May 28, 2013

I maintain firmly that there is no resemblance there

My dear family,

I want to start by copying the beginning of my journal entry from May 25th:

"Happy 0th anniversary to two of my favorite people in the whole world, Kalei and Elaine Santos. I can't tell you how bad I wish I could be there, but know how much I love you, and how proud I am of you. I wish you only the very best things that you can have, in this life and in the next. I love you."

In line with that thought, I want to give a big thank you to everyone for all the pictures-you're all beautiful. Speaking of pictures, I got a wedding announcement in the mail this week (For some reason the other Martinique missionaries think I look like Kalei), as well as a photo from new cal, so I can officially show people three siblings, two sister-in-laws, and two nieces. Thank you!!

As for my week, it was lots of fun (the wedding a thousand miles away was still the highlight). We've been working hard at implimenting what we talked about at Zone Conference, meaning working more with the members. We got to have a couple rendez-vous this week, in which we got to hear a lot of peoples' conversion stories. What I learned; we heard, in one form or another, the stories of how six members rencontréd the church. Four of them came from a friend who was already a member and who invited them to learn more. One of them is the daughter of one of the first four, whose mom was baptized when she was 5, so we're going to count her as "raised in the church". The sixth is the only one who met the church through independant missionary efforts (although actually, the missionaries didn't contact him-he contacted the missionaries). It was another testimony for me that God does not intend for people to discover the truth by having strangers knock on their door. Yeah, it works in some measure, but it's sort of taking the monkies on typewriters approach-if you do anything enough times, it's bound to work eventually. So this week we've been working on finding a better way.

My adventure for the week happened last night-we had one of those lessons at a member's house, and got done around 8:20. We decided there probably wasn't going to be another bus, so we just started walking home. Unfortunately this was a place I had only ever been to in a car, so I didn't technically know the path home, although I did know the general direction (oh yeah, I was on an exchange with Elder Miyasaki who is still in his first transfer, so I was the one leading the charge). For the first little while we were doing pretty well. We got to a point where I definitely knew where I was, and had to choose between two paths. I chose the one that I thought would definitely be quicker, although I had never been there before. Well...you can kinda guess how that all worked out. With a few stops to ask for directions, we finally got home at 9:45. But hey, if you don't walk enough, how are you going to keep the weight off?

Speaking of which, I had no less than three members yesterday tell me that I've gained weight since I've been here...

THE LITTLE THINGS: One fun fact about Martinique is that there's just trashed cars all over the place. Scrapped, tires gone, winshield shattered, just kinda lying around in random places. Well, this past week somebody raised the bar on random places to put your crap car (see photo). 20 euro to the first person who can tell me how in the heck that got there. Hey, it made me laugh. And for that, I am grateful.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: This is one I got to share for French Mother's day. Want to go on a scavenger hunt?!? I've got a couple scriptures for you.

1 Nephi 11:1, Enos 1:3, Alma 36:17, Alma 56:47-48, Helaman 5:13-14.

Notice anything? Think for a second about these scriptures, and what experiences, what scripture came about par la suite. It's a pretty big chunk of the Book of Mormon, and these aren't all the examples. Turns out that the scriptures that we have to day, we have because parents taught their children the gospel of Jesus Christ. I bet they couldn't always tell that they were having an effect at the time (think Alma), and some of them never even got to see the results in their lifetime (Jacob and Enos, for example) But look at how important it is to teach the gospel in your home! Think of how your life would be different if Lehi or Helaman or the Anti-Nephi-Lehis hadn't done it. I am very grateful for my family, and for the home that I grew up in. Yeah, it had it's ups and downs, but my parents taught me who I am. Even if I wasn't always listening.

I love you all! Next week I'll have my transfer calls, so if you haven't already, you might want to hold your mail items for a little while.

à plus!

-Elder Santos

May 21, 2013

Guess who's totally got more random holidays than Pono...

