Christmas with the Robinsons

These photos are of the kids at sunset

Rainstorm over Magen's Bay

Friday morning we flew early to St Thomas in preparation for our wonder Christmas with Juli, Shon, and the Robinson kids.  We arrived 8 hours before they did, so we went to the Emerald Beach Resort to get situated.  The first challenge was to find vehicles to rent.  Somehow I had forgot to make reservations, so when I remembered it was too late.  Every agency I could find a contact for was sold out.  I decided to wait until we arrived on site because sometimes there are local outlets that do not advertise.  Sure enough, after a couple of phone calls we found a place very near the airport that had only some Jeeps for rent.  

Darn!  We picked up two of them and did some errands on the island while we waited for the Alaskans to arrive.  We checked into the motel, had a very short nap, and picked the kids up.  We were only 1/2 mile from the airport, it was only minutes until they were in their swim suits, splashing in the beautiful waters of the Caribbean.  It was a great place to stay.

Above Magen's Beach on STT

Saturday we loaded everybody into the two Jeeps and went on a tour of the island.  

Orchids at our STT apartment

We went to our old apartment to pick up some water playthings.  Elder and Sister Larsen were there so we had a good visit with them.  They have moved some things around inside the apartment and it is now much more functional than before. We were only there for one month so we didn’t put much effort into changing things.  

3-foot long STT iguana

We drove to Coki Beach where we rented some snorkel gear and beach chairs.  The kids were immediately into the water, and they had a hoot.  

Abby in her fins

Shon and Caleb

Coki Beach STT

Coki Beach Locals

Sunday morning we were up early enough to get to church on time.  The kids were adjusting well to the 5-hour difference between Alaska time and Caribbean time.  As we entered the chapel we were surprised to see President Smartt sitting on the stand.  His father, a former mission president himself, was visiting for the holidays so they came to St Thomas for a surprise visit.  The branch presented their Christmas program.  I received some interesting impressions as the branch president spoke.  He said Jesus is not only “a way in a manger”, he is THE way.  There is no other way.  The birth in the manger demonstrates that our physical circumstances early in our lives are not a very accurate way to estimate the potential we have for good during our lifetimes.  We enjoyed seeing our friends again, members and investigators.  Life is about relationships.

We took everyone to the ferry terminal, returned our vehicles, and caught the ferry to Tortola.  

It was a pleasant ride.  Sitting across from me in the comfortable cabin was a wonderful lady named Kathryn Patterson with her 40+ year old son Rob, from Baltimore.  They were going to Tortola to visit her daughter who was married and living there.  These beautiful dark-skinned neighbors were delightful to visit with.  Rob said he has an ancestor from the English-Scottish border country, named Patterson.  We surmised that we might actually be related in spite of the obvious phenotypical differences between us.  There was a time when I could not have imagined that.  Now I am fully, totally, 100% convinced that we all really are brothers and sisters.

Maria's by the Sea

We stayed at Maria’s by the Sea in Road Town, just a few yards from the ferry terminal.  On Monday Gaye and I walked to International Motors, about a half mile or so, to pick up a vehicle rented for the day.  Gaye and Juli and I went to the big grocery store on the island to get supplies for the next few days.  Then we all loaded up, drove to the west end of the island, up over the hill to Cane Garden Bay, then along the ridge top to the east end of the island, where we ended up at Baptism Bay for swimming and snorkeling.  

We picked up our snorkeling and grilling gear that we had cached at the apartment, now being occupied by the young sister missionaries, and had a nice cookout on the beach.  

The wind was really blowing so there were waves and plenty of action.  One guy was there doing his wind-kite-surfing thing.  It was fun to watch.

Long Bay (Baptism Bay) Tortola

We returned to our rooms tired and happy.  A good night’s sleep and up early Tuesday morning, we caught Speedy’s ferry to Virgin Gorda.  This was the part of the week that we have all been waiting for.  We arranged many months ago to stay at the condo/home of wonderful friends who live there.  They were away from the island for the Christmas break, so they were happy to have us come and stay.  

They had arranged for the truck to be parked at the ferry terminal, so we loaded up our bodies, our gear and boxes of groceries, and drove the mile to the condo.  We had three bedrooms, three baths, a large living room with two sofas that made into beds, a large covered deck overlooking the Atlantic, a large and modern kitchen--in short, everything we could ever dream of.

