Preach My Gospel, Pancakes and Pythons

Good Morning,

We had a very productive week.  I was in Curepe for a day with Sister Giles for tradeoffs and we tracted the whole day.  It was fun and she got burned.  That day she was wearing a blue shirt so when she was checking her burn line she was red, white, and blue...very patriotic.  We met a lot of great people.  I always enjoy being back in my old area.

Curepe houses in the mountains

Great news:  I learned how to make roti this week.  Sada roti and buss up shut.  I am not very good yet but it takes practice.

Large outdoor cooking pots

Frozen chicken parts

I also saw how to make curry chicken and mango.  I got to try what they call chunks - kind of like tofu.  It was curried so of course it tasted delicious.  They curry everything here.  Good think I like it.  I also tried cashew fruit.  It makes your mouth feel funny and dry.  It was fun to eat.

Cashew with the fruit

I hit my one year mark on Thursday.  It still feels the same.  Missionary work is great.  I have learned so much on my mission:  hard work, obedience, love, knowledge...I have gained a lot.

Brother Patrick came to church on Sunday.  We walked with him again.  His knowledge and understanding has grown so much.  He has a strong desire to go the right way because he has gone down the wrong way and he doesn't want to go back.  He loves the Savior.

We had a great branch fireside on Sunday.  I was all about Preach My Gospel.  We worked closely with President Gould (the Stake President) on it.  It was centered on the talk given in a recent conference about how each family should have a copy of Preach My Gospel and should study it.  We went around to different rooms and taught how members can use it to be great missionaries.  President and Sister Mehr even came and presented as well.  The members really enjoyed it and they are excited.

Miracle of the Week:  Jason.  We have been having a house meeting at a member's home for a few weeks and this kid kept coming.  He is about eleven years old.  We have been going through the different stories in the Book of Mormon and we were talking about Nephi getting the plates.  He asked if it really happened.  We said yes and he could read about it from the Book of Mormon.  He also asked what the Holy Ghost was and if Adam and Eve were real.  We were very surprised by his wonderful questions.  He asked if he could have a copy of the Book of Mormon.  Of course we gave him one with a note in it.  He was very excited to read it.  It is amazing how the spirit can touch everyone.

Thanks for everything.

Love,

Sister Shirts

House Meeting Pancakes - most people have never had pancakes there.

Eating pancake batter

Feeding the crowd

The District

Favorite Sign

Last week all the Sisters in Trinidad went to the zoo:

Petting a parrot

Holding a python

Giant snake

Funny looking fish

Funny Monkey

Giant shark mouth

His name is Melman (like on the movie Madagascar)

Lions

Cute Otters

Cute Monkey

Crocodile

Read the sign and beware

White Tiger

One Year

Good Afternoon,

We started our house meeting blitz and it went very well.  We are teaching a lot of families as a result.  They are a lot of fun to hold and plan for.  We have a short gospel message, an activity and a treat.  They really enjoy it.

We are teaching a wonderful less active family who has invited a good friend of theirs to hear the gospel.  He really wants to get baptized and is willing to learn about what he needs to do.  Last week we watched the Restoration movie and he felt that what we were saying is true.  He has a hard time reading so we are going to help him read from the Book of Mormon.

They are doing a lot of construction work by our apartment so it is really dusty and muddy.  One day we were walking down the road to hunt for a referral and I slipped.  Luckily I caught myself before I fell down but I still splashed mud all over my leg and the bottom of my skirt.  The joys of being a sister missionary :)  We still haven't found the family yet.

Brother Patrick introduced us to frozen mangoes.  They are heavenly.  He got us a mango called a 10 pound mango (or ax mango).  It was huge and delicious.  I am happy mango season is here.  Brother Patrick is good at getting them for us (except when he falls out of the tree).

I can't believe I have been out for almost a year.  May 22 will be my year mark.  Time flies on a mission.

We went to the zoo today for pday.  I took a lot of pictures but I will send them next week because the computer isn't working too well.

