Conference Weekend

I had the coolest thing happen with Conference yesterday. We have been told that our prayers can be answered as we listen to the prophets and leaders. And so, in preparing for Conference, I had a few questions in mind that I want answered. Friday night, I mentioned those questions in my bedtime prayers. Some were general, but one question in particular was pretty specific. You see, this week, my friend Jackie is starting a Bible study on the book of Daniel. I was invited to attend, and am excited to participate and share the little bit of knowledge that I have. This week, I read the entire book of Daniel to prelude the discussions, which brings me to my prayer. I began praying that I would be able to better understand the scriptures and then felt that I could challenge God even more- if I dare say so. I asked that the stories of Daniel specifically would be explained to me. This is where I consider a miracle to have happened. Out of all the scriptures and 15 million people watching Conference with questions of their own, my prayers were answered directly by President Uchtdorf in the Priesthood session. (It's a good thing I watched it with Austin.)

And so I believe that God answers prayers and keeps His promises as does he speak through His servants. We love Conference. 

In the middle of Conferece sessions, I watched a few clips of Grandma Jack speaking at the pulpit and in Nauvoo. There's no question where Gregory and Bryce got their stage presence from. Such poise and dignity are attributes I hope to develop one day. 

It's a good thing we have mom and dad to tell us about the news and the hurricanes in the world. We had no idea until I talked to dad this week. It has been H-O-T! this week with an exception of Saturday, which was rather cool and windy in comparison. It was a fun surprise to be able to hear the ocean from our backyard while doing laundry- most likely because the hurricane has caused choppy, rough water. Before moving here, I thought we would be able to hear the ocean from our windows, but it's a rare treat. 

Eden and I have gone apartment browsing a bit this week. It's more for fun than in all seriousness, but we would consider moving if we something comes along. So far, it has proven that we are SO very blessed to be where we are. It has been another answer to prayer to be here, especially after seeing so many other places. Multiple times, I was praying that we would even make it home- the last apartment we viewed was, unbeknownst to me, half way across the island and at the tippy top of a hill. We met the realtor at a roundabout and followed her there. She took us over curbs, through construction, up a hill, up another hill, and yet up another! I cannot accurately describe just how steep the roads are. Just imagine a 70% grade hill to another 70% grade hill. I was 3-wheeling just to take a right turn. With a quarter of a tank of gas, the hill was so steep that my gas light came on! The good news was that I had a "half tank" of gas on the way down :). Now you can see why I was praying the entire way there. It really was a miracle we made it, let alone got home safely and without our brakes giving out on us. 

Eden and I made it to the pool once or twice this week, and I have successfully written our primary program for next month. I'm quite happy with how it turned out and am more excited now that I have an input. 

Austin has his first set of block exams tomorrow. Four classes, four whopping tests. He is quite amazing and has stayed remarkably calm despite the pressure and stress he is under. At the same time, he has been able to help lots of other students in their studies both in his classes and as a TA. 

As for Eden- she is still the cutest thing around. Last time we went to the store, I kid you not- she had at least eight workers surrounding her, trying to get her attention, waving, smiling, and talking to her. It is like living with a celebrity! They know us well at the grocery stores now. We are easy to pick out because I'm a white momma with a cute blue-eyed baby and I often make a scene with my paying methods. Once, I had to run 4 credit cards before I found one that worked. Last week, I paid $32 in coins, and the rest was split between US dollars and Caribbean money. They had reason to hate me after that one. 

Anyway- Eden is getting really good at peek-a-boo and pulling herself up. Her new trick is blowing really hard. I don't know how she does it, but Eden can successfully puff her cheeks out and pucker at the same time. Try that! and then blow. It makes for a funny picture and one adorable little girl. 

Back into it all

We are alive and mostly well. We can proudly say that we survived cockroaches, giant spiders, sickness, and water outages this week. Oh, "paradise!"

I thought we were pretty used to life here. Then again, I don't know if you can ever get used to living like this. More so, I think we have just come to terms and accepted the lower standard of living. You will get the gist of things as you keep reading. 

One letter, just maybe, you won't have to read about bugs. For now, overcoming creepy crawly critters is one of the biggest triumphs here. Since coming back, Austin and I have seen 6 cockroaches- dead or alive- at our house. We have sprayed as meticulously as possible and have successfully- hopefully- seen the last of those guys. The bigger deal is that we finally got rid of the ants in our kitchen! After 4 1/2 months, that is BIG news. The only problem now is that we pushed them out of the kitchen and into our bedroom. The war never ends. 

