More Pineapple pictures

At Croydon they also grow other fruits, here we are tasting grapefruit, cherries, and jack fruit - all delicious! Here is a Jack Fruit tree, and the best of all - tasting four of the different kinds of pineapple they grow - Elder Smith liked the Sugar the best, I like the Honey one...all very good. It was an interesting and fun day. The Russells will return to Utah on May 5th - so we had a last adventure together.

Pineapple Plantation

On Thursday, we went with the Russells over to Montego Bay and up in the mountains to visit a Pineapple Plantation - Croydon in the Mountains. There are hundreds of kinds of pineapples - 26 in Jamaica. Here are some of the kinds they grew.

Port Royal 4

Here is the British Naval Cemetery near the Fort - most of the ages of the deceased were between 20 and 30...those we could still read. Also a view of the whole fort showing how far the land has come in, and this museum was Horatio Nelson's quarters when he commanded the Fort.

Port Royal 3

Have you gotten the idea that we love history yet? Here is what they call the Giddy House - tipped over in the earthquake! the Fort pretty much survived the quake - all the bars and brothels were dumped into the sea. Here is Elder Smith in the watch tower, and a huge gun - barrell on the grass, mount in the pit. They could move it 360 degrees to protect the harbor. There were 104 cannons in all around the fort. Here is some ammo from musket balls to cannon balls.

Port Royal 2

An old map of the pirate Henry Morgan, who ran Port Royal in it's heyday - defeating the Spanish Aramada. Also old map of the America's Islands! The British built Fort Charles in the shape of a ship, and it was right on the ocean when built - and now is about 100 yards away.

Port Royal

One of the days we were in Kingston last week, we had an afternoon free and drove out to the end of the harbor to visit Port Royal...of Piracy fame! Here is a plaque describing this.."wickedest city in the world" - and the earthquake that destroyed it. Elder Smith by the front cannons - Fort Charles info and more cannons!

Port Royal

Port Royal Jamaica

One of the days we needed to be in Kingston we had a whole afternoon free, so we drove out to Port Royal - in the 1600's claimed to be the 'wickedest city in the world"! Henry Morgon the pirate ran the place and there was much gambling and ladies of the night. An earthquake dumped most of the town in the bottom of the harbor - 1662! The fort remained and is pretty interesting to see.

More Comfort pictures

This week has been absolutely awesome - helping with the free clinics that the US Navy Hospital Ship Comfort provides has been truly a highlight of our first 6 months in Jamaica. Here is a picture of one of the Project Hope (Seventh Day Adventist Church) nurses helping the waiting children color - Project Hope also took the Navy Band that was on board and played at a school, then washed the children's feet and gave them all new shoes. One of the sailors told me they choose two of the biggest sailors with huge arms, to help wash the children's feet...very meaningful the week before Easter Sunday. I've included also a picture of the Physical Therapy dept. - young lady and fun tech. Last is a picture of Health Education/Nutrition - very important! Our young lady from the Port Antonio Branch had her surgery successfully and all the nurses told us they loved her! We were privileged to help her and her mother get to the ship and back home - great blessing in our lives. Words can not express the sweet spirit permeating this event - doing what the Savior would have us to all the time to our fellow human beings. LDS Charities was very much evident - they have light blue shirts on - we met some wonderful people. Many blessings!

Hospital Ship Comfort

Waiting for Service

Here is Elder Schaefermeyer (Humanitarian couple) celebrating with a Mom and son and their new glasses! The huge arena where the clinics were held - near the Jamaican National Stadium. My sister Becky Mitchell is in China teaching English - this is her friend Max Gyllenskog one of the LDS personnel on the ship. Also is a picture of the big tents where the patients get a number and have to wait for their number to be called.

