Caribbean for Christmas 12/21/14

Dear Family,

Sister Sommer and I are having a lot of fun in the area Boom Boom. Kids on this island have nothing to do. That's why they get into trouble so easily as they get older. The kids in Boom Boom have grown attached to us. They're so fun. One night we actually just taught them how to play missionary tag and they just loved it. They're fun! I'll attach a picture of them. We went to their Christmas program last night for a little and it was crazy! So many kids screaming and you could not hear anything. We didn't stay for long cause it was just wild in there haha. Parents don't show kids any respect and vice versa. I've seen so many mothers beat their children. It's terrible but it's just a different culture. 

Mom, so you know I ALWAYS play piano. You'd be proud! On Sunday we had a little Christmas program. I actually gave a little talk on the birth of Christ which went well. I played piano for the Primary kids. There was also a lunch after church for everyone. It was a wild Sunday!  We had 5 investigators at church!! It was a surprise. I thought only one was coming so it was awesome! We had Zico, Nick, Marley, Ryno and Ali. 

I'll have to tell you more detail about our investigators when we talk but they are really starting to progress. 

We are still waiting to find out Sasha's weekend off. It'll probably be a last minute baptism planned. She's great though and she's all ready!

Zico is doing well still! He's a really smart guy. At church I guess priesthood wasn't good and he told Sister Sommer that it wasn't good and that Christ's church should be in order. Oy! But I think he's ok still. 

Marley! He's really starting to progress. We fasted with him this week to help him overcome some problems in his life. And it was so good to see him at church. I can't tell you how many times he has promised to come to church so it was awesome. 

Nick is loving church. He's been getting along well with the young adult guys in the ward and even met up with them in the week. He's such a nice guy and he has dreads so that's sweet. Haha.

I don't have any news about Suriname! I haven't really asked either. We shall see what happens at transfer calls. I could see myself staying with Sister Sommer another transfer but you never know! We don't know anything about new mission presidents. 

Thanks for the Christmas money! We don't have time to shop today because of our Missionary Christmas party but we will go next week don't worry! 

Congrats Richard!! I can't believe it!! Miracles come from your sister serving a mission. Ha, just kidding! 

I've got some good looking nieces and nephews!! Wow they already look so much bigger! 

I can't wait to talk to everyone! I hope the time doesn't mess you all up! Can't wait to meet Ashlee. 

Thanks for the letters! Love you all!

Love,

Elizabeth

West Indies Mission No More 12/15/14

Dear Family,

Well, crazy news we just got yesterday is that they are splitting our mission! WOW! In July 2015 when my mission president is going home they are splitting. It will be something like the Trinidad mission which will have Trinidad, the three South American countries, and then they are adding the ABC islands off the coast of Venezuela. The other mission will be headquartered in Barbados and have all the other islands. Who knows what mission I'll end up in! Pretty cool though because the work will just take off. There has to be two mission presidents doing this work. I honestly don't know how President Mehr does everything. 

We flew to St. Lucia this past week, early Tuesday morning. The flight is only 20 minutes. You spend more time in the airport than in the plane! We didn't get to see much of the island at all. Zone conference was really amazing! President Mehr was in the home construction business before and he told this parable of building a mansion and then in the end realizing you were building your own. I'll have to tell you sometime. Sister Mehr talked about really working with members. You forget that even though some members are older than you that you have more church experience than they. You really have to help the members but of course not embarass them. I loved just talking to President Mehr. He's a very smart man and just so chill and loving. 

We only really saw St. Lucia during the night but I could tell it was a lot more touristy and modern. They actually have two lane roads. You don't find that anywhere on St. Vincent. To answer your questions Dad, St. Vincent doesn't get a lot of tourists. I mean it still does, but it's not its main economy. St.Vincent is more of an agriculture island. 

We had a Relief Society Christmas social on Saturday that was fun. There was a ton of food. Caribbean food isn't much to talk about. Basically chicken, rice, macaroni pie, and some bread things are classic Caribbean. Can't say I'm a huge fan, but it's good! It was a fun activity. I love the women here. The Relief Society President gave Sister Sommer and I perfume. Some nice "Our version of Someday by Justin Bieber" MMMMMMMM.

