I Didn't Hold a Sloth, But Nonetheless- Great Week! 9/21/2015

Dear Family,

I don't have too much to report on this week. We got transfer calls and guess what!? They are taking my daughter away from me! Haha Sister Jorgensen is moving to Paramaribo with Sister C. They will have a great time. It's hard to let go of her so fast! But it will be nice to be back in a pair.

This week we had some cool experiences. First was with Nelly, the lady we contacted last week. We continued to have some cool lessons with her. She came to church with her daughter and grand daughter. I think she really liked it. Bad news is Gospel Principles was a terrible lesson on Law of Chastity and a baptist lady was visiting the church and she gave Nelly a card and told her to visit. WOW. Oh and also bad news is that Nelly teaches school in the Jungle and leaves next week. SO SAD! You never know what her future holds though.

Other miracle was with Matilda. We had a turning point with her this week. She didn't come to church but still it was awesome. We had this one lesson on Thursday night and she just completely opened up and told this long story and how she needs all these answers. It's too long to tell but lets just say we were able to testify of how the gospel can help answer all her questions and they little by little she will be able to have the life she wants. She just cried throughout the whole lesson. It was really powerful. Sheyenne is 13 and just on fire. She's awesome. I have no worries about her. She prayed and knows it is all true. She LOVES church, and reads her BOM everyday. I'm not a fan of teaching these younger kids but man they just progress so much faster than their parents. She's great. 

We did more contacting and finding. Finding Nelly gets me excited to find other great people. Our area is just getting better and better. I hope to leave it better than how I found it. 

I'm really sorry everyone but I honestly don't have a whole lot to report on! I gave a talk on Sunday about fearing God and not man. That has been my fav mission topic that I have studied. I love it! 

Have a great day!

Love,

Elizabeth

Pictures!!

FUN DAY IN THE JUNGLE!

Adventure is Out There! 9/15/2015

Dear Family,

Don't worry everyone I saw the sloth again! I'm in love but no I will not take it home! Pretty cool though. Kind of another wild week. We had a mini missionary with us, Sarafina. She is 19 and in our branch. She wants to go on a mission. She is great!

So let's see. I'll start with my miracle of the week. Wednesday I was on splits with Sara because Sis Walsh went to the doctor because of some back pain. We were on our way to an appointment which naturally fell through. We said a prayer together and started walking. We both felt like we should go see this one lady we talked to the night before. We were asking her to see if her neighbors were home. But we never contacted this lady. So anyway we went back to see her. We told her we came to see her. She was really friendly and let us sit down. We just started having a lesson about God is our loving Heavenly Father. We just testified that she was important to God and that he had a plan for her. I felt impressed to tell her that the spirit guided us to her that day. She said, "Well I have a story for you." She went on to tell us that for the past 5 years she has been scammed by this guy. And she was dealing with all the results. She had been praying to God for help and asking if he was there. She said, "I think you are my answer!" We went back a couple days later and had a cool resto lesson. She couldn't come to church this week but she said for sure the next week. I feel really good about her. I hope it will continue well.

Consuella is doing well. She is so ready to be baptized. We haven't caught her boyfriend this week but we have a game plan to get him this week. The key is going to be him. We have to get him pumped and ready to go. It's gonna be quite the challenge but hopefully it will all go well.

Matilda is so so. Her daughter Sheyenne is still doing really well. She is pumped on the gospel. She came to church this week by herself and just loved it! She is a real cutie.

A little boy named Christopher
fell asleep on my lap during a discussion!

Friday I went on exchanges in Wanica with Sister Jensen and Sister Ashcraft. The picture you see is me wearing Sister Jensen's clothes for a service activity we were going to do. I'm wearing a classic Sister Jensen outfit so it was sooo funny to be wearing it. Sister Jensen is awesome! I love her a lot. I had a fun time in Wanica. We did service for Sister Rama. Classic. She fell this last week so she can't walk. There was a lot of work to be done fore. Had to bathe her this week. It's super hard work taking care of her. I'll take care of you mom and dad but I'm not working in a old folks home. We had some other lessons with some members. None that I was super close to but it was still fun. 