More Comfort pictures

Our Church has been a great partner with this ship - over 8 semi-truck loads of supplies worth over a million dollars have been donated by the church. There are 26 LDS nurses and doctors on board now, 12 will be there for the whole 5 months, others come and go - 71 total will serve for no pay. They will give up 4-6 weeks of their private practice donating over 5,000 man hours - working 12 hour shifts. LDS Charities out of Salt Lake does the coordinating of the personal - Brother/Captain Fitch - US Navy Retired and a dentist - was the Group Leader for the members of the church that were on board - he and his wife were set apart Service Missionaries for the 5 months of the mission. One of the problems in the Latin American countries is the language barrier - there were 5 translators on board and the military asked Salt Lake if they could provide more - How many? "could use another 5" - we can provide more than 50 at each port!!! yeah for missionaries!! The LDS medical personal have light blue shirts on and a patch that said LDS Charities...it was fun to meet and talk with them. They must have let families tour the ship before deploying - this cute note was on one of the boards we saw. Here is one of the large admitting areas that we were allowed to see...also the Pediatric unit - large bunk on top for the child's escort (parent) and child on the bottom - Navy cribs look more like a cage to me!

US Navy Hospital Ship - Comfort

We had the privilege of attending a guided tour of the USNS Comfort - hospital ship that is on a five month tour of the Caribbean and Latin America. The first stop was Jamaica, then it will continue to Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Nicarogua, (sp) El Salvadore, Costa Rica, Panama, and Haiti - ending the 1st of September. Here we are on the 32 person launch that took us from shore to the ship - next is the door into the ship - we joked about having to climb rope ladders! These are the Nave personnel that guided us around - I thought their blue camo was a little funny - so you fall into the ocean and you don't want to be seen???

Artifacts

The Gardens had a small museum - this is a man trap - larger than a bear trap and much sadder! Also an English cannon - from 1720!!

Coyaba Gardens

For Preparation Day today the Russells and the Smiths went to the Coyaba Gardens, right here in Ocho Rios. Here are a few of the interesting flowers and trees, with our tour guide - David.

Different Food

In the Ethnic foods section of our local grocery store - I found these packaged foods - just wanted all of you to save those: 'dried orange peels' - for what, I don't know!

Sister Anderson's cookies

One of the other senior couples came to Ochie on CES business - Sister Anderson shared some of these fantastic cookies - so I'll share the recipe with you!

Sister Anderson's Cookies (Nieman Marcus Oatmeal Chocolate Chip)
Cream together: 2 cups butter, 2 cups white sugar, 2 cups brown sugar
Add and mix together well - 5 eggs, 2 Tbl. vanilla
Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended:
5 cups oatmeal - blended to flour consistency (blender or food processor)
4 coups flour, 1 small package instant vanilla pudding, 2 teaspoons baking soda,
two teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt.
Add in: 2 packages of chocolate chips, semi=sweet, milk, white or butterscotch
raisins, chopped nuts - almonds, walnuts, pecans.
Drop onto baking sheet with a teaspoon, bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, being careful not to overbake - this recipe makes about 130 cookies! This recipe can be halved easily - except for the pudding use it all! But Sister Anderson makes the whole batch and then puts a few cookies in a plastic bag in the freezer and they last a long time - yummy! enjoy!!

Visitors

We love to walk the sidewalks when there is a cruise ship in Ochie - we meet the most interesting people! Those who are members of the Church recognize our name tags and it is a delight to speak with them - here are two families of Jacksons from Vancouver, WA - yeah for visitors! They have a son on a mission in Mexico - and parents serving a Church Service mission in WA. Hooray for Missionary Work - and Spring Break!

Tribute to a special lady

Today is the funeral service of a dear friend of ours - Norma Jackson Leggett. We met in Northridge when she moved into our ward - she is a very special lady and we will miss her. thanks Norma, for all the fun laughs, wonderful dinners and great times - glad you are out of pain and at peace. Sister Leggett's husband e-mailed us that she had Elder Smith listed on her 'pre-need' list as the main speaker at her funeral - that can't happen, but I'm sure there will be happy memories of such a sweet friend.

General Conference lunch

This is Elder Peterson on the shoulders of Elder Fangaloa as they try to block out the sun so the TV screen isn't a glare for those of us watching General Conference. Elder Russell was offering emotional support! Also the nice Pot Luck that we had between conference sessions on Sunday - yummy food and fun! Sister Russell and I both made and brought three items - that helped on the food end! I will miss them when they head back to Utah the first week of May. I made a big pot of Cowboy Beans for both Sat. and Sun. and a chicken/grapes/macaroni salad plus Sister Jeske's chocolate cake - that recipe fills two pans and was great to cut into small pieces.