ONLY 8 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! AHHH! I guess you could say I'm a wee bit excited. I seriously don't even know where the time has gone. No idea. I still feel like I just got to Nassau.... I've been here coming up in over 6 months! And Christmas is in 8 days? It never ceases to amaze me how time flies. President Hendricks asked me in our interview the other day if it seemed like my mission was flying by or going slow. He said something that surprised me. When I told him how fast it was going he said "Good."... Good? Then he expounded a bit by saying "I find that missionaries who are enjoying their missions and want to be here say their missions feel like their going fast. That's a healthy sign." Well, consider me the healthiest horse in all the land because it's cruising right along.
Speaking of cruising, Yes, I got Sis. Evans email! When I read it Elder Worley said "Your Mom probably freaked out when that happened!" Was there a freak out? I think it's funny Dad thought you would want to cancel your Christmas plans because our phone call couldn't happen on Christmas Day. No worries, Boxing Day will be just fine. I'll Skype from the church, that way we aren't bothering the E's or D's two days in a row. The internet connection here is really good, we got it fixed a while ago. That will work out perfect because we have district meeting Wednesday morning from about 10 -12, grab a bite to eat and chat to you guys! Make sure you take lots and lots of pictures! I lost one of the rechargeable batteries for my camera and went through a set just for the Battle for Atlantis, gonna have to grab some more for Christmas pictures!
Have you got my package in the mail yet?? I sent it in the beginning of November... if it gets lost in the mail I will be sooooooooo bummed. So so bummed.
This week was one of our best weeks in quite a while. There were a lot of good things that happened and not many bad things. Good things - bad things = good week. One thing Elder Worley and I are doing is teaching a man how to speak English. It's a completely new thing for me, I'm not sure how great of teachers we are... but we are trying. His name is W, he's 35, married in the temple, his Father has lived here for 14 years. Bro. R (W dad) has 10 kids, most in Haiti, but they are a super family in the church. He's had like 4 sons serve missions, W served in the District presidency there, super stars in the gospel. It's hard to do anything in the church when you can't speak the language. So about twice a week we teach both of them some English. At first we weren't sure what to do but we thought about it and came to the conclusion that the best thing for both of them would be to learn first how to pray and maybe recite the Sacrament prayers so the can participate in meetings. And to speak in as much English as possible to each other- which isn't much- but it's hard to learn a language when you're only speaking it a couple hours out of a week and the rest of the time you're speaking creole. So that's been a task as of lately, it's going well. W is making progress. When we teach it's just like teaching the gospel- very, very simply. Which is how it should be. No point in teaching complicated when people aren't going to understand it.
Another cool thing that happened this week was... we got a referral! Who actually wants to meet with us! We were out at DHL picking up a package and we got a call from a member who lives near by and she said she had someone she wanted us to teach. So we rolled over there and met K. A super nice lady and has a little boy. Very sincere. We went back to meet with her Saturday but she was a bit tied up so we are going back Tuesday. But we were able to have a really great sit down lesson with her the first time we met her. Not even really a lesson, more like an initial overview of what she's looking for and what we believe. It was nice.
We met up with a guy named A this week. We met two weeks ago while walking to the immigration office while our car was being serviced. Super cool guy, got some big plans in life. We set up a time to meet with him and had a great lesson. As of lately, sit down lessons are so scarce it's so refreshing to have them. We were just talking about life and his plans and just like Elder Holland said, something always ties into a principle of the gospel. Everything A was saying was tying into the gospel- his questions, his concerns, it's one of those feelings like when you're in the MTC and just learning how to teach and it's all laid out there so you don't miss it. Kinda like teaching C, everything seemed perfect. He wants to marry his girlfriend and have a family, wants to provide a good life for her and their eventual kids, looking for the purpose of life... great time to run into the missionaries! He's leaving right after Christmas to go to a community college in Arkansas and then eventually to University of Arkansas to be an engineer- the Little Rock, Arkansas mission is going to be getting a great refferal in a couple weeks!
E is doing well! He was at church yesterday, we've moved his date back to January 13th. We had a great lesson on the word of wisdom and law of chastity. No problems. I remember at the first of my mission teaching the law of chastity was so awkward... you got kinda squirmy explaining it. Just because it's something totally new you're talking about. The Caribbean culture is completely opposite of the law of chastity. You've just met this person and you're going to tell them to stop having sex with their significant other who they are not married to or to stop watching pornography, when their whole life it hasn't been a bad thing. 17 months later, teaching the law of chastity is the easiest thing to teach. It's so simple. Do things in God's order and you will be blessed. Cut and dry. The hard part comes in when you're helping them overcome their old habits.
We had an AMAZING branch Christmas party! I'll get the pictures from Elder Worley, it was so sweet!! The best branch function of my mission yet. There was probably 90 people there, great food, great people, great conversation, it was great! When the food was served we went Pryor's waiter style and were doing drinks and getting people food, it was awesome. That's something that's always stuck with me, among many things from working at the restaurant, is Capri and Kevin saying "Whatever you do, make sure everyone's drink is full. Full drinks = happy customers". It's true, I had a two liter of soda in each hand and was going to town on the drink full up! It was lots of fun, we performed two songs. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on the guitar and then the First Noel with me on the ax and Elder Worley on the keys- turned out nice. There was a full PA system and mixing board and everything so the sound was good. I love playing and singing for people. You couldn't catch me singing unless it was with the band before now- a mission changes many aspects of your life for sure! It was really good for our missionary work too - not the singing part, but the party- Bro. D was there, a few potential investigators came, a ton of less actives showed up, it was really great.
As far as working out and eating healthy, last week got away from us. BUT! We've re-grouped and are ready to be perfect this week.
As far as Sacrament meeting goes, they do a great job here. Things run how they should, nothing out of the ordinary. We always stand and sing an intermediate number, that's a little different, no musical numbers from members. There is a choir but they've only performed once in the 6 months I've been here. Every once in a while something will pop up that isn't the norm but the leaders are good at being on top of things. The biggest difference is starting on time. They've been doing a good job as of lately of starting right at 10, but there are like 15 people in the chapel at 10, and by the end of Sacrament meeting you've got about 100. There isn't a huge sense of timeliness in the Caribbean.
I miss the Pryor's crew! I had to take a second to realize that it was MJ - I'm used to seeing a pregnant MJ haha Is anyone new working there? When I left it was Kev, Capri, Missy, MJ, Cheryl, Morgan, Pam, and a new girl who's name escapes me at the moment, I think that was it. They're looking good though, the last two months I've had the biggest craving for a Fish Taco - nobody does it like Pryor's!
I'll attach some pics in a different email. I love you!! Talk to you in 8 days!!
Elder Romney
Ward Christmas Party
Happy Missionary
A potential band member?
TCBY Frozen Yogurt!
J's Homies!
Anonymous Angel
Ward Christmas Party
Young Men and Young Women skit
Horns in every country
Ward members
Ummm this is sparkling cider!!!!!
Relax J it is just cider!
chillin'
Ward Christmas Party
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