3/7 on Missions! 3/23/15

Dear Family,

Wow, Mom and Dad! I can't believe you are in the MTC TODAY! What?! You have to tell me allllll about it. I'm so excited! Let me know what you think of the MTC. It's a pretty spiritual/cool place. I know you will be such amazing missionaries. The Lord will push you and you will see amazing growth. It's awesome!! I loved your talk too mom. I'm sure yours was great too Dad!

My biggest advice is what everyone says and that is to love the people. Right from the start just show love. Sometimes when you are in cluture shock and thinking where in the world you are it helps that you love the people. Help out your missionaries in any way. Make them cookies or dinner and see if there is any way you can help with investigators whether it be teaching lessons with them or giving advice. One of my favourite parts of a mission is all the district meetings and zone conferences. I love having gospel discussions and learning from each other. It's so funny to think that you will have all your own missionaries and mission friends and mission reunions. I know you'll do great! 

Thanks so much for my package! I'm really excited for it! I wish you put some notes in it but I guess I get a note every week :)

We had a busy and exciting week with Zone Conference. It was aweeeeesome! We heard from Sister Mehr, President Mehr. They both talked about working with the members. Helping them see what missionary work is really like, serving them and utilizing them. Sister Cornish talked about investments in a gospel sense. Elder Cornish talked about working with members as well. He said how it really is the best type of missionary work. The reason why it doesn't work is becuase we don't do it! Haha he's right though. It takes A LOT more time to really use members. It takes more planning and thinking. I sometimes just get lazy and either take the same member to most lessons or just don't plan wisely and take no member. I really have to train myself to be better. The last part of conference Elder Cornish talked about the Atonement. The things he said were very beautiful. I don't have my notebook so I can't remember everything but he talked about how it is infinite. I thought of infinite in the sense of it covered everyone but he spoke of infinite in the sense of how it covers every single thing you can think of. Whether you ask for forgiveness or not, it has been covered. I know I'm probably not saying anything new but there was a great spirit there when he spoke and it helped my testimony grow. 

That night we went to the fireside that Elder Cornish did for the members. He spoke about how the members need to "BE THE CHURCH". Many times you think, "Oh it's the church's money" or things like that but no, it's your money. He said how the church in Haiti is booming right now because they have taken on the role of the church. Because of all the disasters and how poor people are, they are pretty isolated. No one will give Haitians passports, and no one can really go in. Becuase of this Haitian members have taken complete control of the church. They are working like crazy and have taken on all roles. They provide all their own missionaries. He said missionaries don't go finding. All the investigators they meet, they met at church from other members bringing them. Elder Cornish said to the members here, "I'm not telling you this to say Haiti is better than you. I'm telling you this because you have the capability of being even better especially with the resources you have." I think it got people pumped up a little.

President Mehr is coming back this week for interviews and such. When it comes to going back English...I don't know. I've accepted that if Suriname is where the Lord wants me to be then I know I will be fine here. But if I got called to English again I would know that's for a reason too. I'll just tell President Mehr that I'll go wherever the Lord needs me. Becuase if I'm there than I know I'll be ok. Sister Sommer just got Emergency Transferred to Trinidad last week!

We had no one at church this week. Mohan had to work and such. Bummer. When Mohan does come he bikes and puts Dino on the back of his bike. Things are going good with Mohan except the Law of Chastity. He's still married legally to his first wife from like 30 years ago. Oh boy... and he doesn't understand that he needs to be legally married to Mala. We are bring the AP's with us our next appt to help explain. I'm not worried about him getting mad, I just want him to understand and do it.

We taught Faizel this week. We went back to the basics with him, trying to help him understand how to find his answer and the atonement. It seems to be going alright.

So basically most of Suriname is Rain forest. I'm not completely sure what people do in the biddenland but I know there is lots of mining. Suriname is super flat which is nice for riding bikes. Most people are poor but not as poor as St. Vincent. People take nice care of their things and save money. It's much more developed than St. Vincent.

I don't think I have talked about our landlords yet. They live right next to us. They are Hindu and probably the nicest people everrrrrr! I love them. They always leave food for us and help in anyway. They had a big Hindu party on Saturday. Ahhh there was such good food. I love curry and roti.

I have so many pictures but I need to find a way to send them...there's not a thingy on this computer. 

I love you all sooooo much. I have the best family in the world! 

