many miracles

Good day friends and family!

         

Well this was my first full week in Curepe and it went good. We just did lots and lots of tracting. Our biggest success was on Monday. We had an appointment with someone on Monday night but it fell through so we just went into the heart of town to contact. We kind of felt awkward there and Elder Reyes wanted to leave but for some reason I just wanted to stand there til I saw someone to contact. After about 10 minutes of standing in one place this lady in the back seat of a car was looking at us and I could tell she was definitely thinking something. They parked next to us and she asked me what kind of tracts we were handing out. Her name is Antonia. I gave her the Restoration pamphlet and set up an appointment for the next day. I went on a trade off the next day but Elder Reyes and Elder Whitlock had an amazing lesson with her. She said she has been searching for this her whole life. We went back on Friday and taught her again and she told us how she had felt something really strong tell her to talk to us the night we met. She had seen missionaries before but never really talked to them. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and committed to be baptized. She is very excited. Unfortuanately on Sunday her son had an asthma attack and they couldn't make it to church. I was sad. But I know she will make it next week.

 

We also met some other great people and got a very less active to come to church. The week was very hard at the same time because we had a lot of appointments fall through and I ended up getting a bad sunburn on my face. But we worked as hard as we could despite all the fall outs and I know we are going to see great success. We already have seen many miracles in this first week.

 

Love you guys! Have a fantastic week and share the gospel!

 

Love, Elder Hale

Week 1 in Curepe!

This was in Penal before I left. Cheers!

Hello folks! This week was really good. They sort of just dropped us off in an empty apartment and said "Have fun." We didn't have a phone, food, and my comp didn't even have his luggage yet. But Elder Reyes and I hit the ground running. We worked really hard and found a lot of people. One man we found has been looking for a church because he wants to come close to God before he dies. He has diabetes and lost one kidney already. The spirit was strong in the lesson with him. And he came to church! So the members already trust us because of that. This new area is a very busy city and I really like it. Lots of places to eat and plenty people to talk to. I have also seen white people! It is really strange for me to see that. But it feels great to be in a ward the members are great. We got fed by a family named the Sookhans on Sunday and they are awesome. It's great to have strong member support. The people here take missionary work very seriously. A recent convert named Bro Mohan goes out with missionaries just about every day. He is very into it.

This morning all the elders from my district went to Maracas beach. We played ultimate frisbee and did our studies. It was very beautiful and the weather was perfect. And to top it all off we had bake and shark. It is a new favorite food of mine. Sorry I don't have too much time today to write but there should be plenty to update you with next week.

Love you guys!

Love, Elder Hale

Nice view

Maracas beach!

studyin on da beach

a lil thing called bake and shark! best ting ever (:

Last week in Siparia

Good day everyone! It was indeed my last week in Siparia. I am being transferred back up north to a place called Curepe. It rhymes with "Europe" fyi. It is by the mission home and mission office. It is a very strong ward with lots of great members so I hear. There will be 8 missionaries in this area now! They have split the sisters area and given us the portion they couldn't reach. It sounds like there is a great opportunity for success there. Plus it's got pricemart which is like Costco and they have a really nice mall. It's nothing like my last two areas. So I'm pretty excited. My companion is Elder Reyes a phillipino from Australia. We are actually blanking the area meaning none of us have been there before. So they got us a new apartment and stuff. I can't wait! My comp is staying in the Siparia and was not too happy about it.

 

I forgot to mention I ate something called manicoo. I'm just spelling it like it sounds. But it is possum. And suprisingly it tasted really good. But it looks kinda nasty.

 

This week we gave Ms. Koylass a Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price cause it will open her eyes even more. She really is enjoying all the lessons. The only problem is she loves to talk and talk and talk. So it's real difficult to stay on topic. The branch is starting to do good though everyone is finally getting involved. We got a couple more people to take us out teaching and stuff. We got the most member lessons I have gotten in this area this week. So I feel good about what I have been able to accomplish here. It wasn't great in numbers like baptisms etc.. But I feel we put out a burning building and reconstructed a lot of it. I am getting a lot of meal appoinments now that I am leaving. I am gonna miss a lot of people here. Church this week was great because President and Sister Mehr came to speak. President Mehr really knows what struggling branches need to hear. He always delivers inspiring talks on the perfect topics. We had a few less actives come that we have been visiting. One named Ousha had not been to church in at least 6 months. She had a really good time. I was really proud of her for making that step.

 

Well that's week 7! Have a great week!

 

Love, Elder Hale

That's what's up!

Hello friends! It was a really quick week but there was a couple cool experiences. President Nandlal came out teaching with us and our main appoinment fell through. He decided to call a less active named Hanifa. She has been in the church 14 years and pretty much been less active for 13. But as we went over there she shared with us that that day she kept feeling promptings to call President Nandlal. She kept putting it off for some reason and she became really discouraged to the point of tears. Then we called and said "Hey we are in the neighborhood can we come by?" She was so happy. We gave her a priesthood blessing and she felt better. She came to church Sunday and bore an inspiring testimony.