So the food chain goes- the spiders eat the cockroaches, eat the ants, eat our food. No food, no ants, no cockroaches, no spiders? WRONG! You'd think there were enough roosters, monkeys, birds and lizards to get rid of these guys too, but apparently NOT. Or maybe I don't understand the food chain? Get a load of this....

Eden and I came home from swimming to find that there was a funny looking branch/weed that got trapped in between our door and this foam padding we use as weather stripping. At closer look, I realized it was something more than foliage. Lucky for me, this baseball sized spider was smashed and done for. It's happened before with lizards too. Not wanting to touch it, I let it alone. When Austin came home, I unlocked the door for him and bid him to look at the real Halloween decoration I found. His eyes lit up as he realized what it was. So here was Austin, outside, and me, inside with the spider between us. It had been pouring rain and we have a broken rain gutter right above our front door that spills its contents so loudly that you can hardly hear anything but crashing water. As a result, Austin and I were yelling back and forth: "how long has that been there?" "Is it alive?" "It's dead." "Are you sure? No it's not." "Well it was." "It's Alive?" "AaahHHH!!! It's ALIVE!! I THOUGHT it was DEAD!" Good old Yabba heard us yelling and came over to see if we were all right. Austin yelled at him to come look at the spider, which he did, and continued to save us from it. It was a battle of spraying it with toxic chemicals, stabbing it with a stick, trying to keep it from running in the house after me and Eden who were hiding in the bedroom trying to still watch the escapade, and finally putting an end to that thing that was still twitching on the ground. Austin asked Yabba to step on it just to make sure he was really dead, which Yabba did. 

Whew! Glad we survived that one. Had I known that spider was alive, I never would have stepped foot in our house. I can't believe I stepped over that thing. Ew! Just thinking about the thing makes me shudder. Now you know why we have the reputation of being the sissy white kids in the neighborhood: a spider held us hostage. If only we got a picture.... that thing was HUGE! Yabba said they live in holes and come out when the rain floods them out. Rumor is they aren't dangerous, but rather advantageous because of the bugs they eat, but I'll tell you what- that spider was so big it could have eaten my baby alive!

On another note-

The island may be green, but we are still in a drought despite the water coming from the tropical storms (which we have yet to see). Our water is being rationed. It goes off anywhere form 8-10 pm and comes on in the morning around 6ish. That's no big deal. We have learned to fill the sink with water for hand washing and just wait to flush the toilet in the morning. What was a big deal, was not being warned that the water was going out in the middle of the day on Saturday. We have a water supply, but hoping it was going to come on sometime soon, we just let the dishes sit and didn't shower. Dealing with poop, making dinner, and cleaning are tricky when you don't have available water and a drain. How lucky we are to live in this day and age. The good thing is that I learned that we should have certain things on hand in case of a real emergency, like paper plates, disposable diapers, broth to cook with instead of water, and juice. Grandpa Cutler once mentioned that living here sounds worse than camping. Well, yeah. Camping is kind of what we are doing at times. 

Poor Eden caught a slight cold this week which quickly spread to the rest of us. She got over the most of it after 2 days of constantly sneezing snot rockets. I'm fine other than needing to blow once in a while, but Austin hasn't felt too well at all. Between the stress of school and not taking care of himself like he ought to, his immune system is what I would consider to be barely functional. Eden is now fake coughing to imitate her daddy. It's hilariously adorable. That, and she just won't stop talking! I love it other than making church a bit tricky. I don't know what kind of a lady we are raising though- Eden growls, screeches, and talks in her low, low voice. We have been blessed to inherit lots of toys from the other families on the island so Eden has lots to keep her occupied now. She really seems to enjoy being able to play. 

Midnight snack, anyone?

Another week has passed. Can you believe it? Tomorrow marks the half way point for Austin's first semester in medical school. We have been here two months today- Austin's second set of block exams go all day tomorrow. 

While he is studying hard, each day is like vacation for me and Eden. We really are lucky to be in the situation in which we enjoy. Not many people have the chance to be a stay at home mom like me, and definitely not at this stage at life. Most people look forward to retiring in a place like the Caribbean; here we are in our 20's doing just that. Now that we have a car, the world is ours to explore. The island is now at my demand rather than me being at the mercy of others. It's great! 

