Goodbye Guyana, Hello Tropical Paradise!

Dearest Everyone,

Christmas was pretty great. It was refreshing to skype the family and remember that I really do have one. haha. Your emails do help but I would never know if some imposter chimpanzees had hacked your emails and decided to write me posing as you. If that is the case they sure do know how to uplift and inspire me(: But in all seriousness you all look amazing and it was great to hear what's going on in your lives. 

Christmas day we went and played games at the orphanage. We had candy and toys to give them as well. To be there is a bit humbling. They are so happy just to have us there. Wish I could visit them more often. If you are wondering what I ate for Christmas see the picture below. Mashed potatoes and gravy, ham, jello, corn, green beans, lasagne, peach pie, cherry pie etc.. You would laugh to see the Guyanese missionaries just kind of play with their food. A nibble here, and nibble there...They just want rice! It's pretty funny. 

So transfer calls came on Friday and mine came early. Elder Carter called me in the morning and told me I needed my police report. Keep in mind this is in his North Carolina southern accent. He asked "Did you get the word?" "You are one of the ones moving.." ....."You're going to Barbados.." I was laughing hard because everyone knows that transfer calls are supposed to be confidential til president or the assistants call. I said thanks for the early transfer call and he was like "Just act surprised when they call you." Haha. So sure enough the assistants called and had me guess where I was going and I blew them away with my prophecy that I would serve in Barbados(: My time in Guyana has been great and very quick. But I'm ready to go from this smelly place (which I love) to a tropical paradise. I think I can handle that.. No more cold showers!!! No more mud! But there's much that will be missed. Guyana is kinda like that old beat up truck that everyone loves. Better yet my VW Bus. 

Hope you all have a fantastic New Year. Did you make some resolutions? Hope they make it past week 1. Here's my New Years message. "Remember Lot's Wife.." Love you all. 

Love,

Elder Hale

ps. To add to what I said about people here loving Home Alone. The other day a member told us that there little two year old son Justin said to their neighbour across the street "Merry Christmas you filthy animal!" 

Bye bye Benjamin family.. Bye Bye BBQ. Roy the BBQ man hooked me up for my last meal with an extra piece of chicken, a bottle of his sauce, and the secret recipe!!! 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We had the branch Christmas party on Wednesday and it was pretty sweet. I got all the kids together and I played piano as they sang Silent Night. Elder Tilltotson and I had a whistle solo. It was phenomenal.

We mostly just went house to house this week spreading the Christmas spirit. So many people have been complaining about how they just don't feel it this year so we have been fixing that(: Something really funny is how big the movie Home Alone is here. A member named sister Peters was talking about her grandson is just like Kevin. She went into details and stuff and Elder T. looked confused like "Who is Kevin?" I knew what she was talking about without her even mentioning the words Home Alone. And the same thing has happened with like three other people.. They will randomly say something like "Yea my kids love Kevin." or "We didn't watch Kevin this year yet..." It's so funny! I wanted to watch Kevin but the missionaries voted on watching Despicable me 2 for Christmas. So that's cool.

On Sunday hardly anyone came to church and I was asked to speak on the spot. So I simply talked about the birth and life of Jesus Christ. Normally I'd probably be a little irritated with such short notice because I don't have much confidence in my speaking abilities but this time I wanted to see if I could do it. Just see if I could go up there not really knowing what to say and pull it off. So I did and I spoke for about 15-20 minutes. And it went better then I could've hoped. So I was really happy about that.

Today we are going to watch a skype devotional from Trinidad, eat dinner at the Senior Couples, and then watch our movie. Tomorrow I can't wait to see you family! I hope I see you all there. Merry Christmas! I love you all.

Love,

Elder Hale

Brother Thakoor and I 

Back to Trinidad

My dear friends,

This week was one of the most memorable of my mission. I had the opportunity to go back to my home. Trinidad and Tobago! I was thrilled! I forgot how amazing it is. I walked through the mall there and was culture shocked. I almost cried tears of joy when I had so many options at the food court, and then when I chose a sub place they had the choices of cherry coke, vanilla coke, pepsi, A&W, sprite, and more... Seriously I was in heaven. Of course I got to eat my favorite Trini snack which is doubles.

