Giving service

I mentioned before the service project that we performed at the Cardin Children's Home. It was specifically for the youth and YSA, and also the mission presidency and their wives who flew in for the weekend from San Juan, and there were a few others thrown in, including Brennan. It is funny how a day of hard manual labor, given in the spirit of service with no payment or compensation (except the sack lunches we provided everyone), can be so rewarding and unify individuals. During the six hours we spent at the location, there were many people throughout the community of St. Kitt's who stopped by to take pictures and talk to us and marvel at the fact that there were so many people present, willingly giving up their day, and ESPECIALLY so many teenagers and young single adults. They were actually quite shocked at that. But I just thought, "Of course we're here willingly to serve, and not one of these youth has a hangover (today or any day)- it's the "Mormon Helping Hands!"

This is one of the little boys who lives at the home.

Ha ha- I think Ricky was really scared for a minute there. I'm sorry that his face is shaded because you should have seen it.

A fashion show for the Young Women.

Besides the mice, rats, cockroaches, lizards, and other creepy crawly creatures that we came across, was this HUGE centipede. They are very common here and give a painful bite, which can also make you very sick. We haven't had any personal experiences with these things, but we know plenty of people who have- including quite a few friends who have been woken up in the night while being bitten by one. These guys are REALLY fast and are hard to catch. But the crowd gathered to see this one that Bro. DeCosta was determined to kill so that it wouldn't harm the children.

This is part of the centipede after it was cut in half. It still moves around for a while even though it is dead. Disgusting.

Bro. Decosta wanted to "educate" us all on the parts of the centipede. Can you see the little black pincher's that it uses to bite and administer venom to it's victim? Again, we had to hold it down because it was crawling all over the place.

A rewarding day of service and fellowship.