October 21, 2013

Conférence de Zone! Zone Conference!

Cette semaine. C'était bien passé. Je suis comme Pono! This week. It was fine. I'm like Pono.

Well, that's about enough of that.

So Wednesday, we left for Suriname-like the third time that I've done that this transfer. Hah, no joke, President shook my hand and said "You again! You're all over the place!" Which, I guess it's true. Third time that I've seen him in three different countries this month.

Also, I feel like I've mentioned this before, but it struck me again this week that for the first time, I am both the oldest missionary and the most Guianne-experienced missionary down here. It's weird. I mean, I still just got here!

One of the things that we talked about in zone conference was stress management. But then it kinda shifted into a message on "be still, and know that I am God". I got a cool little perspective on that. 

-This world is, currently, the kingdom of Satan. Him and one third of the heavenly host are doing everything that they can to keep it that way. But guess what-we're here. And before the foundations of this world, we were foreordained to come to the earth now, just so that we can kick him out. That's what we're doing! It's incredible!

-God is at the wheel. I mean, what does that actually mean, "omnipotent"? Well, a part of that is that the kingdom is not in trouble. The ark is not tipping. God is going to win, regardless of whether or not we're on his team. We don't need to worry, because nothing that we can do or not do will change that. He just asks us to do our best, knowing that in the end, He's the one that makes the difference.

Aand, just like that I'm out of time.

I love you! Hopefully you'll get a baptism picture or two in November.

-Elder Santos

October 14, 2013

No place like home!

Yeah, I'm back. Tuesday, I flew from Trinidad to St. Vincent, to Barbados, to Dominique (which, incidentally, is outside of our mission), to Guadeloupe. Wednesday was from there to Martinique to here. But, I finally made it back, safe and sound.

The big change for this week has been the arrival of Elder Call's new companion, Elder Miyasaki. Do you remember him? We were both in Martinique (in the same apartment) for his first transfer. In any case, he and Elder Call have been kicking butt since he's gotten here, and it's been really fun to be able to see them work.

As for Elder Fraley and I...we laugh way too much. He reminds me quite a bit of a certain Jack Henry. The only thing is that I've been way to lenient on the English front, and so this past week we took the resolution to absolutely abandon English. If we speak in english, than we don't get any nutella for the next meal. We'll see how this works for us...

Aand...other than that...oh! So we went to visit Evita this past week, and when we asked her how her Book of Mormon reading was going, she said "It's going great. I read whenever I get the chance. Today I left off in...2 Nephi 8".

!!!

And that in a week. I'm really very excited about that, because so far in my mission, I have only ever had two investigators read that far into the Book of Mormon. And both of them are now members. Preach My Gospel talks a lot about the converting power of the Book of Mormon, and it really is true. No one can read far into this book without discovering for themselves that it is true. So! We're going to see her again tonight and ask her to be baptized in a couple weeks.

Also, this next week is Zone Conference (again! can you believe that I've already been down here for more than three months?), so we leave Wednesday and come back Friday. Just because that three hour drive to St Laurent hasn't gotten old yet...

Yep, that's all I've got for this week.

Tchimbé red! Take Care!

-Elder Santos

October 7, 2013

It sort of wasn't my fault this time..

But yeah, I don't have a great batting average for emails in the past little while...

Well anyway, let's start back a little bit. Last Sunday! We met a woman a while ago named Evita who has been doing great-she loves our visits and keeps her commitments.

Stupid English keyboards. More on that in a bit.

But anyway, we had a lesson scheduled with her for last Saturday, but she had a last minute thing and wasn't there. Which was a real bummer, because she had come to church the Sunday before, and one of the things that we were hoping to coordinate with her was to come to church again the next day (since she lives pretty far and doesn't drive). She didn't have a phone at that time, so we had no way of getting in touch with her other than showing up at her place, and it was already Saturday night. So we basically just said "well shucks" and focused on the other investigators we wanted to get to church.

