Another Week Full of Surprises

Dear children and grandchildren,

We decided last Sunday evening that we didn't have very much going on this week so we would take a trip to Linden to help the Summers close out a missionary apartment, since there were no missionaries there.  While we were looking at the furnishings which the church owned, we received a call from President Mehr, telling us that two new missionary couples, the Esplins and the Carters, were in Trinidad and we were supposed to pick them up Tuesday morning and take them to Berbice to their mission area.  We had known that they were coming, but we thought that it was in March.

We went into a state of shock, somewhat, because we had not arranged for an apartment in the area that the Espliins were being assigned to in Berbice.  We picked them up and took care of the necessary paperwork they needed to do for immigration, but didn't get to Berbice until Tuesday evening.  Fortunately the Carters apartment had two bedrooms and bathrooms, so the Esplins stayed there with the Carters that evening.  Elder Beutler and I stayed in a hotel so that we could help the Esplins find an apartment on Wednesday.

We spent the whole day with them and a couple of members looking for a place for them to rent.  There wasn't much of anything that would work for them, but they sent us on our way and they said that they could look on their own from there on.  I sure was concerned about leaving them like that and now here it is Sunday and they still aren't sure about where they are going to live, but they do have a few possibilities that might work.

We spent Thursday and Friday doing our office work and Dad spent much of Saturday doing service projects and having an Aaronic Priesthood training meeting with the members here.  Then today we attended the Garden Park Branch because the branch president wanted us to offer to teach piano in his branch, like we have in the Georgetown branch.  He announced that we would be teaching and if they were interested to let us know.  Lo and behold, we had fifteen people sign up for the class.  We have been teaching five or six from Georgetown and that takes a couple of hours.  I don't know how we can teach 15 in one night, but we will do what we can.

That about sums up our week.  We hope that all is well with you.  Happy Valentines day to all of you and Happy 22nd Birthday to Amy, this week.  Deborah, Jared, Jacob, and Aaron, we would love to skype you more often, but you haven't been on line much lately.  Let us know what is happening with you all.  Stay healthy and enjoy an early spring!  Esther said that the ground hog did not see his shadow this year!

We love you all.  Mom and Dad