November 2010

11-2-10
This past week was alright. It's been kind of tough, because we don't get out to work a lot, because Elder Ramnarain is sick. So, that's kind of tough, but next transfer is going to be a good one. I'm staying again, (transfers are next week)
But, everything else is great. Haven't found a lot of investigators, but we are trying to get less active work rolling. We have been working with a family for a while named the Garcia's. They have a few things that are holding them back, and each of them is really on a different level. Sister Garcia is pretty close to coming back. She was for a while, but the past few weeks, due to the fact that we haven't been out much, we haven't got to visit her, so I think that is one of the reasons wy she hasn't been coming.

So, My companion will be Elder Jensen. I was supposed to be with him last transfer, but things happened, and I ended up with Elder Prince. But, I will be with him next transfer, so that should be good. He's not sick, either, so we will get to go out more.
There was a storm in a lot of the Islands of the mission this last week. It wasn't super super terrible, but there was some damage. It was supposed to hit Trinidad. People got all freaked out, and things were closing early, and there was an activity that cancelled. And guess what. It didn't even rain until after the threat was already gone. So, that was kind of funny.

11-8-10 (The post to which Brandon refers is the Grace vs Notus Miracle game)
That is really sweet. I think I have read through the post like three times by now. You sent it to me, Dustin sent it to me, and Dad tried to send it to me as well, but I could only see a little bit, and it acted like a link to the actual page. But that basically made my day. This past week has been kind of tough. We only taught 3 lessons. It was terrible, but that really boosted my spirits. It's really amazing what can happen when there is a vision. I'm sure the entire football team knew that they still could win. That has been a problem in the past, and has led to all the loosing seasons. It's all about a goal. And knowing that it can be accomplished, no matter the size of the opposition.
But, other than not getting out very much this past week, it was alright. I think I told you, I got the Book of Mormon, but not the Bible yet. I also noticed that when I went to draw money out that I didn't have any or it just wouldn't let me right then. I will try again, but I thought I'd let you know.
Well, Tranfers are this week. I will be with Elder Jensen. In the office still. I think that I told you already. I'm excited. This past transfer, I have had to do basically everything in the office by myself. Plus, we haven't been able to get as much work done as I would have liked. But this transfer will be different. It's going to be good. I'm excited for it.

11-18-10
This past week has been pretty hectic. I'm emailing on thursday due to that fact. It has been leadership training, so I have had to drive everyone around once again. All last week and so far all this week I have been working on a form for the mission to track retention and reactivation rates. It's pretty intense. I have been learning a lot about programming, using microsoft excel for some pretty complicated programming things. I tried to convince everyone that I actually wasn't that good with computers, but nobody believed me, and so I have been forced to learn a lot about things like that.
So, Elder Jensen isn't my companion anymore. Again. Elder Ramnarain went home, but there is a missionary that they didn't let into Trinidad, so Elder Jensen went to the area that he was supposed to be going to. Now, I am with Elder Hernandez. He is from Sangre Grande, Trinidad. This is his second transfer, so he was home when I served in his ward. It is pretty cool, actually. But I'm not sure if I am going to get out of the office next transfer. But, who knows. Maybe President will take compassion upon me.
But, Elder Hernandez gets to go out and teach more than Elder Ramnarain. He has a hurt back, but we will be in the car, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem.
In all honesty, the office isn't all that bad. Sometimes it's a little stressful, but for the most part it's good. I'm also learning a lot, and finding out how I can be better. So, it's good. I just get pretty stressed sometimes.
Well, it's good to hear that the football team is doing awesome. I can't wait to hear about the game against Troy.
I finally got the bible that I ordered. I don't really need too much else for christmas. Just enough money to send a package home soon, and some packages of Junior Mints, and possibley some country time strawberry lemonade. But that would be kind of expensive to get into Trinidad, I'm sure.

