May 27, 2013

 Burger Grande!

 Three month cake with Elder Nelson.

 Elder Faimuii and banana cake - YUM!

 My mission father, Elder Hamilton.

Drinking coconut water with investigator, Ricky.

HEY!  Wow, 3 months today!!! Gosh, it totally feels like it, but at the same time I’m 1/8 done, that’s crazy!! Well, this week was great. We did a lot of street contacting. At first I wasn’t comfortable with it at all! I was like gospel retarded and now I’m getting the hang of it and it’s just interesting and really fun to talk to random people and try to help them understand and maybe pick them up as a new investigator! We are starting to teach a Jehovah Witness, we hear they are hard to convert, but I feel good about this one! Also started teaching a 7th day, they are rough too and know the Bible so well, but it’s been fun!  This week we started working with everyone in the Kelly’s yard or Mama Lee's yard. We got in a little fun loving argument that turned around on us and even though joking, they joke with no easement of pain! I got the belt to the face and a stick to the back, it was an intense battle but for the victory or 4 new investigators and getting super comfortable with that yard and letting them know, you know we are real people who have fun and not just teaching, preaching robots!! Taught the lesson in gospel principles on repentance today! They love playing hangman so that’s how we always start and we hung the man. They had a hard time guessing the word-  my words were YOURE AWESOME, haha, but the lesson was so good, haha .. that sounds humble.  But it was full of participation and I read a story at the end, if you haven’t heard it look it up, it’s called  “The file room”. Makes me cry everytime, but brings the spirit so strong! Was a great day! So today being my 3 month mark and forgetting that on celebration days in Jamaica they flour people on their birthday, or on their 3 MONTH marks, I got floured in the shower today!!  Followed by some cake Elder Faimuii and Elder Nelson brought over that my great father, Elder Hamilton, got me with a bag of bag juice!! Haha, pretty sweet dude!!  Oh goodness my finances are just off the wall.  This week was just rough- my bike axel broke had to get that fixed costing $2500, had to buy propane to cook with $3000.  Had to use my card a lot on top of groceries and hopefully survive this week cuz I’m outta money and we have to taxi and spend all Wednesday and Friday out in Kingston cuz Elder Cornish from the seventy is coming to talk to us!! So excited get to see Everyone on the island-  gonna be like Christmas!!  Oh so food this week was like awesome!!  Made A LOT of burger Grandes, and BLTs on pita bread with REAL CHEESE and BACON!!! Sooooo DELICIOUS!!! Also got a little work-out gear together! I got a huge like 10 gal propane tank for lifting, I guess some 6 gal water jugs a curling bar and stuff its super RedNEck. I’ll have to send some pics! But it feels good, being fat just isn’t awesome, okay!! Transfer calls in two weeks?! Gosh it’s crazy, leaders keep coming up and asking me if I’m ready to train next transfer. Hope it’s just rumors, but I don’t know!!! I love mission life, it’s awesomeee!!  Love you all, have a fantastic week!!! 

May 20, 2013

 Maxine's baptism.  Niccola Campbell is the one in the blue shirt.

Whoa, where did the week go!!?! it feels like Wednesday! Yes, Maxine’s baptism went well. She asked me to baptize and I had to only dunk her twice cuz her foot popped up a lil!  It went so well though!  Her friend, Niccola Campbell, she is the one that referred her to us and she spoke on baptism.  It was so spiritual and I cried.. imagine that.. ha! But yes, it was great! Oh I miss all the sports, even baseball sounds fun right now!! We play games every family home evening on Monday, that’s about all the fun we have for activities, but we did play monopoly after emailing last week and Elder Hamilton tried to get them to work against me, but I’m sorry I haven’t been humbled yet!  That’s my game and I win! :) They held a huge primary fun day for the whole district which we helped prepare while we were filling up the font on Friday cuz it takes like 3 hrs to fill. That was a lot of fun. I don’t remember anything like that back home, but it was a lot of fun out here and just getting to know the branch more!!  Sounds like you guys are having some fun camping!  I don’t even wanna think about camping... along with the mosquitos that are out here they are so much more vicious!  I have new bites everyday! Elder Shurtlif got bit by a spider out here and we had to take him to the hospital and get two shots in the butt (cuz they don’t do the arm out here) to take down the swelling- soooo gotta watch out for spiders!! Next p day we are planning a trip to Ochi so maybe will get some awesome pics there. I hear it is really pretty out there! Not too much new down here! Got another baptism coming up in two weeks, his name is Rick, he is a boss! Studies and asks questions that are so deep -  he’s awesome!!  We are at the point now we need to find some new people.  We had quite a bit and were doing good,  but two progressing investigators moved and one got locked up for breaking his girlfriend’s jaw and stabbing her... Never saw that out of him, he was such a nice kid.  The week has been great. Church was so spiritual yesterday.  The theme this month is on temples and it was just awesome!  We are working with a lot of less actives and it’s really sad -  some we go see and they haven’t been visited by the branch in like over 15 years... missionary work is pointless if we can’t hold the fruits so we do tons there and personally I would be content doing less active work my whole mission!  But in the next 3 transfers we have 25 new missionaries coming in so like everyone will be training soon! And lots of leadership will be opening cuz ‘bout 12 going home that are like zone leaders and district leaders right now! Pretty nuts but exciting! Elder Cornish from the seventy is coming on the 31st to speak so way exciting there! And yah, that’s about it for the week! Nothing too exciting but it was a great week nonetheless!!  Love you all! 

