Trinidad & Tobago Mission / West Indies Mission

Elder Darren Wilcox Account (1983)

My name is Darren Wilcox and my companion, Chris Romney, and I were the first Assistants to the President of the West Indies Mission. The mission was formed on June 14, 1983 at a mission conference of the Ft. Lauderdale Mission. President Kenneth Zabriskie, the Ft. Lauderdale Mission President, was called as the West Indies Mission President. He in turn called us, his assistants, to join him.

At that time, Haiti and Jamiaca were part of the Ft. Lauderdale Mission. They were combined with the other Indies islands to form the new mission. Quickly, Haiti and Jamaica became their own missions.

I served with Chris and Pres. Z for the final four months of my mission in the West Indies. Our office was still located in Ft. Lauderdale so Chris and I had a normal proselyting area there. We helped plan for and deliver new missionaries to their respective island assignments. Then we'd help with some initial training and offered support those first few rough days away from the states. We also helped with Zone conferences. Some we did on our own, most were with Pres. Z.

While I enjoyed my own proselyting area in Florida immensely, working with the Spanish people I'd been called to serve, I also found the experience in the islands to be truly life-changing. It was a truly remarkable thing to be so in the minority there but feel so welcome. And the typical increase in politeness and humility that typically is associated with getting away from the states was surely there. On the other hand, it was nerve-racking to be in Haiti where things often seemed on the verge of overthrow and in Jamaica the military seemed too anxious to display its armaments.

One of my favorite stories was the near-hijacking to Cuba. It was customary for us to book the first of two nightly flights from Miami to Jamaica when we took new missionaries to their first assignment. That way, if we missed the first flight, we could get the last one. There was one time that we were definitely running late and expecting to miss the first flight. We got to the airport and learned that the first flight had been delayed so we still were able to catch it. The next flight, the one we thought we'd be on, was hijacked to Cuba! Naturally, Chris and I were just a little bit curious if that could have been a chance for us to open Cuba to missionary work...well, like the sons of mosiah. I guess it wasn't quite Cuba's time but it was an understandable dream for two Spanish-speaking missionaries somewhat displaced into this new island mission.

Another interesting visit during the 4 months I was in the West Indies was to Trinidad. There were missionaries there although they were not officially recognized by the government for proselyting. They did not dress in the typical missionary clothes and they did most of their work with the branches there. We did sponsor a mini-marathon to bring some favorable publicity to the church. It was featured in the Church News. We chose the marathon because running seemed to be a real interest at the time.

Elder Matthew Fisk (1987-1989)

I entered the mission in 1997. When I entered there were over 20 missionaries on the island of Barbados. The other islands consited of St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Vincent, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Martinque. I was told that we also had missionaries on St. Lucia as well, but we had been asked to leave the island. President Caddick was mission president at the time and the mission office was on Barbados.

I spent the bulk of the early part of my mission in Oistins and was then called into the mission office for several months. It was during that time that Barbados passed it's law limiting the number of missionaries on Barbados. Antigua had 6 missionaries, Grenada - 8, St. Kitts - 6, St. Martin - 4, St. Vincent - 8, Guadeloupe - 4, and Martinique - 8. At it's peak Barbados had 8 missionaries in Oistins, 10 in Christ Church, 8 in Black Rock, and 6 in Speightstown (These figures include the couples). The Lord obviously put his hand in at this time because it was at almost the exact same time that Trinidad once again allowed LDS missionaries on the island. All the missionaries that were required to leave Barbados were shifted onto Trinidad.

Trinidad opened with 6 missionaries in the San Fernando district, and there were two districts in Port of Spain. I am told that it has really boomed over the last few years.

President Jeffs entered the mission field in 1988 just as Trinidad was opening. Both presidents were fantastic to serve under and were exactly what the West Indies mission needed at its point in growth.

I entered the mission field August of 199?. One month before I arrived the mission had been split and the Trinidad and Tobago mission was formed. Added to the Trinidad mission was Guyana and Suriname. French Guiana, which is also in South America, was added to the West Indies mission because the language spoken there is French.

After meeting the new mission president, Eldon Wood, I was assigned to the Island of St. Vincent. At that time there were 10 Elders and one couple. The work there was pretty slow and we spent the majority of our time tracting. In February of 1998 we received word that St. Vincent and Grenada were to be added to the Trinidad mission. The reason for this was because St. Thomas and St. Croix, both U.S. Virgin Islands, were to be added to the West Indies mission. These two Islands had been part of the San Juan, Puerto Rico mission but were English speaking, so the brethren thought it best to put them in our English speaking mission.

St. Croix had a thriving branch when we arrived in March 199?. My companion and I as well as a senior couple were the only missionaries on the Island. St. Croix had been struck by hurricane Hugo in 199?. The devastation it left required a lot of rebuilding. Many construction workers from the continental U.S. Came to find work. Two very strong Mormon families had come and both men were serving in the branch presidency. Therefore, St. Croix was a self-sustaining branch and the missionaries were able to concentrate on proselyting a lot more.