Saturday there was a great baptismal service from a family in another branch. They were so cute and so happy to be baptized. They were referrels from a couple in my branch the Kabelie's. The Kabelie's are awesome! So solid and they were just baptized end of last year. 

Today we went to Brownsberg which is this cool place in the jungle. It was soooo cool and pretty! We had a lot of fun. I love getting together with Sister Jensen and Sister Christiansen. They are my homies. 

Love you all so much! Thanks for the prayers.

Love,

Elizabeth

My Mission is Complete 9/8/2015

Dear Family,

Well all is well in this wild country of Suriname. How did I get here again?? Haha. We had a crazy week with lots of adventures. If you're wondering about my subject line the reason behind it is that I held a SLOTH! Dream come true. It was pretty awesome. They problem is the picture was on Sister Jorgensen's camera and she lost it. Good news is we are seeing it again tonight. It was cute. It hung on like a backpack. 

So this week. I don't know what it was about this week but we had so many lessons fall through! Besides all that we did pretty well. We dropped some people that weren't progressing and did a lot more finding. That means I got a nice tan. I really am getting quite tan which also means tan LINES. Oh boy...haha. 

Wednesday I had Sister Jensen and Sister Ashcraft with me in Tamenga. We had a fun time together. Of course we had a day filled with bike problems and lessons falling through. But what are you going to do? They are both great missionaries. 

Update on some investigators. We had an awesome lesson with Consuela this week but her man wasn't there. It's hard to get them together! The spirit was really strong again. I know Heavenly Father wants them so bad! I hope I can help them make those steps. Consella was at church with her daughter. She has lots of friends in the church so that's nice! She bore her testimony in Relief Society. 

Matilda is so hard to meet with. I feel like she is always too "busy" to sit with us. Her daughter Sheyenne is still doing really well. She remembers everything and always reads. 

We took Sister Ibrihim out teaching with us yesterday and we saw this one investigator we hadn't seen since my first day here really. Her name is Beppi.  She is this really sweet older lady. We always bring members when we see her because she loves asking them questions. Sister Ibrihim was answering all these questions Beppi had about the BOM and our church. It was really fun to listen to their discussion. Sister Ibrihim is the best!

This week we prayed as a companionship on how many people the Lord has prepared to be baptised by the end of next transfer. We feel that there are two people so we will acting completely in faith knowing that there are two people waiting. It's exciting. We are also praying to know what members to go seek referrals from. Member referrals are always the best. When I'm home one day I'm going to refer basically anyone I meet to the missionaries!

Like I said we did a lot of contacting. I've gotten a lot better but I still hate it. I'm glad I'm not in a mission where they have to contact the whole day... no thanks.

Dutch is still coming along and I've been making improvements. It feels actually normal to speak. I'm still not perfect though and I know I never will be. 

I got Stephen and Richard's packages this week! Thanks sooo much! I loved it all and really appreciated the thoughts! Mom still no card yet...

Well I don't have any pictures this week but I love you all! Missions are hard and tiring but always an adventure.

Love,

Elizabeth

Zone Conference 8/31/2015

Dear Family,

I had a good and crazy week as usual! We got to have some meetings with great members and investigators. I could really feel the Spirit this week in the lessons so that's always good. Also we had an awesome Zone and District Conference this weekend!

So let's see! First I'll tell you about our District President here. His name is President Verway. He is supppper solid and only 26 years old. His wife is 23 and so cute. We are good friends. They have a baby who is almost 1. They are awesome and super solid. We have fun with them. We went there this week and did a challenge with them to find people to meet with the missionaries. Hopefully it works out. President Verway talked at District Conference about the scripture in BOM about how Lehi dwelt in a tent. He compared it to leaving your success and following God. He also included how the Apostles of JC left their job just after they had so much success to follow Jesus. It was a really cool talk and a good metaphor.

