Never a Dull Moment...

....especially this week.  

Below are some of the news reports we were following Tuesday night after we felt the 7.8 magnitude earthquake off the Honduras coast just before 9:00 pm.  About 10:00 pm, we read of a tsunami warning for Belize.  We felt pretty safe because our house is raised about 12 feet off the ground.  I was also happy that we had several 5 gallon water jugs on hand here in our apartment.   When I saw that the water had receded at the San Pedro water taxi area (see picture below), I started to get a little nervous.  I was relieved when I read at 11:00 pm that the tsunami threat was lifted.  

When our daughter, Kristine, attended BYU Hawaii, she lived though a tsunami warning after the big Chilean earthquake in 2010. Janelle wrote about her sister's experience on our other blog, under the label of emergency preparedness.   Click here if you want to read about Kristine's tsunami experience.  

The next day, we had our zone conference here in Belize City with the 16 missionaries who are serving in the country of Belize.   It is always inspiring to be taught by our mission president, President Adams, and to also hear from Sister Adams, as well as the zone and sister training leaders.  

Elder Magnusson and I were in charge of feeding the missionaries breakfast and lunch.  For breakfast we served granola bars and bananas.  For lunch we served sloppy joes, Aztec salad, chips,  and Sister Flake made chocolate cake for dessert.

At the outdoor market picking out the tomatoes for the Aztec salad.  Bananas are plentiful, good, and inexpensive here in Belize.  (14 bananas for $1 US)

The next day we welcomed Elder Zeballos, general authority Seventy, and Elder Arbizú, area Seventy.  They flew in from Guatemala to meet and counsel with the Church leaders here in Belize.   Below, President and Sister Adams as they arrive from El Salvador, and Elders Zeballos and Arbizú coming in from Guatemala. We're blessed the world over to have the Lord's servants watching over and ministering to His children everywhere.

I'm amazed with the people who are put in our paths as we go through our days here.  Below, we met this couple Saturday on the water taxi as we traveled to Caye Caulker to meet with members on the island.  The couple was on their way to tour the island.  It turns out they are members of our church - originally from Ukraine, now living in Canada - and were the first missionary couple from their country of Ukraine. They served as temple missionaries in the Freiberg Germany Temple.

The second photo represents the Mennonite men we sat next to on the water taxi on our way home from Caye Caulker.  There is a large presence of Mennonites here in Belize.  You can recognize them because the men always wear plaid shirts, suspenders, and straw hats.  They are hard workers and produce a high percentage of the food consumed here.  Elder Magnusson enjoyed visiting with them--speaking Spanish because they preferred it over English--and learning more about their way of life.

The family in the last photo are members of our church from Alaska who were on a cruise ship that stopped in port for the day.  They had arranged to find us and donate two suitcases full of school supplies they collected for the children of Belize.

While life isn't easy on Caye Caulker for Solomon and Mary Nicholas (left), they are blessed by their testimonies of Jesus Christ. This was our second visit with them.  The Ross and Polk families (right) also reside on Caye Caulker and are a strength to the island.

Stay tuned for our next week adventures....