Bonswa! (Good afternoon)
There's a quote in Preach My Gospel that says "Nothing happens in Missionary work until you find someone to teach". Today I want to share a similar quote: "Nothing happens in Missionary work until you speak the assigned language". Having been in Haitian Creole work the past 10 days, I can say this is true. Elder Christensen is doing a good job teaching, handling phone contacts, and meeting new people. Without him there wouldn't be much going on (obviously because I can't talk to people if I don't know the language). I feel like a new missionary, which again, is a weird place to be considering I go home next week! My mission as a whole is increasingly feeling like a dream
But, I have learned more new words this week and have prayed in Creole a few times including in Sacrament meeting! The hard part is that I understand very little Creole, so I have no idea what's happening in every lesson until after the lesson. I hope I can learn more in the next 11 days that I have before I go home.
We've met a lot of cool people this week. Here are a couple of them:
- One day as we were out working we saw a note left by previous missionaries for a good apartment complex for Haitians. We drove over there and it was a Haitian gold mine. They were outside and their kids were playing around and it was awesome! As we were walking through we passed a guy and a lady that were arguing or just having a loud conversation. We said hello and kinda just walked past them and that's when we met Bernard! Bernard's a cool guy and he said he'd be open to us coming to pray with his family. As we were talking, the man who was at the entrance with the lady walked past us. It looked like he was watching us and just hanging out waiting for our conversation to end. After we said bye to Bernard he came up and his name is Odonel! He's met with Missionaries before in Chile and he loved it but lost contact. He said he'd love to meet with us again and come to church, which we are happy to do.
We met with Bernard just the other day. He's a father of 3 and his wife passed away just a month ago. We prayed with him and shared a message on God's love and talked about the spirit. We explained a little bit more about what exactly we do as missionaries. He said he wants to grow closer to God and that we can come teach his family. Really cool guy.
- We also had 2 lessons with these guys named Guivenet and Jean. We introduced the Book of Mormon to them and did a Restoration/Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson. A big thing with Haitians is that many of them have been baptized before in another church and they have a hard time understanding why they need to be baptized again. They had this question too and so we explained Priesthood more and invited them to read 3 Nephi 11. When we went back they had read and said they would like to be baptized. They've got some more distance to go before they're ready, but we are excited for them.
On Friday we picked up our new missionary, Elder Simmons! I think one of the reasons for me being here was to be Christensen's companion until his new companion arrived. Elder Simmons is the first missionary in our mission who was called to speak Haitian Creole. Everyone else was called another language, and then has worked to learn it since the Creole group had started. But Elder Simmons is a cool dude and we're doing good work right now.
(Our new WhatsApp profile picture)
On Saturday I turned 20 years old! I still feel like a 19 year old. Our day was pretty much just working, but that was the day that we met with Bernard the second time and we had 4 other lessons too. It was a good day. At the end of the day I tried to make a little ice cream. I had some old bananas that I froze and thought it would be cool to make Banana ice cream. The previous missionary left behind a lot of protein powder and PB2 (Powdered peanut butter. Less calories) so I wanted to make a chocolate/peanut butter/banana thing. It turned out more like a smoothie but was still pretty good.
(2 of the 3 meals we had on Sunday. We had 2 lunches and 1 dinner. We were very full)
On Sunday Rosemary got baptized! She's one of the Sisters friends, but Elder Christensen was the one that found her so we've seen and met with her a couple of times. Her story is pretty cool. A week or so ago we went over for her baptism interview (since my comp is District Leader) and at the end Christensen asked her to bear her testimony. She talked about how she came to America. When she came from South America she was put in a immigration center and she said she was crying every night. 4 weeks ago she found her apartment and was in the U.S. officially. Elder Jenkins and Elder Christensen found her taking her groceries up the stairs and offered to help and to share a message. She said that they were a witness to her that God loves her. It was a really cool testimony. I just wish I could've understood the language when she was giving it herself. After her baptism I had a little gift for her. When I came to San Diego I brought a bunch of small granite rocks from the Salt Lake Temple Quarry. I gave her one of those rocks with a frame picture of the Salt Lake Temple. I wrote out a little note for her as well which I translated and tried to read in Creole, but here's the English version:
- This is a granite rock that comes from my home city, Sandy Utah. It comes from a place called the Temple Quarry, where the stones were used to build the Salt Lake Temple. This rock is the same as the rocks used to build that temple.
- Workers began their quarry work in Sandy in 1861 and continued for 25 years. Moving the stones from Sandy to Salt Lake City took a lot of work. The stones were up to 3 feet square and over 2 tons. For about 10 years the stones were pulled by oxen for 20 miles from Sandy to Salt Lake City. In 1871 the railroad system was better developed and the walls of the temple were up by the late 1880s. The temple as a whole was under construction for about 40 years.
- I want to give you this rock because of what it represents and reminds you of. It represents the Temple and the promises or covenants we make there that bind us to the Lord. It also represents sacrifice; the sacrifices the early Saints made, and the ones we make to follow Jesus Christ. It also serves as a reminder that Baptism is the beginning, not the end of the path. There is much more that the Lord has in store for you. One of those things is being able to go to the temple. Each temple is a Holy House of the Lord. It is where the highest and holiest ordinances of our faith are performed, including the Sealing ordinance, which binds families for eternity. Our Prophet today, Russell M. Nelson has encouraged us all to go to the temple as often as we can. Although we cannot attend the temple in San Diego right now, I hope you will keep a goal to make it to nearby temples as soon and as often as you can.
- After baptism you are able to receive a temple recommend and enter into the House of the Lord. For the next year you will be able to do baptisms for the dead in the temple. A year from now, as you continue to grow and prepare yourself, you will be able to enter the temple to receive all the blessings and promises of the temple. These promises will bind you and bring you closer to the Lord. We look forward to that day.
- We all love you dearly. You are entering into a church family and we are always here for you. I promise that Jesus Christ lives and loves you more than you now realize.
I'm glad to be in Haitian work. I just feel so much love for all these people.
This is another long email. Many thanks to you for reading. I only have a week and a half ish left! On Sunday Morning as I was brushing my teeth I realized I would be home next week! That's a weird feeling. I got a lot of lasts coming up. I only have 1 more Sunday and after today I'll only have 1 more P-day. I'll be home on the 25th and I'll be giving my Homecoming Talk on the 27th. It will be at 9:00 AM MDT, at 9575 S 3100 E, Sandy, UT 84092. I hope to see many of you there.
Love you guys! See you soon.
- Elder Wride
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