WIM - Trinidad: 50 Years of Independence

Hello Friends,

We missed sending an update in September so now you're going to get two.

This year Trinidad and Tobago commemorated fifty years as an independent country.  There was much fanfare and celebration.

When Trinidadians, or "Trini"s celebrate they make music.  Steel drums are very popular.

Vendors selling food on the street are common.  This one features Corn Soup.

Trinidad is famous for "Doubles" which is a piece of fry bread smothered with a sauce made from garbanzo beans and savory spices topped with another piece of fry bread - hence the term "Doubles".  They sell from the back of a pickup truck parked on the side of the road.

The lid is used to scoop up the topping.  Doubles are very popular with the Elders!

Here is Sister Lindorf showing how it's done.

How would you like to do your dishes with this view?  No window necessary - it's always warm!  Below is another view of the rain forest on Tobago from the same kitchen.

Most permanent homes in the Caribbean are made of concrete.  I guess they read the story of the three little pigs!  This is a house prepped for a pour.  Can you believe that bamboo is strong enough to hold up a slab of concrete?

This is the biggest burger I've ever eaten - and it's a MEDIUM size (about 7 inches across).  They have an even bigger one but I can't eat that much!

If you look closely you'll see this roadside vendor selling iguanas for meat.  I wonder if that is what was in my burger?

Flooding in Port of Spain, Trinidad.  This was from just one rainstorm.

You may remember seeing this house before.  We visited a Seminary class held in this home in Guyana earlier this year.  Notice the pet aligator!

Apparently the story of the 3 little pigs didn't make it to Guyana.  This is the same house after a violent windstorm.  LDS Humanitarian Service missionaries are helping them rebuild.  Fortunately no one was injured in the storm.

Bananas are used many different ways here and they have varieties we don't typically see in the US.

These are cooking bananas, skinny and about five inches long.  They are not sweet at all.

They are boiled while green in the skins.  When peeled, are used the same as we would use potatoes.

We're busy and having an amazing time on this mission.  Seminary and Institute classes have resumed and school has started again after the summer break.  Sister Lindorf has been tenaciously entering all the new classes and students into the computer for tracking purposes.  I have more pictures I want to share but they'll go out as a separate email.

All our best,

Elder & Sister Lindorf

WIM-It's S&I Graduation Time!

Dearest Family and Friends,

We're a little bit late on this update, because we have had a very full six weeks of Seminary & Institute Graduations across the West Indies!  Elder and Sister Harris (the couple we replaced) told us this would be the frosting on the cake...  And I can say for myself now, that THEY WERE RIGHT!  We have been able to attend 7 of the twelve, and have one more in Barbados in 10 days...  Such wonderful times!

As you can imagine, we have dozens of pictures...  

but I'll just include a sample.

 We are so happy to be able to participate with these great youth!

Below are two of our graduates receiving 4-year diplomas from the Berbice area in Guyana (with their supervisors).  The seminary graduate on the left will be TEACHING daily seminary this coming year.  And the institute graduate on the right leaves on her mission to Temple Square in September.  It is so obvious that the Lord is gathering His elect when you are in the presence of these great youth!

Now to give you an idea of some of the other things we do, 

when we visit an island for a graduation...

A Young Women's Class in Linden, Guyana

Meet with the local Priesthood

If we're lucky, attend a local baptism.

This was my first time to see a baptism in the ocean...  so special!

Partake of some of the local cuisine... A big "pot of cook-up"
Have you ever seen a dutch oven this size? (about 20" across)

Monkeys on Granada

Anything for a bite of banana

Posing for the Camera

So proud to be LDS!

Beautiful Sunset in Suriname...

In between graduation trips we've been busy at home with 

Summer Inservice training for the Port of Spain Stake (in Trinidad), 

making our way through flooding rain, 

and changing Mission Presidents.

All of the missionaries in Trinidad met on the street in front of the mission home (at 5:30 AM) to send off the Gamiette family.  We lined the street and waved our white handkerchiefs...  Yes, there were a few tears.  However, we are the lucky ones.  President Gamiette went home to his previous job, which was coordinator for S&I.  Last Thursday we had a half-day training session with him...  It was great!

One of the little known highlights of our trips is the privilege we have of rubbing shoulders with the local Senior Couple Missionaries.  They pick us up at airports, take us to get money exchanged, drive us to the different places we need to go, share with us their meals, help us arrange meetings, translate for us, and if they have room they even invite us to stay in their homes.  I don't know that I've ever been served so graciously and generously by strangers before.  But we're not strangers by the time we leave!  They take us in as family and we go away knowing deep in our souls that we have seen the Lord's charity in action.  As you pray for the missionaries, be sure to include these stalwart senior warriors for the Kingdom of God.  They bless so many lives...