Love,

Elizabeth

Member Focused 3/16/15

Dear Fam Bam,

We had a fun week putting focus on members. Like I've said before I love the members here. They make me so happy and they are my best friends here. Last Sunday I planned lots of meetings with members and service projects.

I want to tell you about some favourite members of mine.

First the Ritvield family. The Ritvields are the church here. The parents are amazing! They have 5 daughters. Brother and Sister Ritvield are helping the small branch in Uitkike right now. Their oldest daughter Sister Linger is married to the District President. She is the best. So sweet and loving. Then they have Sister Aikman. She is the District YW president. She's successful and converted her boyfriend before they got married. He's in the branch presidency now. Then they have one daughter who's in the forest. She's inactive mostly because there is no church there. Then they have Sister Abanki. She's super cool. She's married to our mission leader who is the best! Then they have Nicole. She's my best friend here. She's 19. Really smart and such a strength to the branch. 

Another family I love is the Maghoe's. They are funny and so nice. Bro Maghoe is in the branch presidency and his wife is the institute teacher. They have two kids I think 13 and 10. We went to their house for dinner yesterday.

Also, I love Lorna. She got back from a mission last year from Provo. She is super cool. We are very similar. She feels lonely since she got back from her mission so I'm happy to be her friend. It's hard to be a young single adult here. We went to her house this week and helped in her garden.

We had a Relief Society Activity for the district this week. It was so fun! I sang with the women in our branch and then Nicole and I sang a primary song. It went well! Like I said, the members here make me so happy.

This week at church Ernesto didn't come...oh boy. He's great though. Still gonna work with him. Mohan came to church with Dino. I really do like Mohan. He is such a sweet man.  We teach him slowly. He listens and always does his homework. He works really hard to keep all the commitments. This week we talked about the WOW but before we even talked about it he said I've stopped drinking and instead I read from the BOM. It was cute. He also almost always cries when he prays. 

We don't have a lot of less actives right now. We have been searching for them in our area but most of them are moved and gone away. We will keep working.  

Zone Conference is this week! I'll let you know all the things I learn. It'll be awesome!

We haven't gone on exchanges with the other sisters since Sister Walsh got sick. 

Thanks for all your letters. I wish I could reply individually but I love reading them all. Thanks for prayers and fasting!

Love,

Elizabeth

Do I Really Live in South America? 3/9/15

Dear Family,

Sometimes I forget I am in South America,,,seriously. This has got to be one of the most random countries in the world. There is nothing like it! You gotta be here to believe it. There are so many cultures in one place. AND so many languages. I have trouble learning Dutch but there are so many people that don't even speak Dutch! All these random Creole languages. 

I decided that I haven't been telling enough funny stories. Here are a couple of them. First: There are so many bats here at night. They don't bother you or anything. but one time biking I got hit in the face with one. Dad's worst nightmare. It was pretty funny. Here is another one: The story of the man we call "Yeah Yeah". Basically he is this man that works on a house being built on our street. EVERYTIME WE WALK BY HE YELLS, "Yeah Yeah. (Translated) How are you my sweethearts." Attaching a video is too big but it's pretty funny. I also kinda hate him though but he's harmless. I'll try to include more funny stories in my emails. 

Well this week went pretty well! We had some good lessons. Can't say we have one solid investigator but you know...it'll come. Mohan is doing well. Found out this week that he is still married to his first wife from like 30 years ago and won't divorce her. Meanwhile he has been with his current "wife" for 25 years...people here...c'mon! Haha. Sooooo that's an issue.

Ernesto came to church! Our mission leader who is his cousin went and got him and basically dragged him to church though. That's not a good sign. That's one thing I don't want is to baptize a future less active. He's got more changing to do. But I love him and he is a pretty cool kid. 

Rita is back from Guyana. I don't know her whole situation but we will see how teaching goes. She's awesome but soooo difficult to teach. What a talker. 

We are starting to progress with this one boy Shiffon. He's a cool kid and really smart. He understands everything and remembers. I want to talk to his parents but I also can't say anything I want to say. 

That's been very frustrating lately. I've gotten over the initial shock and taking all the new language in...now it's just stupid that I can't say anything. It's super hard. I just wish I could have a teacher and go to Dutch school for like 2 weeks and just learn more! I get by on English. It's not the best but it works. Lots of the members speak decent English. However, I really do try speaking Dutch. I just start guessing. Sometimes I'm right. sometimes I'm wrong. People are very nice. 