Tuesday afternoon, December 24, which was also Shon’s birthday, he and I drove over to The Baths to check it out.  It was still early in the day, so we asked the ranger at the national park if they were open on Christmas.  She said they would be, but that there were four cruise ships scheduled to be in the area with upwards of 1000 people planning on coming to The Baths.  She advised us to come Tuesday or Thursday, but not on Christmas.  We took that message back to the gang and they wanted to go right then.  So we loaded up in the truck and drove the 3-4 miles to the park, paid the nominal entry fee, and hiked the 400 yards to the water.  

Abby swimming in The Baths

We hiked through the caves and tunnels between The Baths and Devils Bay, emerging into the warm sunshine and small crowds. 

This shirt is so they can find me if I die!

We took some snorkel gear with us, but not all of it.  This was the same beach that Gaye and I had visited a year ago with Elder and Sister Peterson where the waves were huge and Gaye and Sharon were caught in a wave and rolled.  It was quite a traumatic day as the two ladies had to be pulled from the surf by a couple of strong young men who were conveniently there.  

Devils Bay last year

Both ladies tore up their knees and looked like they had just crawled out from under a ton of sand.  In a way it was rather funny to look at them.  Anyway, we were not sure what we would find when we got there.

The beach was beautiful, the water was clear and the waves were about 1 foot high. The kids put on the snorkel gear and had a ball.  We swam and played in the water until we were tired and ready to go home for dinner, when Gaye and Juli noticed a youngish woman who looked familiar, there sitting on the beach with some other 30-somethings and their young children.  It turned out that Julia Ormond

Julia Ormond in the background

was there with some friends and her family.  We just let them enjoy being unrecognized, but we did get a couple of sort of surreptitious photos with them in the background.

Christmas Eve we had our traditional steak and shrimp dinner.  Our hosts had a nice small gas grill there that worked perfectly.  What a perfect ending to a wonderful day.  Happy Birthday, Shon!

Christmas morning we got up, ate breakfast, opened the couple of gifts that were brought along, and spent the day playing darts, 

Robin Hood shot

reading, sitting around and visiting, swimming in the pool at the condo, playing tennis, and finally going on a drive to the other end of the island.  Gaye had all the fixings for a traditional turkey dinner, so we sat down to enjoy the meal together.  It was yummy, probably the best turkey and dressing I have ever eaten.  We even had apple pie a la mode.  

Savannah Bay

Gaye took a nap while the rest of us went over to Savannah Bay for more snorkeling and swimming.  Then we perched at a lookout point to watch the sun set. 

 

It was spectacular!

Thursday was back to Devils Bay, but this time we took snorkel gear for everybody, thanks to our hosts.  They have gear for their own family who come to visit them, so we had plenty.  It was an amazing day.  The water was just cool enough to be refreshing, but still very comfortable.  We saw dozens of colored fish, all colors, sea urchins, lobsters, sea fans, coral, sponges, huge rocks with deep dark canyons between them, and we just had a ball.  When we finished we were all tired and ready to go home.  That night we recorded the Utah State/Northern Illinois bowl game so we could watch it next day as we were packing.

So Friday came all too quickly.  We watched the game as we packed up our stuff, now greatly diminished through consumption of the groceries, and proceeded to load the truck and drive to the ferry terminal.  Arrangements had been made for us to leave the truck there, so we just loaded up on the VG-RT ferry.  

Gaye and C

When we arrived in Tortola we were met by our friends Andrew and Dion Pollard, and Kisha and Orlando, two of the young people we had the blessing of working with when we were assigned to Tortola Branch. 

What special kids they are!  

Kisha and her brother, Orlando

We took them across the street for ice cream and enjoyed more than an hour of visiting together.  We encouraged them to stay active in the Church, to keep coming to their meetings and being obedient and following our leaders’ counsel.  It is not easy to be active in the Church in today’s world, especially where the Church is still in its infancy.  These people really are pioneers, but they will rise to the challenge.

The final ferry ride was back to St Thomas, 

where we thought we had a reservation at a motel across the road from the airport.  Somehow the reservation was mixed up and we had no place to stay.  The clerk worked on it, though, and we ended up back at Emerald Beach, which turned out to be much better than the other place would have been.  The kids were immediately in the water, and so were the adults.  Shon even made arrangements for the hydro-board for the next day.  We had to be at the airport before that happened, so we would not be able to see it, but we look forward to seeing the videos they take of the event.  The final thing on the schedule was to watch the BYU vs Washington football game at the Fight Hunger Bowl.  It came on at 2230, way past our bed time, but I managed to watch most of the first half.  It was not a good outcome for BYU, but UW is my other school, so my team won.

We arrived home in Puerto Rico on Saturday, picked up by our friends.  

