PORT OF SPAIN TRINIDAD DISTRICT

PORT OF SPAIN TRINIDAD DISTRICT - The purpose of this chapter is to become familiar with those who play direct roles in the District's organization -- that is to say, the District officers. However, I've also included the Mission Presidents and C.E.S. Coordinators, because their roles have been equal or more important to the cause of or formation of the Port of Spain Trinidad District.

"In the Kingdom, the greater our responsibilities, the greater in our need to see ourselves as servants."
(Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign May 1979, pg.107).

To answer the call of leadership is no easy task for in it comes not just a title, but plenty commitment on your part to make sure you have not just inherited position but action. Yeats said it well,

"In dreams begin responsibility."

PRESIDENT ROY R.VALANTINE, President of the West Indies Mission related to me the reasons for the long delay in forming the District after he announced it to us on the 14 September, 1995, until its realization on the 3rd march, 1996.

"In speaking with Elder Howard as he visited the mission, he encouraged me to make plans for Trinidad becoming a District. I felt that we needed to have stronger Branches and more active priesthood leaders before creating a district".

"Thereafter, from time to time, in conversations with him, he would ask me to report on the progress towards becoming a District. As I explained my reservations, he counseled me that sometimes we just have to go ahead, and with faith, put it in the hands of the Lord. After prayerful consideration, I felt that he was right, and began the formal application for a District".

Obviously a District President would be needed and Pres. Valantine continued to tell how it became Albert Alleyne.

"I followed the Lord's counsel: I prayerfully studied a list of the available priesthood brethren, made a choice, presented it to the Lord, and received the confirmation from the Spirit. I have a great feeling of joy since the District was created, I now know why Elder Howard kept encouraging me".

Well the Port of Spain Trinidad District was now formed and Pres. Valantine shared his vision for the future of the District and how its leadership has done so far in making sure it is fully functional.

"My vision is for this new District to become a stake. To become fully organized. To help members and Branches grow. To provide ongoing leadership training and motivation. This has been done excellently by its newly called leaders, who work with our 'skeleton District' ('skeleton' refers to the lack of resources and priesthood to fill positions within the District)."

I then asked a few questions to which he gave the following responses --
How has the District enabled you to have less to worry about as far as the Church goes ?
"The District has relieved me of a tremendous amount of responsibility. I have been able to be freer in traveling the mission without having to plan my trips around leadership meetings and responsibilities. I have felt the benefit of local members training local members, instead of foreigners training local members."

Please tell us how you felt during your three years serving as Mission President.
"It has been a truly incredible experience. I have grown closer to the Lord. My testimony has been strengthened. I have met many outstanding members of the Church, and I have seen their growth in the Gospel. Yes, there are hard times and disappointments, but the blessings far outweigh any problems."

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What is your vision for the West Indies Mission ?
"D & C 64:33 "Be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work" . When I left France 45 years ago, I had no concept of what the Church would become in the areas I knew, and today I am amazed at the growth. The same will be true for the West Indies, except now I know what to expect: continual growth, a Stake, wards, and more buildings and Branches. As Joseph Smith once said, "Nothing can stop the work from progressing."

What will you do when you get back home, will you ever serve a mission again and any last words ?
"I'll fix up the house and the yard, visit with friends and family. If our health permits my wife and I would serve again. Remember hymn #254 'True to the Faith' and the words of Doctrine and Covenants 59:23;
"Learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in; the world to come."

Some years later, after the above questions above and the end of the Valantine's mission, I asked Pres. Valantine to make an account of interesting happenings that took place while he was in Trinidad. He sent the following experiences that I have compiled in random order:

"A young man from Trinidad serving as a missionary in our mission told how he had brought two young women into the Church; one who just returned from a mission, and the other who will be returning soon from a mission to India. He met the first one at school, and since she was not drinking alcohol like the others around them, he told her about the Church, and asked if she would like to meet with the missionaries. She said "no", but on another day, he brought them anyway. After talking with them, she decided to start the lessons, joined the Church, and just returned from serving an honorable mission. He met the other in Kentucky Fried Chicken. He was reading the Book of Mormon, and someone started to verbally "bash" him. After the person left, this girl said she admired him that he didn't yell back or anything. They talked a while, and found that she lived near him. His Mom was coming to pick him up, so he offered her a ride. On the way home, his Mom invited her to his birthday party the following week, the missionaries were there also, she took the lessons, and is now serving in India."

