New adventures in Trinidad

Good Afternoon,

This week has been different. We have been taking care of Sister Taylor because she has dengue fever.  (This is a disease that is carried by mosquitoes and the mission has had an outbreak.)  She and her companion have spent the night at our apartment a few times.  We had a sick party on Thursday and Sunday, except Sister Gossard and I participated on Sunday (not dengue fever) so it was more fun.

Jello is delicious.  I never appreciated jello as much as I have on my mission.  For some reason it is very appealing.  A member named Brother Mohan gave us two tiny pineapples that were delicious.  Our land lady gave us two avocados which were great on our sandwiches.

Our land lady has a lot of dogs, a lot of fish, a parrot, goats, and a cow.  We see her a lot.  The lizards here are a lot bigger than the ones in Barbados.

On Tuesday we are doing trade-offs.  I will be going with Sister Jewell to Chaguanas for 24 hours.

Success of the week:  We met a young man named Tevin while we were tracting.  He was reading the Bible when we found him and we talked about the Book of Mormon.  He came to a Young Single Adult fireside and we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We also showed him around the church and he loved the pictures hanging.  We are really excited to work with him.

We were reading in Alma about Moroni and how he didn't stop preparing for war.  We should always be building our testimonies because if we stop, Satan will find our weak points.  As we make our weaknesses strengths, it will be harder for Satan to get to us.  One way I have found has helped me daily strengthen my weak points is morning prayers.  As I pray and ask for strength from my Heavenly Father it helps me throughout the day.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Trinidad

Port of Spain the capital of Trinidad

Port of Spain

Port of Spain

Enjoying Trinidad

Good Morning Everyone,

My first few days in Trinidad have been great.  I got up at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning and Sister Herrick made me pancakes.  We went to the airport so I could catch my 6:00 a.m. flight to Trinidad which stopped in Grenada (very beautiful).  I was the only missionary on the plane but I made it through okay.  I worked hard that day and got up at 5:00 a.m. the next morning to take Sister Dayton to the airport because she finished her mission.  Basically I was sleep deprived for a few days.

I love Sister Gossard.  She is fun and hard working.  We are getting along well and we are working hard.

I had Doubles on Thursday and they are the best I have had so far.  I know I will miss them when I leave.  It has rained almost every day since I have been here.  Usually it is cloudy so it keeps cool.  Trinidad is beautiful in a different way than Barbados.  In Barbados my area was in the country but here I am in the city.  There are mountains that are pretty which is nice because Barbados is flat.

Church is located on the second floor of a shop.  It looks like the inside of a normal church.  It has a small chapel and a few classrooms.

I can't believe I am living in another country.  The West Indies Mission is cool.  I can now say I have lived in Barbados and Trinidad.

Success story:  Tracting.  Tracting in Trinidad is way more fun than tracting in Barbados.  The people here will actually talk to you.  We don't knock on doors.  We call into houses by yelling "Good Afternoon" or "Good Day inside".  Forget knocking on doors in the West Indies.  It is all about calling in.

Personal revelation is amazing.  It has helped me here on my mission as I have studied.  I have learned a lot.

Thanks for all the support.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Last P day in Barbados

A view of Barbados

Trinidad apartment

Trinidad apartment

Cool sand crab

The outside of the jungle church

Always looking for strange and interesting creatures

Mosquito bites are dangerous to get.  Many diseases are carried by the mosquitoes there.  Sister Shirts isn't using enough repellent!

Transfer week! Going to...

Hello everyone,

The tropical storm was very disappointing.  Basically it just rained a lot.  On the bright side there were a lot of giant frogs that came out and we caught a few.  Even better they were smashed on the road...everywhere.

Big news of the week:  I am going to Curepe, Trinidad on Wednesday morning.  Sister Gossard will finish training me.  It is both exciting and sad.  Sister Herrick and Sister Forbes will stay behind.  I am excited because Trinidad will be a whole new experience.  It is a lot more diverse.  It will be hard leaving Barbados.  I love it here.

New things I have tried:  mashed breadfruit, flying fish, and mac pie.  I also got fresh bananas from an investigotor which were very good.  The mashed breadfruit was kind of like mashed potatoes.  I have been driving a lot lately.  When I go to Trinidad I will probably be the one driving.  Trini's drive crazy and the roads are narrow.