Above Old San Juan

The Alaska Robinsons left in the afternoon and made it home the next day.  This was one of the fastest passing vacations I have ever been on.  It seemed that the hours and days just flew by.  However, it is also one that we will remember forever.

Now it is back to work, and there is a lot to get done.  Stay tuned.

Our Puerto Rico Ward

Saturday night we went to a baptism in our new ward. It is all Spanish.  President wants no more than 2 sets of missionaries in any ward, but I think maybe the senior couples are not under that injunction.  There were 4 elders and 2 sisters there, and the two elders who work in the office were out in the country delivering some furniture.  It turns out that there are two wards meeting in that building, so all the missionaries attending were from those two wards.  Anyway, it was a great experience to be there.

As we entered the building we were warmly greeted by the sisters and by some of the ward members.  Gaye asked if they needed any help with the music.  When they learned that she plays the piano there were happy smiles by many, not the least of whom was the brother who was playing the keyboard with one finger.  So Gaye was invited to play the music.  It turned out that the keyboard was identical to the old one she had been playing in St Kitts Branch, with the same theater organ setting.  It did give everybody a pitch to hang onto, though.

The sweet sister being baptized was led into the water by the young man baptizing her.  She let out a little gasp as her foot hit the cold.  With each step the gasps grew louder.  When she stepped onto the bottom of the font she actually squealed from the cold water.  They stood there for several long seconds as they reviewed the coming ordinance, how to hold the hands, hold your nose, etc. Then finally the prayer was said and he lowered her into the water.  As he did, she gasped out loud and almost cried out.  He tried to push her down, she turned stiff as a board, her feet flew up out of the water, and of course, it had to be done again because it was not right.  Then one of the sisters in the room stepped up to the font, gave her some specific instructions, all in Spanish, and it was attempted again, which I happily report was successful.  She had to be physically helped out of the font.

She was a good sport about it all.  While she dressed we sat in the room conversing, which was growing louder by the second.  So the sister who led the music stood up by the keyboard and began singing Christmas songs, which Gaye then began to play along with her.  A few voices in the congregation joined in, and soon everybody was singing, which quickly brought the reverent spirit back into the room.  The last song was Noche de Luz, the most perfect Christmas song that has ever been written.  People were singing parts with enthusiasm and accurate harmony.  It was sweet.

So Sunday morning we drove straight to the building, not like the night before when we got lost trying to find our way.  We were there in plenty of time, walked into the chapel greeting everyone we saw, and noticed the CD player pouring forth the recorded hymns as prelude music.  When Br Berrios saw us come in his face lit up, he introduced Gaye to the chorister, a beautiful young woman on the stand, and Gaye became the ward organist again.  We sang Christmas carols in Spanish.  I know how to pronounce the Spanish letters, so I sang out like I was in our ward choir at home.  It was a special experience, for many in the ward congregation also sang out with gusto.  

The Puerto Rico experience will be vastly different from the island experience.  We are enjoying having other people around to talk to.  The office work will be new challenges. The apartment is fine, even without AC in the living room/kitchen part.  Sally is good to have along.  We have found that when I drive, we get lost more.  Gaye is a better driver, and I am a much better map reader.  So I will navigate and she will drive.  That way we can stay happily married.

Christmas Card

                            Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

            

Greetings from the Caribbean!  We hope that this Christmas Season finds you and yours doing well and happy with the blessings of Heaven in your homes and hearts.

Ken and I are currently serving a mission in the San Juan Puerto Rico mission for the LDS Church and have served the past year in the beautiful Islands of the Caribbean.  We have learned to love these Islands and the people who live here.  We have had the good fortune of serving in several different areas and have loved them all.  We started out in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, then St. Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies and this letter comes to you from in St. Thomas, which is the American Virgin Islands.

 We will be transferred soon to the mission office in San Juan Puerto Rico to finish our mission helping with cars and apartments.  We have enjoyed our experience very much—have laughed often, cried some, and loved much.  There are wonderful people all over the world and we have been fortunate enough to meet many of them.  We will finish our mission sometime in May.

We have missed home, our family and our good friends but have loved helping people learn of Christ and the Joy that comes with the knowledge that great happiness and peace can come from accepting Him as our Savior.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth and we can live with Him again by following His plan for us.  We are so blessed.

We hope the coming year will find you all well, healthy and happy.

Love, 

Elder Ken and Sister Gaye Patterson

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela died today.  He was 95.  He is rightly remembered as one of the great leaders of the 20th Century, and into the 21st.  Many others will give more eloquent eulogies of this great man.  My profound respect is centered in how he responded to what he was put through.  He was imprisoned for 27 years in harsh conditions for standing against Apartheid, the enforced segregation laws of 20th Century South Africa.