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"I interviewed Sister Raphael (President Raphael's mother) this morning. She joined in 1981. A fifteen year old son had a dream of two white men in white shirts that had something for his Mom, and he brought them to her. It made quite a strong impression on him, but neither he nor his mother understood it. Two weeks later he told her that he heard that a new, strange religion had come to Trinidad, and he wanted her to go to an open house at the city hall, and find out about it. She said "No. If you're interested, you go." He said, "You're already going to town to the doctor, so you go." They argued back and forth, but her final answer was "No." While waiting for the doctor, his insistence caused her to think about it over and over, and it was though someone was asking her over and over to go. She finally decided that she would go. After her doctor's appointment, she started down Frederick Street to the city hall where the open house was to be held. Part way there, she saw an older, white man in a white shirt and tie coming the other direction on the other side of the street. He looked at her, crossed over to her, asked for a few minutes, and invited her to the open house. She had no idea why he had singled her out. She didn't tell him that she had already decided to go, but said that she had to find her two daughters who were shopping further down the street, and then they would come. He turned around and started walking with her, meanwhile telling her about the Church. Just when they got to the city hall where the open house was, there came her two daughters! That was how she first learned about the Church, and started the lessons. She and her children joined. One daughter is on a mission now, one son is the branch president of the Port of Spain branch, and except for one son, they are all active. She said the son's dream started it, his insistence that she go continued it, and the way she was singled out on the busy street, how he walked with her telling her about the Church, and how the daughters arrived just at the right time without her having to look all over for them, all makes her feel that she was indeed led to the true Church. There were only 12 members in Trinidad in 1981, so there has been great progress."

Adventures in Trinidad life... Pres. Valantine's fun time...

"We had an alarm system for the mission home, but it was a source of many problems. One time, one of our missionaries who had bad knees was staying in the mission home getting ready to go home. He got up very early one morning while it was still dark to do his knee exercises, and stumbled and fell against our large sliding windows, which set off the alarm. Jane came rushing out of the bedroom, just as he came rushing up to the bedroom to tell us it was all right, and no one had broken in. It scared poor Jane half to death to open the bedroom door and see this figure rushing towards her in the dark!"

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"Another problem we had with it, was that there were some electrical wires in the attic where the insulation had worn off, and the wire for the alarm was right beside that part of the electrical wire. One night we had just said goodnight to the new missionaries who had just arrived in our mission, and preparing to go to bed I turned off the office light switch. This set off the alarm, and scared us all to death! Another time, a member had come to see us in the evening not knowing that we were on tour. We had a doorbell on the wall outside the gate, and when he pushed it, the alarm went off! If we don't call with a code telling them that it is a false alarm, then they send out an armed patrol. He later told us that here came this car screeching up, two guards jumped out with their guns, and there he was shaking in his boots, and wishing he had never pressed the bell!"