For P day we went to the beach and played volleyball as a zone.  It was fun.

Success story:  We had our first investigator come to church.  It is hard for people to get to church because transportation is expensive.  She was able to get a ride with a member and she came with her baby.  She is reading her scriptures and praying and the gospel is really blessing her life.

I know that as we continue to do our best the Lord will bless us.  My time in Barbados has been great.  The gospel continues to bless lives here.

Thanks for all the support.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Boardwalk in Oistins

Mashed breadfruit and flying fish

Cliff she went walking to a lot in the mornings

Barbados Elders

Barbados Sisters

Tropical storm warning, Trio, Trying new food, Teaching, Testimony

Today was spent preparing for tropical storm Chantal that is on track to hit Barbados tomorrow (Tuesday the 9th) at around 8:00 am.  They are stocked up on water and gas and she thinks they are ready.

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Great news.  Joining Sister Herrick and me is Sister Forbes.  She is from St. Vincent and is here on a mini mission.  She will eventually serve full time in Mississippi.  I am now in a trio.  It will take some adjusting, but it will be great.

As far as new things, Sister Forbes plaited my hair.  My tan lines continue to get better and better.  Tracting in the sun does that to you.  Yesterday we went to visit a young man we found off a random dirt road.  He wasn't there but his mom was.  She had met with the missionaries before and she is willing to try again.  When we were finished with the lesson she asked how we were liking Barbados and asked how the food is. We said we haven't really tried a lot of new things.  She was surprised and went to the kitched and brought out a huge plate of food for the three of us to split.  We had congally, it is a type of fish.  She is going to feed us something new every time.

Not a lot has happened this week.  Just the usual missionary work.

The success story...Miralda's grandchildren.  She has 2 eleven year olds that continue to progress.  They remember things and have started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning.  We continue to find new people to teach and we love working with the members.  We are working hard with less actives to bring them back to church so they can receive the blessings Heavenly Father wants to give them.  Member missionary work is important and I encourage everyone to work with the missionaries.  When members and missionaries work together, miracles will happen.

Sunday was testimony meeting so here is my very condensed testimony:

I know the Church is true.  I know Joseph Smith was called as a prophet and restored Jesus Christ's church on the earth.  I know President Monson is the prophet today.  I know Jesus Christ lives and made it so we have the opportunity to receive eternal life.  I know Heavenly Father loves each of us and we can pray to him.  Prayers are answered.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,

Sister Shirts

P day picnic at the lighthouse

New hairstyle thanks to her new companion Sister Forbes

Barbados Sunset

The new trio

A Great Week

Good Afternoon Everyone:

This week has been great.  We have been visiting a less active family we found and it was the youngest daughter's birthday.  We made her a card and some brownies.  She had a "fashion show" of all the clothes she got (her older sister's clothes).  She is seven and her name is Saedia.  Their family is great and wea re teaching them the missionary lessons over again as we encourage them to come back to church.

On Friday we had a branch game night at the chapel.  Everhone was invited and we were supposed to have food and fun.  Unfortunately it was raining and the only people who came were the missionaries.  It is amazing how much the rain changes the days plan.  Naturally, all of our appointments canceled because of the rain.

Apparently hurricane season is a problem here.  Our 5th Sunday program was about hurricane preparedness.  Hopefully one doesn't hit while I am here.

As far as new food, this week I tried real roti (not the stuff you get from fast food).  Roti is the breadish part and you use your hands to tear a piece of it off and grab whatever else is on your plate (this time it was a shrimp, veggie, curry, potato mix).  Look it up on the internet and it will make more sense.  Next time I will take pictures.  The family that fed us is from Guyana so they know how to make good roti.  I also had some weird kind of fish (no idea what kind).  The members keep giving us mangoes.  I love mangoes.  We did our weekly service project and got green onions, normal onions, and potatoes.

The success of the week is Maralda and her grandson Terrick.  Both have been reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it.  Maralda still doesn't know if she wants to be baptized but Terrick is excited about the gospel and wants to come to church.  The elders had another baptism and this time they did it in the ocean.  It was raining and windy so of course the only ones who came were the missionaries and the ward mission leader.  It is sad that no one else came but it was a beautiful service.

