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

July 15, 2013

My mission is basically a rerun...

Oh, my family.

Let's begin. Good news first! I got both of the packages (the second one came today)! Which is great, for multiple reasons that you'll see soon. Anyway, thank you to everyone for the goodies and gifts, and especially the pictures and letters. No, I didn't wait for my birthday, but I pretended that I had when I read all the birthday referances. But as for things that actually happened this past week.

So Tuesday, we're doing our studies in the morning, and President Mehr calls.

"Hello, this is Elder Santos."

"Hello Elder, this is President...I'm calling you as zone leader...you'll be going to Martinique to serve with Elder Russell...any questions? Alright, great, could you pass the phone to Elder Santos?"

"Um..."

"Oh no! You're not Elder Sosa! You're going to French Guyana!"

(hah-weird emotional roller-coaster right there. But it's not finished!)

"Elder Santos! I'm calling you as a zone leader in French Guyana."

He then continued by telling me that French Guyana is currently the only country in the mission in which we do NOT have a senior couple. The good news, though, is that there are only four missionaries down there (and yet that's a full zone-welcome to the West Indies Mission). The bad news is that I am the senior couple, so let's hope no one goes to jail or anything. Hah, another part of what President said:

"So yeah, you're basically going to be on your own in the middle of nowhere. So, you can decide to go rogue and do whatever, or you can choose to be exactly obedient." 

"..." 

"Oh, well I guess I'll go for the second one."

So anyway, thanks for all the birthday happiness! If I haven't gotten it yet, then I'm probably not going to for a while, because I'm getting on a plane this wednesday. Which happens to be the 17th.

Wednesday morning I had my very first Mission Leader Council (The SLTs were there-I miss you Pono! Don't break your baby. ps, technically Ke'ala killed the goldfish, not you.), which was fun. The thing about missions that take place in eleven different countries and islands and stuff is that there's a lot of zones, and a lot of zone leaders. I have the honor of being in the smallest zone, and of not having another zone leader in my zone (because let's be honest, in a zone of 4, two ZL's and a DL kinda doesn't make sense).

Then, Thursday, I got a call from Elder Bennion (The Elder of our senior couple on Guadeloupe, and sort of the sub-mission president for french side) "Hello Elder Santos. We were thinking about next transfer and realized that we're not sure if Elder Jomie (A mini-missionary serving in what will be my area) is planning on staying another transfer. So we're thinking about sending his brother down there to replace him"

So first of all, I'm not sure how they didn't figure that out until Thursday night, but I now know that my companion will be the mini-missionary Elder Jomie. Good news is that I already know him, as he is in my current branch. Interesting news is that he's 16 years old.

I think that's about all the crazy news that I've got for the moment. Family, please, please, please prayers. I'll be honest, I'm pretty scared right now for a lot of reasons, and am not sure what to expect for this next week/transfer. Please, please, please, prayers!

Also, Dominique and Davey are both getting baptized this Saturday. I won't be there. Darn. I almost got to break out my baptismal pants!

Yeah, that's it. I love you all very much! I have eaten so much candy this last week. Thanks!

-Elder Santos

July 8, 2013

'MERICA!

I promise, I had already decided to put that there.

But in any case, I hope you all had a great 4th of July! Me, I didn't realize what day it was until the 5th, when a returned-from-New-York missionary asked us what we had done to celebrate. So...yeah I wasn't too american this year. But hey, hopefully you all celebrated for me!

I've got a story to tell you all this week. So remember Dominique, the investigator I think I told you about last week? Well, earlier this week, she called us to let us know that she had talked to a friend about the church, and that he had agreed to come this sunday. Miracle number one, because we've been doing our very best to get our members to do that, without much luck. Then, the next day, she calls us again, this time to tell us that she wants to get baptized. !!! Miracle number two requires no explanation. Miracle number three I wasn't actually there for-I was on an exchange friday in Point-à-Pitre. But, while I was with Elder Pratt, the other two elders were going around with Dominique teaching two of her friends that she wanted to present to us. That evening, we taught an english class at the church, to which Dominique and her first friend, Davey, attended. Elder Pratt was sort of joking around with him, and asked him "Hey, when do you want to get baptized? Same day as Dominique?"

He said yes.

Sunday, after church, Boris (the husband) told us that he feels already that he should be baptized, but he knows that he still has some more preparation to do (he works a lot, so we haven't been able to see him as much, and en plus, he smokes, but he really wants to stop).

So after a good handful of straight-up miracles this week, we've got three people scheduled to get baptized the 27th of July. We'll see if all three keep that date, but in any case, God has been giving us some incredible blessings.

Guys! This gospel is so easy to share! I mean, the best part is that it's true. Do we understand that? It's true, so the hardest part of missionary work is already done! All we have to do is to find people who are looking for the truth, and then help them to know where to find it, like we have been blessed to do. We have know clue who's ready. We have no idea who's going to say yes. But that doesn't matter, because God does. Go ahead and read Neal L. Anderson's talk from this last conference again (oh, you have computers so I guess you could technically watch it too), and pay close attention to the part where he promises us that the names will come to our mind, and that our mouth will be filled. Then, go ahead and do it! Having living prophets does nothing for us if we're not listening to them.

Anyway, that's the exciting news for my week. Also, I'm getting transfer calls this Friday, so I'll have some more news for you next week. Thank you all so much for your support-keep praying for me!

Oh, I should say this too. So my camera is broken. I don't know if it got wet or if I broke it myself somehow or what, but one day I went to turn it on, and all that I see on the display screen is a big black mark in the middle in the shape of an eye, and white static-y boxes on the outside. I think the vital organs are still intact though, because I'm pretty sure it takes pictures. At least, if I point it at something and push the button, it makes the sound and the flash. But then, I have no way of confirming if it works.

Oh my days, is this what film cameras were like? This must have been awful!

But yeah. That's that. Not sure what my plan of attack is for that(I would love to just be able to find and replace the broken parts), but I'm open to suggestions.

Yeah.

I love you!

-Elder Santos