Elder Tague in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye
On May 21, 2014, Elder Tague was set apart as the second counselor in the El Salvador San Salvador West/Belize Mission Presidency. Needless to say, our activity level has grown considerably. He is responsible for the Belize City District which consists of five branches in the east and north of the country: Belize City Branch, Cinderella Branch (Spanish branch in Belize City), San Pedro Branch, Orange Walk Branch, and Corozal Branch. We are only in our home branches in Belize City once a month now. Every week we are travelling to one of the other branches.
Our first official visit was to the branch in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. We took a little 4-seater plane to the island which only took 20 minutes. There is a water taxi that goes to the island but it is a 1 1/2 hour ride and the seats are hard. On Sunday, the water taxi doesn't get there in time for the beginning of the meetings. The little plane was not only a fun adventure but a necessity.
The pilot's panel of guages
Elder Tague, co-pilot
We arrived in plenty of time for the meetings. There were about 65 people in attendance. It's a mixed group of Spanish speakers and English speakers so the meeting is conducted in both languages. Surprise! Elder and Sister Tague became the main speakers. We had not planned anything but since it was our first official visit, they decided to change their program. It was a case of extemporaneous talks. I took a leap of faith and spoke in both Spanish and English, translating for myself. Amazingly, it went quite well. (The Lord does bless missionaries with the gift of tongues). One of the Elders translated for Elder Tague. It was a very good meeting. After church, there was a baptism which was again performed at the beach.
The church in San Pedro
We stayed over night in San Pedro because the Elders there needed to find a new apartment. Their landlord decided he didn't want to rent to missionaries for some reason. We stayed at a small hotel right on the beach where the sea breeze was refreshing and the view was lovely.
Outside our hotel door.
We spent Monday working with the Elders and looking for a new place for them to live. The most common mode of transportation on the island is the golf cart. There are golf cart rental places every 2 feet it seems like. We rented one, of course. There are lots of bicycles, some motorcycles, and some delivery trucks. The only other vehicles on the roads were the ever present taxis. These were usually SUV's. The streets are narrow and the actual cars and trucks were almost too big. The missionaries ride bikes.
We are still negotiating a new home for the Elders. We have some good possibilities but the contract has to be accepted by the mission legal office so we are waiting for the paperwork to be completed.
There was an Elder in Orange Walk who was leaving for his mission in the Virgin Islands on Saturday, May 31. We went to Orange Walk on Friday for Elder Tague to set him apart for his mission. That was another first for Elder Tague. We are going to really enjoy getting to know the people in all the branches in our district. There are so many wonderful people here and we feel priviledged to be able to associate with all of them.