Church was great! We went up to Boom Boom and caught a van with Zico and Nick for church. They both really liked church on Sunday. Zico always participates. After preisthood session the Elders came out and were like, "Wow, Zico basically taught the class!" Yesssss.

Zico is still doing well. He's on the right track and reading still! He knows the bible soooo well. It's incredible. He just understands the scriptures which helps with his understanding of the BOM. 

Sometimes it can get frusturating teaching people who haven't had many opportunities for good education. You forget how much you need to explain like what does "lack of" mean or things like that. You need to go slowwwwwly.

Sasha is right on track to be baptized. We really are just waiting for her weekend off. We are almost done teaching the commandments.  She doesn't have trouble with anything and really has a testimony. 

We have been teaching this guy named Marley. I met him and contacted him the day after I first got to St. Vincent. He has a lot of issues but sincererly does want to change. The things is that it will take a complete life change is he wants to be a member. This week though he was so happy and talked about how he was reading the BOM and bible and felt like he was floating. He said he's made up his mind and wants to be a member. It's exciting but I still think it'll take a good long time. 

We have the "He is the Gift" pass along cards. We are supposed to give out ten a day. Yeah, people have phones and tablets. Everyone's phones are on credit--there are no such things as plans.

It is dang hot here. The weather never changes! I'm completely used to the humidity though, it doesn't even feel humid. I don't know what I would do without the breeze though cause it's pretty hot! I'm getting a pretty good tan.

The shopping here is not that great. Things are cheaply made, but on the bright side it also means things are cheap. I got the skirt you saw in the last picture and I've bought two pairs of sandals. Man cute sandals here are like 10 EC which is like 3 dollars! 

We will definitely get to Skype for Christmas! I think we only get like 45 mins to talk though. When do you get your mission call??

Sounds like you all are very busy and glad to hear everyone is doing well. Mimi is in my prayers. Happy Birthday Thomas! 

Love,

Elizabeth

Pictures from St.Lucia. Our flight on Wednesday morning was delayed so we went to the beach. and then some other old pic.

I Killed My Mama (December 8, 2014)

Hello!!

The deed is done...I killed my missionary mama Sister Shelton this week. WOW! We sent her on the airplane early Wednesday morning. It was definitely sad to say goodbye and I definitely shed some tears. When appointments fall through we always would look to Sister Shelton with "What do we do now?" and then we would go and do. It'll take some adjusting for sure but I know I have been taught well. 

We had our last zone meeting on Tuesday which is what I sent pictures of.  We had a good transfer as a zone but things change...about every 6 weeks actually. 

Sister Sommer and I did really well on our own this week. We taught a lot of lessons and did our best at contacting. We have a lot of great people that we are meeting with but we are having trouble helping them progress. I know one thing I need to improve on is inviting to keep commitments. No investigator will ever progress without keeping commitments. I need to be more direct and let them know that it is very important to keep them. 

Update on a few investigators. Zico is doing really well! We are still waiting for him to get the answer he's looking for but he's still going strong. He wasn't feeling well and wasn't at church yesterday. Dougald is doing alright. He was at a dominos tournament this weekend and so he wasn't at church either. I'm still waiting for things to click in Dougald's mind about certain things. Nick who came to church a couple weeks ago is doing pretty good. We helped him paint his shop the other day. He couldn't make it to church because he got called into work. Still working with Ancia! I'm hoping I'll figure out the deeper issue soon. She really is a great woman. 

Exciting news I'm going to St. Lucia tomorrow for zone conference! It'll be awesome! I really need a good spiritual uplifting and everyone says zone conference is awesome so I'm excited! 

I wish I had more funny stories this week but nothing to crazy has happened! Sister Sommer and I are having a great time together. We deep cleaned our house today...man, I don't think it's ever been done. We both like having a nice clean house. 

Lots of members and investigators have invited us for Christmas already so it'll be great. They don't really have any different traditions down here. People love Christmas though! I forget that it's even December. I can't keep track of time. It's hot and beautiful everyday! I can't WAIT to talk to you in a couple weeks. Crazy! Time is flying by but at the same time I feel like I still have a long way to go, which I do. You don't realize how much you have changed until you really look back. I can't imagine what I'll be like at the end. Probably be like Stephen. 