The conference included all the zone leaders from all over the west indies and it was so nice to see so many old friends. Although most of my old friends are home now. As you see in one of the pictures it's President and Sister Mehr with two other missionaries from my MTC group. 

The first night there was a fireside and we had fried ice cream. WHAT!? The next day we were counseling together, role playing, and being instructed by President and Sister Mehr and the Assistants. It was truly edifying! We mostly talked about how we can change the mission culture. Things like obedience and having a firm belief that they will baptize.

President Mehr blew our minds as he taught about Eternal Marriage, Exaltation, Foreordination, and pretty much the most epic things to think about. He also flirted with Sister Mehr half the time.. haha.

After having our minds blown we had the privilege of bearing our testimonies. Everyone in the room got to and I have to say I have never felt the spirit so strong then from the testimonies that were born of this divine work. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Especially Elder Ramdhannie who is from Trinidad; he thanked us all for building the kingdom in his country. President Mehr practically shook the room as he bore his testimony of everything relating to the restoration of the gospel. It was absolutely amazing.

It was very rainy this week as you can see by the picture of me in the water. Elder Tillotson told me to ride through it and he would take a picture and then it turned out being deeper then I expected. haha. The last pic is my Arizona buddy Elder Moya. This is at the gift shop in the Trinidad airport. The cashier lady was lovin his swag.

Hope you all are having a fantastic Christmas season! Just know if you are reading this you are special and Skyler loves you(: Merry Christmas.

Love,

Elder Hale

Brother Thakoor

Hey Everyone!

This was a quick week.. I'd say the coolest thing about this week is the new first counsellor Brother Thakoor. He is a man that has not been able to read his whole life. Before I got here the missionaries taught him to read the Sacrament prayer so he could bless the Sacrament. We have continued to help him learn out of the Church's learning book "Ye Shall Have My Words" and it has been amazing! He got called to be first counsellor two weeks ago and he has conducted the last two meetings and actually read everything. Everyone knows him and they are shocked to see him up there reading like that. Since he has gotten this calling I told Elder Tillotson I can see a huge difference in him. He looks so much more happy. Yesterday he talked about how before this calling he would just come to church for one to two hours then go home. He wasn't very active. Now he said when he is in the church he feels so much love towards everyone there. Now he is super active and on the ball with everything. I want to make a Mormon Message about him. That's what church callings are all about! You can see a picture of him below as we went out and did visits. He is the indian man on the left. 

The other picture is when we went out visiting with some of the young single adults. We also made some more pizza this week with the Bennie family. Their little kids had a lot of fun and the pizza was really thick! Too much yeast! But it still tasted good. 

So I am flying to Trinidad for the meeting on Wednesday and I'm way excited. So that's about all that will happen this week. 

I love you all and have a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Skyler

Wonderful Thanksgiving

Dear friends and fam,

Sorry I don't got much time this week because I was writing to you all personally! But I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I got my two most important dishes..Candied yams and pumpkin pie. 

So the coolest thing that happened this week is I basically did all the cooking and baking for a birthday party. haha. It was Elder Tillotson's Birthday on Sunday and also our good friend Vicky's Bday. So I got this genius idea that I would get my BBQ man's secret sauce and make BBQ pizza. He loves us so he gladly handed over the secret sauce. We also put on onions and bacon and I tell you this pizza was the best that I've had! I can't remember a pizza that made so much joy come to my soul. And the best part was it was made by my own hands. haha. We also made the Birthday cakes and they looked beautiful. So much so that Patricia (Vicky's girlfriend) asked us to make the cake for her wedding. haha! I know it's unbelievable... 