Ms. Koylass is our most progressing investigator right now. She has only a couple problems. Her whole life she has dilligently studied this William Branham guy. She always compares something we share with her to something William Branham said. She ended up giving us this pamphlet and I was shocked to see 100 percent false doctrine! It was a bunch of baloney. I was shocked because the things we taught her have contradicted most of what this guy taught but she has agreed with everything so far. Her only concern is that she is not sure if she needs to be rebaptized. But she said once she gets an answer she will do it. So I'm not too worried. She is in Alma right now and we are about to give her a Doctrine and Covenants. She likes everything we have read out it so far.

I should be getting my transfer call Thursday. I am really excited because I'm pretty sure I am moving. And there's always a possibility I could be moving countries! But if not now I most likely will at my year mark when my permit expires.

Today we played a bunch of sports with all the missionaries in Trinidad. Ulitimate Frisbee, Basketball, Football. It's all my game(: It was so fun I felt like I was in elementary school again playing football. I hit my 9 month mark in two days! That's what's up!

Have a great week everyone!

Love, Skyler

Camen! They actually eat these...

fantastic progress

Hello family and friends! This week was fantastic for the progress of our investigators. But to get the bad news out first no one was able to come to church. We have a baptismal date for investigators Maria and Shaun. Maria has very nice kids and an unfaithful husband. She is very nice but at first we were not seeing too much progress because we only saw her once a week. But we got President Nandlal out teaching with us and we found out that she has really felt the spirit from the lessons. And then when we came back a couple days later she had kept her reading committment and really enjoyed it. I love seeing the difference these things can make in someone's countenance. I know Alma asks us "Have you have received his image in your countenance?" I know more then ever that that is a real thing. Shaun is a very cool guy. His beliefs were already very similar to the plan of salvation and the lesson helped him with many questions he has. Getting people to church is the wall that is keeping us from baptisms.

 

We also saw great progress with Ms. Koylass. She is always talking about her anscestors and the Book of Mormon answered questions she had about them. She is indian blood.  So we talked about temple work and that really sparked her interest. We invited her to be baptized and she said she will have to think about it. But once she comes around she will be baptized soon because she has already come to church a few times.

 

My email from President Mehr today makes me believe I will be moving on to another area. My comp is really burnt out on this area and he has not been here as long. I think he might be trying to work something out so neither of will have to stay here. In a way it is what I want but I also want to see my investigators make it to the font. But it doesn't really matter as long as they make it. This transfer is 7 weeks and today is the start of week 6. So not too much longer. Here comes the flood of new missionaries.

 

Have a great week!

 

Love, Elder Hale

Koylass

Hey everyone! Not much has happened since we talked last. Things are going well with investigators Mrs Koylass has received her witness that the Book of Mormon is true and that therefore Joseph Smith was a prophet. She asked us how she can become a member and stuff. That really surprised us! We thought our roadblock was going to be inviting her to be baptized. We showed her the baptismal interview questions and she has agreed with it all she just needs to read something from Thomas s. Monson to know about him.

I'm not sure what is going to happen to me this transfer. I have been here for a while so it's very possible they will move me. The branch is struggling so Pres. Mehr is coming up with some ideas to help it. All the missionaries will be flooding in next transfer and he has to find room for all of them. All I know is there will probably be a lot of change happening here. 

On Sunday we had the opportunity to make a meal for Bro Samuels in the branch. He gets like one meal a day from this sandwitch place but on Sundays he relies on the people of the church to give him something. He is about 60 and he has some kind of mental condition where he can't work. But we brought him a tub of spaghetti and before I could give him a fork he just shoved his face in and started eating. haha. Poor guy must have been starving. But he loved it. 

I gave a talk on tithing in the Penal church. I like giving talks cause I always learn a lot. We took Andrew Baptiste out teaching with us. He is a 14 year old goof ball but he loves coming with us. He dresses up and stuff cause he wants to be a recognized as a missionary. haha. It was funny someone asked him to say a prayer in our lesson and he prayed that they would come to church and get baptized. It was funny. But I am having a great time with the people here the families are a lot of fun. 

Well that's all for this week. I love you guys!

Love, Elder Hale

Carnival

Me and Lilly :) She is a members monkey and she is real playful.

Hello amigos! So it's been awhile. We had to stay in for carnival for 3 days and yesterday the email shops were all closed. We had a great zone conference. Pres. Mehr went deep into fore-ordination and exploded our brains with deep doctrine. It was lovely. We also had catering there from some french member. The food was amazing!

We taught some good lessons over the weekend. One of our investigators Shaliza accepted a baptism date for march 16th. And we taught a guy I contacted named Shaun and he is really interested. They were both set to come to church Saturday night but then church in Penal got canceled because of Carnival. So they will be this Sunday.

Carnival was a huge headache. On Sunday we had a party under us blasting music. And then on Monday this bar across the street played the same songs all day long! So we just did a lot of sleeping and eating. When we came out of our apartment on Wednesday to go to district meeting our bikes were gone! They were locked up and everything. So now we are on foot. Getting everywhere much slower..

Also I got a late Christmas gift from a member named Samantha in Grande! It was a nice tie. It was cool she did that cause I know her family doesn't have a lot of money. She said I was the best missionary Grande ever had! haha flattering but not true.

Alright see ya guys!

Love, Elder Hale

I made fajitas!

Baby creepin on me!

My birthday at the Baptiste's!

More bday!