Probably the best lesson of the week was with Consuella's Boyfriend. He is interested in the church too. We had such a powerful lesson. He is so prepared to change and willing. I asked him what he wants for his future and he said he wants to get married, and raise his children in the church so they are on the right path. Good answer! I have heard that sometimes they can be wishy washy but I hope this time they are for real. He said this is my third and last chance with the missionaries. Consuella came to the Saturday session of conference. 

Suriname Sisters at Zone Conference

Matilda and her family are doing well. Matilda is not married soooo, yeah. We did start teaching her Boyfriend though and we had a really good first lesson. I don't know, we will see what happens. They didn't come to church this weekend because their grandpa died. We had some good lessons with them this week though. Hopefully they continue to progress!

SO. we had Zone Conference this weekend with Elder Martinez from the 70. It was awesome! We had interviews on Friday with Pres. Egbert. They were really good. It's funny. I love how much he trusts me.  He talks a mile a minute- haha.

Zone Conference on Saturday was awesome! I can't even begin to summarize all that was said. All I know is that is was awesome and made me want to be better. I really, really liked Elder and Sister Martinez. I had fun with them. Mom, they told me to tell you thanks on their behalf for making me take piano lessons. 

All the district conference sessions were really good too. I had so much fun seeing all my members from Wanica! I really love the members here too. Everyone said they missed me in Wanica which made me feel good. Sunday after church we went to the Ibrihim's. We had such a fun time there. It's always great there. 

All of us after District Conference

In the youth session on Sunday night in the middle of Elder Martinez's talk to the youth, he called me out to come up and bear my testimony on D&C 4. Ha- I think it was good...I saw people crying, but I don't think my Dutch was very good cause I was nervous! I think the spirit delivered my message-hopefully! Haha. And it's a good thing Elder Martinez can't understand Dutch...But it was a cool experience. 

My companions are both doing great! I love them and we have fun. I really want to keep working hard and I want to find someone really prepared. It's a struggle but I have to find more faith!

Thanks for all the support and I love you all!

Love,

Elizabeth XOXOXOXO

Chantol's mission call opening.  She is going to
Salt Lake City West Mission!

A Birthday Like None Other 08/25/2015

Dear Family,

Well the week started off with my Birthday on Tuesday! Thanks for all the Birthday messages. It was not a normal birthday but it was fun. My District leader made me a cake which was very nice. That day we went to the Ibrihim's and they had cake and ice cream for me. It was wonderful! They made me very happy that day. I gotta say it's a little sad to have your birthday away from your family. I wasn't expecting that, but later in the day everything was good!

Wednesday we shadowed our District Leader, Elder Van Den Herik. He's from the Netherlands. He's pretty cool and a good missionary. I never really served with him before now. We had a good shadow though. I love shadowing in other areas but I hate shadowing in our areas. It feels like a mob together especially now with a trio in the mix! Haha.

Thursday we had a busy day but got to see a lot of great people. We had some great lessons. I have to say it's been a miracle seeing my Dutch really coming along. I never could imagine being at the point that I am. I know it was only through God that this is possible. 

Friday we were supposed to shadow the Zone leaders so we had nothing planned. Of course something had to go wrong and they had to cancel. That meant we had to throw together a day last minute, haha. It turned out pretty well.

Saturday most of the day we helped out with the YM car wash they were doing at the church to raise money for camp. They had us there to talk to people about the gospel while they got their cars washed. It was a lot of fun. I had a blast talking to people and it made me feel really confident in talking to people. Everyone kept asking me how long I had been in Suriname. I say almost 8 months and everyone was soo surprised that I could speak Dutch. It was fun! We met some cool people and got some contacts.

