Our Address in Guyana

Dear family, 

We have been in Guyana for 3 days now and finally have our address. We were not sure whether we would be living in the Guyana mission office apartment but we have decided to live in the apartment where the departing couple lived because there is very little privacy in the mission office apartment and they need it for couples and missionaries being transfered from other areas.
Anyway, our address will be:

Elder Melvin E. Beutler

77 Garnett Street
Lamaha Gardens
Georgetown, Guyana

I (Carol) attended a district Relief Society meeting this afternoon with the sisters from 5 of the branches here in Georgetown. It was my impression that most of the sisters were of African descent, but they are a real mix of African, East Indian, Ameri-Indian and Portugese. While I was at the meeting, Melvin went with one of the brothers in the branch to shop for produce at the fresh produce market. He spent about 10 dollars and bought a nice pineapple (the best I have ever tasted) mangos, bananas, greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Groceries are almost double in price here except for the produce on the stands and they are cheaper and good quality.

To the Dickeys:

I was thinking of you today as you had your reunion. We love you and miss you. To our children, thank you for all that you are doing to keep things going while we are away.

Love from Mom and Dad (Elder and Sister Beutler)

Our Mission Begins

Mom and Dad gave talks in Sacrament meeting last Sunday, June 17th.  Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious meal and visiting with freinds and family members. 

Later that evening they were set-apart as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Stake President Dax Keller. Their blessings were beautiful.  I was especially impressed that they were each told that this time of serving a mission together would be something that they would remember and reflect upon throughout the eternities.  I hadn't thought too much about certain experiences in mortality having enough significance to recall in the eternities.

Dad's brother, Bishop (Wesley) Beutler, and most of our immediate family were able to attend the setting-apart and it was wonderful meeting.  (Esther, Robert, and Abi we missed you!)  Jared and I (Eve) were invited to share our testimonies and after the setting-apart Mom and Dad shared their testimonies as newly called missionaries.  Mary also shared some thoughts about what a blessing we've had to be taught by our parents and grow up in this family.  She expressed how she believes that Mom and Dad will be able to help many people (young people particularly) feel accepted and encouraged by them and gain a sense of value because of their influence.  I think we all felt very uplifted and spiritually strengthened.  It was special, sacred experience and such a super way to "kick-off" Mom and Dad's mission! 

The Sunday fun still wasn't over as Mom and Dad had to go home to pick-up their bags, say "good-bye" to everyone, and head on their way to Salt Lake City where they would start training with the perpetual education program the next morning. 

They had a busy week with training from 8am-5pm each day; finishing last-minute shopping; getting together with the Jared, Deborah, and my family for a dinner; giving a fire-side chat for some of Jared's friends, etc. (I'm sure they did a lot more that I'm not aware of.)  They flew out of SLC Saturday morning to the Dominican Republic where they will spend a couple more days being trained by the director of perpetual education for the area that includes their mission.

Sunday, June 24th at 7:16pm Mom wrote: 
"Dear family,  We have arrived safely to the Dominican Republic for some specialized training in the perpetual education fund. We will be here for three days and then finally on Wednesday we will fly to Guyana to begin being real missionaries. We will be using the computer a lot for our service, so pray for us that we can learn all that we need to do there. Thanks for all of your support and love these past couple of weeks. We love and miss you all. Elder and Sister Beutler"

We have been called to serve in the West Indies Mission, beginning on June 22, 2012.  We will be living in Guyana and our specific assignment is over the Perpetual Education Fund, the Employment Center, and the Young Single Adult program.  Whoa, that will be so much fun, and such a stretch for us.  We are excited!