May 13, 2013

We got to skype with Sterling for an hour on Mother's Day.  It was so good to see him and talk to him.  It was a little bit hard to hear him because he had to speak into a mic and with five of us trying to ask him questions it was a bit crazy, but it was good.  We got to see a few of the people from the branch which was cool and we could see the part of the church where he was sitting.  Everyone that walked by him would rub his head!  He says they like to do that because they think his hair is soft.  Most of the people just shave their hair and the women wear wigs. He seems to be doing well although he says it’s hard work – not physically, but spiritually.  He told us that they spend most of their time working with less active members and with referrals.  He said that they’ve only done two days of finding while he’s been out.  The branch has about 400 members, but only about 100 are active. The area is really poor and most people don't have couches or bathrooms. Only about 7 families in the branch have cars.  But most everyone has a cell phone!  Mama Maxine's baptism was delayed for one week so he's looking forward to that this week.  He's tired of ramen noodles and oatmeal so if anyone has easy microwave or stovetop recipes, he would love them.  Food is pretty expensive, especially fresh fruit, but he says they eat quite a bit of mongo (mango- but not too much or you get runny belly).  They just have dry milk and processed cheese.  

May 6, 2013

Sorry, pics aren’t working again this week.  The computer lady scanned my flash drive that I put my sim card in and it just doesn’t work anymore.  I don’t know what happened, but will get pics up asap!!  I can’t believe another week has flown by!!  This week has been nuts.  So monday after emailing, we went to send off our packages and the post office wouldn’t allow them without brown wrapping paper so we kept walking into stores and they would direct us to another store to check and we did that for probably an hour.  Then we were headed up to fedex and this guy calls out to us mormons and we turn back of course.  He says something about the book of mormon so we are headed back, didn’t quite hear him so we head back to talk to him and he runs in his shop.  We are like wait, where is he going? and he comes out with a machete!!  So we do what smart people do when crazy man with machete is chasing you.. RUN!!!  Hah, pretty nuts, turns out he is one of many psychos.  We finally get to fedex and let’s just say it’s a joke.  It’s like literally a 10x10foot shop stuffed FULL of Teddy bears.  This lady part time makes gift baskets so teddy bears everywhere, and lotion. So she is super unorganized, after about 3 hours of paper work and stuff we finally get out of there! Ridiculous!!  Haha,  the rest of the week was pretty chill.  Wait!  No, not at all.  You think I was a mean brother, ha, think again.  Walk by places, kids beating each other with the belt, throwing rocks at each other and even watched a sister take a shovel to a boys head!  Rude children!!  So its hurricane season ‘til like October I guess!  It POURED friday, saturday and part of sunday!!  It flooded out some of our investigators. I hope my pics will upload !  It was awesome, we are biking on the roads and well they were now community swimming pools. Taxis would open their doors and you had to be quick cuz the water would flow right in!  We were DRENCHED!!  The worst part was you couldn’t see the pot holes, it was just an adventure!!  Mama Maxine, an investigator, we were up in knee high water, she is preparing for baptism May 11^th.  Hope everything goes well with the interview!!  Also, the rain was so heavy it took down Sis Kelly’s roof so working on getting her a new one!  They need curb and gutter, Dad!  Come let them know what’s up!!  Also learned this month is child’s month... kids have already gone missing.  I guess this crazy voodoo religion thing they take kids, drain their blood, and sacrifice them.  It’s terrible so we don’t see children outside very much anymore, it’s weird…and freaky.  Sundays are just terrible, they are so stressful.  It is not a day of rest at all.  Trying to get investigators out to church!  And everything with the lessons and talks and all, its just not fun, especially on fast Sundays, and you gotta keep working hard and you have no strength!!  But yah, that was pretty much my week!  I really am loving the work and loving the people!  This white boy loves it and would be content staying in Spanish Town all mission, but I’ll go wherever the lord wants me!!  Talking to a cement guy in our branch to see if he can build some weights… need to get working out! and eating better.  I really am getting fat, it’s so not cool!!  Well, headed to shop ,liccamor y'all!  

Flooded at Mama Maxine's