I hope Mimi is doing alright! I'll pray for her. I loved all the pictures! I miss everyone so much but I know you all are doing great! Sorry to hear about the mission call- haha! I can't wait to find out! So you don't think you'll be going to NY? West Indies is in great need of senior couples :) 

Dad your emails make me laugh without fail! Love you all and thanks for writing (well some of you write...ha jk...kind of)

Thanks for everything! 

Love,

Elizabeth

1 Transfer Down!

Hello!!

Well i wasn't too surprised by my transfer call...I'm training....Sister Sommer...and she's training me! Haha. I'll be in St.Vincent for another transfer which is what I was expecting. Two Sisters taking over the area after 6 weeks. Not very common I hear. It'll be very hard and I'm kinda terrified. BUT it'll be a good time to grow. Hopefully we can figure it out!

Sounds like Thanksgiving was a good time! We had a big zone thanksgiving at the Halverson's. Then on Thursday they had us Sisters over again for another Thanksgiving dinner. They're the best haha. Yes on Friday we had our Fireside! It was a great success! We had about 50 people there which was our hope and goal! It was more of a night for thankfulness. Douglad and Zico came to it too. They had a good time.

So yes, Sister Shelton is leaving on Wednesday! I'm very sad to let her go. She always makes me laugh and she helps to motivate me to grow more. I'll miss her a lot. That's funny about her blog! She loved hearing that you all read it! I couldn't not tell her! But Sister Shelton is from Ogden and Sister Sommer is from Centerville. 

Let's see! This week was crazy as usual! I'll first talk about some of our investigators.

Zico--Still doing really well. He's a really sweet guy. We finished teaching him the Plan of Salvation this week and he's really accepting everything. He still has changing to do to really start prioritizing the gospel in his life which is understandable. Last week when he came to church he wore these black shorts because he didn't have any pants. He said he hates pants. We were like ok whatever. Then this week he bought pants for church haha. It was nice! So he came to the fireside and then got there 10 mins early for church yesterday! It's so cool!

Dougald--I don't really know where to begin. Haha. He really is a great man. I still can't tell if he's really grasping the idea that our church truly is Jesus Christ's church. I think he's still looking at it like any other church. i don't know, I don't really get it yet. We are working on him. But man he still comes to church so loyally! He also came to the fireside and then church on Sunday. 

Sis Smith--Man we are having some troubles with her...I LOVE going there and seeing her and her family. They seriously are the best. But something just isn't clicking. It's weird! She keeps saying i accept the BOM and that Joseph Smith was a prophet but I don't want to pray about them. She honestly refuses to pray but I don't know how she will ever be converted without that. I really don't want to drop her yet but I honestly don't know if she'll ever progress to baptism. There seems to be something I'm missing. 

Alright I'll try and think of some experiences. So there's this area called Boom Boom and we have a lot of investigators up there. Honestly, it's so funny! The whole little village knows us. We have almost talked to everyone up there cause there's just these central meeting places where everyone is. Man, I don't know how these people live here sometimes...They grow up here and never leave. They know everything about everyone always. In America people are much more private.

We were meeting this one guy up in Boom Boom. And we were contacting him and asked, "What would you ask the prophet if you knew that there was one today?" He says, "I would ask him why we have book bags?" The funny part was that he was serious.  Haha.

Well I can't even imagine what winter is like anymore. Seriously it is the same temp everyday. Hot, and the big rain storms pass through for a couple minutes and then hot again. Gotta be thankful for the Caribbean breeze. My tanlines are starting to come in. Nothing too drastic though...I got a nice watch tan. 

I truly miss you all so much! I think about you everyday! Congrats on getting the mission papers in, Mom and Dad. Haha I think it is so cool we will be on a mission at the same time! Send me more pictures of Leona!! i want more pictures of everyone! Happy Birthday Richard!! 

Really don't send me a package! As much as I want one I just don't think it's worth the money...It's like 100 dollars to send a package. I sound so greedy but money will do just fine! Haha. President will let me know about my visa when he hears news.

