Still Working Hard In Trinidad

Good Afternoon Everyone,

We had a great week.  We were able to take a member with us to some of our appointments and she enjoyed it.  She is about 23 and is married.  She has been a member for about 3 months and loves going out with the missionaries.

Our car is still making strange noises even though we have taken it in twice.  Apparently Bob doesn't know what he is doing because the car isn't fixed yet.  It sounds like we are dragging a dog behind us.

We had a lot of funny things happen to us this week.  We saw a smashed iguana, we picked up a sister from the airport who is from Guyana and is going to St. George Utah, caught a maxi to family fun night, made jello at midnight (twice), and had pepper starfruit.

It is hard to believe another transfer is finished.  I will be staying in Curepe Trinidad with Sister Edmonds this next transfer.  Transfer #3.  We know our area pretty well now so we will be able to make a lot of progress.

Time to brag about the Monsons.  We have an amazing senior couple.  They have helped us out a lot and I am grateful for everything they have done for us.  They are funny, caring, loving, and just all around amazing people.  I am glad they are the senior couple of the area.

Success story:  We are teaching a young lady named Asha.  She is 21 and has a lot of good questions.  Last time we met with her we shared about how she is a daughter of God and that Heavenly Father loves her.  She said she didn't know that and she was glad we told her.

We had Stake Conference yesterday.  It was held in the Port of Spain Chapel and was broadcast everywhere else by satellite like we do in the states.  It was great.  President and Sister Mehr talked about the importance of fasting and everyone learned a lot.  Stake conference here is different.  In the states the chapel is filled when it is over satellite but here we weren't even half full.  Part of it is a lot of people went to the Port of Spain chapel.  Also the church is still new to Trinidad so some don't realize the importance of stake conference.

Thanks for all your support.  I am working hard and have seen blessings and miracles because of your prayers.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Two Lane Road?  Looks more like a bike trail

Trinidad beach

Giant Snail

Sister Shirts and Sister Edmonds at Port of Spain, Trinidad

View At The Beach

Unofficial Pet Dog (belongs to the landlady)

Creatures In The Apartment

Apartment

Apartment

Outside Laundry Area

Funny Name for a Restaurant

Guy sleeping in a hammock right off the main highway

Now she knows why they won't go out in the rain...

Hello Everyone,

This week has been pretty normal.  Earlier this week it rained a lot and we were trying to find an investigators house.  We had found her in the area book and we had a first appointment.  It was pouring and we had to walk around for a long time because we had no idea where it was.  We forgot our umbrella in our apartment and eventually we found it.  We called in and guess what... she wasn't even home.  Oh well it was an adventure.  We got soaked.  Apparently the West Indians are right about the rain giving people colds because I have had a cold ever since that day;).

We had zone conference and it was really good.  I learned a lot from President Mehr and Sister Mehr.  We were able to see them at church because they attend our ward.  President gave a talk about keeping the Sabbath day holy and fasting.

Our car had problems again so we finally got everything fixed.  Luckily it only took a few days and the mission had an extra car we could use.

The Bishop's family fed us roti on Monday night and it was delicious.  We took them over jello cake because their daughter loves jello and cake so we thought we would introduce them to it.  They said it was divine.

The other night I was upstairs asleep on the couch (the medicine I was taking for an ulcer did that a lot) and Sister Edmonds was downstairs waiting for the nightly call.  When they finally called she felt something crawl over her foot and tried not to scream so she wouldn't wake me up.  It was a huge cockroach in our kitchen.  She sprayed it with bug spray like crazy.  The only reason I know about it is I woke up in the middle of the night to get a drink and saw a cockroach.  She told me about it the next morning and we laughed so hard.  I have a picture attached.

Our success of the week:  once again getting less actives to church.  We have been working with a young couple a lot lately.  We go over and read a chapter from the Book of Mormon with them and we discuss it.  They are great and always do the assigned reading.  They have amazing spiritual insights and we come away learning something new every week.  Well they finally came to church on Sunday and we were very excited to see them there.  They needed to take that next step.

Heavenly Father blessed us a lot this week and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve here in Trinidad.

Love,

Sister Shirts

A rainy day

Cockroach

Funny Text Message (the sender meant to say mormon not moron)

Yep!  Another rainy day

Finding Many to Teach!

Good Afternoon,

This week was amazing.  Heavenly Father blessed us a lot this week.  We met a lot of people (we had 46 contacts) and taught a lot of lessons.  We had trade offs again but this time Sister Edmonds went to Chaguanas and Sister Jex came here.  It was a holiday so every one of our appointments canceled.  We went through our area book and called a lot of people and then went tracting.  It was hard work but it was fun.  Sister Jex has been out almost one transfer so I got to show her how to use the area book.  When we were tracting there was an ice cream man with a bunch of kids gathered around.  He called out to us and asked us to share a message with all the kids (about 10 of them).  We talked about Joseph Smith and how he was young when he prayed.

On Saturday we took one of the members out with us.  She is eighteen and is preparing to serve a mission.  She is over the YSA (young single adults) in the ward so we took her to our investigators who are that age.  We got doubles with her because they are cheap and delicious (I talk about them every week).  We were able to eat lunch for about $2.66 USD for three people and be filled.

Cool experience for the week:  We were tracting in an area and we contacted a house.  We talked to the person and found out they were not that interested but their neighbor might be.  So we went to the neighbor and they said the same thing.  Then a car went up the street and they said we should go talk to that family and we did.  They are interested and we have already gone over a few times to teach them.

This week was great.  Thanks for all the support.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Trinidad sunset

Doubles (again)

Outside the apartment

A New Companion and New Adventures

Hello Everyone,

This week has been crazy.  I have a new companion named Sister Edmonds.  She is from Utah and has been on her mission for six months and she served in St. Lucia for that time.  She is great and I am learning a lot from her already.  She has a lot of experience and a really strong testimony. We are going to do great things in Curepe, Trinidad.

Funny but not so funny story:  We had interviews on Thursday and we got a flat tire.  Luckily we were still at the mission home and President Mehr changed it for us but the car fell off the jack and it made funny noises for a few days.  We finally got it fixed yesterday.  We were blessed that it happened while we were with President because Sister Gossard and I had been sick and there is no way we could have changed the tire.

For P day we went to the beach with the other Elders in our district and we spent a few hours there.  Sister Edmonds tried shark and I will get to try it next time.

Trade offs in Chaguanas was fun.  I learned a lot while working with Sister Jewell.  We had a lot of good appointments.

Success story:  We are still working with an elderly couple and we were able to involve their grandson in the lesson this time.  We left him a commitment to read the first page of the Book of Mormon and he said he would.  We are really excited for him.

I am really glad I have this opportunity to serve a mission.  I have learned a lot about prayer and relying on the Savior.  He is always there and wants to help us.  He will if we let him.

Love,
Sister Shirts

Sister Shirts and Sister Gossard

Trinidad Beach

Trinidad Beach

Sister Edmonds and Sister Shirts

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