We took complete advantage and had lots of adventures this week. The Marriott has a good section of the pool that is only 6 inches deep with fountains that is perfect for entertaining Eden. We also made it to the island park, which is amazingly impressive, even compared to the States. It is very colorful and quite big. They have space for a good 50-100 kids to play comfortably, I'd say. They also have an adult "playground" off to the side designed for the parents to use to exercise while their children play. I even found a few things appropriate for Eden to enjoy. I was dismayed, however, to find that I was not allowed to enjoy the playground. I got in trouble by a local for climbing on the playground. All I wanted to do was take Eden down the slide! One of the other moms told me not to listen to her because, as it has been the custom, it is just like the locals to parent each other and have an opinion about everything you do and then boss you around. Well, I got in trouble with the same lady later for trying to ride a see-saw with Eden. Apparently, she had more authority that we both thought and must have worked at the park. It will be something to look forward to when Eden gets to the walking stages. For now, I was more disappointed that I couldn't play too. It didn't help that while my fun was ruined, I discovered that the grass was infested with nasty biting ants. SO even though I didn't sit on an ant hill this week, they still found me. 

We of course had our regular gatherings with the mom at the pool and did the routine grocery shopping. too. 

Things are going quite well, all considering. 

I taught my Primary today and will teach sharing time next week. The kids are just wonderful and our lesson went very well. I taught about the First Vision. We ended up talking about Satan a bit because of his part binding Joseph's tongue as he prayed in the grove. After talking about Satan, the 7 year-old girl in the class said, "I'm beginning to not like Satan very much." I thought it was funny; the other little boy went off explaining how Satan is a snake so we also talked about how Satan never got a body and is jealous of us because of it. I really enjoyed teaching though and look forward to being in Primary.... other than the meetings. 

Well, its almost midnight our time and Eden is just finishing her midnight snack. Crackers are a new favorite! It's been fun to see her rapid development with feeding her this week. In letting her feed herself, she has been able to figure out the juxtaposition and grabbing of her thumb.

Turning Corners

We had quite the week. All of a sudden, I have a calling, and we have a car. Say what? You heard correctly. Austin and I bought a car. It was the most impulsive, accidentally on purpose thing we could have done, but it will be a good thing. We really bought the car without meaning to. The whole situation is funny because I am SO stubborn and was pretty adamant against buying a car. It seemed like such a hassle between getting a license, paying the associated fees, figuring out how to drive and where to go here, and the mess of having to get rid of it when we leave, and fixing it's problems while we are here. Problems? Oh yes! Buy a car, buy its problems. "Island cars," as they are known, are old, junky, and do little more than drive. Plus, they have a history of owners. So, how did we get into this mess? Well...We have been toying with the thought of moving, mostly for location sake. Then, Austin came back from an Elder's Quorum meeting last week that lasted 4 hours. FOUR HOURS!! As if that weren't enough, he came home with the assignment to home teach 4 families. Him nor his companion has transportation so the thought of doing so was overwhelming. Can you blame him? Between that and not wanting to deal with the thought of moving and because I am feeling guilty that we depend on others for transportation and can't give much service in return- the thought of getting a car became more serious. 

Our neighbor happens to fix cars and sell them. I called him to see if he couldn't help us look for cars. All of a sudden, he called an hour later and said we had a car for us. Uh.... 

We drove it around the block and before I knew it, we wrote him a check and didn't know what we had done. 

Already, I feel liberated having a car. Knowing that we have the freedom to go to the pool and the store is quite awesome. It was nice not to walk to church this morning and nice to come home. There are plenty of problems with are car. I'm not kidding when I say it only drives (and the radio works, but I wish it didn't); but I feel good about buying from our neighbor because I have the promise that he will fix things and take care of us. Pray for us!

I decided to name our car Michelangelo after the Ninja Turtle because that's what the inside reminds me of. (One of the other moms told me we had to name our car.) I can now say that I have driven on the wrong side of the street rightly. It's a mental game at first, but really isn't so bad. The tricky part is learning how to maneuver the roads as they are so narrow and often so steep. I'd bet a lot of the hills here are 60-70% grade. You think I'm kidding! Really! I don't think we will be driving anywhere at night either. That's tempting death. No lines and horrible glares makes it difficult to see anything. It doesn't help that the people camouflage in the night too.