My spiritual high of the week was my fast of gratitude. I thought that it would be good for me to fast to show Heavenly Father I am grateful for everything I have. And as I did I felt so happy and uplifted. I can see with greater clarity all the blessings I have and I feel rich. 

Enjoy the Christmas season! 

Love,

Elder Hale

Half bbq half normal sauce mmm..

Vicky, Patricia, and neighbor kid

Priesthood Power

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving in the mission because it's Pday. I made a request to Sister Esplin that there be candied yams so I'm hoping that wish will come true. The Christmas songs have all started and it makes me miss you all. I mean even right now they are playing all these jazzy Christmas songs and I'm all holly jolly. 

We really had a great week. Melissa had a concern about obeying a certain commandment after baptism. It's not that she didn't want to obey it but she has struggled with it in the past. So we had a 24 hour fast with her Saturday to Sunday. She was a bit grumpy at church from fasting which was kind of funny. One thing Elder Tillotson and I have learned lately is that the key to getting someone active in church is to get them a responsibility even if they're not a member yet. So we worked it out to have Melissa assist in primary and it was perfect for her because she loves kids. So she's all excited about that and it looks like she will be well prepared for her baptism.

There was another cool experience with Sister Debbie one of the relief society counselors. We asked for referrals but she said all her friends have their own churches. We talked about the restoration with her and explained that we should still share the fullness gospel with them. So she said ok and we went out and met and taught many of her friends in a place called overton dam. Sister Debbie's testimony and understanding of the gospel was able to touch the hearts of her friends. So now there's a boat load of new people to teach. 

I had a really spiritual experience giving priesthood blessings to a family of 5 that were all sick. We came back a day or two later and every member of the family was back to full health. My testimony of priesthood power increased greatly. 

I do love you all and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. So remember to be grateful. Gratitude is the key to contentment. It will make life rich no matter what circumstance you may be in. Love you!

- Elder Hale

the sea wall

mixing cement

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear

Dear loved ones,

Today I have a journey to take you one. To tell this story I have to turn the clock back 6 months when I was in Curepe Trinidad. There I met a young couple named Arvin and Shama from Guyana that were members of the church.They had been in Trinidad for a long time but never came to the church. We started visiting them and have Family Home Evenings and stuff. They talked about how in Guyana there family was the missionaries favorite and I could tell because they catered to us very well. We became very close to them and they even had us talk to their family on the phone.

I remember one night we went and they had gotten really bad news from their family in Guyana. They have two children that live with Arvin's family there. Their 5 year old girl Lisa was diagnosed with Leukemia a while ago and her condition was worsening. Over the next week or so as she was being tested the doctors were not very optimistic. However they did have a treatment that they were going attempt. I remember my comp and I really had a loss for words when they were telling us all of this. There was absolute terror on Shama's face but Arvin was staying positive. The only thing that came to my mind was to invite them to fast with us. Faith, prayer, and fasting works miracles. I have seen it and I testified to them that it would work a miracle. Shama had never done it but was very willing to try anything at that point. 

I felt so much compassion for this family and going 24 hours without food had never been so easy. We really did have a meaningful fast and we were happy to hear that Shama had to. Unfortunately I never heard any more news before I left to Guyana in July. 

This week I went on a trade-off to Rosehall with my good friend Elder Watson. He took my by a family and as we walked up he said "Hey Lisa!" I recognized her from the pictures Arvin and Shama had showed me. She looked happy and healthy! Arvin's Mom recognized my name as the missionary she talked to on the phone. haha. She was a little shocked to see me. I asked her how Lisa is doing and she told me that through priesthood blessings and also the fasting of their branch a miracle has happened. She has been tested few times and all of her cancer is gone. I was overwhelmed with joy to hear that! She was also very grateful that we had fasted for her as well. She told Lisa "This missionary went without food and prayed for you." And Lisa was very cute she said Thank you. I had to take a picture with the miracle baby.

