Week 22 - This too shall pass

New transfer, new country... 

I'M GOING TO MARTINIQUE BABYYYYY!

Aka the promised land

(actually French Guiana is the promised land in my eyes but yeah)

So yeah! Transfer has come to an end, and I'll be flying over to Martinique where all I've heard about it is that it's cleaner, happier, and kinder, than Guadaloupe. And there's a lot less civil unrest so WOOO!! Gonna be In a trio, never met them before! 

Las week I went to the zoo

But really, I'm glad I started my mission here on Gwada. Perfectly positioned.

This week was tough, but better. Got a lot on my mind lately and I HATE when it's like that. Because I just want to think it through and solve all my problems and get them done, but when I CANT and I just have to wait for an answer or trust or do anything else with patience, the problems all just sit there and pile up! And I just think about them ALL THE TIME because I just wanna solve them.

So learn from my experience I guess. Because patience is trust! If you've got an answer you're waiting for or a hard time you're waiting for to pass or ANYTHING, just know that God commands us to be patient for OUR benefit. It's like he's saying "okay, so you're not gonna be able to figure this out or fix this right now, and I KNOW that, so I don't want you to spend your time worrying and putting so much energy into saving yourself, when it's impossible and I've already given you a Savior. Just TRUST me, trust that I'm taking care of it, and in the meantime, just keep my commandments. I'll solve your problems." you get the idea. Just chill out, don't set time limits on your trials, and just CTR

It's like what Howard W. Hunter, the king himself, said:

"While waiting for promised blessings, one should not mark time, for to fail to move forward is to some degree a retrogression. Be anxiously engaged in good causes, including your own development."

HAVE FAITH IN THE GIVER OF BLESSINGS (God) , NOT THE BLESSINGS THEMSELVES

This too shall pass? No actually, this too IS PASSING. Time is always passing no matter what. So the trial you're in RIGHT NOW is actually in the process of passing. Sunrise, not lightswitch, remember?

That's it. That's the email. Good luck with the snow Wellsville

Oh sike I just remembered! We were looking for a guy. We stopped at a house and sœur Toussaint was like are you the guy. I was like no no this isn't the right house! And it was definitely not him. BUT THEN HE WAS LIKE "drink some coconuts follow me" and he walked us over to his kitchen (pics included) and cut us coconuts and gave us tons OF FRESH produce and we talked and he was SO funny!!! I asked him if he has ever climbed up one of the coconut trees without the ladder and he was like of course, when I was younger. I would even climb back down head first. And I was like so did you not want to live? And he was like no there was just beautiful ladies around me. HAHAHA Insane miracle he was so so generous.

Everyone look at the English on the shirt in this Pic (shout-out to the constant family cus I basically thrifted the shirt from them)

Somehow things are looking up 

feeling like we've changed our luck

In a new light in a new night

Can't stay long passing through

Don't know where we're going to

But its alright yeah it's alright

We can start a new

CANT GO BACK SO WE GOTTA GO ON

WE'LL STICK TOGETHER STAYIN STRONG

THERES À DIAMOND CASTLE IN MY MIND

AND SOMEDAY SOON

WE'RE GONNA FIND IT WE'RE GONNA FIND IT

WE'RE GONNA FIND IT WE'RE GONNA FIIIIIND IIIIT

someday soon

Barbie is a parable of the Gospel amen

Yo shout out to SŒUR BETH APEDAILE WHAAAAT CACHE VALLEY TIME!

on a real note. Christ lives for us. "I won't give up nah nah nah, I won't give up nah nah nah, let me love you.. Let me love you" it's like he's singing that song. 

Week 21 - I've always wanted to be on Survivor anyways

This week was in fact grueling

I don't really know what to say, cus I'm not gonna talk about the tough situations here, but I also don't wanna just say "it sucks" w/ no context and sound like a pessimist

Hmmm

Okay some good things

I went on exchanges with Sœur Hamilton and we taught some little kids (wholesome), we ate at McDonald's???!!! That made me feel like I was living in a nice clean country

we were driving and these guys on a motorcycle were passing us but then saw us and just kept pace with us right next to sr Hamilton window and were staring right at her and making heart hand signs and all that and she was so uncomfortable because they were RIGHT there next to her face and she just had to keep driving, and so I immediately reached in my bag and all I said was "roll down the window" and she did and I reached across her and handed them a pamphlet about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus christ and they took it and rode off. IT WAS SO FUNNY!! Everyone else on the highway saw, we were dying laughing

Freaking carnaval is going on so every boy is just out in the street practicing whipping? All the time??? With actual whips? Even the little little boys have tiny whips? It's really wack and I feel like I'm in a video game and this is just like a holiday update or something