From St. Croix I was transferred to Barbados to the Black Rock Branch in September of 199?. The government had recently allowed two more missionaries to serve on the Island so there were 6 elders (Including the assistants) and 3 couples. In all three branches the couples were serving as the branch Presidents. Once again the work was slow and it seemed like the branches were in a maintenance phase where they just weren't growing. We needed to have more missionaries to really make a large difference in the size of the branches.

From Barbados I was transferred to Antigua where there was now only two Elders and a couple. But, a month later we received two more Elders which helped a lot. My companion and I tracted our entire half of St. John's and had only one baptism, which was a referral from a member. Although the work was slow here, the branch presidency and branch positions were self sustaining. A few months after I left Antigua, all the missionaries were taken off the Island (As well as most of the other English speaking islands). I thought that would mean the branch would collapse. However, my parents recently visited the Island on a vacation and they attended church. They said that the branch missionaries had been doing an excellent job and there were over 50 people attending church. That was great since we had trouble getting over 40 while I was there. Antigua still does not have its own meetinghouse.

Elder Jim Davis (1996-1998)

I entered the mission field May 23, 1996 and started my life as a missionary in Christ Church, Barbados. At the time Roy Valantine was the mission president of the West Indies mission. For some reason I had a strong desire to start in Barbados, I think it is because I heard it had the best living conditions of the islands and had most of the luxuries found in the states except for Dr. Pepper and Taco Bell. At the time I arrived in Barbados the work seemed to be going nowhere. It seemed like all we ever did was tract. We would teach a few first discussions a week and hardly any of these ever progressed past a follow-up. In my five months on B'dos, all of which were spent in Christ Church, I think I only taught four second discussions and two third discussions. Thankfully we were able to find and teach a family that was baptized.

My next stop was to the Kitty area of Georgetown, Guyana. At first the work in Guyana was going slow. By the time I left however missionary work in Guyana was going well. I saw a number of people in my area baptized in the six months I spent there. The other areas in Guyana were doing great also. I think there was a six to eight week stretch with at least one baptism a week. It was exciting to see. In the six months I was there the attendance at the Georgetown Branch sacrament meeting went from an average of 70 to over 100, with the highest I saw being 135 on my last Sunday.

Couva, Trinidad was the 3rd area I was in. This is the newest of the branches in Trinidad. With the formation of this branch from the San Fernando and Arima branches, the P.O.S. District was created. Couva was a little branch that was struggling to survive. There was a core of about 20 members who came to church every Sunday. Sometimes they were the only ones who would come along with the missionaries, but there were also random weeks when over 50 people would show up to church. I wasn't there so long (2 1/2 months) but a few people were baptize in that time. I spent three weeks in Petit Valley, Trinidad (This is in the P.O.S. Branch) before going home on medical leave with a injured back. As a result I didn't have a chance to see too much happen. The one thing that impressed me was the branch president, Gavin Ishmael. He was doing a great job and I think it was reflection on the branch.

After spending seven weeks back in Utah I was fortunate enough to return to the West Indies. For the last nine months of my mission I served in the Sangre Grande branch of Trinidad. When I first arrived there were only 52 people at church. During my time in Grande a miracle occurred. Within a matter of months, over 100 people were coming to church regularly. A branch that only had 5 convert baptisms in 1996 and 1997 combined had 43 in 1998 ( I was there for the first six months, and we hadn't reached 20 by then) This branch when I got there was really struggling. Then due to the workings of the branch president, Kennick Suepaul, who was the best branch president I ever worked with, and some other members, things started to change. It was amazing to see. As far as I know, Grande is the only branch in the mission where the members and families of the branch presidency and the branch clerk are all endowed members and are sealed. I think these blessings are a major reason they had as much success last year as they did.

Elder Jared Vanderhoff - 15 Dec.,2000

"I'm not sure what kind of stories you want about my mission, but here is one I love to share. It was an experience in San Fernando, Trinidad with my companion, Elder Thatcher.
One day we were suffering through a horrible day of tracting. We had not gotten into a single door all day. Finally, this really old man let us in. We began teaching the first discussion, but it was clear he was too old to grasp it. We just figured he would get it on the other side. As we were just about to leave, my companion decided to be funny by volunteering me to sing a song I had been working on. I asked, "What song?" He said, "We thank Thee, Oh God, for a Prophet; of course." I then responded that I would sing it if my companion would join me. He reluctantly agreed. As we began, we were taking it pretty lightly. You know, "(Laugh), you got me." Suddenly, a remarkable thing happened, the spirit of that great hymn entered the room.
A bit surprised, we looked at the old man and saw that tears were streaming down his face. Then, of course, tears came into our eyes. What started as a joke, turned into a very spiritual experience. That man may not have understood our message, but he certainly felt the spirit.
I believe the Lord blessed us for enduring through what would have otherwise been a rotten day, and at the same time humbled us for our lack of respect for sacred things. We left with renewed vigor, knowing that whatever we are doing in the Lord's name is His work and we never know when we may have a positive effect on somebody."