Christmas 2012

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Thanksgiving Blessings

Our heartfelt love and greetings to each of you on this Thanksgiving Day!

A little Thanksgiving humor...  :)

Because we have lived in Trinidad for more than a year now, we can't help but pause to offer our thanks to Heavenly Father for the blessings of the past 12 months...

May I begin by thanking the Lord for blessing our dear family, and caring for them far better than if we were home!  Miracles in their lives, most of them too sacred to re-tell, continue to pour forth, and we humbly confess the hand of the Lord in each of their lives.  Through the Grace of God, some of the blessings of the past year have been new jobs, new job positions, "ace"-ing critical exams, big moves across the country, homes (that so far have not sold) rented to stable tenants, good marriages, physical and emotional healing, lots of fun adventures, and our 18th grandchild due at the end of the year - Wahoo!

Each of our children usually have a special family photo taken to send out with their holiday greetings, and as we receive them, we'll include them here.  The first one to arrive is Ben and Heidi, with their 4 wonderful children, Noah, Emma, Natalie, and Bethany.  Yup!  We love 'em!

Photo taken by Erika Bales.

In addition, all six of our children were able to attend a "cousin reunion" in CA last August...  What a gathering!

Due to cancer, we said goodbye to two family members last Feb and Sep.  Here are sweet pictures of my mom and our "adopted" daughter Kelli.  We have been blessed with the Lord's sweet comfort and know that they are doing a good work on the other side of the veil.

With my mom, the night before we entered the MTC.

Kelli at Parker's baptism.

Meanwhile, we LOVE receiving updates and pictures from each of you at this time of year...  For these two missionaries, they are the best Christmas presents ever!  (Check out this cute one we received from Melanie and Dwight...  Count them - SIX boys!)  :o]

Another blessing of being here a year is that we've become good friends with many of our ward members.  We recently had a big East Indian holiday, where most of them got dressed up in their traditional costumes.  There are so pretty, I just have to send some pictures.

Here are the two children of our Bishop and his wife, Sister Sammie.  The children wore their costumes to church and we got a few pictures.

Notice how Ammon loves to help me on the keyboard!  :)

Then the family all got dressed up for the holiday...  Notice the Bishop helping his tuckered out princess at the end of a long day of royalty!

Last, but not least, we are so grateful for the privilege of being missionaries!  We love living and breathing and serving in the Lord's vineyard!  Nothing but this glorious work could take us away from our dear ones at home.  But here we are...  Cherishing every moment of working for the salvation of God's children.

An early morning seminary class we attended yesterday.

All our love to you!
Sister Lindorf and her beloved companion

PS  I just couldn't resist including this "out-take" from Ben and Heidi's picture - such fun!

WIM - On a Clear Day

Hello Friends,

We were asked to visit two Seminary classes on the other side of Trinidad.  One met before school and the other in the afternoon.  So we finally got to see what the Atlantic coast of the island was like.  Trinidad has tremendous cloudscapes that add to its beauty. 

The northeast tip of Trinidad.

If you look closely on the horizon you can see Tobago in the picture below.

More beautiful coastline.

Remember the house that blew down in Guyana?  Here is the newly framed home ready to finish.  Many of the branch members helped with the project.  I think the pet aligator is out for a walk.

These are truly large avocados - about the size of a small melon.  Trying to give avocados away here is like trying to get rid of zucchini in August in Utah.  Everyone has more than they can eat already.

Notice the plants growing on the power lines?  Bird today, plant tomorrow.

Here's a closer look.  It is so humid here these volunteer plants' roots get all the moisture they need from the air.

Here's a happy Senior Missionary Couple, the Olpins currently serving on the island of Barbados.  We became friends when they served in a neighboring town in Trinidad.  If you have ever wondered if Senior Missionaries can wear hats you have your answer.

The Olpins took me to see the Concorde on display in Barbados.  When the Concordes were in commercial service, they had two flights per week between London and Barbados.

Sister Lindorf teaches piano lessons to several of the Sisters in our area.  The lessons are free, but they are so appreciative, they "pay" her with whatever is growing in their gardens or on their trees.

One sister crocheted this beautiful decorative mat.

Here is a Seminary classroom lovingly adorned with visual aids.  This teacher holds two classes per day - one early morning and another after school to meet the needs of her students.

Here we are at Seminary & Institute Inservice Training at a local chapel in Trinidad.  Notice the bricks are open to the air to allow a breeze to blow through.

Brother Phillip is our Elders Quorum President in the Couva Ward.  He has been attending our Temple Preparation classes and hopes to go to the Temple in Santo Domingo in February.  He's been a member of the church for almost two years.

This is another dear family, the Ramkissoons that are preparing to go to the Temple.

This picture is here because Sister Lindorf thinks that she ends up in most of the pictures since I generally take them!  You've heard of Robinson Crusoe?  According to the story, he survived 28 years as a castaway alone on the island of Tobago before being rescued.  And you thought Tom Hanks had a rough go as a Castaway!

The Lord has blessed us and our family greatly in our mission experiences.  We are so happy to be here helping strengthen the Church on the "isles of the sea".  Our Seminary and Institute students will be the leaders of tomorrow and they're getting the training and direction they need right now from dedicated teachers.  Even though we miss our family and each of you, we wouldn't trade this experience.  We know it, we live it, we love it!

Our faith and prayers are with you.

Elder & Sister Lindorf

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