Another week in Paradise

Dramatic sunrises over the Plantations start our mornings.

Pair of pelicans on a crocodile snout-rock cantilever formed by the ocean waves crashing under it.

We saw our favorite camin staring at us as we crossed above it on a bridge.  Perhaps he was thinking of breakfast.

Twice each week we go with the Elders and then the  Sisters to participate in visiting the members or teaching new investigators.  We look forward to the four days spent with them.

I tried once to drive up the concrete drive and spun out at the curve in front of Nettie.  Backing back down was a chore and nobody wanted to be in the car with me when I did - extremely steep.

Now I park at the foot of the drive and we walk up the pathway.

Looking back at our car.  It's a lot steeper than it looks in the photograph.

A few hundred feet more and we are at the top

Ann lives in the pink house with her daughters, Jewel and Deliha.  She has one boarder, Leon, from Jamaica.   He's a very gentle young man and refers to Ann as mom.  They have had two discussions and we hope to see them baptized on August 10th

One of several very large caterpillars in the tree behind Ann's house.  It is longer than my hand.  Probably about eight inches long

To celebrate my birthday, Nettie arranged for a 

glass-bottom boat trip at Pigeon Point.  I snorkeled in the coral reef and saw some spectacular fish and corals.

The waters are crystal clear and about 80 degrees. 

Yes, senior missionaries are allowed to swim!

Kathleen e-mailed a picture of this cake.  She said "Brittin made it for your birthday".  What a beauty - I wish we could have been there to enjoy it with them.  Grandma and Grandpa love Brittin, London and JoJo!

Insult of insults - Kathleen gave our cat Golden a "lion cut" to keep him cool in St George.

Then JoJo threw him in the swimming pool to cool off - I hope he survives the Smith Family "love".

 Who would have guessed these beautiful kids would have been so tough on my poor kitty cat.

Back to Missionary Work!

Preparing for the baptismal service of Phillip Heath and waiting for the Missionaries to change.  Phillip likes to go by the first name of Michiel.

 

Elder George and Michiel coming back from the change room (trees behind the rocks).

Sister Campbell, Michiel & Sister Schindler

A spectacular beach for a baptism.

Sisters George, Schindler, and Campbell, Michiel, Elders Petersen and Mello.

Into the Caribbean for the baptism of Phillip Heath (Michiel).  Elder Linton on the left, Brother Trevor George center front, Phillip behind him and Elder Petersen on the right.  I baptized Phillip and Brother George and Elder Petersen were witnesses.  

  

A bit of instruction.

When Phillip came out of the water he was laughing - a pleasant, joyful child-like laugh.

This blog was posted on Sunday after Phillip was confirmed.  This six-foot brick mason broke down and cried during the confirmation and we were all deeply touched.

We made another trip through the jungle to visit Sister Dookran.

We love going up the trail through the jungle to Sister Dookran's home.  She is a humble, devoted sister with little worldly means but rich in the gospel and filled with joy

Her garden of bodey beans.  

They are about 20 inches long and you snap them and cook them like string beans.

Her house on the hill.

With the kitchen sink outside of the window.

Sister Dookran's great grandson - Adesh Kissoon

A beautiful boy with chocolate eyes and silken curls.  I keep telling his mother that we want to take him back to Utah when we go home.

We discovered two additional granddaughters of Sister Dookran's - Madona and Amanda.  Both girls live in the mountains (jungle) and take care of their invalid father. 

A really big tree - Elder Linton at the base.  The tree is a living garden for host plants of all types - did I say I love trees?

While writing this blog, Matthew sent me a picture of his plate of food at Joshua's farewell social at Laura's home.  We miss our kids - we also miss the great food.

Beautiful missionaries at the MTC.  Our granddaughter Sarah on the left is headed for Argentina and Grace her best friend and cousin leaves for Bankock Thailand. 

Josh will join them Wednesday.

A butterfly we've seen once or twice on our walks.

