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