Barbados Bridgetown Mission

Back in December, before Rob received his call to the West Indies Mission, it was announced that the Church would realign the West Indies Mission and the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East Mission in July 2015, to create the Barbados Bridgetown Mission. Rob's companion/trainer and some of the other missionaries in his area are being transferred this week to areas that will take them out of the Barbados Bridgetown Mission, and into the new Trinidad Port of Spain Mission. But Rob will stay in Barbados another 7 weeks, keeping him in a mission that will include Anguilla, Barbados, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Elder Platt is happy to stay in Barbados, where he has some great investigators and member friends. His new mission president will be Alan C. Herrington. Here are notes from his email received today: "Things here are good! It rained all day yesterday. And yes, it was still hot. Lol. A lot of people looked at me and my companions (I'm in a tripanionship right now) and said, 'Man, how are you not cold!?' To which I replied 'Half of it is sweat and the other half is rain. It's still blazing hot out here. You people are crazy!' Randy [an investigator] set his own baptismal date for the 12th of July! Should be pretty sweet, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up." Rob will be getting a new companion this week, who has a reputation for not wanting to follow the rules. Rob's comment was "Yikes. I'll whip him into shape, though." (!) He also said, "I'll be in the Barbados Mission from here on out, which is pretty cool 'cause that's what I wanted! I'm excited to be here for the split. Plus I still have Jeff [a Branch member] who is the man." He also wished his dad a happy Father's Day and asked how his day was - and if Baxter (the dog) had received enough love and attention. Then to Roger: "Hey, I just wanted to thank you for being an awesome dad, for working hard for us and helping us achieve the things in life that we needed to. I know I haven't exactly been the easiest kid to raise, what with all my mishaps, but I want you to know how much I appreciate the example you've set for me and the guidelines you helped me create as far as this life goes. So thank you. Hope you have a good week. Talk to you next week!"

Rainy season in Barbados. Rob says this picture has been his week. Not an official mission map, just a reference to show areas of the new Barbados Bridgetown Mission.