But then, Sunday rolls around, church starts, and out of no where, Evita walks in! After sacrament meeting, when I asked her how she had gotten here, she said "Oh, well last week I loved church so much that I asked the sister that came to get me last time to come back and get me every week".

!!!

That is the first time that I have ever had an investigator get to church without us figuring out the specifics and inviting them during the week. So that was a great feeling. Another investigator that came to church last Sunday was Madame Joseph (have I already told you about her?). When we first knocked on our door she let us sit down to teach her. We gave her a restoration brochure and asked her to read it and pray about it. And when we came back, she told us that she knew that everything in the brochure was true. She's getting baptized this month.

Oh, and another one. Okay, so as a missionary, NO ONE calls you. I mean, other than missionaries and wrong numbers, I feel like we almost never receive calls, except for the occasional heads up to cancel a rendez-vous. But, last Monday, an old investigator sent us a message saying "hey, can you call me? I was wondering when you could come teach me". Her name was Saby, and we had sort of given up on her after about a month of failed rendez-vous and not being able to get in touch with her. So, yeah, that was unexpected. So I called her back, and she was like "Yeah, I want you to come over at these two times every week". Also unheard of. Little miracles all over the place!

So other than that, last Monday President Mehr came in to town. He taught us missionaries Tuesday morning, gave a member fireside Tuesday night, and then did personal interviews Wednesday morning. Oh, that's also why I didn't get to email last week. Monday I drove three hours to the border to pick up President from Suriname, and another three hours back. So we just didn't have time for emails. I would have done it another day, but we were just busy and then I didn't get around to it. Wednesday we did another three hours each way to drop him off, but this time I was the one that drove back. Which is big news, because it was in a manual van.

I now know how to drive manual. Sort of.

Well, I had to learn because, although since I've been here we've been driving an automatic truck, it didn't have enough spots for President, Sister Mehr, the assistants, my companion, and myself. Monday Elder Maoni drove there and President drove back. Tuesday, President took the truck, but I got like a 15 minute crash course on how to drive from the assistants. Then it was just me and Elder Fraley. The first time I started driving off, I pulled out to the main road, got ready to turn left...and then stalled. Like 5 times in a row. Elder Maoni ran out and made the turn for me. Then he left. I looked at Elder Fraley and said "Can we say a prayer?" So we said a prayer, I started the car, and we drove off. Yeah, I still stalled several times during the day, but we managed. In any case, I did the 250 kilometers back from Saint Laurent the next day without a problem.

But yeah. So that was exciting.

Then, Thursday of last week we went on an exchange-I was with Elder Maoni, and Elder Call and Elder Fraley stayed together (keep in mind that between the two of them they have less than three months of experience). Then, just to make it even more crazy, Friday at 3pm, the assistants called with the challenge of a lifetime-find some way to be in Suriname for a 6am flight the next day. That was followed by a lot of craziness and phone calls, which ended in our discovering that it wasn't possible for Friday...legally. So we ended up leaving early Saturday morning and, again, driving 3 hours to the border. This time though, Elder Maoni and I got to keep going. Crossed the river again (I wanted to take another picture, but my camera wouldn't turn on), and took another 2 hour taxi ride, showing up a half hour late for the first session of conference. Hah, we show up on the doorstep of the church building in Suriname, and all the elders but the zone leaders are like "Hey! What the heck are you doing here?"

Conference was great, by the way. I tried something new this time, inspired by a comment by President about taking notes-this past conference, I did my very best to not write anything down that was just an exact quote or an approximation of what the speakers had said. After all, we've always got the Liahona. But this time, I only wrote down thoughts or spiritual insights or applications that were not copy/pastes of what they were saying. It was great, and a much bigger learning experience. I found myself reflecting more, and learning things as I was writing them. Which, incidentally, someone later in the conference quoted as a way of knowing when they were speaking under the influence of the spirit. So that was a really new experience for me. One of the things I wrote down was that God was not really trying to be subtle with us this time. The focus is on missionary work and the family. I imagine Him watching us now and saying "Can you take a hint??"