Mom, can you try posting my blog again on my facebook? No one has been seeing it...

Love,

Elizabeth (Should I end my emails Love, Sister Wood?) Haha

Welcome to the World Leona!

WOW!! I am aunt again!! I have the best looking nieces and nephew. That's so awesome and I'm so excited!!

We had such a successful week! We worked really hard and met and over achieved alot of our goals. Last P-day we went to this pirates of the Caribbean site becuase they filmed it here on St. Vincent. It wasn't that cool but it was fun. We took a van there which is the public transportation here. They jam people in a van and blast music. It's fun! 

Some other highlights of the week...I fell down the stairs! It was rainy and I was just wearing flip flops to run an errand. I'm ok but I just bruised my tailbone real bad but it's almost all better.  

Church was awesome this week!! We had four investigators come! S who I'll write more about, D, Z, and N. We were so excited. We went to Z and rode a van with him to church. We were so excited. 

Alright so I'll catch up on the top investigators of the week:

Z!! WOW! He really is incredible. He's keeps committments which is the best as a missionary. He's reading from the BOM and really understanding. The things we teach him make sense to him. He prayed one night to know if the BOM and JS were true. There was a great spirit there. And then yes he came to church and participated and did great. I'm excited about him!

A.S.--She really is coming around. Her heart is softening! We had an awesome FHE there last Monday. She loves having us over. We just have to make sure she will really progress. But she's even starting to accept the whole baptism thing. So we shall see!

S! Ok so the Sisters have been teaching her for a while but I didn't meet her until last week! She's a ER nurse and works a lot. But she is dating a member from the other branch. We taught her on Saturday and she says she wants to get baptized before the end of the year so her date is the 13th. Sister Shelton says she has had a complete change of heart. She really is gaining a testimony. Get this. She lives across the street from Shanique and she said on Saturday that she was going to walk to church the next day. It's super far to walk! But that's what a change of heart does. We are waiting for Shanique to get to that point too. I'm confident in S's date that it will happen. She's great!

D! I love that he comes to church! We still have a lot to teach him but he's taking baptism really seriously. He's very humble and he's been reading from his BOM. So all in good time.

N. We had our first lesson with Nick on Saturday. When we taught him the restoration he kept on saying, "That makes perfect sense!" He's really a sweet guy. We invited him to church not thinking much of it but he came the next day! Wow! I was surprised. He really wants to learn more.

We haven't been able to see the G family in a while. They might have dropped us but we will find out this week!

I can't get over how much I love this place! You guys would love it here. The people are the BEST! Everyone talks to everyone and is so friendly. I know sooo many people on this island already. You see the ocean from anywhere you are. 

I do drink filtered water but the water isn't bad for you so that's good. I didn't have to go to the doctor at all. I don't get to go to primary but we helped teach YW yesterday! The youth activity got cancelled because of a seminary activity. This fridaythe missionaries of my branch we are doing a Thanksgiving fireside. The branch neeeeeds activities so this should be fun! My bug bites are getting all better.

Wow I love hearing the update of everyone and everything! Love you alll! I'll send some pics! I'm sorry if I never answer everyone's questions. 

Love,

Elizabeth 

On Our Own (November 17, 2014)

My favourite people,

Thanks for your letters! It's always fun to get caught up on everything! I'm sorry I can't reply individually!

This week was adventurous as it always is! Sister Shelton went to Trinidad this week for three days so it was a great test run for Sister Sommer and me. We dropped her at the airport on Tuesday morning and went on our way! We had a great day and all our lessons went really well! It seems that when your "pillow" is gone, you can be a lot more confident! I felt really good about the lessons we taught that day. I could have some more control which was nice. We set a baptismal date that day with a man named E. He's got potential definitely and he truly does want to be baptized but I know the W.O.W will be an issue in the future. That night we were walking to a less active family. They live up this dirt/grass road. When we got there I called into the house and right when I called in I slipped in a big pile of mud. Best part is that when I tried to get up I slipped again! We were both laughing and laughing. Then I start walking forward and turned around to see Sister Sommer fell in the same spot! We removed the cushions from the couch and still had our lesson. 

