Letter and Pictures - Week 12

Hey family!

 

Sounds like there is a lot of fun stuff going on at home! Hope you're each doing well! It's always good to hear about BYU! But the year they are doing good is the year I can't even watch.... This week was really good. On Saturday we had the baptism of Kyle Nyle and Shane and on Sunday we had their confirmations. It was really cool. Elder Whipple, Elder Odhiambo, and I each were able to baptize and confirm one of the boys. We continue to work with and pray for Earl. He wants to be baptized but he needs to understand about gaining a testimony and the steps of the Gospel. We had a really great lesson with him after the baptism. We talked about Ether 12:27 and having humility and faith. As well as, Alma 32:21, 26-28, and that we need to have the desire to believe. We've been watching priesthood session of conference on Sunday's in priesthood and it's been just what Earl need to hear and do. He comes to church and watched them. He loves conference. Roderick continues to progress and he is super excited about his baptism this Saturday. He is so ready for it. He has been one of those golden contacts and just taking it all in. He keeps all his commitments and wants to follow God. Hope you all have a great week! Love ya!

 

Love, 

Elder King

 

Kyle, Shane, and Nyle with each of their Elders that baptized and confirmed them.

 

 

I baptized Nyle :) Such a cool experience

 

The Mcfarlane family!

Letter Home - Week 11

Hey!

 

This week has been a week full of good things! We had at conference last week one of our investigators named Roderick come and he has been coming to church each week! He loves it! He loves the feeling there and he has a testimony. We invited him to be baptized on October 24th and he said yes! He is such a great guy and just so ready to take this important step in his life. He also has been keeping the commitments that we extend. I'm super excited for him. We also have been working with Earl and his family. The kids are ready for baptism and are getting baptized this Saturday! Earl still needs to gain his testimony first but he has a strong desire to be baptized into this church with his family. During priesthood class at church we watched some of the priesthood session which we didn't get to watch. He hadn't ever seen conference before and he loved it. He doesn't have internet but we gave him an older session of conference on dvd that he can watch which will help him to gain that light and knowledge of the gospel. He also said he will be studying more on Joseph Smith because that has been a lot of his hang up. We are continuing to work with him and can't wait for the day he gains his testimony. The family also has a cousin named Lenelle that we are working with and he wants to be baptized as well. He comes to church and he loves it. He is 14 years old and his parents are okay with him being taking the lessons and eventually being baptized. That is awesome to hear about Jay going on splits with the missionaries! It's a good experience to see what it's like. It's also cool that he will be meeting with them as well. Kaylee's concert sounds like it went great! Would've been fun to be there. The tailgate things sounds like fun! Wish I could of been there! I've been working hard with Elder Whipple. We've been doing all we can to be great missionaries! My love for the gospel and the light of it has been growing so much! When I watched conference I just wanted more and more. I've started back through the book of mormon from start to finish during personal studies. I'm focusing on references to christ and his atonement, faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. I'm learning so much and my understanding is growing. I love you guys! I challenge each of you to start going back through the book and give it your own point of focus. I know it's true and will bless each of your lives if you do. Love you guys!

 

Love,

Elder King

Letter and Pictures - Week 10

Hey family!

Yesterday was a holiday so we couldn't write because the shops were closed. This week was really good for Elder Whipple and I. We have been focusing on finding new people and this week we have started teaching several who I believe are ready but just need to be taught. I'm super excited for them and the opportunity to teach them the gospel. The areas have been switched up a little bit with who is proselyting in which area so I won't be continuing with Sherline but Elder Odhiambo and his companion will be. I will be teaching Earl and his family now along with Christian, Ambrose, and Max and some others. General conference this past weekend was so inspired and so good. We had one of our new investigators show up for that one and the mechanics really wanted to but were so busy with work. My favorite talk was the opening talk by President Uchtdorf. It was what I needed and I loved every word. It was the theme I felt like with conference of keeping to the basics and was a great start to such a wonderful conference. The speakers really focused on talking about the most important aspects of the gospel that will keep us strong in such a troubling time. I loved how I felt after listening to it all. I loved the light that radiated from each message. When I heard that Jay got in an accident my heart dropped. I'm so glad that he is okay. I hope and pray that this rough situation will not just be a bad circumstance but that each of you will be able to see the hand of the lord and turn it into a positive. It could've been way worse and I'm glad no one got seriously hurt. I hope and pray that everything will be alright. My bit of advice that I've learned out here in hard situations is to look to Heavenly Father and pour your heart out to him in prayer and then have faith and trust in him to lead you along as you faithfully act to find the best course to take. Things will be alright if we each look to him in every thought. I love him very much and he helps me so much in his work. He really is our best friend in time of need. I love you guys and pray for each of you. I hope you each have a great week!