And yes, we did watch priesthood session real time, which ended at 11pm here. Then, with missionary travel and all, we didn't end up getting to the host apartment until aftermidnight. Slept in my church pants and didn't undo my tie, because we had to get up at2:30 to go to the airport for our flight to Trinidad. Came to Trinidad, went to conference (this time I was SO TIRED), good stuff.

Also, that's the thing about the english keyboard from up above. I'm in Trinidad, so the keyboard is in English again. I had gotten used to the french one after leaving Martinique, because I could no longer change it to English. So now, all the numbers are weird and the "a" key is in the wrong place. But! I also got to play football with some of the Trinidad missionaries this morning for a p-day activity. It was great.

Hey, I'm told the Seahawks are doing awesome!

So yeah. I fly out Tuesday, spend the night in Guadeloupe, and then fly back to French Guianne Wednesday. Oh, I technically got my transfer calls, but nothing changed.

Come to think of it, it has been a pretty crazy couple weeks. Also, I'm way out of time.

Love you all!

-Elder Santos

September 23, 2013

Surprise!

So no, the camera isn't fixed, but it turns out that it's still taking pictures fine, and, what's more, it uploads them! Here's some old ones from traveling to Zone conference.

Other than that...it's been an exciting week. Thursday we got to go do a service project for a family that lives way out of town (we ended up driving 150 kilometers that day), and that is almost completely self-sufficient. The sister told us that the only things that they buy are salt, oil, and gasoline. One of the highlights of that visit was getting to try a new fruit that the english-speaking brother called a "star apple". It's purple, and rather tastey.

We also had an exchange this Saturday; Elder Fraley went to go work with Elder Maoni, and Elder Call and I got to work together. It's true that he's still working on his french, but he's not letting it keep him from participating in lessons and bearing testimony. He's a hard worker, a good missionary.

Here's a cool experience for this week.

So last week friday, we had just finished our night and were heading home (like we were in the car, driving, and not too far from our place) when Elder Fraley sees someone sitting on the side of the road and says "let's go contact that guy". Yeah, I thought it was kinda weird, but I didn't want to spit on his greenie fire, so we parked the car and went back to contact him. As we were talking to him, I just felt like he wasn't really that interested (rastas tend to be surprisingly devoted to their religion), but that since he likes talking about God, he invited us to come see him another time, at his home which was close by.

Skip to this past Tuesday, and we decided to go try and see him again. We were walking up to his house, when three women sitting on the other side of the street called out and told us that that's where they live. We asked if our friend was there, and they said no. So, we contacted them too. What we discovered is that one of them had, recently, found a "The Restoration" brochure on the ground, had picked it up, read it, and started to answer the thought questions in the back of it. "But," she said, "some of the answers are in a book that I don't have-that book that it talks about". (author's note-this conversation was indeed happening in english, because she is from Guyana. Yeah, she just happened to find an english restoration brochure). Well, we offered to come back with a Book of Mormon for her in english, and she happily accepted.

When we came back the next day with her Book of Mormon, she mentioned that normally, she's always in the house, but that her sister had just suggested that they go outside that day. She said that she knew that God had done that, so that we could meet each other.

One of the cool parts of that for me is that we don't always see what God has in mind for us, and, as Elder Anderson said, we rarely get the miracle that we expect. Rather, we find that God has something in store for us much better than we had imagined. Do your little part, talk to that last person. Do what's right, because even if we don't see it, our little part is making miracles every day.

Also, did I mention that I cut my own hair this month? I've been finding surprise long hairs all over the place ever since. And I look like JJ. Still looking for that silver lining.

I hear everyone back home is moving, so good luck with that! I always hated moving. I guess living in the same home for just shy of 18 years will do that to you.

Yep, that's all I've got for now. But I love you guys!

-Elder Santos

September 16, 2013

Hello everyone,

... it was a really good week, and I wish that I had the time to tell you all the details.