Mr Mandela could have come back into society when he was released and exacted violent retribution against the minority White people who had suppressed the Native population in South Africa, but he knew that not all White people supported Apartheid, and he knew that the violence of the opposition to Apartheid was not the way to make things right. He simply set the standard of forgive and move forward.  South Africa and the world are better because of his taking the higher road.

Some people will say that Nelson Mandela is a hero of Black people.  Yes he was that.  But he is also one of my greatest heroes.  He belongs to all of us, and now he is closer to receiving what I believe will be a great reward from the One who sees all things.

As a young missionary in South Africa from 1966 through 1968, I never heard of Nelson Mandela.  I never heard of Steve Biko, or of Robert Mugabe either.  I honored Ian Smith as a good man who was trying to preserve civility when all around there was chaos.  I was there when Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd was assassinated by a mad man in Cape Town during a session of Parliament.  I was there when Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis.  I was there when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated during the presidential campaign of 1968.  None of those events seemed enormously important to me then, because I was there to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to anybody who would lend an ear.  However, I have learned much, and much has changed, since those days.  But through it all, Nelson Mandela is a lasting example of a forgiving soul.  My life is better for his example.

A Story of Faith

Last week the sisters took us with them to teach a lesson to a man they had met.  I will call him Fred because I haven’t asked him if I can tell his story.  Fred is married to a less-active member, is about 49 years old, and is recovering from a massive stroke about a year ago.

Fred stays home all day.  He loves to read, he climbs up a long flight of stairs and walks along the roadway above the apartment where they live, and he has a sweet spirit about him.  

STT Sisters, Sigler and Pinnock 

View from Fred's deck

So we went over to his apartment to teach a lesson about the Restoration.  He had already accepted a Book of Mormon and he was reading it.  I told him that if he will go to lds.org or mormon.org he can find online versions along with the rest of the scriptures and some information that will help him put it all together.

View from a road near our house, above Magens' Bay

Fred’s wife works 14 hour shifts at a gas station.  She doesn’t know until a couple of days before whether she will be working on a Sunday.  She was raised in the Church but not in the traditional way.  She came from a large family, with several different fathers involved in the genealogy, but they were living with the latest version.  Well, he died, so the other kids in the family went to live with their own dads, but she and her sister had to stay with their mother, who was quite mentally unstable.  Somehow they became acquainted with the local LDS ward, so the members of the ward took them under their wings to get them to church, get them baptized, see that they got to school, had food to eat, etc.  They generally raised them.  When she was old enough to be on her own, though, she sort of quit going to Church.  But she has a wonderful feeling of love and respect for the Church.  In fact, her membership was not even here, but one day the sisters went into the gas station and she greeted them enthusiastically and told them she is a Mormon, etc.  Anyway, she is not often able to attend church or even be present when the missionaries meet with Fred.  That is why thy invited us to go with them, because they are not allowed to teach a lone man without another person present.

So Fred received us in his home and accepted the invitation to come to church.  He also accepted the invitation to follow the Savior and be baptized when he knows that the message we bring him is true.  A date was set but I think we need to work on bringing his wife along with him first.  I drove out to the other end of the island and picked him up for church last Sunday while Gaye was at the church playing the piano.  We made it, but a little late.  I explained to him what our meetings are like, that we meet for 3 hours, what happens at sacrament meeting, Sunday school, and priesthood meeting.  I told him that the first Sunday of each month is a little different in that we don’t have assigned speakers but that everyone is encouraged to stand and bear (or bare) or share his own testimony of God’s love for him or her.

We had a return lesson scheduled with Fred on Thursday, Thanksgiving.  The sisters called us before the lesson, though, to say that he had a question that had come up as he was reading Mosiah 15:1-6.  They asked me to help answer that question.  It goes a little beyond the normal Preach My Gospel lessons.  In those verses Abinadi is telling how Jesus is both the Son and the Father.  We had just told Fred that Joseph Smith had a visit from the Father and the Son, two separate and distinct beings.  So I prepared for that experience, and I learned some great things from The Holy Ghost.  

First off, as Elder Holland and Elder Douglas Callister said in recent conference talks, remember what you know.  Abinadi was talking to apostate priesthood holders.  They knew very well the real nature of the Godhead, but they were so involved in their own apostate practices that they had lost all connection to the teaching of The Holy Ghost.  So in this section Abinadi is calling them to repentance, and they didn’t want to heed the call.  Abinadi was also explaining that Jesus wears at least two hats, and that because Jesus and His Father are so completely united in their method and purpose that when one speaks He speaks as if he is either the Father or the Son, and that the universe will acknowledge such. That explanation was sufficient to Fred.  He is excited to be reading the Book of Mormon and he is gaining a beautiful witness of its truthfulness.