Miracle of the week:  The Gerards (what else is new).  Brother Gerard was ordained a priest yesterday, Stephanie is now the Young Women's first counselor and Sister Gerard taught Gospel Principles.  They love sharing the gospel and their testimonies are very strong.  They love learning about the temple and are excited to go next year.

Thanks for everything.  Love you all.

Love,

Sister Shirts

How Far Are You Willing To Walk To Church?

Good Morning,

I am going to mix it up a little and tell you all day by day how my week was.

Monday:  We found the source of our little black bug problem!  I was cleaning out the pantry and discovered that our rice could move...wait there were little bugs that could move.  There were hundreds of them!  They are gone now.

Tuesday:  We found out that Sister Schindler needed a new police report ASAP so she can get an extension on her work permit.  We drove around all day trying to figure that one out.  We finally got one started.  It takes about a month to do it.  We also said our final goodbyes to the Monsons.  They made it back home to Utah.  We are going to miss them a lot.  They were the best senior couple ever.

Wednesday:  We went to church with an investigator.  It was very interesting.  Since it was Wednesday morning and most people were working we made up half the congregation so it was kind of awkward.  Sister Taufu'i was with us that day.

Thursday:  Weekly planning took us a very long time because we are doing a lot of house meetings.  This is when we gather all the investigators, members, and anyone else who wants to come and meet at a member's home and share the gospel in a fun environment.  We are trying to get at least one a day.

Friday:  Great day.  We are working with a less active family named Arjoons and it was the youngest son's birthday.  We also had some amazing spiritual lessons which was great.

Weekend:  This was the highlight of the week.  We did service for Brother Patrick again and he was very thankful.  We moved a huge pile of dirt.  His mom made us curried eggs and rice.  Sunday was the best day and we got to skype home which was fun.  Sister Gerard gave the talk on Sunday.

Miracle of the week:  Brother Patrick came to church!  We went to his house at 6:45 am and walked three miles to church and three miles home.  It was very worth it.  It was his first time going to church ever and he was very happy he went.

This is Brother Patrick's dog named Fluffy

Thanks for everything.  Love you all and I am grateful for all the support you give.  Thanks for the letters and emails!

Love,

Sister Shirts

Curry and Fried Fish

Yes, heads included

She NEVER would have eaten this before her mission

Staying In Chaguanas For The Next 6 Weeks

Good Morning,

This will be a pretty short email.  Sorry.

This week was exciting.  Brother Patrick invited us over for Hindu prayers at his uncle's house.  It was a cool experience and I got to eat off a fig leaf with my hands.  The food was great.  They raised two new flags.  Those of you who are familiar with the Hindu religion know what that is.  We eat with our hands most of the time here.  It will be strange going back to using forks.

Transfer Call:  Staying here with Sister Schindler.  We are excited because we work well together and have a lot of fun.

On Monday we went to FHE at the Gopauls and the Gerards came so they could see what it is like.  Sister Gopaul made pealou and we took home some left overs.  One thing I took home was a new "helping hand" (a chicken foot).  I love Trini food.  It is fun.

Once again we were fed a lot of food:  Fried sea fish, rice and pig parts, mangoes (it is mango season again!), mango cochilla, aloo and salt fish, mother in law (kind of like pico do gallo), Shuttai, and squid.

Miracle of the Week:  Brother Patrick has been sober for 8 days.  It is amazing.  He has been struggling with rum for his whole life.  His understanding/comprehension is increasing daily and he is a lot happier.  The word of wisdom brings great blessings.

Happy Mother's day to all the women out there.  Love you all and thanks for all you do.  There is a great bible video of Mary on lds.org.  Here is the link:  https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/mary-the-mother-of-jesus?cid=HPTH050114757&lang=eng.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Trini Candy

"Spoiled With Many Amazing Miracles"

Good Morning,

Today I will start off with the long list of delicious food we were fed this week:  Rice, homemade chow mein, rice, calalloo, polish dogs (trini style), rice, Bhaigghan, curry mango, rice, coconut chutney, bodi, rice, and trini scrambled eggs on a hot dog bun.  Delicious food that we were very grateful for.

