A VERY SMALL WORLD

The succeeding pages inside this chapter deal with my recent visit to the United States of America and the Saints I met there. Why include this chapter if this book concerns the history of the members in Trinidad and Tobago ? Well, most of the local Saints have never been exposed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in foreign lands and I felt it important for them to 'see' just how worldwide, far reaching and yet still familiar members are around the world with this twin island.

I hope to visualize what I saw and express what I felt so you, the reader, can identify with places seen only in pictures and cultures unknown, because of distance.

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Monday, 7th July, 1997. It's five o'clock in the morning and the sun is still hiding behind the mountains, but here am I all dressed and ready to go to the airport. Pres. Alleyne came in his copper colored Chevy to take mom and me there. Our flight plan was to travel from Trinidad nonstop to New York and upon arrival take a train to Maryland where we would stay with Anna, my sister and Tom, my brother-in-law. I don't mind flying, but the rigors of air port officialdom tend to irritate me not to mention sitting and waiting which seems to be the call of the day:

--sit in the taxi waiting to get to the airport
--sit in the lobby waiting to board the plane
--sit in the plane and wait to arrive
--sit in the plane and wait to get off

When we got to the airport we found out that our flight was delayed until five in the evening and we would have to wait, so do you see how flying, sitting and waiting are dully intertwined ?

Pres. and Sr. Alleyne were nice enough to have us at their home to pass the time. If you have never been on an airplane then don't pass up the opportunity if the offer comes your way. Many people usually dislike flying, especially take off and landing where one's internal organs feel like someone's giving them a massage due to the g-force, speed, and angle of ascent and descent. As I was on the plane I reflected on the blessing I recently had under the hands of Pres. Alleyne and Elder Davis. This blessing was for guidance on what was to be my great spiritual journey. The airline sponsored our stay in the Ramada hotel because of their tardiness which caused us to miss our train. Traveling really drains you and both of us quickly went into a deep dream mode when we hit our beds.

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Tuesday, 8th July, 1997. New York City is very cosmopolitan. Never have I seen so many different races, languages, and cultures all in one place, it was like being in a mysterious exchange school. There are a lot of interesting and even weird customs and ideals in that city which I will not focus on, but I will note that this (New York) was the State of the Church's birth and many other wonderful and glorious blessings that came to mankind through the Lord's prophet: Joseph Smith.

We took a taxi to the train station on the way I saw The Statue of Liberty from a distance. To the Americans this is a significant symbol of the right of all men to have justice and freedom. However, many do not understand the true type of liberty that can only come through the redemptive sacrifice which Jesus Christ has made to unto him. Thus many walk freely in the world, but in their own soul they are trapped and confused.

I also pondered the many countries that do not allow its citizens to worship according to the dictates of their beliefs. While in the train station I sat and waited, as usual, for our train to Maryland. During this time my eyes fell on a young boy around two and a half years old playing with a pram by himself while his parents looked on. I'm sure the watchful parents did not mind him having fun moving the pram backwards and forwards, but he was doing it in the middle of a passenger walkway which annoyed them. The father kept calling the young boy, but he continued on and ignored his father's beckon. Then the obvious happened the young boy made an awkward zig zag in his steps and fell over with the pram. The young boy then looked around to see who was looking at his tragedy and with an expression of great dislike he started to cry like three hungry banshees. Nobody moved. The father, after a delay of about twenty seconds, walked over quite casually to the area of his son's accident, looked down on his fallen state, and then reached down and with much care picked up the pram, fixed it on its wheels and then returned to his seat while his son accident on with great amazement. I was pretty amazed myself why did he not pick up his son ? Does he value the pram more ? The young boy, after some coaxing from his mother, got off the floor and as though nothing had happened, went over to the pram again, but this time chose to stay out of the walk way. He learned his lesson the hard way because he refused to heed the warnings of those who foresaw the outcome of his doing. I realized the father was trying to teach his son an important lesson a lesson we oft times forget. Our Heavenly Father gives us trials for us to learn He does however warn us of imminent danger for he has set guidelines, commandments which are to be obeyed. It is for our benefit and freedom. As we listen and obey we gain his all powerful hand in our lives, but our refusal causes us to be far from the reach of His help. Like the father and his disobedient son we may hear constantly the warning of our spiritual leaders and refuse to hearken until it is too late and nothing can be done to prevent the hurt that comes from disobedience to the commandments. This hurt can be avoided if we hearken. Our loving Heavenly Father knew we would fall at and provided a way for us to amends for our errors.

Well, we traveled through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and then to Maryland where we got off the train in Baltimore City. Anna, met and took us to her home where we stayed. It was good to be back in the States after ten long years.

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