We had a lot of success this week. Another investigator named Roshana is progressing very well. We had a couple great lessons with her, set a baptismal date, and she came to church. In our first meeting she said she did not believe in Jesus Christ but now she is definitely feeling the spirit and is very committed to her baptism date. Melissa's baptism is supposed to be this week but we might push it back because she doesn't feel ready yet. Either way it should be soon she is very fun to teach.

They are sending me to Trinidad in December for a mission leader meeting. I am so excited to see my Trini friends and eat doubles!

Mom I thought you should know that this year the Senior couples are taking good care of us for Thanksgiving. It will be much better then last year when I went to Subway and "I'll be Home for Christmas" was playing.

Something to remember this week... The Gospel is not only true; it's urgent!

Love,

Elder Hale

p.s. picture number two is us celebrating Nigel's b-day. We made him a cake and used matches for candles. He was happy with it(:

Us celebrating Nigel's b-day. We made him a cake and used matches for candles. He was happy with it (:

This is what you call toting. You may sometimes see a family of four doing this in Guyana

Bro Yearwood studying the Word of Wisdom in his bud light shirt

my terrible haircut at zone conference last month...

Luke, I'm your Father

Week 5

Dear friends and fam,

A lot has happened this week but all I can keep thinking about is the crazy events of yesterday... That sounds ominous..haha. But to start the story we had a man named Yusuf call us to set up an appointment to teach him more about our beliefs. He explained he is a very strong Muslim and has some questions about Christianity. He sent us some interesting texts with questions about how we could worship Jesus Christ if there is only one God and he professed his love for Allah. So yesterday we go to meet Yusuf at this fast food place and we see him dressed in his Islamic attire and then I recognized him... I froze and Elder Tillotson was trying to figure out what was going on. It was an old friend! A member of the church who just kind of disappeared a couple months ago. He recognized me as well and it was like a strange "Luke I'm your father!" kind of moment. I felt a little sad too because he was so strong and even preparing to serve a mission. But we went in and talked to him and it went really well. We answered all his questions and gave him a mini Book of Mormon to sneak into his dorm. Long story short his plan is to finish his studies of Islam in 3 weeks then return to Trinidad to prepare for a mission.

The other event that happened yesterday I won't get into too much detail. There was these two brothers that got into a fight on the street and they were literally trying to kill eachother. They fought with glass bottles and even started fighting with machetes. It was not pretty... But we were with an investigator so I found it appropriate to explain the story of the wars of the Nephites and Lamanites which came from two brothers as we all know. haha it was kind of funny.

The biggest success this week was with a family who hasn't been to church in years. The first time we went the Mom wouldn't talk to us and did not look happy to see us at all. The father is an alcoholic but is friendly. The kids by there appearance seem to be wayward, judging from the colors they have chosen to adorn their hair with. But over the weeks The mother has totally softened up especially after we gave her a priesthood blessing for all the health problems she has been experiencing. She told us she wants us to come as much as possible and on Saturday night we had a wonderful lesson with the whole family. We talked about charity and most the kids said they had no experiences of doing anything nice for someone or helping someone in need. But the spirit was really strong in the lesson. I love Mathew 25:34-40! In fact I love it so much I had to memorize it. Well the mom of that family came to church on Sunday and she just looked beaming. A completely different person from the first time I met her.

I love the gospel. I love you. The church is true. The book is blue. You should be a Mormon too(:

Love,

Elder Hale

"White man ran into me bike!!"

Week 4

Well a ton happened this week. I think might have to just send pictures so you get the idea. I'm a little short on time today because we went to the beach with the youth of the branch. It was actually really fun we played some intense cricket. It's funny to see how hardcore the men are at playing it even when they are completely out of shape. Everyone was asking "Who learned you for play cricket?" Cause my baseball skills came in handy. I really wish you all could come and meet these people they are amazing and hilarious. I don't think that there is many missions that get to have the closeness with the members like you have here. The people absolutley need to see you every week or they want to know what happened to you. It's really funny and it takes a lot to balance your time with everyone.