The other big news is that I am now the second counselor in the Primary presidency.  After being in the Primary for the last 4 years, I guess it wasn't enough. This will be a good place for me: I can stand up more often and avoid getting "bum sore;" the kids are easy to talk to; and I don't worry about Eden being completely silent the whole time.They have it set up so that I can go to RS at least once a month, but being a counselor also means I am a teacher. There are only 15 kids: 2 classes and nursery. 

The Senior Missionary Sister told me that a while back they were praying for good families to come into the branch. A month later, the Kims- who is now our new Branch President- moved to St. Kitts. A month later, a family from Utah arrived. Another week later, we came with the other Utah family. She said, "I guess we just needed good families from Utah (and our Korean president)." So, I know why we are here. It's not because we want to be, but maybe because we need to be. 

We are getting into a more normal routine here. I think we are accustomed to life. At the pool this week, the craziest thing happened. I was sitting on the edge with my feet in the water when I kept feeling little pokeys on my bum. I looked down once thinking I had sat on something, but couldn't see anything. I looked down again, nothing. Finally, I stood up and the other moms started yelling at me to get in the pool. There were- what they said to be- 100-200 ants around my swim bottoms- all different sorts: sugar ants, military ants, fire ants. They were biting me, the little buggers! They didn't have to tell me twice. I quickly handed Eden off and jumped in the pool, stripping my pants as I went. ewww! Ha.... paradise. . 

Love from the island

Good morning! (as they say in St. Kitts)

I am getting fat. Have I said that in my letters yet? Well, it's time to admit it. Ugh. I'm gaining missionary weight. HA! The first month of being here was rough in the health department. We have not been eating like I am used to and it wasn't until this last week that I have really gotten back into exercising full fledged (though it's nothing compared to home). It's interesting getting fat without having a baby to blame :) It's about time I set my goal to do 100 pushups like you. Maybe you should let me in on your little secret as to how to go about that (hint, hint)! 

The crazy thing is,even though I'm gaining weight, I am about 10 pounds less than before I had Eden. So.... not a good thing. Just yesterday, I noticed that I am totally unbalanced because of carrying Eden. My left shoulder is about 4 inches higher than my right when standing normal. Yikes! It's been driving me bonkers since I noticed. 

I say all that because we weighed Eden too. Any guesses? She weighed in at 16 pounds. She's a healthy little thing and doing well! I have no idea how tall she is, but she was blessed with beautiful long appendages. Her long fingers are just like yours- perfect for piano playing. Oh, but to have a piano. That's unheard of here. Can you imagine trying to keep a thing like that in tune with the humidity? Sheesh! It was so humid during a rain storm last night that I almost had trouble breathing because the air was so thick. 

Already, in the month and a half of being here, I have learned a lot about myself. My testimony and grounded faith has become more obvious and proven to me; I have learned that I have patience; I have once again proven how independent and self-sufficient I am; my talents are being improved upon. Austin and I are very frugal and I have found many ways in which to spread the means we have. I discovered that I am very good at coming up with tasty concoctions from scratch and on a whim with minimal ingredients, for one. I get bored having the same thing for dinner, so it is often a new creation out of thin air. 

I have taken an approach of wanting to be best friends with Eden while teaching and caring for her. I hear way too often parents yelling or embarrassing their kids. I hope to follow mom and dad's example and never do that. Instead, I have a mind set to teach my children what TO do instead of saying "no, no, no" to everything. Even to Eden, I'll say things like "It's time to be quiet" or "keep that out of your mouth" instead of "no screaming" or "don't eat that." This all may sound silly, but it's really important to me in keeping a positive spirit and good relationship. I'm sure there will be times of discipline, but like dad always said- if someone tells you NOT to eat that candy bar, it's the only thing you'll want to do and the only thing you'll think about until you do it. 

Well, you've heard me ramble enough. Our big adventure was getting to go shopping at the island Costco wannabe called "Cash and Carry." It's a wholesale store where you have to pay cash, but hopefully get a good discount because of it. I wouldn't have called it Costco and definitely not the happiest place on earth (as I often say Costco is), but it may just be one of the happiest places on the island besides the Marriott. A lady in our branch was kind enough to drive us. Three of us moms from the branch went with our kids and the branch president's wife, who drove us. We were quite the spectacle: one pregnant lady with a kid, one red head with a baby and a kid, me with Eden, all of us white, plus an Asian. Yeah. That says it all. 