Love always,
Sister Lindorf

WIM James Messenger

We met the Messengers while in Granada, who are attending medical school there.  Brother Messenger graduated with Nate from Timpview High School.  And his little brother, Mark Messenger, is good friends with Brad and Jessie.  It was great to get to know them and to meet their precious children.  Their oldest, James (the little boy in these videos) will be approximately 10 when they finish their schooling.  Since Parker is almost 10 and Todd is now starting his new MD postition, we were able to reassure them that their hard efforts will all be worth it!  Our love and prayers are with them in their grand adventure!

James reminds me so much of Ben at his age - always ready to share a story from the scriptures...  complete with amazing gestures and expressions!  In the second story he calls the prophet a king, but other than that he's got it all figured out (with a little help from Dad)!  Don't you love it?  :)

WIM - Goodbye Gamiettes

Hello friends,

This month started off with a surprise birthday party for Elder Lindorf.  I was trying to keep it low key but mission moms have a secret calendar.  I must be special though, because not everyone gets cake at the mission home for their birthday.


Sister Lindorf is the real reason I got a cake.  She's been teaching the Gamiette children voice, piano, and guitar lessons weekly for the past several months.  They go home to Guadeloupe in two weeks when their dad, our Mission President, will be released.  We have grown to love this exemplary family and will miss them dearly!

Singing Happy Birthday with Terry!

I think Jenny is missing a few candles if this cake is for me!

I may be 62 but I can still jump over a broom handle backwards.  Can you?

Terry is the singer - studying lyrics

Tom is a beginner at the piano but learning

Amy is the youngest and extremely precocious.

Both of the older girls are preparing to go to BYU in January.  The first to leave the nest....

Cora Lee aka "Coco" is an accomplished pianist

Jenny plays guitar with Sister Lindorf accompanying on the piano

We will miss this wonderful family but look forward to new experiences with President and Sister Mehr at the helm beginning in July.

Last week we moved into a larger apartment.  It's much more spacious and light than our old place downstairs, with plenty of room for our office.  We even have a futon for the occasional guest.

Where's Waldo?

This little guy is the Bishop's son.  He's taken a real liking to Elder Lindorf who misses 17 grandchildren everyday.

Our tiny Couva ward is still home base whenever we're in town.

The school year is wrapping up and plans are in the works for Seminary and Institute graduations.  We will be attending several over the next two months.  Next week we go to Grenada for the first one.


We wish you the Lord's choicest blessings and success in all you do.  We are happy in His service.


Elder Lindorf

WIM - Les Crêpes, Les Bagettes, et Euros

Hello Friends,

This past week we had the opportunity to visit "France in the Caribbean": the beautiful island of Guadeloupe.  This is the "island hopper" aircraft we're boarding.  On the way there, we stopped at St. Lucia and Martinique.  On the way back we stopped at Dominica and Barbados.  Direct flights don't happen here!  When we landed in Martinique, we had to get off the plane, go through immigration (even though we never left the airport), and then get back on the very same plane in the same seats!

We're getting on that?

One of the pirate ships used by Captain Jack Sparrow, currently moored in St Lucia

We spent a good part of our travel day in St. Lucia and did some training with the Seminary & Institute teachers there.  There are two branches of the church here, one on each end of the island.

Guadeloupe is called the butterfly island because it's actually two islands smooshed together.  That's not easy to capture in pictures so I've included an arial view.

Here are the Bennions.  I wanted you to see how easy it is to be happy when you're a Senior Missionary!  Behind them is the rain forest of Basse Terre (lower island).

We visited a river and waterfall in the rain forest.  Since I take most of the pictures, you get to see a lot of Sister Lindorf.  She's the star of the show but if you look closely you'll see me by the waterfall.

One of the most interesting dynamics of this visit was that everything was in French.  I was able to understand and communicate better than I thought I would after 40 years!  (France, Paris Mission 1969-1971).  This is one of our French speaking Seminary classes with our S&I coordinator, Hector Alvarez in the background.  His native language is Spanish.  He also speaks English (as a second language) and a tiny bit of French.

Pretty in Pink

If you've never played Crows & Cranes then you won't understand what's going on here!

This is not a post card.  We really did have the pool to ourselves.

Where's Waldo?

Can you find the iguana in this picture?

Sarah, on the right, is our S&I secretary for the Mission.  She also teaches this Seminary class once each week.

It was amazing to be able to go to the boulangerie and buy real french bread and pay in Euros.  Guadeloupe is not independent like many of the other islands.  It actually IS part of France, so its culture is very different from Trinidad and other Caribbean islands.  

We are happy to be serving in this part of the Lord's vineyard.  Everyone we meet is very friendly (even the French)!  Our Seminary students are gaining a love for the scriptures and a love for the Lord as a result.  We are truly blessed!  

If you or someone you know would like to volunteer to come to the West Indies Mission, we could use twice the number of couples that we have now.  Until next time.....

Elder Lindorf