But yeah. Because we're both good little catholics, we had Pentecost on Monday. Happy Pentecost! I hope the gift of tongues abounded. Then, for those of you who don't know your Martiniquaise history, the 22 May is the day that slavery was abolished here. So, we're going to make that another holiday. The only thing is that since Monday is ferié bank holiday and  is also ferié, basically no one went to work  either. In fact, the only reason I'm emailing now is because we decided to just go to the church and get it done, rather than waiting until Incidentally, happy 22 Mai! You're all white, so you still have to go to work.

But anyhow...what a week-and-a-few-days. I don't know if I told you all this last time, but this past week was scheduled to be crazy.Tuesday, Elder and Sister Bennion came into Martinique, to look for a new apartment for new missionaries here. Wednesday President and Sister Mehr arrived with the assistants, and had a fireside that night with the members and some amis. We did my interview right before that, to save us having to do it at zone conference later that week. I've got to say, I love being around that man, because I feel like I just get straight revelation every single time that he talks. One of my favorite parts was at the fireside, when he told the members that he knew why they had been born.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Each one of you who had accepted covenants with the Lord were foreordained before the foundation of the world to prepare the earth for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Do you believe that?"

This past week, he talked to the missionaries a lot about how to change the culture of missionary work here, and the blessings that will give us. I heard him say several times that as missionaries, we are called to teach. We have got to stop the current way of doing things, where we find someone to teach, set up an appointment, and then ask members to come teach with us. "You are the teachers, they are the finders". Rather than "Would you come teach this person I found?" ideal missionary work would consist of us saying "When can we come and teach that person that you found?". Wednesday night was his chance to kick the butts of the members-at one point he gave them the invitation that night to pray to God and ask what He would have them do for Him. He said, though, that he already knew the answer.

ALSO QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Go ahead and ask God what he wants you to do. I know already what the answer will be, because there is no way that He won't tell you to share the gospel. There is absolutely no chance that he won't ask you to save your brothers and sisters, His sons and daughters".

That is what we do! That is what each of you have the chance and sacred trust to do! That is what we were foreordained to, and how we are going to prepare the world for the coming of Christ. I've thought often about the fact that as a relatively simple person, I really have absolutely nothing that I can give to God. Even giving Him my heart and my will doesn't make me anything more than what King Benjamin called an "unprofitable servant". But I realized something this past week-I have the ability to serve God by saving his children and bringing them back to Him. And when you think about it, what greater service could anyone ever give?

Then, Thursday we left for Guadeloupe to have our zone conference. I had a famous Guadeloupeen Bokit for the first time (It's a creole thing, missionaries talk alot about it, but as far as I can tell it's a glorified sandwich), and probably the worst night of sleep I've had so far on my mission. I hope the mosquitoes aren't that bad everywhere in Guadeloupe. Friday morning we left bright and early for zone conference. Lots of great stuff, but I'll just give you the highlights. 

-Asking for help is a tricky thing. No one likes feeling needy or dependant, but in fact you get to give others the chance to serve, and therefore merit blessings from above. Don't be afraid to ask them to do hard things either; service is never meant to be convenient. Sacrifice is what brings forth blessings.

-Speaking of the Captain Moroni, we read that if every man were like him, the very powers of hell would be shaken forever. So a good reflection question would be this-if every man (and woman) were like you, would the powers of hell shake? Or would Satan have an easier job? Our goal shouldn't necessarily be to be like Moroni, but rather we should try to be someone who others should want to be like. Be thou an example of the believers.

-now for a quick number session. President told us that in the last six months, as a mission, we contacted 50,000 people. In the same period of time, we baptized 32 people from unassisted contacting efforts. That's a lot of work, which is great. There are (hopefully) 32 more people who are that much closer to salvation, which is awsome. But there's a better way to do the work.

-The Lord is hastening his work. When I arrived in Martinique, there were 4 elders here. Right now, we have 6. In the next two transfers, we are going to receive a senior couple and a pair of sisters. For the first time ever, there will be 10 full time missionaries in Martinique (and only one branch, I might add). It's time for us to catch up to what God expects for us.

