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

August 5, 2013

Elder Santos was busy answering personal emails this week so there was no general email. But here are some tidbits about his new area that he sent us:

There are only four elders in French Guianna. Different apts. And, here's a fun fact. Of those four, two of them are definitely leaving at the end of this transfer, and the other two are Elder Maoni and myself. Elder Maoni has only been here for about a month, and me for less. Which means that we're not going to have really any missionaries with a whole lot of experience/knowledge of the area.

The country is really not too terribly different from the islands, although it's true that it's hotter here. The accent isn't really a problem here-at least, I still haven't been able to pick up if they speek differently than in my previous areas. The biggest difference, for the country and for the accent, revolves around the fact that no one is really from here. Compared with the islands, I see tons of Asians (fun fact-one common term used around here is "le chinois". It literally means "the chinese person", but it is used to refer to the little gas-station-but-without-the-gas stores that are all over the place here), lots of white metropolitans, a huge number of Brazilians, and a good number of spanish speakers from other nearby countries as well. So, yeah, there is an accent here, but I don't know if you could technically call it a Guiannais accent.

We've got one branch here that isn't actually attached to any district-we're just a part of the West Indies Mission. Interestingly enough, a few years back Guianne had three branches and its own district. Unfortunately things have not been moving in the right direction.

Being a Zone Leader is...well, I'm kind of a special case. I mean, I can't imagine that there is a zone in the world that is smaller than the one that I am in now. And I know that, at least in the mission, I'm the only Zone Leader who isn't companions with another Zone Leader. But yeah, for the moment I get to be the bad guy that has to ruin everyone's party. I guess that's what I'm told being a parent is like. Man, I am so sorry.

I had already served with Elder Johnston in Martinique (not as companions), I had only met Elder Maoni at two zone conferences, and I had met Joseph Jomie when I was in his branch in Guadeloupe. Both the companionships have cars actually, but we aren't supposed to drive them too much.

Food is pretty much the same here-well, I've been the master chef at our appartment so far, and I have been making the same things, so...not sure what are the good local dishes, but I'm sure I'll get to taste them eventually.

July 29, 2013

Never a dull moment on the south american continent!

Hello family,

So this week has been a fun little adventure. But to start that story, I still have to introduce you to some people!

MAIN CHARACHTERS:

ELDER JOHNSTON: we know already! He's still the big tahitian who was with me for three transfers in Martinique. I was sure I was never going to see him again, too! I don't know how well I really knew him the last time I did this for him, but just to tell you, he's one of the goofiest, funniest guys I've ever met. Always a joke and a smile.

ELDER MAONI: is his companion, and happens to also be from Tahiti. In fact, he and Elder Johnston were in the same ward. They knew each other really well-they don't say that they were best friends before the mission, but they said that they hung out together a lot. Anyway, Elder Maoni is a great teacher, and speaks english well, because he recently came back from english side.

ELDER BATKH: Is not, in fact, the 16-year old Guadeloupeen. He is, rather, a 17-year old Guiannais. Lives in Mattoury, and in fact his family lives in our area. He was born in the church; both his parents were converted a long time ago. Anyway, we picked him up to start his mini-mission Monday. Then, he ended up going home on Friday. Before we left he mentioned that, in fact, it was more of a micro-mission. But hey, that's just the direction that technology is heading these days, isn't it?

which brings us right to...

ELDER JOMIE: who IS the 16-year old Guadeloupeen. But really, he turns 17 in November, so he's not like a baby baby. He's lots of fun, lots of laughs, and is having an exciting time.

Oh, and for a bit of setting-information. Both companionships are affected to Cayenne, so we are really pretty close. The other companionship has "in town" and the areas directly around-technically they're bike missionaries, but they actually have a car too, since the senior couple left one behind. Our area is, technically, all of Guianne that is not in the small bubble of their area. But in a more practical sense, we stay relatively close. And, I get to drive a car! For some reason, they haven't asked me to take french driver's ed. Does someone want to look up if it's legal to drive on an american licence on french soil? 

