Tobago Thanksgiving

 Our neighbors and friends in the branch, Laura and Tony LeeKong,  invited us to celebrate Thanksgiving with them.  Don't be jealous, but we sat outside in the cool ocean breeze eating all the wonderful dishes we love for Thanksgiving.  It was delicious!

Sister Cupid comes over to teach me how to cook Tobago style for the Potluck Dinner after our talent show.

 I call these hairy potatoes.

 Boiling things that look like bananas but are called planteen. 

 Cutting the chicken and washing it using lemon and lime juice to bring out the flavor.

 These are not carrots.  They are another root with a thick skin that ends up looking like a potato.   

 Sister Cupid laughed a lot at my peeling skills, but in my defense....it wasn't like peeling a potato...these had really thick skins that took some umph to get off.

 All the different potato type plants after they are cooked.  Sister Cupid said there was a yam and a sweet potato in this group.  I told her that can't be true because in the US those potatoes are orange.  She also told me to pick out some mandarin oranges when we got the other veggies and I looked forever and told her there were not any mandarin oranges.  She walked over and picked up some green fruit and told they were mandarin oranges.  I told her the same thing....in the states those are orange on the outside.  The grapefruit is also green.  Think of all I am learning.

When we were done....4 hours later....and another hour for dishes and mopping the floor...I told her I think I will stay with my American meals that I can throw together in 30 minutes.  Smile!

Trinidad Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful and we six Tobago Missionaries were grateful to be invited to join with the Trinidad missionaries for a Thanksgiving celebration on p-day Monday November 24th.  We flew from Tobago at 10:40 a.m. and arrived in Trinidad 20 minutes later.  We were picked up by Elder Francom and Elder Bevin and then taken to the mall where we sang Christmas carols in the food court for about an hour.  Then we headed to the mission home for pre-dinner snacks and a big Thanksgiving feast that was delicious.    

 First time to the mission home.  

    

 President Mehr gave a pre-dinner Thanksgiving message.  

 We had lots of Senior missionaries busy in the kitchen making a delicious feast.  

 Meeting up with former companions! 

Going back to Tobago that night we were renewed, rededicated and rejoicing.  It was a great day.

9 Little Reasons to be Thankful!

Jordan, Jamie, Logan, Brighton, Jacob, Eden, Brendon, Stockton and baby Jonah (below).  We feel incredibly blessed to have these sweet children in our life.  Happy Thanksgiving dear ones!  

Observations

Yikes, a snake!

 The other day we went to visit some of the members that have not been to church for a long time.  We visited Sister Pierre, and her son Seth brought out this snake he had found near their house.  (Maybe he was trying to scare us away.)   :)  It just happened that we didn't have our camera that day so two days later we went back to get a picture.  The first time we saw the snake, Elder Goddard held it, but the second time we went, the snake must have been more hungry because he tried to bite Elder Goddard and started moving through the grass quickly to get the dog that was chained up nearby.  So sadly, I don't have a picture of Elder Goddard holding the snake.  You can be sure I was way down the road watching from a great distance.  I must admit, the pattern on the snake skin is really amazing.

 So just so you won't have nightmares.....I put a lovely new flower I found here to remember instead of the snake.  This is the first time I have seen a flower like this and you know me and flowers!  I never pass up a chance to add another one to my collection.   The petals are very thick and rubbery.

P-day

Elder Jeppson is excited to add some more Tab Choir to his collection and Elder Horsley is ecstatic to download more Bruce R. to his zip drive so he can listen to him in the car.

 Next, we make some homemade pizza.  

 Elder Horsley's masterpiece!

 Then we played some board games.  I'm sure they would rather be outside playing soccer or something but it has been raining buckets every day for over a week.  They are such good sports.

Welcome to our new District Leader, Elder Jeppson

 A great young man from Sandy Utah.  He is always happy, hard working, and a great leader.  We love having him here in Tobago.

Moo Moo Milk

No fresh milk here.  All milk comes in these boxes that sit on the shelf until you need them.  This is just one of the many brands available.  

Grocery Store Meet Department

 Interesting meat choices at the local grocery stores.  I'm not sure how to make anything using these meats.  I saw pig snout and bags of chicken feet the other day but didn't have my camera handy.  The price is a shocker, but you just divide that price by 6 to find out how much it is in US currency.  That first package is about $3.37.  It always takes my breath away when I see some of the prices on things.

Thank you to the Lintons

I realize it is not even close to the time to be playing Christmas music.  We didn't bring any music cd's with us  when we came here, but we found two cd's here the Lintons had left.  One is the Tabernacle Choir, which we have played over and over and the other one is the cd and dvd of the Piano Guys Christmas album.  It has a feature with the dvd where it just shows a fireplace on the TV while you listen to their music in the background.  When it is 90 degrees outside, it is kind of fun to have this TV fireplace going and listen to Christmas music..  Oh, I learned not to teach "Once there was a snowman," to the primary kids here. I got a lot of blank stares.  Snow is a totally foreign concept to them.....so is spring, fall, and winter.     I have a new appreciation for seasons.  

Young Men Young Women Swim Activity