"I Love The People Here"

Happy late Valentine's Day!

Week one in a trio was wonderful.  Sister Rampersad from the Curepe ward is serving with us until her visa comes so she can serve in Jamaica.  It is cool serving with her because I was really close with her family when I served in Curepe.  She is amazing.  She went to the MTC and is back here waiting for her visa.  She is a really good teacher and is nineteen years old.  We all get along well and we are able to help each other out.

They celebrate Valentine's day very similar to how they do in the States.  Chocolate, flowers, notes... the same thing.  We didn't do anything special.  Just sharing the gospel with all our heart, might, mind and strength ;) as always.

Brother Patrick is doing well.  We are helping him memorize scriptures he can say when he is tempted to break the Word of Wisdom since he can't read.  He said he is going to the swamp for carnival in a few weeks and he is going to catch us fish and cook it for us.  Should be great if he remembers.

We also found a great less active family to work with.  They have a huge family and they live out in the bush.  It is hard for them to come to church because they have to catch travel (maxi) and they don't come out that far.  They all have strong testimonies and the oldest is considering serving a mission.

Stake Conference is coming up this weekend.  We get to go to the Port of Spain chapel because they are not broadcasting it to our branch.  It will be strange going to a church building.

I love the people here in Trinidad.  They are so generous and kind.  They give so much yet a lot of them live in very humble circumstances.  They almost always give us something to eat or drink or take with us.  Even the random people we meet give us stuff or let us sit down and teach even before we have time to say our names.  It is amazing how humble they are.

As far as food I was fed this week:  I had potato pie which was delicious.  That purple thing I was talking about last week is called climate.  I enjoyed curried shrimp and Dhalpourie, curried mango, curried peas, peilaou (probably not spelled right), and paudo.  Paudo looks like a pea pod.  You open it and there is a seed covered in white stuff.  You suck the white stuff off and spit out the seed.  My favorite part of eating here is they use their hands.  Rarely do we eat at a home and get a spoon (they use spoons more than forks).

Curried shrimp, curried mango, curried peas and dhalpourie (roti)

Paudo

Miracle of the Week:  Fred... again.  Fred works construction and sometimes it is hard for him to find work.  He didn't finish a job as soon as he wanted.  He had a choice to finish on Sunday or have to work an extra day next week.  He chose to come to church and keep the Sabbath day holy.  He is doing so well.  He is still reading and praying daily and is doing great with the Word of Wisdom.  He is being converted and still really wants to be baptized.  I remember when he said he would never come to church or be baptized.  That is the power of the Spirit working on a person's heart.

Thanks for everything.  Love you all lots.

Love,

Sister Shirts

Look close and see if you can spot the pet monkey.