And here, I'll make a map.

                                                  Church

                                                    l l

                                                    l l

Cayenne    ------------------Their---------(   )--------------------Our

(downtown) ------------------house-------(   )-------------------house

That thing in the middle is a roundabout. They're EVERYWHERE here.

So one realization for this week is that I'm the only missionary here whose first language is english. No senior couple, no americans, no squat. Hey, it should be good for my french!

So yeah. For a quick summary, the Batkh family is not really what you would call "fully active"-I didn't get to meet them my first sunday. But Andrew is a smart kid, and he seemed to be doing fine. But then Wednesday he asked to go home. So we talked about it, and he said that he said, in essence, that he doesn't feel good asking other people to come to church if he isn't coming to church. We talked about it some more, but in the end he still wanted to go home. In fact, it was all we could do to get him to stay until Friday night, to give us a bit of time to find a replacement. Friday, he went home, and Saturday morning we went to pick up Elder Jomie. Hah, he scared me at the beginning too, because he mentioned that he had told the senior couple in Gwada that he would like to do a mini-mission, but that at the same time he said it thinking that he was still too young, and was sort of half-joking. But then he said that he left all his fear at home, and so far he's been living up to his promise. He's great, and we're getting along really well.

THE SMALL THINGS: Having a francophone companion is full of fun little perks. He was asking about movies that I've seen, and we started talking about "The Incredibles". Well, the name is different in French, but I just translated it directly to "Les Incroyables". And that, of course, reminded me of the bomb-throwing bad guy from the beginning of the film, who, as we all know, speaks french! So I asked what they did for him in french, and guess what...he speaks italian! I don't know why really, but that made me laugh so much. Anyway. Everyone has their stereotypes, right?

Aand there goes all my time.

Address!

Chemin Giglia 

3249 Route de Baduel

97300 Cayenne

Guianne Francaise

there you go.

Thank you all very much for your prayers and your thought-waves sent my direction. I promise you they make a difference. In fact, I've attributed the fact that Guianne isn't as unbearably hot and buggy as people told me that it was to your guys' prayers. Not sure if it's that, but hey.

Bizous,

-Elder Santos

July 22, 2013

Well, I've got so little time that I considered skipping it...

...but I've got more than ten minutes, so I guess I don't have any excuse.

Bonjour à tous,

So this week. Monday and Tuesday I forget. Wednesday, I left for Guianne! The first thing that I noticed is that not everyone is black. And it's weird. Lots of Brazilians, Peruvians, Colombians, and other south americans. They're all disappointed that I don't speak Spanish or Portugese. Like, every single one.

But the good news is that, so far, it's not nearly as hot or as mosquito-y as people told me that it is. Thank you, Heavenly Father. So yeah, it's great. A little bit about the church here-we have a building! Which means that in my past two areas I have been in the only two buildings french side in our mission. Momma says that there are about 300 people there (not sure how she figured that out). Sunday we weren't quite so numerous-42 people. The branch president is brazilian, has been baptized for 10 years, and has been a branch president for 5 of those. In fact, in this branch we're not even attached to a district-we're just part of the West Indies Mission. A while back we apparently had a district of 3 branches in Guianne alone, but things have, unfortunately, been going in the wrong direction. Good news! My area baptized someone last Sunday! Bad news, she was sick this sunday and couldn't come to church to get confirmed...but hey, I'll keep you posted.

So yeah, the church here is definitely smaller, less formed than the others that I've served in, but there's nothing wrong with having more room to grow.

I don't know what else to say.

Oh! Happy Birthday to me! Hah, transfer days are always crazy. I made it through the entire day without hearing "Joyeux Anniversaire" in either language. But I know all of you were there, in any case! Thank you for the wishes. Love to all. Especially my faithful facebook well-wishers. You're the best. See you in a year!

Yeah, that's it. Good luck with the baby, Pono! Don't break her!

Love,

-Elder Santos