Our new branch President had his first Sunday leading the congregation today. Oh man! What a difference! It was so very evident that he was called of God. I felt like the branch is going through a real make-over. Already, he is cracking the whip and making a big difference. That was a short testimony builder of how true it is that our leaders are called by revelation. Great things are about to happen in St. Kitts! 

Keep on swimming, keep on swimming

Once again, Sunday came all too quickly. It's amazing, really, how quickly the weeks go by when the days can sometimes drag. Maybe this has something to do with us walking to church? I say that ironically because I loved walking everywhere in the States and here I am getting to walk everywhere and complaining about it. The saying about the grass growing greener on the other side boils down to 2 things, I've decided:

1. The other side is America, in general

2. This side doesn't have to be all that "brown;" it's just an attitude thing. (Well, and the fact that everyone here really IS brown. HA!)

Austin did extremely well on his tests this week. It's as if he were still at BYU. He says it was somewhat magical and must have been a blessing from Heavenly Father. While I will be the first to tell you that we are extremely blessed, I also know that Austin works really hard at school. He got 102% on one test and the others were about as high. He truly is amazing. 

In response to your question, I'm not sure if smoking is a big problem here. I hear that Marijuana is a big problem; I've smelt it on our neighbor and see it on the back of some of the cars and buses, but to tell you the truth, I've only seen one local smoke. We are actually really lucky to not be surrounded by cigarette smoke and swearing like we could many places. I am sheltered from both, I feel, and also feel that the worldly influences are far from us because we don't have access to television, radio, or even advertising here. Where you would normally see garbage, there isn't any. (But trust me, there is lots of literal garbage- litter all over the streets.) Once again, this is ironic: any swearing or smoking that does happen is done by the medical students. You'd think they would know better and be of a higher caliber, but sadly, no. 

Eden is officially 6 months old! We had a small celebration on her half birthday in which we made dessert for us :) It was a good excuse. She has doubled in volume, it seems, in the last few days. She mostly growls. Other sounds consist of sighs, aahs, nannas, laughs, and baby sounds. It's hard to spell out what she sounds like without hearing her. She loves coughing lately. It's not a real cough by any means. She has just figured out how to expel air in such a way that it amuses her. She sticks out her tongue and gives a little cough, cough, as if to say "excuse me!, don't forget about me, I'm here!"

The locals here all think Eden is fat. They think she is so big! Trust me, she's healthy, but she's not fat. I've seen chubby babies. They all think she's fat because many of their babies are undernourished. Interestingly, my nurse friend explained that it's because they don't use pacifiers here, but instead  breast feed their babies at every little peep. Because they nurse for such short times, the baby never gets to the nutritious part of the breast milk and are therefore, undernourished and skinny little things. 

After Austin's testing on Monday, it felt like a weekend because of the freedom. He took the night to go to the beach with us for a little bit and watch 1/2 the Lion King before falling asleep. Quite the contrast to all the other students who celebrated by drinking and partying. The next day at school very few students showed up, and those who did, were mostly hung over. 

We went with friends last night to the Marriott to swim. Still, it's the happiest place on the island. 

Today was branch conference for us. The mission president and his wife flew in for the meeting today. As I introduced myself, it was quickly made known that Grandpa and Grandma Jack live in their home ward and that Dad used to be President Boucher's doctor before he left for one of his deployments. When I mentioned that David Jack was my dad, President gave me a big hug and said how our family is some of his favorite people. He insisted on a picture. What a small world! and how easy it is to be small because of the church and having celebrities for parents and grandparents. We have such a good family. The goodness of our parents and grandparents continues to manifest itself through people they've served. 

While President was here, we quickly got interviewed for new temple recommends. Austin went first and then I followed. As I walked into the room, the President asked me if Austin was going to be set apart. Quite confused, I said I didn't think so? President quickly pulled Austin back in and said only this: "President Foreman has asked if you would serve as his counselor in the Elder's Quorum. Would you be willing to accept that calling?" Austin wouldn't have time to say no if he wanted to, but of course he would say yes to anything. So, minutes later, he was set apart in Priesthood. From what Austin told me, they almost, accidentally, ordained Austin to the office of an Elder instead of setting him apart. He's that righteous :)

So it goes: Austin is now the second counselor in the EQ. I have yet to get a calling. Unless they "fire" someone, Primary is about the only place left for me, but we shall see.