11-25-10
Well, as you see again, I am emailing you on a thursday. I almost didn't even get a chance today. I've been really busy. But, now I'm here, and I have a little bit of time to write you something.
Life for me is going pretty good. I'm just staying pretty busy. Still, there is not much work where missionary work is concerned. But, life is good, and I'm enjoying it. I'm just trying to be as effective with the little time that I do have.
So, christmas is coming up. Transfers happen a couple days before, so as of right now, I'm not sure where I'll be. But, i should be able to let you know by the time it gets closer. I think we should try to do it the same way as last time, only this time, try to get a mic or something, because last time, it was tough to hear you most of the time. I will also be sending you a package pretty soon, so if there isn't much money on my card (I'm not sure, I always forget) that would be nice to get some on there. Also, consider sending the package that you talked about as ealy as possible, maybe even this coming week, because I may be leaving before christmas.
So, how are things on the homefront? Any news? Any mission calls lately? Any marriages or anything? Any other sort of big news?
Well, life is basically the same here. I love you mom, and I will talk to you later. I love you.

10/18/10

Yeah, that's sweet that they are winning now. Keep the other team on there toes, and give us a competitive edge. We need it. I think we have just got so used to losing, that for w while, we just let it roll off of us. But it sounds like we are doing good, now.
It's good to hear that you are keeping busy.
Things here are pretty busy, too. It's tough, because the office work keeps us out of the field alot. And I want to get out. But I think the stress has been getting to me lately. I've been forgetting a lot of things lately. Of course, I forget things normally, but I'm forgetting things that I should remember. So, we'll see how that goes. It's tough, but I'll survive.
Everything else is going good. I'm having a pretty good time here in Trinidad. I've been in this zone since January, (the only one that's been here this long) but I'm not sure if I'll be moving out of Trinidad anytime soon. I hope so, but II think that I'll enjoy it even if I stay here the rest of my mission. Which I might.
Zone conference was great. With every zone conferemce, I think the feel of it changes. When i first came out, it was just cool, cause I wasn't used to it. Now, It's cool because Of the things that I can apply. It's crazy how much we all need to work on, despite the fact that missionaries are always studying the scriptures and teaching people about the atonement. It's pretty intense. The broader that our vision is, the more we see beyond what we know, and are able to see how much we don't know.
Hey, thanks for sharing that story with me. I didn't even know. I never thought that I had a story like that to tell people, but now I do. I thought that my family had been active forever. It is amazing how much small things help. Like here in San Juan, there is a lady named Sister Garcia. The previous missionaries had been going over there every so often, but not focusing too much on getting her back to church. She wasn't keeping committments, or even reading the scriptures. But Elder Prince and I went over there, sat down, and just talked with her. She felt like our friend, basically, and that we cared about her, and weren't just there to teach her. And guess what, she came back to church the next sunday, and has been coming ever since. It wasn't because she had some amazing spiritual experience, or because we taught her something that she didn't know before. It was something small that pushed her back. By the way, Sister Garcia is awesome.
So, i have another story for you. Today was p-day, so we decided to go to Toco, a beach on the northeast side of the island. We got there, and as we were on the beach, as we were walking around, I put my sandals and keys to the car on the ground, so that I didn't have to hold ono to them,because my shorts don't have pockets. So we ran around for a while, and when I went back to get my stuff, the keys were gone. The car was still there, but the keys were nowhere to be found. So, we discovered that there were an extra set of keys at the mission office, thankfully. So, a few of us took the 1.5 hour drive back, and got the keys, then went back to get the car. So, that basically took up our entire p-day. We are all exhausted. But, it was quite the experience.

10/4/10

(This is combined from both John and Patty's emails. Some things are repeated.)

Only Sister John got baptized. But it was a good service. It was between conference sessions. She invited a friend of hers to come to it. It was sweet.
Transfers went good. There wasn't too much change in Trinidad. It wasn't terrible running people around this time. not anything like last transfer. It's been fun so far this transfer. Elder Nielson is cool.
That's good to hear that we finally won a football game. It sounds like we are doing alright now.
So, I think I really did do something to my foot. We played basketball this morning, and now the same places on my feet hurt that did before. But, it's probably no big deal. They'll be fine. I just have to walk it off, I feel. Bein in the office, I don't get much chance to do that.
It's been fun so far in the office, and I am looking forward to this next transfer. I'm thinking I will probably be here for at least one more transfer. But that's alright. I'm prepared for it, and even though I would like to be out in a normal area as well, the work here needs to get done. So I might as well do it.
Well, due to transfer, we haven't done a lot of finding this past week. It's been kind of tough. I really don't like seeing my numbers as low as they have been. It makes me feel like I'm not working very hard. Oh well, I guess that is what numbers are for, so that we improve. I guess. I don't really know, I just like pretending like I do.
It looks liike we finally might be learning that the way we win is by using the team, instead of trying to focus on a key player. It's good to hear. I'd love to see that carry over into basketball as well.
Tell me about the hot. i hope that it's warmer when I get there, because I really would prefer to get used to the no humidity befor I get thrown into the freezing cold.
This past week has been good. Sister John got baptized. It was sweet. I don't expect that her son will get baptized for a while, because she is leaving to England in December, and she'll be there for 6 months. Her dad was really against her being baptized into the church. He doesn't like us very much. We run into that all the time, but the day before her baptism, her dad called her up, and kind of yelled at her. Tried to get her not to do it. But, she did. So, that was exciting. But, her son will be living with him, so it's not really possible for him to come to church after she leaves, and I don't want to baptize him if that is going to happen. He will be able to when she gets back.

