Smith's Situation: TAKING A LEAP

TAKING A LEAP!!!!

Our Zone took a little excursion to an area called LEAPERS HILL. The hill was called this because of the Amerindians who chose to leap off the ledge to their death instead of becoming slaves to the French. While there, we decided to simulate the "leap", so to speak. In our own lives, do we stand by our convictions or do we give in to the slave of wrong-doing? Sometimes it might take a leap or a jump or a run or leaving the movie theater or whatever it takes to get out of the way of evil.

Our thoughts are from a talk given by Earl C. Tingey
"High jumpers leap over a horizontal bar resting on 2
poles. This bar represents a standard, a measure to meet or exceed.
Imagine holding a track meet where the runners are not measured by a stopwatch or where the high jumpers do not have a horizontal bar to measure their jumps.
In life, as in athletics, there are standards, or measured behavior. There are rights and wrongs. (As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), we do not high jump without a horizontal bar.

Unfortunately, we are seeing the removal of traditional standards of morality and behavior in today's world. The vernacular of today is "anything goes." The world views time-honored standards as old-fashioned or out-of-date.

We belong to a church where adhering to standards is expected. Things that have always been wrong in the past are still wrong today. The church does not modify standards of morality by adapting to changing customs or to the mores of the societies in which we live.

President Gordon B. Hinckley tells of an experience he had as a boy lying in the bed of an old farm wagon at night with his brother Sherman. They 'looked at the myriads of stars in the heavens, and took turns picking out familiar stars and tracing the Big Dipper, the handle and the cup, to find the North Star.' President Hinckley said he was fascinated by the North Star. Regardless of the earth's rotation, the North Star maintained its position in the heavens and never moved. He said 'I recognized it as a constant in the midst of change. It was something that could always be counted on, something that was dependable, an anchor in what otherwise appeared to be a moving and unstable firmament.' "

We should fix our gaze on the unchanging standards of the gospel.

"But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved" D&C 45:32

HERE'S OUR WEEK

We begin with a visit from our wonderful friends, the Wrights. Dallas will graduate from SGU soon, so they won't be on the island much longer. We are happy for them, but not so much for us. We will miss them!!!!

Kent and Michael Bruno went on an early Monday morning hike up to Annandale Falls area where Michael has a farm. They grow everything up there.....coconuts, nutmeg, cashew, cinnamon, banana, mango by the billions, all the citrus fruits, french cashew, passion fruit and....... I'm sure that I left something out!

We love this smile!

Michael is ready to go on his mission. All the paperwork is in, just needs to be processed. He's anxious to get the call!!!!

I even got to clothes shop with Michael! Wasn't quite like shopping with, and for girls, but it was shopping!!!! I'll take what I can get! Doesn't he look like a missionary? Hey, I'm tall, so you can see how much taller Michael is.

Cashew tree on Michael's farm. We find this so interesting! Love it!

Monday (our p-day) was a national holiday because of Easter, so all buses, shops and the internet cafe were closed down. We hauled our computers over to the church to let the missionaries email home.

Elder Strong

Elder Hill

Elder Larson

Sisters Grigg and Smith

Played some ping pong while others emailed their family and friends

The Sisters flew kites for p-day. Kite flying is a HUGE sport in Grenada. Roger, Jemin and Ryan made kites for the Sisters!

There goes Sister Grigg's kite!

Sister Smith is flying hers......

...........and there it goes.........It was a very windy day. We can see why Grenadians like to fly kites

Elders Dohrman and Strong washing the mission cars because cleanliness is next to Godliness. Way to go Elders! Thanks!!!

Our District meeting this week

Elder Loewen gave us a great talk on baptism

Elder Smith

Elder Strong

Elder Larson

Elder Hill

Sisters Grigg and Smith

Elder Larson leading the music at a Celebration 2015 meeting. This is for you Whitney!!!!

Elder Strong needed to get a police report for the mission, so Sister Smith Sr. had to show them where to obtain the report. Of course, a few photos have to be taken to document the trip!

It's just the crazy lady with the camera snapping a photo every time they turn a corner. Elder Dohrman will be so happy to finish his mission, just so that he can get away from the camera!

The Sisters helped find a tortoise shell for Elder Smith's birthday, but before they could give it to him, a few silly pix were in order. These Sisters are a ton of fun and crazy!!! (Or cra-cra, as they say it)

Elder Strong and Elder Smith share the same birthday! We took Elder Strong and Elder Dohrman out for lunch to celebrate. Why didn't we get a picture in the restaurant? Oh well...we were just having too much fun!

The Wrights came over to see the birthday boy and the tortoise shell

The Monson's came to Grenada for a couple of days to do some leadership training for "Celebration 2015." This Celebration will highlight 25 years of the church in the Caribbean. The Monson's have done a fabulous job as missionaries and have worked their little hearts out. Their mission will end in 2 weeks and they will be greatly missed!!!

We took them to the Grand Etang

Of course, we brought some bananas and sat on the edge of the rain forest and called the monkeys in.

Pretty entertaining!!!

Buying spice necklaces on the Isle of Spice

Friday night was Institute and Friday Fun Night. After the lesson we had a relay which involved scooping up onions into a plastic spoon without the use of the opposite hand....

...then quickly, without dropping them, running to the other side of the room......

.....and depositing the onion in a bowl.

High 5's for the winning team

Yes, this is Sister Kime. She is back on the island for a brief visit.

Jemin with his golden spoon. He's so goofy!

Sister Kime is the "Sister Trainer Leader" for the Grenada area and also Barbados, so we were all excited to see her again, as she came to our island to do some training with the Sisters here. The Boys were especially pleased with her visit. It's all good!!!!