On Wednesday we were walking to see another less active that is not too far from where we live. Sister Sommer tripped on the side walk and cracked something in her foot. She was in a lot of pain but we kept going through our day. By about 6 at night though she couldn't walk anymore and it was swelling so we stopped by the Halverson's and they looked at it. We ended up going in that night around 7 or 8ish. The next day we picked up Sister Shelton in the afternoon and got some more lessons in that day. But Friday and Saturday things kind of fell apart-ha! I got pink eye, well maybe not pink eye but some sort of infection (I got some eye drops and I'm all better). Then Sister Shelton got super sick, Sister Sommer had her bad foot and then she wasn't doing too well. Anyway we lost some productivity on those days but still did alright. In one lesson we set three baptismal dates with some men we have been meeting with (D included in that group). 

Yesterday we were all doing good! We had a great day! D came to church again! He surprises me every time. I never think he's coming. Church was great! President Mehr came into town for some meetings with church leaders but yesterday a bunch of us missionaries had a spiritual "Jam" session with him for a couple hours. It was awesome!!!!! We just had an awesome spiritual discussion. I love new knowledge. We talked about taking upon us the name of Christ. All we can do is be "willing" in this life. We are only candidates at this point because the actual receiving the name of Christ is exaltation. Anyway just cool stuff. After that we met with the guy named Z. WOW- did the Lord prepare him! We met him last week and talked just a little. We left him with a restoration pamphlet. When we met with him again he had read the whole thing. He's really smart and very spiritual! He just got it, you know? We left him with a BOM and he accepted baptism! The spirit was so strong in that lesson. We are meeting with him again tonight to finish the restoration. 

We also saw A last night. I feel like she's slowly having a change of heart. She loves having us over and I think she's MAYBE warming up to the idea of baptism.

The G Family is doing pretty good! We love being there but they still aren't really keeping commitments. We had FHE with their family last Monday and it was so fun. The kids always join our lessons now. They're a great family but we will see!

D really is doing good! He knows he has to change and we can already see a difference. He's really noticing God's hand in his life. He participates and does really well at church. I'm excited for him. 

S didn't come this week. We'll have to set another baptismal date with her. If she was ready she would want to come to church more I think so we will keep working with her. 

We as missionaries are trying to help get activities and things going for the youth. We are having a big water balloon activity this saturday! Should be fun!

Answers to your questions--Yes I've used my bank card and it worked! Sad to hear about George! Couldn't believe it! Julia emailed me about the blog and yeah I hear from some of my friends. 

Don't worry I eat fruits and veggies everyday! You'd be surprised how expensive they are! Sometimes investigators or members will bring us some fruit though. This week we had coconuts (yum), avocados and sugar apples. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH! Can't wait to hear about your baptism. You're making the best choice you could ever make!

I don't think pictures are working today...sorry next week!

Love you all! 

Love,

Elizabeth

11/10/2014 "One Month Has Passed"

Hello!!

I can actually say this time that this week has flown! I can't believe it. When I lie down at night I can't believe the day has come and ended again. We had a really good week filled with little miracles. I'm really having a great time with my companions. We are all comfortable around each other and can laugh lots. It's fun to grow together and experience the same things!

As for mosquito diseases people get something called chicken guinea here. It makes your body swell and ache and rash. It goes away but can still affect you afterwards. Sister S got it. Hopefully it won't come. My mosquito bites aren't quite as bad but I always get them. They don't bother me a TON but they are annoying. President said I probably won't be in Suriname for another transfer. I don't have any Dutch materials but hopefully I can get some soon!

So this week was busy. I'm trying to think of some highlights. We hardly go tracting. We just contact as we go to appointments or if appointments fall through we talk with people around. We just talk to everyone and get contacts that way. An average week for us is about 21 lessons a week, get about 8 new investigators and over 20 contacts. 