"Shortly after our arrival, we were invited to dinner at the Clays (an office couple), and after, went with them and two other couples to the Caroni Swamp to see the scarlet ibis. The other couples were the Morrisons (branch president of Sangre Grande), and the Colbys (branch president of Arima), It was at dusk (that's when the ibis fly home to nest in trees in the swamp), and the mosquitos were terrible! Jane and I were eaten alive, right through our clothes! We had bites on our arms, legs, ankles, feet, and even on our bottoms! Jane had at least 65! Mine swelled way up, and got big red places as big as a dime around each one. One ankle and foot swelled up 1 1/2 times its normal size. Neither of the Colbys received one bite! You have to take a long boat ride to get to the proper area, and you can't get too close, or the birds will leave that nesting area. They are very sensitive, nervous, and wary. They are easily driven away from their nesting sites by human intruders. The ibis are somewhat gray when young, but as they eat certain crabs containing a special pigment, carotene, it makes them turn a bright, beautiful scarlet! In captivity, they must be fed vegetables with enough carotene or they will not become scarlet. As dusk falls, they begin coming; first, just one or two at a time, and eventually large bunches of them. There are several small "islands" of mangrove trees, and they settle down on the branches until almost every branch is covered with them. There are also some white birds that come and nest there also, and it looks like Christmas lights on the trees with birds ("lights") right down to the water all around the small "islands." It was very beautiful and spectacular!''

"At the mission home, there were two large water tanks, but they were never full because the water just dribbled in with no more water than a leaky faucet. There was a water pump to pump it into the house. Since the tanks were never full, it was easy to run out of water, which we did several times. The Church sends someone to inspect all the Church properties each year, and to recommend various repairs, upkeep, etc. One year when the man came, he said they should clean out our water tanks, so we hired some people to do it. When they came, they told Jane that there was a little frog in one of the tanks! When I came home she told me to tell them to get it right out, as they wouldn't pay any attention to her! Local people have a phrase that they like to use when you try to find out when they are going to do something, or when a workman is going to come. It is, "just now", which means absolutely nothing! So when I asked, they said they would get the frog out "just now." The next day (a Friday) when I got back from the office, I asked if they had gotten it out, but they still hadn't, and said they would do it on Monday. When I showed concern about leaving it in all that time, they answered, "It's okay, the water is clean. Otherwise, the frog would have died!"

Not so good times, but they made it through...

"Two elders in Trinidad were walking to an appointment and passed a group of men "liming." They said "hi" and kept on going. After they had gone a short distance, they heard someone calling to them, but couldn't understand what he was saying. They turned around and saw a man running at them, threatening them with a rum bottle. One elder thought he was going to throw it, so ducked. When he straightened back up, the man hit him on his forehead with the bottle, and split it open! He had to get 9 stitches. Then the next day he was bitten on both legs by a dog! The following is what he wrote: "So far, I've endured two bad knees, a rum bottle to the noggin, dog bites to both legs, being bitten by thousands of ants in a coconut tree, being mysteriously sick for four months, having all my cool stuff stolen by hoodlums, inhaling a ton of car exhaust full of lead, and suffering many other afflictions which were grievous to be borne!"

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"One time the missionaries knocked on a door, which was opened by a man. He shouted at them, "There's no one home," and slammed the door!"

Many thanks to Pres. Valantine for his diligence in the work of the Lord.

SISTER VALANTINE, a hard working 'mission mom', was always a great example to the Sisters in Trinidad and shared some of her feelings with me about their potential;

"The Sisters here have taught me the true meaning of love. I have learned that wherever you go in the Church, you will find a true Sister in the Gospel. I would counsel the Sisters to stay close and support one another; make the Branches and your homes places of refuges against the storms of life; teach your children that their greatest joy is found within the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As they exemplify many attributes such as patience and long-suffering, forgiveness and supporting each other then they will become more Christ-like."

Sr. Valantine's personal testimony of the Gospel has grown to be a special blessing to her because of the testimonies of new converts, members and missionaries. In relating what she would expect to find if she were to return to Trinidad ten years from now, Sr. Valantine said;

"I would look for familiar faces in Church hoping that the ones I remembered were still there, still faithful, and still enduring to the end. I would rejoice with them in the Lord like Alma did when he met again with the sons of Mosiah. I would expect to see many other souls that had come unto Christ during my ten years of absence. I would hope to see the missionaries' blue planners filled with names of people to teach. I would hope that the people could enjoy the blessings of a stake being organized in Trinidad and Tobago. As temples get closer and closer, I would like to see the Saints locally receive the blessings of the temple."

Many thanks to the Valantines for their efforts in moving the work forward in our land.

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