Another week on a dot on the map

Austin and I were reading scriptures together this week and a certain verse stuck out to me: "Wo ye islands of the sea..." Wo is right! That's totally us!

I figured out the trick to becoming local. In fact, I'm on my way there. All you have to do is spend a few hours in the sun to become uber black and then not shave. Ever. You could go as far as to knock out a couple teeth too, but I'll avoid that at all costs.

Eden and I have spent a lot of time outdoors between walking to church, walking to the grocery store, doing laundry, and out Friday outings at the pool. There is a mommy group that gets together each week at a pool. We tend to spend all day there since we have to travel to get there. That has resulted in me transforming into a reptile. I'm now in the shedding my skin phase. Eden has surpassed Austin in how tan she is, but I try really hard not to let her get sun burnt. So far we have been pretty successful. 

Oy! This child of mine is getting big! I look at her and think she must be almost twice the size as when she was born. I know for a fact she weighs more than twice that. She's a smart girl: almost sitting up by herself and loving food. She knows where her mouth is and figured out how to use a straw. Her hair is now long enough for me to put it in a little side pony tail, the latest fashion for keeping her hair out of her eyes. Oh, and did I tell you that she is a talkative little thing?

We had an interesting experience yesterday. I keep hearing people talk about the Kittitians as being harsh and bossy, rude, and unpleasant. Quite honestly, we have had just the opposite experience in our interactions with them. For the first time, I could see what people meant. I met a farmer that farms in a ditch/gully by campus. He came to sell us produce that he had grown. At the same time that he got to our house, our caretaker also arrived. It came out that he sold us 3 frozen tomatoes, 1/2 onion, and a cut open yam. In my defense, I didn't want to offend him and assumed this was common place. Our caretaker saw what he was doing and ran him out of there like a dog chasing a cat. He ran off cussing and she spent the next hour educating us on how to not get taken advantage of, telling us that if she ever found out that we bought any more frozen tomatoes she would have to beat us up. Lesson learned. So... if anyone has any ideas for frozen tomatoes besides pasta sauce, I'm all ears. We were sold a soursap fruit, which is quite delicious and an amuzing thing. It looks like a puffer fish and is white on the inside with black seeds interspersed throughout the fleshy fruit. If I can bring some back, I will. It tastes like candy. We also got green bananas, which are in fact eaten green, but will turn yellow if picked at the right time. Green bananas, I'm learning, are a staple here. They surprisingly taste like potatoes in their green state. Usually, you mash them and eat them with salt. You can also fry them and turn them into banana chips, but you'd think you were eating Lays. 

If I haven't mentioned it yet, the locals here like to tell you how to raise your kids. I witnessed more of that attitude and the typical Kittitian attitudes in church today. During the RS lesson, one sister explained how she was proud of her daughter for confessing that she lied to her teacher. Another sister went on to say that it was good that she knew that she lied, but that the mom should then have taught her to repent. As you can imagine, the mom took offense, rolled her eyes, and said, "she's only 7!" I have my own thoughts on this, but the two continued to bicker for a while afterwards. On the other hand, testimony meting was great. There was a phenomenal spirit evident because people bore such strong, straight to the point testimonies- something that has been lost in stories and "gratimonies"in Utah. 

Austin's first block tests are tomorrow. He feels much better and more confident thanks to everyone's prayers. He is now in a good grove of studying and seems to be managing very well. Med school definitely isn't easy, but it's been awesome to see how quickly Austin has been able to grasp the immense load of information. He already is starting to sound like a real doctor. It's also really funny watching him study because he will randomly spazz out. At first, I thought it was a muscle twitching, then I realized he was practicing his muscle actions and whatever he was studying. 

New Outlook

I'm afraid I may have come across as depressed and pessimistic or maybe in need of pitying because of the scanty conditions that I have portrayed. At least, that's the feeling I get judging by the response of your letters. 

Though I am just painting an accurate depiction of life here, I probably haven't been highlighting the silver lining as much as I should. It's much easier than camping (Grandpa Cutler). There really are good things about island life. In fact, one of my friends here had a shirt that reads, "We live where you vacation." True dat. 