Found it on the internet - named 

The Postman

The beaches of Tobago & Trinidad

Walking the beaches of Tobago & Trinidad

This morning's sunrise was magical.  I almost expected to hear a crescendo of music as the rays broke through the clouds

What a spectacular greeting

We start our walks early in the morning before the sun comes up.  The shore is lined with coconut palms.  I normally bring home one or two coconuts with each walk and then cut them open on the back lawn with a machete.  In Tobago they call it a cutlas

The coconuts are delicious and we enjoy them daily.  I first cut the husk off the bottom of the shell and then with one whack of the cutlas, take off the shell end.  I drink the milk and with a few more whacks I halve it and break out the white meat.

We usually end up at the water's edge around 6:30 am.  If the tide is out we walk the beach.  If it is high we walk the paths in the grass above the beaches.  When the wind is high we can hear the waves crashing on the beach all night long - it is very soothing

Catching the sun come up over the Atlantic

The island of Tobago has the Atlantic Ocean (pictured) on the east side and the Caribbean on the west side.  We live on the Atlantic side and with constant winds there are a lot of waves.  The waves aren't large enough for good surfboarding but it's ideal for windsurfing.  

This windsurfer was from California.  It took him a half hour to blow up his kite.  He waited for the wind to pick up and off he went flying across the water 

We were fascinated with his aerobatics.   He would fly above the waves ten or fifteen feet and do spin or flip tricks before hitting the water again

After he was finished he came back to the beach and had a cigarette - really!

Wormwood patterns that I loved photographing

Many varieties of colors & textures





Each one is an art piece

With the prevailing winds coming from the East over millions of square miles of ocean, a lot of debris comes ashore.  The many varieties of wormwood could have come from an African coast or somewhere on the European Coast

This morning I discovered this whale bone vertebrae and couldn't believe my eyes.  The opening for the spinal cord was probably eight inches in diameter 

This log had probably been on the ocean for months as evidenced by all of the barnacles that were on it

These small creatures with hard sharp shells become a problem when they cling to sea-going vessels

Driftwood and barnacle sculpture on the beach

A few days of fresh water rain and the barnacles were slowly giving way to moss 

On this day, the beach was covered with blue/purple 

jellyfish - they were beautiful.  I found them on the internet and learned they are a poisonous "Man O' War" 

The next day some were still there and I couldn't resist stepping on one and it popped - like a cellophane bag

     

Beautiful cellophane sculptures

One morning a lady we met on the beach was gathering this seaweed.  She said how wonderful it was as a skin cleanser - who knows - she did have beautiful skin

By the time we walk the length of the available beach, the sun is up

 

And everyone comes out to play

Two young boys playing catch me if you can - and showing off a bit for their picture

Handsome but irritating Southern Lapwing bird.  They cry out warnings when we come near them.  Too close and they begin a coordinated attack of diving at us and turning at the last moment.  

A sports team - probably soccer or football was doing drills in the resistance of the waste deep water

What a place to work out.  The water is just under 80 degrees, day and night

Do an about-face from the ocean to the jungle edge - the mystery in it's depth is intriguing

Interesting composition in reflections on this fresh water inlet

Looking back at the Southern tip of Tobago Island 

 

 

Lost fishermen's nets washed ashore

With consistent easterly winds and millions of square miles of open ocean, a lot of debris accumulates on the shore lines

We flew over to Trinidad to meet with the other senior couples and the mission president and his wife to spend a night in a beach house.  We had dinner together and then went out for a few hours of watching the giant leatherback turtles come in to lay their eggs.  That night there were thirty or so turtles moving in and out of the water - we could just make them out in the moonlight - several times we were surprised by them as they lumbered up behind us

When one of the turtles was laying, the guide let us put our cameras in close to take a photograph of her egg nest pocket in the sand

She laid about fifty eggs.  The small ones are just filled with air and during the incubation of the fertile eggs the small ones dissolve and leave pockets of air to aid the babies in their dig to the surface 

This little guy was caught going the wrong way up the road as we went back to our rooms

  

The guide carried him back to the beach and sent him in the direction of the ocean

This beach is on the Northern tip of Trinidad where the Caribbean and the Atlantic come together

A boy and his little sister wanted to show us some of the non-fertile turtle eggs they had picked up on the beach that morning

Their older sister wanted her picture taken also.  They asked us for "snacks" which we didn't have so I gave them several of the Trinidad-Tobago dollars I had on me.  They are worth about sixteen cents each 

The West Indies many islands in

contrasts of beauty, wealth and poverty