I really do love the members here. They keep me going! I can't wait to be able to express my love to them in Dutch by the end of my mission. For now I can just give hugs and smile. I love them all. And yes, they feed us! Not all the time, but when they do... it's delicious. This weekend a women made this curry and then we had roti and Bara. It was so good. And Mohan's wife feeds us every time we are there. She is the sweetest. I never told you that they have the orange sticky indian dessert here. Don't worry, I don't eat it all the time. I actually don't like it much anymore...I'm surprised. 

Zone conference is coming up just now. Elder Cornish from the 70 is coming too. It'll be awesome! I need a good spiritual uplift. One thing that I just love about missions is that no matter how hard things get I'm always so happy! Life is super challenging but I'm so happy. I can honestly see so clearly God's love and how amazing his plan is for us. Life feels so simple. Keep your covenants and helps others along the way. I get really excited thinking about how much influence I'll have once I know the language. I'm pretty sure I can change the world down here in Suriname. :-)  I've realized how much of an advantage sister missionaries have. I think people are just less intimidated by us and we are more personable. Obviously that's a generalization but I think it's true. 

Tell Uncle Charlie that I'm serving with Eric Bowen. He knows him. Also Sam tell me about Vivnt! HAha. Any sweet concerts and swag?!

Love you all!

The church is sooooo true!

Love,

Elizabeth

Picutres are of downtown, girls in the branch and a dead snake

Loving Life! 3/1/2015

Dear Family,

Well sadly I can't say I have toooo much to report on but it was a decent week. Last Monday we went to a members and watch 17 miracles. It was great to see that movie again and be reminded of how blessed I am. A mission doesn't look nearly as hard as what the pioneers went through. 

It was a slower week when it came to lessons. Rita is back in Guyana now. She doesn't know if she's coming back yet haha. I don't know! But it's ok. She has a BOM and she knows how to get a hold of us. She said she would call us so maybe we can pass her off to the elders in Guyana. We shall see. 

Ernesto was still a no show at church! That kid drives me crazy! Haha. Man he can be super flaky. He really is a great kid though. He's been reading his Book of Mormon so that's been a good step for him. I think he'll just take time. 

We hadn't been teaching Faizel but surprisingly he came to church yesterday. I think the youth Sunday school teacher called him. He still doesn't want to give up tea and coffee but we are meeting with him again this week so we will see how it goes.

We met with Mohan this week and had a good lesson. He too seems like it will take time before everything makes sense to him. I'm waiting for the click moment. 

We met a girl yesterday who seems really cool! She is really involved in her church though so I don't know if she will ever leave. But I was talking to her and I asked if she had any kids. She's 28. She said she did have a son but he passed away. I got to testify a little of the Plan of Salvation. We are seeing her next Sunday. I forgot her name...oops.

We also met with a boy named Chiffon. He's really cool! He's probably 15 or so. Really smart kid and seems to understand everything we teach. He reads what we ask him to. Hopefully we can see him progress.

We didn't meet with Sabayo's again! Everytime we go someone is not home or something wrong happens. We also didn't meet with Sister Yosefsoon.

I love the church members here. Everyone is so nice! They are willing to come out teaching and help in any way. Like I said before I am very impressed with how the church is run here. Seems pretty smooth from what I can see. However people say Wanica Branch is the best. There is a lot of reactivation to do here. We are really trying to focus on that as a mission. 

Learning a language takes so mmmuch time it feels like. It is coming, I'm in no doubt of that. However it's very frustrating not being able to teach the way I want to. I was praying this past week and just asking why have you taken away alllll the things I had going for me...teaching, comp, etc. I heard the distinct answer, "So that you would turn to me!" I know He's right...but it still is hard. 

To answer your bike questions dad: Yes we have lights on our bikes! And we ride in the dark everyday haha. It's pretty safe riding your bike here in Wanica. It's pretty country.

Mom: Sister Doxey and I will definitely be able to talk to each other just fine. I might say things a little differently but it's the same dutch. I'm also so happy you had Sour Sop! It's the best. My favorite is the juice. When it comes to the package thing I don't know...You could send it to Trinidad It would just take a long time to get to me. Sister Johnson's mom might be sending the info to you once her family gets internet after their move. I'm sorry I don't have much info. I'll try and get the info from the elders this week. They are good at answering me. Sorry mom! In the morning I'll usually do some ab workouts and things like that. I count my biking as my cardio.

Sorry to hear about Monroe. Send my love!

Thanks for the letters and I love you all!! Keep living life and living the gospel.

Love,

Elizabeth