Jamaica and Presidents who respect the Church

We went to Jamaica for three days to hold firesides and teach priesthood leaders about the Perpetual Education Fund along with Brother Aybar and Pedro Encarnacion (the manager of the Employment Center). This is the chapel in Mandeville, near the center of the country. It is a beautiful little town with many very attractive homes near the chapel. Apparently it is favored by rich people who build their retirement homes here. The chapel is nestled in a green meadow with beautiful flowers planted on the church grounds. We attended a priesthood training meeting during a District Conference here. Fortunately a member who is a taxi driver took us around. Driving on the left side of the road is a bit disconcerting.


Upon our arrival we learned that scheduling visits is more complicated than we had realized. Brother Aybar received approval for our dates and one of the Jamaican priesthood leaders who is a church employee agreed to schedule our meetings. But...it turned out that the Family History couple went to Jamaica on the same three days with the same priesthood leaders as their target audience. Also there was a two day District Conference planned that we did not know about. We have since talked with the Area presidency and they will request that everyone calendar their visits with the Executive Secretary in the future so we will not overlap. We did not get to visit with all four districts but we were able to spend time in Mandeville and Kingston. Those leaders now have a better appreciation for the program and their important role in helping it to bless the lives of their young adults. We also had a great fireside where many of the young adults learned about the program and the leaders saw first hand how they could hold a similar fireside in other places. Our visit was probably more pleasant than trying to get to every corner of the country but we missed Montego Bay and Linstead. We will have another opportunity to visit later this year perhaps. We learned that in Jamaica everything is very expensive, the economy and crime rate are bad but the people are delightful; not easy to understand but enthusiastic and friendly. Most of the priesthood leaders are eligible for the PEF fund--under 30 years old. The District President in Mandeville may be over 30 but his three very little boys were involved in all of the meetings. Growing up in the church means spending lots of time at church with their parents. The active members are very active indeed because there are more callings than members. This is a photo of four of the cute young adults who attended the fireside at the Constant Spring chapel in Kingston.

I learned about a new fruit; the Jamaican apple. This man is selling them at the side of the road. It is softer than the apples we know, the texture is kind of like a pear. It is less sweet than our red apples but I liked it. Grandpa wasn't so sure. We also tried Jamaican Jerk chicken at Island Grill. They have a grapefruit soda called Ting that I liked a lot. We also tried "festival", a fried corn meal and flour bread and "bammies" made from yucca. Bammies weren't my favorite but fried bread is always good, right?

We enjoyed a special Family Home Evening in the home of President and Sister Mask this month. The Area Presidency will be reorganized in July so he told us a few things about his experiences and his heritage. He said they were "sweating bullets" before the meeting held at the temple site with the President of this country. Mixing politics and the temple is not the usual procedure to be sure. He said they felt that this meeting was something that the Lord wanted to take place and had the approval of Elder Bednar who told him that good things will come of this. Apparently there are some very positive things happening as a result of that meeting. President Leonel Fernandez told President Mask that the church has a new friend. He was reelected so it will be a good thing to have the president of the country be a friend to the church.

Elder Mask also told us about his Grandpa Gonzalez. His Grandpa lived in Cuidad Juarez in Mexico and Elder Mask spent a lot of time with him when he was a child. I don't know if he also lived in Mexico or near the border in El Paso, Texas. Grandpa Gonzalez was the first native born Mexican to serve a full time mission for the church in the early 1900's. He was married with a small baby when he was called and had doubts about going but his wife insisted that he go cheerfully and confidently. Elder Mask told us about an experience he had on his mission:

Elder Gonzalez and his companion were stopped by the federal militia and told they couldn't preach about Jesus Christ. Elder Gonzalez insisted that they could because they were representatives of His church. The soldiers accused them of being revolutionaries, or Mormons which was worse. The soldiers told them they were to be shot immediately and lined them up. Then Elder Gonzales remembered what he had read that morning in the Book of Mormon. He said, "You can't shoot me because I have not yet delivered an important message to the president." The officer hesitated and ended up taking them into Mexico City to see the president of Mexico who received them. The president of Mexico accepted a Book of Mormon and talked with them for two hours. At the end of that time he asked Elder Gonzalez where he was from. The president pressed for details of exactly which little town and learned that his father had been the beloved teacher of the president when he was a boy. They talked together for two more hours. When they were leaving the president asked what he could do to be helpful in their work. Elder Gonzalez again remembered the Book of Mormon and asked for a letter giving permission for them to teach. An official letter was given to him and they were allowed to teach without interference. Unfortunately that president was assinated not very long afterwards and all of the missionaries were driven out of Mexico for years.

Isn't that a great story! Remember to read the Book of Mormon and remember to use what you read.