Also at zone conference, Elder Porterfield and I got to do a little 5-minute teaching segment that the assistants asked us to do a week ago, and the Martinique Elders were asked to do a musical number. We did (in the french hymnbook) #29, O viens, Toi Roi des Rois. Come O Thou King of Kings With a little bit of help, we were actually able to do a little bit of 4 part harmony. Sœur Mehr, who was in the MoTab before leaving on a mission, said she liked it. I was a little disappointed, but hey, whaddya going to do. That's the price you pay for being brought up a music snob.

Anyway, Saturday we came back to Martinique, and now we're back into the swing of things.

A quick sidenote; a while ago I talked about how rain was one of the little things I'm grateful for. Well I still am, but I think God might have heard me and decided to try to change my mind or something. It has been RAINY here recently. I've discovered that as a missionary, there's multiple stages of "wet" that you go through, depending on how bad it's raining.

1-"Great, a little something to cool us off"

2-"Huh, it's really coming down, isn't it?"

3-"Maybe we can just wait it out under cover?"

4-"Oh no! Don't let my tie get wet!"

5-"Rain rain, go away..."

6-"I'm just going to try to keep my feet dry"

7-"Aaand I can no longer give away this Book of Mormon."

8-"Huh, I didn't know my shoes could hold this much water."

9-"I wonder if my camera will ever work again..."

10-"Does this count as breaking mission rules?"

ps-Mom, don't freak out. Even if you sent me a poncho and boots, I would never wear them.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: Basically, read what I said earlier about member work. I would like to re-extend a modified version of the invitation from earlier. Please, before my birthday, invite at least one person to a soirée with the missionaries. They don't necessarily have to say yes; all I ask is that you give them the chance. I ask as well that you send me a little something about how it went, even if it's just to say that nothing came of it. I love you all! If you want to see miracles, you have to go where the miracles happen.

That's my time! I'll talk to you sooner than usual! Know that you are constantly in my prayers!

-Elder Santos

ps-President also mentioned at mission conference that we're allowed to use email to communicate with friends, so could somebody post mine on Facebook? Thanks a bunch!

May 7, 2013

T'as mal où? Google translate tells me this is "You have badly where?"

Hello all my favorite people,

So I hope you all had a fantastic week-I thank you for the time spent to send me little updates. Huh, one fun realization for the week-since I only get news updates every Monday, I tend to pray for the same problem for each of you all throughout the week. I was sitting there one night this week and thought to myself-"I wonder if this is already a moot point?"

But! I pray for you all the same!

Anywho. This week has been good fun, as usual. We have been blessed to be able to do more teaching than usual this week, which makes me a happy camper. One interesting change we've had recently is that for my first three months here, I spent a lot of time working in a sector called "Dillon"-probably just because of convenience, because it's one of the biggest cités in walking difference. If you look at a picture that I've sent home of the view from my balcony, the big buildings right next to the highway are all Dillon. Thing is, since missionaries have been in this apartment forever and have all been looking out the window at those huge buidlings, I'm sure that they've been crawling up and down Dillon for longer than I've been alive. Personally, I've knocked every door in the place. Well, with the turn of the transfer Elder Shepherd and I decided that we were all dillon'd out, and that we wanted to try working more in Fort-de-France itself. So we've been spending a lot more time downtown, and, as a fun little change of pace, we decided to get the unlimited bus pass for the month of may. Now I know that probably doesn't sound too notable to you, but I'm not joking when I say that that is one of the most exciting things that's happened to me. Up until now, we've been walking everywhere, and have been a little bit limited in our ability to se déplacer. move So hopefully this lets us break into new areas where hopefully people haven't already seen the missionaries for 30 years.

Besides that-I've been meaning to talk about the weather for a while now-so a while back, we were in Carem (ask a catholic), when it is apparently traditionally hotter than usual in Martinique. Then, in mid-april, things started to change a little bit. You know how back home we talk about "April showers"? Well, turns out in Martinique, they don't mess around. Seriously some of the hardest rain I have ever seen-and that when we happened to be walking around. The worst I've gotten so far has been the water up to mid-thigh, so I'm told that's relatively not so bad. But man, there was not an inch of my body that was not thoroughly drenched. I've been wearing my contacts a lot more as well, because when it starts raining hard, I can't see squat through my glasses. But then that got old apparently, because this past week it has been like 35 every day. I have know idea what that is in 'merican temperature, but I can tell you that it's stinking hot. But hey, life goes on. I can tell you one thing though, I'm going to be such a wimp coming home and starting school in a provo winter.