I've gotten to know more of the members here. They are awesome! A really fun branch. We are in the branch now that is the biggest and meets in the actual church building. It's really a great branch. I was super impressed this past Sunday. The talks were all really great and the lessons were all amazing! 

So, now about some of the investigators! I'll first talk about Matilda and her family. Matilda is mom of three kids. Her two youngest are the most interested. I especially love her daughter Sheyenne. She is solllllid. She already knows the church is true and is so excited to be baptized. They have some family in the church, which is always good. They have baptismal dates for October 10.

We met a woman named Raquel this past week. She is super solid and super nice. I'm really excited about her. She has great questions and just is legit. Only problem is that she is going on vacation for a couple weeks so our next appt is not until September 22.

We have an investigator named Consuela. She has investigated before and we picked her up again. She is really a sweet woman. I think she has a great testimony. Not married though...not surprised. She came to church on Sunday. All the members know her and so they were great.

My companions are awesome! We are having a blast together! Sister Walsh is hilarious and so funny. She's crazy but in a good way. Sister Jorgensen and I write down her "walshy moments of the day". One of my fav things she has done: there is this soccer field we go by and all the boys always yell "Sexy!" So, one day Sis Walsh said, "It's Sister! Not Sexy!!" Now every time we go by they all call her sexy sister. We always get a laugh! 

Well, everything really is going great here and time is flying by. Training has been going great. Sister Jorgensen is already getting the hang of it all.

Love you all soooo much! Pictures are from the zoo today and how sweaty I look when biking....enjoy :)

Love,

Elizabeth

Where Am I??? 8/17/2015

Dearest Family,

Well here I am in my new area! Man, I don't know where to begin. This week has felt very long, probably with all the change.

So let's see...I had a great last couple of days with Sister Christiansen. We had fun as we went and said goodbye to members and such. Our apartment was crazy as we were both moving. Don't worry,  it was sparkling by the time we were out. It was really hard to say goodbye to the members in Wanica. I know I will see them again at activities and such but it's not the same. I also need to let go because currently I have my feet in both areas and it's not going to well- haha. 

Wednesday/Transfer day was fun. First of all because Sister C and I got to spend one more day together and then that night we got to go and pick up our new companions from the airport that night!  I was nervous but mostly sad just that change was coming. My new companion, Sister Jorgensen is very sweet and really cool. She is from Draper Utah. The three of us together I know will have a good time. It's guaranteed!

So of course transfer week is crazy and we have so many meetings and things to do. I don't know how many times I had to say to Sister Jorgensen, "I promise this is not normal!" haha. 

New companionships!

Thursday we had to go to the visa office and we got food and that sort of stuff. We met some of the investigators here. They have some cool people here. It's interesting being the person in the companionship that can speak the most Dutch. But it's good! It's given me more confidence. 

Friday we had zone meeting. I taught some of it over obedience. I told the story of King Saul and Samuel and talked about some examples of disobedience and results. It was interesting. I like using the old testament. We did weekly planning that day and also we had branch council. 

The dynamic duo!

Sunday was my first time in Tamengha. It definitely was different than Wanica but everyone is still great. I knew lots of the members so that was good but I have a lot more to learn. I bore my testimony in church. Different from the first time I bore my testimony in Suriname that's for sure! That night we went to the Branch President's for a visit. He's awesome! He was just called not too long ago and he's been a member for about 4 years I think. He's really nice and his wife is awesome too. I felt a lot better about my new home by yesterday.

We are going over to some of my favorite members in Surniame tomorrow, the Ibrihim's. They are in Tamengha Branch, but I know them pretty well. Sister is like my Suriname mom. She's awesome. 

Elizabeth was robbed a couple of weeks ago.  Her
purse was stolen, but an investigator found the
important things in the bushes and she was safe!
The story made the paper!

I'm feeling good about everything else and am excited for this next transfer. There will be great things!

Thanks for the love and birthday wishes!

Love,

Elizabeth