Coconut Chutney

Bodi (very slimy)

Trini Sunday Lunch

Curry Mango

Now that I got that part out of the way it is time for a story:  We went over to a less active's house to have a lesson.  We got there and they said "it will be a few minutes.  Something just came up and it is an emergency."  We got really worried because it sounded like someone was hurt or died.  We sat down outside and waited.  Then we heard someone yell "it is under the stove.  Let's just take the whole thing and put it outside and get it."  We asked if we could help.  It turns out they were trying to get a mouse out of their house and they were trying to come up with a strategy of how to get it out.  In the end Sister Schindler and I sat with our legs out to block the mouse from running in the wrong direction.  They got a broom and pushed the mouse outside.  Then the mom yelled really loud and beat the mouse to death with a broom.  That is how they do it here in Trinidad :)

Elder Petersen started teaching piano lessons at the church on Thursdays.  It is going well and less actives, investigators, and active members come.  It is a great way to share the gospel in a way that helps people learn new things.

Church was wonderful.  We had over sixty people there.  A lot of less active families came.  The Deonarinesingh family we have been working with came.  We had a very spirit led discussion on the Sacrament and the Atonement and when we committed them to come to church Brother Deonarinesingh immediately said yes.

This week we were spoiled with many amazing miracles so I narrowed it down to two.  #1 Brother Thomas has been very nervous about receiving the priesthood.  We had a lesson with him about how it is an opportunity to learn and progress to becoming like God.  He seemed more comfortable and...on Sunday he was ordained to the office of Priest.  #2  The Gerard family were baptized and confirmed.  All five of them as a family.  It was the most spiritual baptism I have been to on my mission.  The testimonies shared were focused on the temple.  That is their goal.  An entire family getting baptized at the same time is very unusual here.  It was the first one most people had seen.  It was a really cool experience and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to work with them.

Thanks for everything.

Love,
Sister Shirts

This is how to kill cockroaches

Trini gas station

Count the toes

Cool Spiderman truck

burnt "planning" popcorn

Still Working Hard

Good Afternoon,

This week a lot of people decided they wanted to feed us.  There was one day we got fed four times.  We took most of it to go because we have been very busy these past few weeks.  I had peilou, bhaggie and sada roti, sugar roti, fried rice, stewed chicken, curried pumpkin, vermicelli, and bake.  All wonderful as usual.  I love the food here.  Random food fact:  they literally eat the whole chicken here- to the bone marrow.  I stopped trying to figure out what part of the chicken I was eating a long time ago.  Heart, neck, feet, back... who knows.  It all tastes the same when it is curried :)

bhaggie sada roti, sugar roti, tuna salad

curried pumpkin vermicelli (a dessert)

We had tradeoffs this week so I was with Sister Edmonds.  We went with a member to meet some of his friends and we ran into a geriatric home where we met a 102 year old man.  The spirit was very strong there and we prayed with all of them.  We are going back tomorrow to sing hymns to them.

The stake put on the second half of the Savior of the World play.  It was very good.  They performed it at the University of the West Indies in one of the auditoriums.  The costumes were great and the props were creative.  They did a wonderful job inviting the spirit.  the songs were my favorite part because they had a Caribbean twist because of the style of their singing here.  The Gerard family all came.

That leads us to the miracle of the week:  When we were on tradeoffs, Sister Edmonds and I taught the Gerard family about the importance of the Atoning sacrifice of the Savior.  They all shared their testimonies and the spirit was very strong.  They have very strong testimonies of the restoration as well.  We taught them about the word of wisdom and they threw out their coffee.  They readily accepted it.  they are doing great.

Thanks for everything.  As always I love you all and am grateful for your prayers.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Funny story about eggs:  You can only get brown eggs in Trinidad.  When you try to dye them they still come out brown.

stickers work better

Hindu display