The wonderful things about living in St. Kitts:

- My gum is EXTREMELY soft. What I brought from Utah has been re-hydrated and tastes fresh off the shelf.

- None of us need lotion here because of the humidity. I'm postponing wrinkles!

- I am already 5 shades tanner than when we came. I could care less, but Austin likes it. 

- Eden will probably learn how to swim younger than most

- I am developing the gift of tongues, not to speak another language, but to decipher those speaking "English." (I guess that would be called the interpretation of tongues. 

- The island schedule means no schedule which means I have all the time in the world to spend with Eden and do whatever we please... within walking distance and our budget

- We get to walk everywhere! Even though it can be difficult here, I do love walking and get plenty of that. 

- No TV! Yes, that is a blessing. The spirit is much stronger without it in the home and we have better priorities as a result. 

- I can leave things out on the counter to defrost and it's thawed in an hour. 

- It's okay if we forget our towel when showering because it's so warm when you get out.

In all honesty, we are very blessed in being here. I feel like the the woman in the Widow's Mite where the last bites of food were prolonged. One of the blessings we enjoy is prolonged and preserved food storage. Don't get me wrong, we have to go shopping, but I feel like Heavenly Father is blessing what we have to last twice as long. 

Living here makes me very grateful for what we are spoiled to have in America, both because of living in the States and because of our parents. Out of all things, most of the moms miss Walmart the most. Our branch had a movie night on Friday in which they showed Meet the Mormons.I was surprised by just how good that documentary was and would recommend it to anyone. The last story told is about a mom sending her son on a mission; the family the story is about lives in Draper. The movie shows their house, inside and out. You should have heard it. Our branch was quiet for the entire movie with the exception of a gasp and awing at the house. To them, it was a mansion. I doubt anyone had seen a neighborhood so pristine, clean, and fit for royalty. Yep, that's where we live.  Well, that's where we lived. We are so lucky. 

The other reason I am utterly grateful to be here is because I am learning how to be a missionary. It is driving me crazy and frustrating as could be, but I love it. I have a new passion for the gospel because of a new perspective that has been given through talking to people of other faiths. I have had new reason to study the scriptures with purpose. I appreciate the gospel for the simple truths that are so foreign to others. And I am SO CONFUSED why it's so hard for others to believe. That's why I'm frustrated. I spend half the day having conversations with myself, practicing what I'm going to say then never get the chance to. The other half of the day is spent wanting to yell from the roof tops and wanting to grab my friend and shake her violently until she gets her head on straight. I now understand Elder Bednar and his story about band-aids. 

It's now 12:30 am and Eden is still up. This is now her favorite almost bedtime. She is completely wired. I must be feeding her some strong milk! She learned how to roll over this week... just one way and she doesn't know what to do once she gets there. 

Oh, we (Eden and I) went to the beach this week and had lots of fun. She loves the water and kicking and staying cool. Silly mom that I am, quickly learned that I have to be careful with what I let Eden do. Thinking she would like to play in the sand, I let her put her feet in the sand. Then... you guessed it, her feet went straight to her mouth. We weren't there long before she had a mouthful of sand. Oops. 

The beach that is closest to our house is called SeaGlass Beach. Appropriately named, it's called that because the shore is full of colorful rocks, or "sea glass." This sea glass covers the black sand and makes for a fun rainbow beach. Rumor is that the sea glass is there because there used to be a bar on the shore and people would throw broken bottles into the ocean. God has an amazing way of beautifying and cleaning his earth. Instead of shards of glass, the bottles have turned into these pretty, soft, and polished rocks. It's really cool. 

There are lots of wonderful things happening in our families. Too much. almost, to keep track of. Brandon got home from his mission this week and looks great. It doesn't seem like we are too far from home when we can skype whenever. 

To Grandpa's and Grandma's: thank you for including me on your emails and for writing back! I love staying connected and we LOVE you!

To everyone: Be safe, be healthy, and love life. We are so blessed. (Now I understand more fully why Grandma Jack always says that.)

Week 2

We have now made it through 2 weeks of living on the island. It doesn't yet feel like home, but it feels like we have been here forever. I wouldn't say I am familiar with the island yet, but I know my way around enough to get to the church, downtown, the store, and the school. 