September 20th, 2010

This past week has been really hectic. There was a big mission-wide leadership training here in trinidad. We didn't go to it, but we drove everybody around for it, and picked up the food for it, and stuff like that. So, we didn't get too much time in our area. But Sister John is doing pretty good. She didn't come to church yesterday because she was sick, but we just barely talked to her, and she is for sure getting baptized. Next week. By the way, transfers is next week. Being an office elder, I have known what's happening with it for 2 weeks now. I can tell you, since you aren't really connected with anybody in the mission. I am staying in the office, and I'll be with an Elder Evans. He is actually called french speaking, but he fractured a vertebrae in his back, and so he is here in Trinidad. And he will be with me next transfer. So, there you go.
This morning we went to Maracas Beach again. We played frisbee and football. Running on that sand can't be good for. THe joints in my legs hurt so bad. My feet hurt pretty bad too. Cause part of the beach, the sand is packed pretty tight, so it's pretty solid. And we played for like 4 hours. It was fun, but it hurt so bad. My hip was sore after about an hour. I know, i'm getting old. Pretty soon, I'm going to need a cane. In fact, I think a cane would be a wonderful idea right now. i'm having trouble walking. But hopefully, I'll get over it. Not too long ago, I was studying in Jacob 5. It's pretty intense, and it's amazing to see all different groups of people that it is speaking about. Like the connection between the vinyard workers, and the trees. How the trees represent the church as a whole, and the workers are the people that are called to do the work. (Basically every member should be a worker) It's crazy how we are the branches and the workers at the same time, in a way. It just depends on what we are working at. It's kind of like christs parable about the sheep. There are shepherds, and then there are the sheep. We are each shepherds in a way, and we are also sheep. If we are a bishop, then the ward is our sheep, but we are also the sheep of the stake president and so on. It's pretty amazing how that works.

Sep. 13th, 2010

Things are going great here. Sister John, the lady that is scheduled to get baptized, is doing great. She came to church and loved it. Like always, there were a few people who weren't so nice to her (mainly the people who didn't know that the sunday school teacher had let her borrow a book, and the librarian kind of threw a fit) but she knows that she isn't coming to church for the people, and for the most part, people were nice. Her and her son are getting baptized next weekend.
What I've realized is that the only reason people don't do things like come to church is because they don't understand how important it is. It's tough to help people to understand the imporrtance, especially with church, but it's all in the scriptures. There are so many reasons why church is important, and I never realized it until I came out on my mission. I think they call it a reality check. Most people are living in a state that I like to call "the now". What life is like now is what life will be like forever. There's not really a lot we can do by ourselves to help them realize that. A lot of the basic beliefs and doctrines will help the most.

August 30th, 2010

The week here in Trinidad has been good. We have found quite a few sweet people lately. We don't get much time out working, but the time that we do is really good. We went by a less active named Sister Garcia. She is pretty sweet, but she hasn't been to church in a very long time. But guess what. She came to church this past sunday. It was sweet to see her there. And it was stake conference, so I got to see all the people that I taught from D'abadie and Port of Spain. It was a good stake conference.
We have found a few people that are in the very beggining stages. Last night, we came into the office to get numbers from all the zone leaders, but the power was out, as well as the phone lines, so we had to wait that out. There is a security guard across the hallway from us that we were able to talk to, and she is pretty interested. She took a Book of Mormon, and read some from it last night. Even though we don't get much time, it seems like the people we find are all the coolest. Not like every other area, where a small percentage of the people go anywhere. But we are both pretty new to the area, so we will see how it continues to go.