So today Gaye and I drove out to pick him up.  He lives at the extreme west end of the island, and the chapel is at the extreme east end of the island.  That might not seem like a long way, but it takes about 35 minutes to drive from his place to the church.  We made it in time.  Gaye was worried that nobody would be there to play because the sweet lady who usually plays is off island, but there were some visitors, among whom was a piano player.  It worked out great.

On the way in we were just visiting with Fred about how he is doing with his recovery.  I asked him if he ever feels discouraged and how he deals with it.  Keep in mind that this man has been active all his life.  He was training race horses when the stroke struck him.  He has lived in Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, been in the Navy, and was raised in Treasure Valley, near Boise.  His dad is a Baptist minister, but Fred was raised more in the Seventh Day Adventist denomination.  (When he was invited to be baptized he said he thought he would do it, but he has already been baptized twice and he doesn’t want to make this a habit.  I told him this time it will be the best because he will be baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority and can trace it back to Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith, the prophet of the restoration, by the laying on of hands.  I used my line of authority as an example. He was impressed.) But I digress.

Fred said he has not been discouraged.  He uses the example of Job.  He said he has a different view of Job than the usual explanation of the events in that Old Testament story.  Usually it is used as an example of Job’s faith and trust in God.  He has learned since his stroke, however, that another application of Job is in how God is giving Job a chance to prove himself. It is an expression of God’s trust in Job as much as an expression of Job’s trust in God.  So he said he is patiently trying to learn what God has in mind for him, and he is showing his dependability to God by letting God test him.

Every day we meet people and situations from which we can learn valuable lessons.  We just need to be alert and receptive to what the Spirit is trying to teach us.  Perhaps that is the most difficult lesson of all.  At least it seems to be for me.  But if God will continue to be patient with me, I am getting there.

Making Thanksgiving Dinner, STT

December is here.  Let’s enjoy this season of joy and service as we think of how we can trust Jesus, and how we can show him that he can trust us.

Threatening Clouds STT. View from Sr Apt

We had three days of rain, probably several inches.  Much cooler, maybe down to 75F.  Brrr.  Gaye is sleeping with a blanket.  I sleep with a sheet only.

Military Correctness

Last Sunday I introduced myself in priesthood meeting at the STT branch.  I said I was from Idaho.  There were a couple of men in the group who had been in the military.  One is a pilot of 33 years’s experience who has joined the Church and is just the sort of guy I would enjoy sitting next to on a river in Alaska, catching fish or just enjoying the scenery.  The other guy graduated from high school in 1960, is of African descent, and was drafted into the Vietnam mess.  So I said I was also from the military, and that I had joined the National Guard to get out of the draft and had then served 24 years.

Well today, December 1, one of those men came up to me and asked if he could speak to me privately.  He leaned over and said, (paraphrasing) “Could I say something about one thing you said last week?”

“Sure,” I said.  

He then said, “Last week you said you joined the National Guard to get out of the draft.  Never say that again!  You remind me of George Bush who is the worst president we have ever had, getting us into two useless wars.  When you say things like that you offend some of us veterans.”

My first reaction was to tell him exactly what I was thinking, but sanity rescued me from that poor decision.  I didn’t want to be responsible for perhaps offending someone and have him maybe stay away from church because of it.  So I toned it down.

“Thank you for telling me that,” I said, “but I do not think George Bush is the worst president we have had.  In fact, I think he was a good president.’” I did not tell him that Jimmy Carter was my previous first choice for worst president, until Obama demonstrated his astonishing ability to tell bald-faced lies, do all he can to demolish and ignore the Constitution, and do other things that I consider downright despicable.  I didn’t say that.  Instead I said, “I joined the National Guard because it was best for my career.  Besides that, I am also a veteran.  But thanks for telling me that.”  I didn’t tell him that it is a bit arrogant to think that only those who did a tour in Vietnam are real veterans.

I don’t need to apologize for my service and how it developed.  But I do need to be more forgiving of perceived offenses.  He spoke his mind, and I disagree with his conclusions, but this Church is big enough for all kinds of people.  There is room for Mitt Romney and Harry Reid, so there is surely room for people who adore Obama and hate Bush, and vice versa.  In the end we will all need to make a lot of changes.  Who is to say that the changes I need to make are bigger or smaller than those defects in another.