One day this week we were supposed to meet with this one woman V that we met. We didn't have a number just a time set up. We went to her home and she wasn't there. We felt like we should just wait and think. We literally sat on the road and was thinking of what to do next. We see this woman walking with grocery bags. We ALWAYS ask to carry bags. It always gets us a contact. So we stood up automatically and ask to carry her bags. We ended up walking a far ways through the jungle kinda and we got to her house. She's a single mom (no boyfriend which is good for us) of 6 kids. She doesn't work right now but just stays home with her 1 and 2 year old. She was very open to hearing more and said we could come by anytime. We have met with her a couple of times since our first meeting. She's very spiritual and loves knowledge. She's the type that believes that all that matters is your relationship with the Almighty. She doesn't open up very easily because she's afraid of being taken advantage of. She hates that people will come to St. Vincent and convince people they need to be baptized and take advantage of people. She definitely appreciates that all we are doing is teaching what we know to be true. We are not trying to convince her or tell her what she's doing wrong. We explain that she does however need to act on our message and pray. She's just not getting it though. She doesn't believe in baptism or that there could be any one true church. I know there's something underlying that we can't see. But she's going to take a lot of work. Her name is A.S. 

We saw the G family a couple more times this week. They are still amazing! So fun and open. We teach very simply to them and they seem to understand. They haven't been keeping committments though which is a challenge. They both work and are very busy with their kids so they say they don't have time. We'll have to work with that. We are doing a FHE with their family tonight that hopefully will go well. I don't know much about how the elders contacted them. 

We got a Senior Couple on the island! Woo! In my mission they usually have a senior couple on each island that stay there. They really just take care of the missionaries and all the paperwork things. Their name is the H's. They have been married for 7 years (second marriage for both) and they've already been on 3 missions together. They are really really nice. We helped them clean and things like that this week. And they had us sisters over for dinner yesterday. It's nice being taken care of sometimes. Elder H is an accountant so he's in charge of doing audits and accounting for all the islands and countries in the mission. So they will be travelling We were thinking of all possible ways we could get S to church this week. Her baptismal date is the 29th and we are really pushing for it. We actually asked the H's if they could pick her up. They did and S came to church! She really loved it and she said it was a much better experience than she expected. I don't know what we are doing to for a ride every sunday becuase we can't have the senior couple get her every sunday and depend on it. The people here really have to make sacrifices in order to come to church. We had another investigator come that I was not expecting so that was a pleasant surprise. His name is D. We've only had a real lesson with him once and he didn't sound convincing that he was gonna make it but there he was! He had fun talking to the other men and participated in class. He's probably in his 40's. 

Funny experience. We were stopping by this one woman S and we show up and she's having the huge yelling argument with this  woman accross the street. Everyone knows everyone and everyone's business. So we walk to and ask her while she's yelling when we can come back. We walking down her muddy hill that's all slippery after rain. Her kids are running after us. One of them slipped into sister S's shoe and got mud on it and then the little boy was kinda holding onto her and then he slipped back and pulled sister S's skirt right off! The street was filled with people watching the fight. Anyways it was a good time! We had a good laugh.

Also I seem to be notorious for stepping in poo and having dogs pee on me so that's always fun. I just laugh! I've probably been proposed to, called at, kissed at more times than I can count. They love dem' white ladies here. It's funny. 

Here's some lingo for you:

For true?--For real

Just now--anytime between the last couple days to future years. It means basically anytime besides now. (ex. I'll have kids just now)

Please--they say please after yes and no even when it doesn't make sense. (is that a truck? Yes please)

Vexed--mad

I'll think of some more later

I laughed at Stephens letter about the roof and rain becuase that literally happened yesterday. It was sooooo loud!! It sounded like a hurricane but it was just normal rain. 

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for money by the way! That's sooo nice and I'm grateful!

Excited to hear if a baby comes soon! Thanks for the letters and sorry I don't have much time to answer everyone but I read! 

I'll send a few pics. One is a picture of the area book I was reading. I think it's pretty funny you'll see why...

Love,

Elizabeth

(11/3/2014) "For True?!"

Hello!

It was great to hear from everyone! I love reading emails! I lose track of what day it is. Mission time is weird. It's fast and slow all at the same time. 

