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