So basically, for a while now our sort of "theme" for the mission has been REAL GROWTH. Which means that we've got to stop baptizing people who aren't going to be there in two months. No more seeds in the rocky place. It means convert those who are not converted, retain those who have been converted, and reactivate those who have left. And, the main way that we have been focusing on trying to make that happen? Well, we focus on our less actives. Get them to come back, and help them to do missionary work, so that their friends and family get baptized, and then all together they keep each other active. Ergo, more exalted beings.

So for at least the past three months, I have been bending over backwards trying my darndest to make this happen. And have seen very little. Shoot, even working with active members has been, at least, frustrating.

Then, this week, we found information for three inactive members-names, addresses, and phone numbers for people who I had never seen or heard of. We decided to go to their homes.

The first one was there visiting her family, although she no longer lives there (already a small miracle, cuz now she lives like two hours away). She didn't seemed too thrilled to see us, but she said that we could see her another time. THEN, her sister came out and contacted us, gave us a return appointment. In that return appointment, she accepted to be baptized.

Second one didn't live there anymore. But, her cousin, her cousin's husband, and their four kids still lived there. They let us in right away, and now we're going to have a family home evening with them tonight!

Third one didn't live there anymore either. The people that DO live there had never heard of us. But! They were still like "hey, but you can come back Tuesday morning!"

So yeah. Made me think of what Neal L. Anderson said during "The Work of Salvation"; "The Lord doesn't always give us the blessing that we want or expect. But, if we have faith in Him, we find that we usually get something much better that what we had imagined".

Anyway, I'm out of time. Dang it.

Thank you to everyone for your support! Momma Q, thank you for your letter! Love you all!

-Elder Santos

September 9, 2013

I'm Baaack!

Sorry about last week. Technical difficulties.

Anyway, how's everyone doing? Thanks for all the letters, pictures, thoughts, etc. 

But, as for me. So two weeks ago was when Elder Jomie and Elder Johnston left, and then our sons showed up!

MAIN CHARACHTERS:

ELDER FRALEY: My son! He's great. He sat me down his first night here and said "how do you do with exact obedience?" He's here to work hard, and we've committed each other to be obedient. He's from West Jordan, UT. He's got what we call "greenie fire". It's great. He's a funny guy, and we get along great.

ELDER CALL: Also from Utah, but I forgot where. He's doing pretty well with his french, and likes playing frisbee, which works out great for me. I finally have someone I can play with!

So in any case, one of the things that President Mehr has been speaking about recently, and in consequence one of the things that I've been thinking/teaching about, is the law of the fast. I feel like it's one of those things that, for the longest time in my life, I had no solid understanding of. I mean, what in the world does anyone have to possibly gain from me not eating? How in the world does that help me?

Well, one of the answers that I've found is based on the fact that each of us has two bodies-one physical, and one spiritual. The spiritual body has been there for a long time. Like, a very long time. And for almost 100% of its existence, it has been doing just fine on its own. Then, physical body comes along and throws all of its physical appetites into the party. Now, I don't want to sound like I'm disparaging physical body, because he is a great and essential part of us. But it's true that he's much younger, and still has a lot to learn. Well, how in the world do we take all of that spiritual experience that we've accumulated over the millenia and teach a little something to our physical body? Admittedly, there's multiple ways to do so. But one of those really great ways to do so is by fasting. When we fast, we take 24 hours and we put our physical body in time out. We say that "alright, for just one day, you don't get to say anything. For 24 hours, we're going to do things like I did for so long before you showed up. So for just a little while, just a day, just don't say anything. Just be quiet, and listen. And we're going to learn something". Well, physical body insists on making a bunch of noise anyway, but at the end of a successful fast, we have learned something. We've learned what we're capable of. We've learned that there are things more important than what our body wants. We learn how to recognize what they are. And our poor hungry physical body becomes just a little bit more unified with our spirit. 2 Nephi 1:21 gives us Lehi's definition of manhood. Be men. Of one heart and one mind, and free from all captivity. Well being of one hear and one mind starts on an interior, personal basis. Are my heart and my mind one? Or am I in captivity to the one or the other? And no, it's not just for the boys; I think that what Lehi was really saying to his really rather immature children was "grow up". Learn. Be a little bit bigger than you were yesterday. Fast!