So we worked real hard this week with many of the investigators we have found and they are progressing well. But only Melissa came to church because she is 100 percent golden. She showed up to church on Sunday and after many people bore their testimonies she went up there as well. She said that she knows that the little she's learned from us and read in the Book of Mormon is true. She said knows God sent this into her life and she explained the story of how we met her. It was really cool! She has already made lots of friends so things couldn't be better. She wants to be baptized as soon as possible so we are working on moving her date sooner. So I love the work right now we just gotta find more Melissas.

On Saturday we had a Mormon Helping Hands service project. We painted a few pedestrian crosswalks and had dhalporie roti and chicken curry afterwards. I overheard some of the women talking about the big fast and they were making sure everyone remembered. One of was like "Of course I remembered I'm going the full 24 hours!" That made me happy. Later in the day we baptized a couple kids in the branch that turned 8 this year and it was great cause they were super excited.

Yesterday was the biggest Hindu holiday of the year Divali! Except it wasn't as big as when I was in Siparia Trinidad and there was tons of Hindus. There are mostly Christians in my area but it was still really cool. Everyone was lighting fire works and spinning steel wool. I did get some indian sweets that I love. And I also got into an awesome head on crash with another biker because it was pitch black outside. He yelled "White man ran into me bike!!" He was sure it was all  my fault. A lady that witnessed it told him he was riding like a crazy man and it was his fault. I just bit my tongue and rode off. haha. 

Well there is so much I could write but everything is good here I hope it's good for you too. Love you all. 

-Elder Hale

The monkey in this picture is a pet of the Sammy family. They say it's called a Winkie..

The next one is the cricket match. 

Golden

Week Three


Hey everyone! Sorry I don't got too much time this week. But to get to the point this week has been great. We planned a big fast for November and I was able to speak in Sacrament meeting about it yesterday. I think it was the first time I didn't use notes for a talk and it went great. The members are really on board and I think we are going to see many miracles in the month of November. 

On Saturday we met a girl named Melissa as we were looking for a less active member. She simply pointed us in the right direction and we invited her to church. She said "Ok I'll be there." To our surprise she actually came and loved every second of it. She is golden my friends! She was asking questions about how she can fast and she learned a lot in the gospel doctrine class. We went over last night and taught the restoration and she accepted baptism. She always asked us if she can come teaching with us once she learns a bit more. I was just sitting there with my jaw dropped. So was Winston our YSA member we brought with us to teach. But I think his jaw was dropped for another reason... haha. I know the Lord is blessing us richly for our hard work and this has been some of the greatest weeks of my mission. The Lord has answered my prayers in many ways and has comforted me in my times of difficulty. He has provided success in the most unexpected ways and I have learned a lot about submitting myself to His will. 

Thank you family for writing me about the wonderful get together you have all had due to Brock's farewell. I love you all and I wish I could've been there. Sunday hang outs with the family was always the best! I am happy for Brock and I would encourage you all to give him all the support you can as he will make some drastic adjustments. Then as time goes on you let him down easy... Just kidding!! Speaking of which I should write him something right now. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Hale

Aden (President Kirton's boy)

The Mingo Brothers (Nigel and Winston)

No Mundane Moment

Week 2

Dear everyone,

This week has been great. We have found so many new less active families and gained a lot of teaching opportunities. At the beginning of my mission I think I only focused on the success I had with investigators but now I realize I should really be happy with the success of the members even when no investigators come to church. That was the case this week and as I was about to feel a little down I realized that we got 12 people to church that haven't been there in forever. Some a few months of missing and others years. And they all had a really good experience at church. Our hard work really paid off this week. And I'm not really worried about our investigator situation we are finding many who are progressing well.

Elder Tillotson and I are planning a big fast for the whole branch in November for the purpose of missionary work. We made a newsletter and gave it to all the members inviting them to join us in a unified fast. The President Kirton read it in announcements and one of us will be speaking on it in sacrament next week. This area is about to explode I can feel it in the air! Every day has been such a journey finding people no moment has been mundane. Even going door to door has been a joy because of the peace in the villages it feels like you are camping. The villages here feel a lot like scout camp for some reason.