Soo...yesterday google locked down my account while I was writing. But hey, you guys get what I had already written.

Also real quick-I will be calling...someone...I don't know who yet...at 6pm sunday evening. I will try starting a google+ chat with someone-probably JJ? I'm thinking I'm going to google from the david santos google+ account. So...look for that!

Picture!

Kisses,

-Elder Santos

April 29, 2013

His name is longer than mine...and it's not even close

Happy Monday everyone!
 
 So we decided to try out a different cyberbase (the place where we do
 our mail) this week, and it turns out that that was an awful decision.
 I highly suggest going with what works in the future. In consequence,
 I'm having trouble getting all the email addresses that google usually
 puts in for me-could one of you two forward this on to Megan, Mele,
 and Pono?
 
 But enough of that. This week has been very fun logistically, as we
 now officially have four missionaries in our apartment. Who, you ask?
 
 MAIN CHARACTERS:
 ELDER ANDROS: is de retour in back in Martinique, after an 11 month stay in
 Guianne. Incidentally, he is also the father of Elder Porterfield, who
 was with him six weeks ago. The first time I saw him, I was about 80%
 sure that he was Draco Malfoy. I'll see if I can get a picture in the
 future to show you, but you'll get it right away.
 ELDER MIYASAKI: is our Hawaiian baby. Since he has arrived, there may
 or may not have been some very hurtful comments going around about him
 being a "real hawaiian". I stand firm in my position that I am just as
 Hawaiian as him, but so far that opinion seems to be the road less
 traveled. Fun fact-he's from Hilo! Mom, go for it-I expect to have his
 entire family tree by next week. Also, the subject line is about him.
 
 So Elder Andros came in Wednesday afternoon, and spent the day with
 the other elders. Elder Miyasaki was scheduled to come in Thursday
 morning, but apparently he lost his passport for a little while. He
 was eventually able to find it, but not before missing his flight.
 Apparently the next one they could find for him was Saturday morning.
 That meant that we spent Thursday and Friday in a tripanionship, which
 also allowed me to have a mission first-for each of those days,
 whenever we had a member with us, I went on an exchange with the
 member, while the other two would go somewhere else and do their
 thing. It was really bizzare, being the only missionary in the room
 for long stretches of time. But then, Saturday Miyasaki came in and
 for the past two days, for the first time ever, we have had three
 companionships of missionaries in operation in Martinique. Super fun
 stuff.
 
 As far as the work goes, it's been an interesting week, with us having
 lots of trouble working with our previous amis, but also being blessed
 with lots of new investigators. Good and bad news, but we're still
 plodding along. The other fun part has been working through the
 adjustment period of having new roommates. It's actually reminded me a
 lot of the first little bit at school, every semester that I was
 living with someone new. You get used to how they do everything, try
 to iron out the quirks, and generally learn a lot about how to deal
 with people.
 
 SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: So this week we set transfer goals as a district-it
 wasn't necessarily us choosing the goals though, as much as it was the
 goals being presented to us. So I thought some of them were a little
 bit unrealistic, and as we were walking around tuesday, I thought to
 myself "I just can't see it happening". Then, lightning struck my
 brain (I think Pono already used that, but shoot, that's really the
 best way I can explain it). Immediately the thought came "That's
 right, you don't see it. That's why it's called FAITH". How many times
 in the scriptures are we told that faith is that which we do not see?
 The one that came to my mind at the time was 2 Corinthians 5:7, which
 tells us that we walk by faith, not by sight. The grand moral of the
 story, though, is that if we only ever shoot for what we can see, then
 we will never ever reach what God has in store for us. Walk by faith,
 and be confident (right above the verse previously cited).
 
 Well, that's my week. I love you all, and pray for you constantly. Oh,
 and also, I'll see you in two weeks!!
 
-Elder Santos