We really don't have that much to do here besides normal chores, but everything takes SO long to do. Laundry, the store, church, and about everything else seem to be all day events because of all the time it takes to get out of the apartment. We have 4 locks to get through and I have to pack Eden up wherever I go. It's more than a hassle. I'm appreciating the ease of living back home more than ever and am utterly grateful I wasn't a pioneer. It's hard enough taking Eden to the grocery store in a stroller where there are hardly paved roads or walking to church. Today I ventured to carry her in my pack for convenience sake of not having to pack the stroller in someone's car for the ride home. After walking 2 miles in the hot humid weather and carrying Eden, who is getting heavier than you think, my back hurts by mid day. 

I'm learning that I am more of a spoiled brat than I thought. I'd like to say that I was very much spoiled without the brat part, but I'm rethinking things as I have come to realize how well we have things in the US and because of mom and dad. I still wouldn't say I'm a brat, but more high maintenance than I knew. 

We are making do with what we have nonetheless. It took me an hour to bake one batch of 8 cookies because I don't have beaters or a cookie pan that fits in our oven. They were dang good cookies, but they better have been after hand stirring and being creative with an upside down pyrex pan in the oven. We have to manually light the stove and oven here. I happened to leave the gas on just a tad too long before lighting the oven and there was a big bang and the bottom of the oven jumped up at me. 

My feet are never clean anymore and I've given up trying to smell anything but sweaty. Everyone stinks here- most of it is bad BO and dirty laundry, but there is a combination of marijuana and alcohol on most as well. It will be a dream to do laundry in America again because the clothes come out smelling worse than before they are washed- something to do with the washer smelling bad and handing the clothes to dry. 

It sounds like lots of complaining, but really, it's pretty cool that we are doing it. We are living on an island in a less than developed country where everyone is poor, black, and has no idea what they are missing out on. I guess ignorance really is bliss. That must be why people are so happy here. 

Austin had his white coat ceremony on Saturday. He looked awesome in his uniform (that is really Dad's old lab coats). The ceremony was nice with an entertaining speaker. They had dignitaries from Great Britain and the new gov't officials of the island in attendance. There are LOTS of Puerto Ricans going to school with Austin- which annoys him because they speak Spanish while working with his lab group. From what I have seen, no one looks anything like what a doctor should. Once they put a lab coat on, it was more convincing, but most need to learn how to wear pants longer than their underwear and shirts that cover more than they do. They sang both the American National Anthem and the St. Kitts Anthem and then said a prayer to open the ceremony. It was THE most awkward and disturbing (to me) prayer I have ever heard. They recognized every god you could think of and made it very liberal. I didn't like the feeling I had while listening, but Austin thought it was neat. I guess he's more open minded than me. We all stood and bowed our heads, but I just couldn't make myself. Maybe rude on my part, but I felt like worshiping a god that wasn't ours and I had Eden as a decoy. 

Saturday night we were invited over to the Marriott to have dinner and go swimming with a family in our branch. They invited 2 other student families from our branch to go to and we had a delightful time together. The family who invited us is Korean and works for the Marriott. Those employees of the Marriott are housed by the hotel at international locations. So yes, they live at the hotel and everything is paid for them. It's a sweet gig. When we were at the Marriott I had my whole epiphany about being a spoiled brat. It was the happiest I had been all week. In my defense, it was also the happiest Eden had been all week too, which also makes me happy. I hate seeing her so uncomfortable all the time and there, she was comfortable like the rest of us. No sweat, no bugs, real sidewalks... it felt like we were on a totally different island. No wonder people like to come here (if they stay there). Sadly, the Marriott is a sheltered sort of vacation and you don't really get the feel for St. Kitts, just a nice beach front hotel. 

Eden LOVED swimming. We put her in the pool for the first time. She kicked and kicked and kicked! We went everywhere from the stairs to her back to her front. She was delighted and it wore her out. 

We decided we have to move to that side of the island. 

We did find the beach this week though! Eden and I ventured to the beach off of campus and wandered down there with our friend and her son. It's a black beach and is really quite beautiful, but it's very short. There is maybe 300 feel of shore to play on is all and it looks pretty rocky. Good thing I only care to play on the sand and dabble my feet at most. 

The airplanes here are extremely noisy because they get so close to you. They fly low enough that you'd think you could see faces in the windows of the plane. I tried to take a picture, but it doesn't look nearly as close in the picture as it does in person.