We had a lesson at a YSA (young single adult) activity that was held at a less active young man's house. The idea was to be able to teach his mother who is not a member. But it went really good and it was very interesting to see a YSA activity in Guyana. A little awkward to be there too..

Well hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Hale

Elder Hale's Bad Haircut

Week 1


Dear everyone,

It's been a crazy week! My brain hurts just trying to think of everything that happened... Firstly, my comp left last Tuesday and I spent a few days in an area called Canje. I had a terrible misunderstanding at this barber shop. I wanted a normal hair cut. I explained to the African man "Short on the sides and a trim on top." He pointed to his menu of hair cuts and pointed to this ridiculous afro hair cut and said "Like that one?" I jokingly said "Oh yea!" (knowing that haircut was not even possible for me because I have no afro!) Well long story short he tried to give me that haircut and I seriously didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Hahaha. He got his razor out and did the side burns and the whole shabang! He did the first side while I was looking in the mirror so I didn't know what he was doing. He went past the point of no return and then asked me "Is this going to be ok with you..) I literally laughed out loud. Anyways I ended up getting lots of compliments from the locals which was kinda weird. 

To add to the stress of the bad hair cut we had zone conference on Monday. Luckily my faith was able to push my hairs out faster. But Zone conference was amazing President Mehr is the best mission president ever. He'll make you laugh, cry, and be super motivated all at once! 

On Tuesday I had to go to Suriname to renew my visa. It's strange you just take a 30 minute ferry to Suriname and everyone is speaking dutch. I was happy to get back from that trip and start working again.

 I am really excited to work with Elder Tillotson this transfer we are doing great. We have found many lost sheep already and had great lessons with them. We help them remember how they felt when the first missionaries came and taught them the gospel for the first time. They always have stories of all the games and fun stuff they would do. But it's really a lot of fun to meet all these people and help them come back. I love it!

You all take care now! And be safe(:

Love, 

Elder Hale

President & Sister Mehr

56 baptisms!

Transfer 11

Well the mission had a successful month in September! 56 baptisms! President Mehr had set the goal of 50 baptisms when he first came in and that was when we were hitting around 20 to 25. As we invited all the members to fast with us the numbers have just sky rocketed in every area. The Lord is blessing us with people who are ready to receive the fulness of His gospel. 

This week Elder Parisot was terribly sick so we stayed inside a few days. We got our transfer calls and Elder P. is going to Barbados to the area he started his mission. That is where he will finish his mission so he is super excited. I am staying in New Amsterdam and serving with Elder Tillotson. He was in my district when I started my mission in Trinidad so I know him pretty well. He is a cool guy we should work great together. And yes he's from Utah.. Only my second companion from Utah actually.. 

I loved General Conference. We went and woke up Bro Frazer on Saturday morning to get him to come. After the first session he drove us to Mario's pizza and we bought for him and Bro Andrew. It was so funny he stuffed himself til it looked like he was gonna pass out! As he slouched in his chair he said loud and clear "Thank you Father God for this pizza..And for the ice cream that was promised that I have not yet received!" We were like "Brother Frazier do you want some ice cream?" He shook his head yes. haha. The people didn't have anymore ice cream but it was a good thing because he probably would of killed himself. He's 70 years old and he's got diabetes. 

That was pretty much it this week. You all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Hale

pizza with Uncle B and Bro. Andrew

Like A Boss

Week 5


Well this week was pretty good but not much happened compared to last week. Tyrone is reading like a boss and he is in 3 Nephi last time I checked so he's probably done now. I got a letter from my recent convert Antonia from Trinidad and that made me really happy. She just talked about how the Gospel has given her such clear direction and she is so happy. I also got news from my other convert Roger that he is helping make a dvd for the ward and is on a committee for distributing food for the needy and he loves it. 

