got a boy to carry her up in his wagon to my house, that she might nurse and comfort Brother Brigham" (quoted in Life of Heber C. Kimball, 265).

Heber C. Kimball's family were also ill. Charles Hubbard sent his boy with a team and wagon to help them on their way. Elder Kimball records: "It appeared to me as though my very inmost parts would melt within me at leaving my family in such a condition, as it were almost in the arms of death. I felt as though I could not endure it. I asked the teamster to stop, and said to Brother Brigham, 'This is pretty tough, isn't it; let's rise up and give them a cheer.' We arose, and swinging our hats three times over our heads, shouted: 'Hurrah, hurrah for Israel .' " Sister Young and Sister Kimball came to the door and waved a farewell which gave Brother Brigham and Brother Heber much comfort as they continued "without purse or scrip" towards England. (See Life of Heber C. Kimball, 265–66.)


A great reenactment of the experience was put on YouTube recently by the Church:


Preview of things to come (looking back)

At the time our oldest son, Justin, was getting ready to leave on his mission, the family gathered behind our home and sort of did a Hurrah for Israel, without knowing that is what we would later call it. Here is our gang over 12 years ago in Burlington, Ontario.

Family

From Hurrah

Footnotes:

1. When I first started using the phrase 'Hurrah for Israel," I put it in the title of an e-mail to our missionary couples. Elder and Sister Oddens, a delightful couple from the Netherlands who were serving in Suriname, took one look at the subject line of the e-mail and were shocked! They had never met me and wondered if I was making a political statement. You see that was the week Israel and Lebanon were struggling with each other - July 12, 2006. We had just arrived in the mission two weeks earlier. Looking back on this, both couples now see the humor in the misunderstanding about the e-mail. Who says timing is everything?

2. We travel alot. The planes we fly on from country to country are small. One of the airlines is called LIAT, which we are told means Leave In Any Time. Each time we land, in my mind I shout "Hurrah for Israel!" and off we go to work with the elders.

This Blog

It was another zone conference preparation day. The slideshow is done, I think, but I won't post it until after I show it a few times and make sure there are no problems - probably a week from Monday when we get back from Guyana and Suriname. The theme is the Book of Mormon. Here is a preview photo of Elder Riding in Suriname - one of my favorites

From Sept 08

Here's some interesting info on this blog

It averages 90-100 visitors per day

People from the following countries visited this blog during the past 30 days:

United States
Canada
Mexico
Brazil
Chile
Venezuela
Peru
Argentina
Portugal
Spain
France
United Kingdom
Germany
Poland
Ukraine
Romania
Turkey
Sweden
Norway
Egypt
Burkina Faso (Africa)
South Africa
India
China
Indonesia
Australia

I am curious about our visitors. For example, there have been 18 visits from Hangzhou, China this month. I would love to know more about international visitors - why don't you leave a comment and let us know who you are. I wonder if some of you are grandparents of West Indies missionaries out in the world serving missions of your own.

I think this is a good place to connect with parents and other people interested in the West Indies Mission. I will look for ways to make this easier to do.

Information on transfer and returning home dates

A few parents have asked when their sons will be finishing their missions. I have put transfer and homecoming date (sounds too funny) information on the mission website in the parents information section.