Prayer is very important here in the mission field (and everywhere else).  Prayer has helped me so much on my mission.  We pray all the time and my prayers have been answered.  Prayer is also important in the conversion process because you can't know if something is true without asking Heavenly Father.  Prayer shows faith and through faith all things are possible.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Finally got a monkey on camera.  They are all around like the deer in Utah

An ocean baptism

On a very windy Crane Beach

This is the entrance to a creepy jungle church they explored on P day

More adventures in Barbados

Hello everyone,

This week has been great.  Sister Herrick and I swept the church on Saturday and cleaned up piles of potato bugs and a cockroach.  It was fun.  I had my first real mango and also had some five finger fruit (very sour).

We had a tropical storm this week and all of our appointments canceled on us because they don't do anything here if it is raining.  It is the ultimate excuse.  Unfortunately it rains a lot so it is a problem.

Earlier last week a sister from Trinidad was able to visit because she had to leave the country and then go back to get a visa so she decided to come here.  We went and got ice cream with her and visited for a few minutes.  Sister Taylor is the one who took me out my first day and taught me how to contact so it was fun to see her again.

We had an interesting experience with a less active.  I don't know if I mentioned her last week but her name is Sister Gittens.  She is crazy.  She has a crazy dog that tried to eat us when we stopped by to help her in her garden.  She also has a crazy neighbor and they yell at each other.  They were calling each other witches and devils and other not so nice things.  On the bright side we did get some mangoes from her.

The success story of the week is Maralda and her family.  Maralda is an older lady with lots of grand kids.  We have taught them a few times but our last visit was great.  She has a 12 year old son that has been participating and he loves to read the scriptures.  She works with a member in our branch so hopefully we can take the sister teaching with us some time.

I hope you all watched or will watch the leadership broadcast.  It was great and shared how all of us can help the missionaries.  I know member missionary work is important and it really does help the missionaries.  Keep in mind people you know that don't have the gospel in their lives so you can help the missionaries.  We are told that the members are the finders and the missionaries are the teachers.  The people who are found by the members find friends in the gospel and they have people they can relate to.

Thanks for all your support,

Sister Shirts

Continuing the Lord's work in Barbados

Good Day Everyone,

The work in our area is really picking up. We have been meeting a lot with the members and less actives. The mission president really wants us to build up the members and get referrals from them. Church has been great and the members are getting more and more willing to help us out.

People love my last name. They don't remember Sister Herrick's name but they remember mine.

We have been living off of spaghetti noodles and rice. We have been experimenting on different sauces we can put on it to make it taste better. My favorite so far is breakfast spaghetti (spaghetti with eggs and stuff). We bought ham from the store last week. When I smelled it, I decided it wasn't ham. We looked on the ingredients list and it said chicken. So basically our ham was like a hot dog and there wasn't even any ham in it. I also tried doubles which was great (there is a picture).

The mosquitoes here bite me like crazy. Sister Herrick said they stop after a while. There are also other bug problems here. One evening I went to get clothes to change into after showering and my drawer was full of ants. We got the bug spray and I took all my clothes out and sprayed them until they were all dead. Now my drawer smells bad, but hopefully it will get better.

I have heard that Barbados is the Bible belt of the West Indies. It is true. The people in Barbados love the Bible and they know everything about it. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

Funny story about contacting: We were tracting and we came up to a house. We looked down and there was this huge iguana just sitting there. We were scared for a minute but then we thought it was cool. Sister Herrick pulled out her hand sanitizer and went to poke it and...it was fake. We thought it was real and were panicking for nothing.

We went walking on the beach one morning for exercise. It was nice. I haven't been for p day yet so maybe we will go next week.

We found a family who is very interested in hearing what we have to say. We taught them about the plan of salvation and they really want to get to the celestial kingdom. Even better, they realize they aren't living the way they should to make it there. Hopefully they continue to have the desire to learn more.

Heavenly Father has blessed me so much this week with finding people and helping them take the steps necessary to live with Heavenly Father forever. We have been working hard and Heavenly Father recognizes it.

Thank you for all your support.

Love,

Sister Shirts

West Indies Sisters at the MTC

Barbados beach

Doubles

View from airplane flying to Barbados

A lighthouse found while driving around lost