That took more time than I expected. Life is going great! Happy anniversary Pono! I love you! Happy Birthday Lizzie! Uncle Kamalu loves you!

Love,

-Elder Santos

August 26, 2013

Yeah, so I just spent all my time writing individual emails.

But just for informational purposes,

I'm staying where I am! And I'm training! All I know is that his name is Elder Fraley.

That's my time! Love you all!

-Elder Santos

August 12, 2013

Suriname!

what is the country that I was in this past week?

Alright, that's about enough Jeopardy for this email.

Hello family! I actually have some fun stuff to share for this week, so I'm sending out a big email. Sorry for those of you who I have not yet sent an individual response to.

Anyway, this week has been lots of fun, because it is ZONE CONFERENCE!!! I think it's one of my favorite parts of the mission, especially because it's really the only time that I get to see president. And, once more, he did not fail to induce a bunch of revelation. But before that.

So, just to explain a bit, this is my third zone conference, and for every single one I have had to travel out of the country I am serving in. First two times it was Martinique to Guadeloupe on a plane (although Martinique had its zone conference on location this time with a visiting 70...go figure), and this time it was French Guiana to Suriname by...well, not plane.

We left Wednesday morning, a little later than we would have liked, around 10:30. Then, I drove our car three hours from Cayenne to Saint Laurent, on the border of Suriname. Hah, we got stopped by the Gendarmes at one point (not for speeding or anything, it was a routine checkpoint), the gentleman asks for my drivers licence. So, I hand him my Washington state drivers licence, he takes it, turns it over for a second, examining it like he doesn't know which side is supposed to be up, and then he hands it back to me and says "okay, it's good, you can go." So, yeah, apparently that's what Gendarmes do. Anyway! At Saint Laurent, we stamp our passports, park our car, and then get in a little motorized canoe, maybe 20 feet long and 3 feet wide, and cross the river. It was actually pretty fun. So! River man drops us off in Suriname, we get our passports stamped again, and then meet up with another man who runs a taxi service (we got out of the customs point and everything at about 2:30, and he told us that he had been waiting for us since noon. He wasn't super duper happy). Back in the car, for another three hour drive. The good news was that this time, I wasn't driving, so I got to get some sleep in. Well, he drops us off at the church building in Paramaribo, Suriname, where we're supposed to wait for the other missionaries to come and get us. Turns out they were waiting at the other church building. And unfortunately, our french phones don't work in Suriname for some reason. Luckily for us, there were some members there who spoke english and were willing to call the other missionaries for us. Thank you, Heavenly Father!

But yeah, that was the trip there. Then, Thursday, we had our interviews with President. Lots of good stuff, but I'll consolidate.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: So President asked me how I was doing with ZL responsabilities and everything. As we were talking about that, he described the decision to call me as a zone leader. 

"I told the assistants that you were just proud enough to not be overwhelmed by the assignment".

So I laughed and told him that my mom would have heartily agreed.

Then! Friday was zone conference. And, actually, there are two zones in Suriname, plus us made it a three-zone conference. The interesting twist for this one was that this time I was the only anglophone in our zone. Elders Johnston and Maoni understand English fine, so it wasn't a problem, but on the other hand, Elder Jomie does not. So I spent the entire time translating for him. I learned that it's really hard to take notes and translate at the same time. I also learned that, when I translate, I don't really have time to think about what I'm saying, I'm just spitting it out as fast as I hear it. Hah, he says that he liked the zone conference, so apparently at least some of it made sense.

Saturday, we made the return journey. Paramaribo to Albina in taxi, Albina to Saint Laurent in canoe, and then I drove us back to Cayenne. Home sweet home.

And that's all the time I've got!

Love you all!

-Elder Santos