Signs posted in various places on the island are put there to keep us safe. We can identify many of the trees on the island like the mango, breadfruit, oranges, papaya, lemon, lime, chenet, etc. Evidently, the Manchineel isn't one that we were able to identify.

We were walking on the beach on a rainy day and we came upon a tree than had little green apple-like fruit lying on the ground under it. Elder Ross thought they were chenets and picked it up to eat. I took one look and said that I wouldn't eat that. It isn't what you think it is. Let's be safe because some of the fruit here is poisonous. A few minutes later, after Elder Ross had rubbed his left eye, it began to burn. He had difficulty driving home because of the irritation and pain. We flushed it with water, eye drops, etc. Checking the internet we realized it was the Manchineel fruit that is more dangerous to touch on a rainy day. A tender mercy!

The Manchineel tree is not the one behind the sign! The tree behind the sign has a fruit called soursop that makes a good punch.




The Williams love to give us things from their garden. On the left is a stock of sugar cane. If you strip the black outer part and cut out a chunk of the fiber and suck the juice out of it, it is sweet and delicious. The papaya, pinneapple, chenets and mangoes are on the right. Mangos come in many sizes and varieties. The smaller ones have a better flavor.

Fresh Fish

Fresh fish is available at small fish stands on both the Caribbean and the Atlantic sides of the island. We have enjoyed the red fish more than we expected. We love the mahi mahi here. We buy mahi mahi steaks ready cook for lunch when we see it available at the road side stands.

One time, the lady asked in we wanted the whole bag, which contained heads and several other parts as well as the steaks. The locals make a soup out of the heads that is supposed to be very good. We passed on the offer.



We want to try the albacore, but we haven't found it at the stands yet. These were on the beach from a recent catch by the fishermen above.

Iguana is another interesting food we have tried. It was mixed with rabbit in a spicy sauce. We could see the skin of the Iguana in the mixture. It wasn't bad, but Elder Ross quit after one bite.

Awesome Twosome!

It has been so much fun getting acquainted with Maria and Alison. They became friends shortly before each chose to be baptized on the same day. They spent Friday evening sharing their mixed feelings that come to those who take the big leap to change their lives and follow the Savior. They were baptized at Ft. Granby on July 18, 2009.

We had the privilege of teaching Maria over half of her lessons. She is awesome and she has a solid understanding of the concepts we taught.

Alison and Perez are half sister and brother, who met each other less than three years ago, and they have become fast friends. Perez has been sharing the gospel with her for a couple of years. Many missionaries have visited her. She has a solid understanding of gospel principles.

Alison Santana and Maria Francis (front row), Perez Estrado, Elder Jarvis, Elder Jones



It is so cool that Perez is able to baptize his sister! He has been a member a number of years and is constantly reading and studying, including Preach My Gospel.


Maria is baptized by Elder Jones.




What a great morning!

Humanitarian Efforts

Thursday was a busy and a productive day. We were invited to lunch at Samuel and Lydia Jones home at French Fort up near the signal towers. Dr. Jones had company from Texas (her daughter and her husband and his parents) and Trinidad (her son and his family). It was a little overcast when we arrived so the views of the ocean and mountains weren’t as clear as they would be at another time. We shared with them our search for a humanitarian project. Dr. Jones shares my passion to do something for children with special needs. They provided some excellent suggestions. We fielded many questions about the church and why we joined. Each of them had or do have LDS neighbors or acquaintances. Dr. Jones’ mother is a member and she lives in Florida. It was a delightful afternoon. We headed out at 4:00 pm so we could get to our next appointment with Maria and the missionaries. Elder Ross was to give her the baptismal interview for her baptism on Saturday morning.

It was cloudy so these shots aren't very clear. The view is awesome. The Atlantic Ocean is in the distance on the left and gorgeous green hills on the right.

In the distance is Dwight Yorke stadium and the ocean in the background.

The home is all lit up at night for security purposes and the lights draw these flying creatures which crash and are on the porch in the morning. On the table is a huge moth. Lydia sprays them with a clear paint to make them shiny and preserve them.

It rained a couple of times while we were visiting, consequently, the long, long (longer than John & Michelle’s) driveway out to the pavement was even muddier and wetter than it was when we arrived at 1:00 pm. As we were traveling up a hill, we started sliding and slipping in the mud and slipped right into the ditch. I called Lydia and she sent the 4 men to pull us out using the 4 wheel drive truck. Alas, they couldn’t budge the car because of the incline, which was very slippery. In fact, the truck almost ended up sliding into our fender twice. We all got in the truck and went back to the house to call a tow service to pull us out of the ditch.

The tow truck arrived and added 2 chains the existing one to reach our car from the flat spot at the crest of the hill. They were able to winch it out easily and we were on our way by 5:45 pm. The missionaries had to meet without us at 5:00.

I didn't get a shot of the tow truck pulling us out because someone was talking to me through the whole thing. We had to pick up a receipt for the services so I shot a picture of the truck at the business site.

We arrived home about 6:10 just giving us enough time to be ready to go to dinner at our landlord’s, Celia and Angelo at 6:30 pm. They had invited Yvette, a friend of theirs who works at Channel 5 doing business promotions, to join us for dinner to discuss humanitarian projects. They gave us similar suggestions that we had received at the Jones’ earlier. Again, we were able to share information about the Church. Angelo and Yvette are Catholics, and Celia belongs to the Church of England. They received most of the first discussion. We had to leave at 9:55 pm to call and reschedule with Maria for her interview.

Angelo is the cook. He make some yummy bread and steak for us. Yvette hadn't arrived when I took the picture.