I'm excited for this last week we will be getting transfer calls. I'm pretty sure I'm staying and Elder Parisot is moving. President Mehr and the AP's came and visited us this week. I had a triumphant moment. President Mehr asked all missionaries in the last zone conference to memorize D&C 121:34-46. So when he came on Tuesday he asked if anyone memorized it and I was the only one that raised my hand. So he had me stand up and recite it. I did it perfectly and he said "That's the best I've seen." "You get a hug!" So he came over and hugged me in front of everyone it was pretty funny. 

We are focusing on bringing the Priesthood back and as you can see in the pictures below we had a great time with Bro Frazer aka Uncle B. This old man makes me laugh all day. And when he teaches people he always straightforwardly tells them to repent and come to church. He called us the other day to tell us about what he saw on Dr. Phil it was great. Yesterday his chicken got in his house and when he tried to pick it up it pecked him! And he started cussing like a sailor! I won't forget that. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Hale

Memorable Week

Week 4

Well another crazy week.. What's new?? I miss my Trini friends bad I feel like Trinidad is home now that I've been away awhile. I'm sure I will feel the same about here the people are a real hoot(: My heart is gonna be in a lot of places when this mission is done.

So firstly the Aladdin people upstairs are getting tons of people! We saw one of our investigators Mom at our apartment waiting to go in. She promised us to come to church and she still hasn't! She of course claims to be a Christian but like many when it comes down to the wire she puts her trust in the arm of flesh. Talk about Book of Mormon prophecies... We asked her "what are you doing here?" She nervously said " Oh just waiting to meet someone.." Elder Parisot was like "Bummer..." and walked away. haha.

So last week I talked about how we felt the spirit prompt us to stop at this random house..well now there's even more to the story. The man with the hurt knee ended up reading the Book of Mormon up to Omni! And we didn't even teach him. When we came back he started telling us about Nephi getting the brass plates, getting tied up on the ship, finding the liahona, and how the Lamanites are ancestors to the American Indians. He said he has had that question his whole life. The best part was he was talking about his hypocrital born again christian neighbor and he called her a fat Lamanite. haha.

So after that visit we were totally stoked but the only problem was he is supposed to leave back to Georgetown to his work on the 30th. Saturday rolled around and he called us to tell us "It's a historic day!" "Today is the day Brother Smith found the plates!" We looked it up sure enough he was right. haha. He told us he was coming to church on Sunday but when it rolled around he wasn't there which was shocking. So we went and visited him and what happened is his knee cap had slipped out again and in addition to that he twisted his ankle. He is a bit of an older guy so he couldn't move. We had another great lesson where we didn't say a word he just taught our less active member Bro Frazer about the Book of Mormon. I think his knee slipping out was a blessing in disguise because now he says he most likely won't go back to work and he said he wants to be baptized.

So Kassie and Karissa were scheduled to be baptized this Saturday. Here comes a story... They passed their interview and we saw them Friday night and all was well. Saturday day morning we get up at 5:30 to start filling the font. There's no plug for the drain so we had to go buy a pipe with a valve thing on it to fill the font. That took a good while then we tried to make a baptismal program and the printer was out of paper... We went to have lunch at our apartment and when we went back to the church the water had turned off and it was only about a foot and a half deep in the font. We didn't know what to do but we went to Kassie and Karissa's house to make sure they were all ready and they were not home. We went back to the church and still the water wasn't on. We said a prayer and we felt like we should call Kassie. Elder Parisot finally got a hold of her and all I could hear was bad news. Apparently she said she wasn't ready and didn't feel good. Karissa was just kind of following suit. We rode over to their house and I was really nervous cause Satan always does this before people get baptized. Anyways I was praying like crazy and we talked to Karissa and her heart was softened. She promised us she would be there. So we rode back to the church and what do you think happened? Well duh the water was miraculously back on! Karissa showed up and by the time it was time for her to be baptized the font was filled just right. When she came up out of the water it was a split second before she said "I feel really good!" She had the biggest smile on and the baptismal service was great.