To answer some questions: My interview with my mission president was very short. He just asked a little about myself and that was about it! He said see ya in three months! I'll most likely be in Suriname for my whole mission. Sometimes he'll send you to an island for the last couple transfers of your mission. So we'll see! Suriname is actually more clean than St. Vincent. It's very flat and I'll ride a bike there. Food wise here in St. Vincent, there's not much to say. I basically eat like I do in America! They only fresh fruit I've tried so far is papaya and a grapefruit that the branch president gave. They were delicious. Other than that no one invites us for dinner or anything. Other places always have missionaries for dinner but I guess not on St. Vincent. 

SOOO let's see! I'll tell you about some investigators. We've had about three progressing investigators just drop us this week. They're just ignoring and impossible to see. So that was a bummer. We have one investigator S who is really really great! She reads from the BOM and is praying. She just wants to be super sure of everything. We're trying to teach her about faith. But the problem with her is getting her to church. Her baptismal date is the 29th but she hasn't been to church yet. She's soooo far from the main road to get a bus and there's no members with cars. S is trying to get her sister to take her but her sister is always busy. So we shall see what happens there. 

We meet with this big group of ladies. About 4 sisters and an old mother. They are so funnny! Fun to teach but also hard. They seem to be grasping things though and I was positive that they were gonna come to church on sunday but nonetheless they didn't. We will see them tomorrow. 

This week we had an appointment with this one man and we had no idea where he lived and couldn't get in contact with him. So we just went to the area where he lived. No one has addresses here by the way, it's funny when someone gives directions. Anyway we go up there and meet this big group of people and suddenly the man we were looking for shows up too. It was a miracle. Even though teaching any of them won't go too far. But I shouldn't doubt!

Saturday night we contacted a referel from the Elders. All we knew was that it was a family. We found them and they are amazing! It is so rare here to find families. Every girl in town is pregnant with someone's baby living with a boyfriend and has three other kids all from different dad's. This family has a mom and dad and they have five kids. Such a happy, down to earth family! They were so open and excited to hear about the gospel. Meeting a family like this all of a sudden put so much pressure on. I don't want to mess it up! They're awesome! I don't feel pressure talking to someone who's most likely high or drunk since most of the population is. So I'll let you know how meeting with them goes.

We went to the Elder's baptism this week. We have baptisms basically every Saturday. They are fun to go to. The beach is beautiful! It's really nice to see people get baptized. 

I bore my testimony at church yesterday to better introduce myself but I already know everyone. The branch is fun to go to. 

People here are great. You say hi to everyone! Everyone is very open right off the bat. It's fun. 

As a missionary I love reading my scriptures! You learn more and more each day. Your testimony grows becuase you are constantly testifying. I'm reading through the book of Mormon and in 2 Nephi 7 and 8 I'm reminded to fear God more than man. That's something I'm getting more used to. I'll just assume maybe someone doesn't want to hear what I have to say. But the reality is they should wanna hear what I have to say! I'll get better. I'm just trying to be patient with myself! You wanna be great right away but the reality is you're not haha...yet! 

We are having Sister S drive because we don't know how much longer I'll be here so that's good! Mom, my water bottle keeps my water nice and cold. And yeah don't send me packages ever on my mission. Too much of a hassle. They have everything America has here. Even Arctic Force deoderant! 

Here's my address for letters just in case!

PO BOX 601

Kingstown, St. Vincent

VC0100

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!! Can't say I'll be eating as well as you! 

I really hope I'm not missing anything. I'm always so rushed writing!! Love you all! Thanks for letters!

Mosquitos are killer! You can't feel it when they bite you but they sure do itch!  Oh and my legs in the picture are not fat or swollen, it's just the angle. 

Love,

Sister Wood

(10/28/2014) "Me Be Lime'n in St Vincent"

Family!!

OOOOOKK how am I supposed to begin this letter. I feel like I have been on my mission for a year and now I'm trying to recount everything that happened. 

First of all you didn't hear from me yesterday because it was independence in St. Vincent so everything was closed and so P-Day is today! Hope you didn't worry too much Mom. 

I'll start in Trinidad! I landed safely last Monday! I'm glad you got the the President's email so at least you didn't know I was dead. The sisters stayed at the Mission home while we were in Trinidad. Wednesday we did some orientation and training. Kinda of just giving an overview of mission and rules type thing. We went to a district meeting in Trinidad that day which was fun to meet some of the missionaries there. One of the senior missionaries drove a little bit around Trinidad which was cool. And I asked about those neighborhoods we saw in the documentary dad, and he said no missionaries at all are allowed up there. The higher you go the worse it gets! 