Oh we went and helped some member in another branch with her garden. All I gotta say about that is 1) good food and 2) lady stick to a schedule 

Worry not about me, 1 more week and it's transfers. Wheeewwww

Saw a cool iguana walk by

Had a video call w the Paris missionaries for a virtual temple tour thing for a lesson. France missionariesFrench Caribbean missionaries

SAW THE TINIEST BABY LIZARD JUST SITTING ON OUR SINK! We see a ton of lizards but this one was so so tiny. I caught him (then freed him) his name is Crandle. Then when our district leader called, I showed him Crandle, and he was like CRANDLE G (G as in gangster) and I was like YEAHH cus it's funny cus he only kinda knows English cus he's Tahitian and his accent + American slang makes it so much funnier. then I was like "where did you learn that?!" (meaning g) and he was like "you sista!" HAHHA I guess I've said "I like ya cut g" to the elders one too many times

Skimmed through the chapter headings of Job, that was interesting to see. What did I learn... Well,  God wants us to use our agency SO bad. And when life is "chill" and we're doing fine, we tend to not have some huge strong random desire to make extra effort on things. Because we are content. We're not actively making choices (aka we don't progress. And when we don't progress, we slowly degress without knowing). So, sometimes God gives us huge trials to MAKE us use our agency. (hah oxymoron) He's like no, I don't want you to just chill with me and go to church and pray and say you're member of the church because it's a good thing and there's nothing better to do, you have to CHOOSE me, and if I'm not worth the trial to you, then CHOOSE THE OTHER. which is way hard for him to say because he knows there's only one right, joyful option. Which is choosing him. But yeah, sometimes those trials are wake-up calls. If he didn't give us trials, we would just fall away from him because of a lack of CONSTANT use of our agency to choose him. Trials are testimony rescuers made possible by the one who rescues all. 

So that whole thing with Job? Yeah Mr perfectly righteous, then everything good in his whole life is taken away? Don't just think "oh I could never be at his level of righteousness, he got those trials because he was so much more righteous than me and that means he can handle them and I cant" yeah no. Well I mean yes, but actually no. God gave him those trials to SAVE him. Because Job probably would've eventually fallen away and chosen the devil just cus of the natural course of life! So yeah! Job wasn't Mr. perfect! HE COULD NOT SAVE HIMSELF WITH HIS OWN RIGHTEOUS ACTS! NOT AT ALL! He's just like us! we all have our moments of "choose God or choose the world". God is saving us with our afflictions

Which is so cool because guess who KNOWS EVERY AFFLICTION TO EVER EXIST???

His name starts with a J and ends with a esus Christ

and HE is the one who SAVES us. He is the one who made it all possible AND the one who DELIVERS YOU FROM YOUR AFFLICTIONS! AND THEN TEACHES YOU AND BLESSES YOU AND HEALS YOU AND FORGIVES YOU AND COMFORTS YOU AND STRENGTHENS YOU ETC ETC!

Because all things good are of Christ

Please read the screenshot I'm putting here

Zoom in on the cemetery one; they make their cemeteries like neighborhoods here I can't remember why but yeah. On the day of the dead everyone "takes a walk through the neighborhood" 

Week 20 - Everything is on fire

Time does not exist a this point

I will not lie here

This is not hard, this is hell

I WILL NOT LIE! 

I have hit the lowest of lows POSSIBLE this week. Mission work was absolutely dead. Awful companion problems. Mentally not good.

AND

I am learning like never before

Notice how I didn't say "BUT I'm learning like never before"

It's because CHRIST IS SUPPOSED TO COEXIST WITH OUR WEAKNESSES. it's not one or the other, its not "we can have joy with christ OR we are sad with our weakness and hardship", nah it's "we can have joy with christ WHILE we are sad with our weakness and hardship" That's the whole freaking point. He is there with the weakness. How else did you think he was gonna turn it into strength?! 

We gotta see it through to the end

THERE IS HOPE IN CHRIST EVEN WHEN ITS UNIDENTIFIABLE

In the meantime be like Job 

"GOD FORBID THAT I SHOULD JUSTIFY YOU; TILL I DIE I WILL NOT REMOVE MINE INTEGRITY FROM ME. MY RIGHTEOUSNESS I HOLD FAST, AND WILL NOT LET IT GO; MY HEART SHALL NOT REPROACH ME SO LONG AS I LOVE" 

Job 27:5-6

Truth is not relative. Learn what the truth is by following God. And don't say "yeah I follow God" and then freaking do nothing but think good thoughts about Him. If you wanna come unto Christ, you have to do it HIS WAY. Keep His commandments for the love of all that is good! FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD. FAITH THAT HAS NOT BEEN TRIED IS POINTLESS. 

That was definitely not directed to all Guadeloupeans...

Thanks to those who sent me letters!