We found out later that Kassie probably isn't ready right now and we are gonna keep working with her. Karissa got the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday and she said it felt like a breeze came on her and she felt great. That's how you know someone was ready to be baptized and confirmed when they really felt the power in the ordinances. You could just feel the spirit around Karissa after her baptism there was such a difference.

Well the funniest part of this week was Bro Frazer. We talked to him at his house for a long and he was just making us die laughing with his old man talk. But right as we were leaving I saw a long water trail down his pants and then I saw a huge wet spot you know where! Elder Parisot and I rode our bikes down the street and just died laughing. It's sad yes.. but it's more funny(:

Well that was my week hope yours was good too(:

Love,

Elder Hale

Anaconda guitar strap!

Encouraging Words

Week "Tree"


Hello my Rastafarian friends!!!

This week was quite eventful. I had the opportunity to teach zone meeting. It's different teaching missionaries how to be good missionaries. I'm used to teaching people how to live the gospel. Now the doctrines of missionary work are starting to be instilled in me cause I have the privilege of teaching them. I went on a trade off to another area called Canje on Wednesday. It was nice to see another part of Guyana and meet more members. It was also nice to see that senior couples get to stay home all day and eat ice cream and pumpkin bread!!! I'm all for being a senior missionary one day(: I also got to eat some alligator this week. It was better then iguana. It would make a good burger.

I have been designing a ring for awhile and I got to pick it up from my buddy Kahn on Wednesday. He does a great job. I just used a ctr shield and decided to put the angel Moroni on the inside. Kahn did a boss job!!! It's fun to get stuff like that here cause it's unique and they are always so grateful that you are giving them work.

We had sweet spiritual experience this week. We were searching for this less active on this long road. He had a high lot number and we were probably halfway there when Elder Parisot just randomly stopped and turned around. He had a prompting to stop and we went up to this small wooden house. Without hesitation the lady inside invited us in. We found that her husband had a really bad knee injury and she wanted us to pray for him. We taught her the Restoration and she was super receptive and I definitely felt the spirit in the lesson. And we will be going back to teach her again this week.

We had some new neighbors move in upstairs from us and they are from India. They were putting up flyer all over our apartment for palm reading, astrology, getting rid of black magic, and all other weird things you could think of. My comp was not happy to say the least and we might end up moving cause it was advertised on tv and now people are starting to show up at our apartment for this genie in a bottle crap.

One of the less actives we reactivated Sunita confessed to us she has some stuff she needs to get rid of. She lifted this curtain that covered a shelf full of Hindu pictures and little idol statues. She gave us all of it in a bag and we dumped it in the river! haha.

We went on splits this week and I got to ride around with my favorite old man Brother Frazier (Uncle B). The guy is hilarious cause he comes to church here and there and then he comes and chastises people for not coming it's great.. We went to see an investigator and Bro Frazier totally backed up into his car. It didn't even phase him. haha. Luckily no one saw... We went in and had a good lesson and when we were back in the car he said "Encouraging words..." "Encouraging words" "That's what I love you for.." haha

On Sunday Kassie and Karissa came to church and they are all set for their baptism this Saturday. I'm excited for it(: It's always interesting to me how when these people get close to their baptism and keep the commitments like reading/praying; you can really see a difference in them. At the beginning they were super shy and giggly and maybe even a little disinterested but now they ask really good questions and listen intently.

Also on Sunday I was the victim of a drunk riding accident. . . I was riding my bike down a dirt trail and this guy was on the other side of the road and just turned head on into me. My bike has no brakes..(I'm in Guyana...) so his handlebars ended up smashing my fingers. I just looked up and smelt alcohol and this guy with this sleepy looking smile on his face. He said sorry so I gave him mercy. haha. So that's was about it for this week.

Love you all!

Love,

Skyler

Bro. Frazier