President Mehr and his wife are great! He's a very smart man of God. He's really nice but you can also tell he expects a lot from you. Here's the news on Suriname: I am going! They're getting my visa ready right now and basically as soon as it is I'm going...and I'll learn dutch once I get there. Oy! I could be in St. Vincent for probably one more transfer after this but we will see. He wants me there as soon as I can. There are three sisters there right now and he wants 6 eventually. So I'll probably be the 4th sister in the Suriname ever. I'm nervous about learning a language but I guess I'll see when I'm there.

Ok so St.Vincent! My companions are great. Sister Shelton is awesome! She's obedient and a hard worker. She knows everyone and loves everyone she meets. She helps me alot. My other companion is Sister Sommer. She was in the MTC same time as me. She's a really nice girl. Sister Shelton does go home after this transfer and Sister Sommer and I will take over. I have NO idea how that's going to work so pray that I know everything after 6 weeks. Our house is awesome! Really beautiful honestly. I was suprised. Besides ants everywhere in the house there's been no other issue with bugs. 

Now our house is by FAR the nicest thing I've seen on the island so far. It's definitely a third world country. People live in shacks with no water and electricity. Very poor poor circumstances. It's definitely a culture shock but it also doesn't bother me much, I'm just happy to meet with the people. All the people are super nice! Everyone says hi to everyone. A lot of people believe in God which helps in the teaching part. We hear a lot of "pray for me!" when we walk on the street. Understanding them speak really isn't that bad. First day, first lesson I didn't get much. But we taught that same person yesterday and I understood everything. You really have to focus on the words you hear and then put together the sentence in your mind. 

We keep our days filled with appointments. But most of them fall through. Sometimes you have to just catch them by luck. That's a little hard. But we always make the most of our time. I'm still getting to know the investigators so I don't have much to tell you but we have some baptisms for later in November. So we are working on getting them ready for that. We just contact when we see people on the street or in between appointments. We never have blocks set aside just for contacting, it just kinda happens. When we teach it takes a long time to explain certain things. You have to go slow and use lots of visuals. You'll go through the whole thing about our church having the authority to baptize then you'll invite them to be baptized and they'll say, "I've already been baptized!" Sigh. Then you have to explain it all again. Haha I still don't think they get it. 

Church was great. We meet in a building up on the hill that overlooks the ocean. There's about 70ish people that come to the branch. However there is a lot of inactivity. We meet with a lot of inactives. It's very hard for people to get to church. They take these van things but they're hard to get on Sunday. It's very hard to get investigators to come! We struggle with that. The members are really nice and welcoming. The chruch is still true here haha they just do some things differently than in the states haha. Sunday School and relief society consisted of straight reading the lesson. 

Missionary work is hard stuff! Sometimes I feel like I'm not making a difference in anybody's life so sometimes that makes it hard. I've definitely felt like I'm not good at it or wondering why I'm here. But I first have to remember that it's only been a week, so obviously I'm not good. But I just have to remind myself that the Lord wants me here. And you know what? That's a good enough reason for me. I'll let you know how things carryon. This email is kind of a quick blur of everything. 

Oh I forgot. We have a car in St. Vincent beucase it is all mountains. The streets are even smaller that Italy and two cars somehow fit. Did I mention we drive on the left too? And did I mention I'll be the one driving soon? Don't have a panic attack mom. I'll be good and take lots of lessons. The good thing is no one can afford a car so there's hardly any on the road and everyone is a friendly driver. Soooo we'll see how that goes. 

I'll try and attach some pictures! Hopefully I can figure it out!

I loved all my emails! Sounds like the halloween party was a blast. Awesome costumes Lisha! I love hearing about home and such! That feels like forever ago. I'm excited to hear how the mission stuff is coming along Mom and Dad! Seriously love you all!! Thanks for your prayers everyone! I need them...becuase I have no idea what I'm doing.

Love,

Sister Wood