Love,

Elder King

Elder Whipple and I have been trying our hand in the kitchen this week and it wasn't bad haha :)

Elder Whipple making some alfredo!

Our bedroom after trying to kill a cockroach...... hahaha

Elder Whipple and I at the beach here in Vieux Fort for some p-day fun!

District activity at the beach! We played volleyball and soccer. So much fun! From left to right: Elder Whipple, Elder Tye, Sister Carpenter, Sister Maughn, Emmanuel, Elder Odhiambo, Elder King, Sister Kaitaua, and Sister Takuia.

Some more yummy food that we made! Not half bad if I do say so myself :)

Letter and Pictures - Week 9

Dear Family,

Experiences through the week:

Monday - After doing our typical P-day activities we went to teach a lady who we feel is really special. We have only taught her once before this but I just felt something about her. Her name is Sherline and she has a son who is 15 named Shequan. The day leading up to contacting her wasn't that great and no one was picking up their phone so we walked down this road near where we were and decided to knock on her door which we usually don't do. When we first contacted her we gave her a restoration track said a few things about it and then left. When we went back to visit with her she had read the track which is surprising and it helped her answer questions she had been having about what happened after Jesus Christ was crucified. The first time we taught we taught the restoration of the gospel and gave her a book of mormon to read but what was cool was that during the lesson before we had brought it up she asked how she can know if it's true. It was a cool lesson. The second lesson was cool too about the plan of salvation and she liked the three kingdoms. She has been reading in the book of mormon and when we left we invited her to pray and specifically ask if the book of mormon is true and if the church was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and she did. We split areas with the new missionaries but I think I will continue teaching her. The only thing is that she is a strong Catholic and that's where she has been her whole life but when she gains a testimony and continues doing what she is I think good things will happen with her. It started pouring like way hard though so we ending up staying and watched general conference talk. It was good. The son was asking questions too. 

Tuesday - District mtg in Castries! I love my district here and the good times we have. We also video chatted with the new missionaries coming in for a little bit. 

Wednesday - Today we went up to Castries again to pick up the new Elders and Sisters and had a welcome to the mission dinner and devotional that was really good. My companion is Elder Adam Whipple and he is from Bountiful, Utah. He like music and drama. He is into soccer and we have been going on morning runs. He is a good missionary. He is obedient an it has been fun so far to train him. It's cool to see again through the eyes of a new missionary the first time experiencing the island and mission life and remembering back to my first experiences. It's fun to show him around. 

Thursday - So Wednesday the new missionaries stayed in Castries for paperwork and we went back to Vieux Fort. On the way back I dropped my wallet off the bus when I was letting someone out and I didn't realized. It's an hour drive so it was gone and lost. But we had an idea of where it was at so this morning we went and walked the highway to look for it. We walked for a long time with no luck but the sisters talked with this lady who insisted they check the police station and sure enough it was there with everything still in it. It was a miracle. It had a lot of important stuff in it. 

Friday - Thursday was the official first day of taking the new elder around so we went to some people we are teaching and introduced him and a few lessons. 

Saturday - We taught a really great lesson to this less active member named mernalie and we followed the spirit and bore powerful testimonies that strengthened her testimony and said she would start reading the book of mormon again. Hopefully she does.

Sunday - It was a great day! Church was inspiring as the 4 new missionaries bore their testimonies and shared why they were here on a mission. We also had powerful lessons with Shantel and Ambrose. Ambrose has really been progressing and it's so cool to see his light grow. He came to church again along with Christian and is working hard to be ready for his baptisimal date in October.

Monday - Today we had a zone activity that was really fun! we played soccer and basketball which were so refreshing to me and then we went and got dominos pizza for lunch.

I'm no longer teaching Earl with the new areas but he is getting stronger in his faith. We have also been working with Randy and Emmanuel who recently got baptized in August right before I came out. They are awesome! They received the priesthood and are now our branch missionaries. I'm super excited for General Conference this weekend! We will be watching it at the Church and are invited a lot of people to come to it. I love you all! Kaylee I appreciate what you wrote. It means a lot to me. I'm learning a lot about myself out here. I'm changing into a better person. I'm been really trying to follow the Spirit out here. I'm growing in humility and love a lot. It's been a life changing experience already. I think mainly because I've been looking to Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit instead of relying on myself and I've been putting my whole heart into the mission. I've been looking to do the will of the Father instead of the my will. I think a movie in the mtc really helped with that. It was by Bednar and can only be seen in the mtc. It's called the character of Christ and it talked about how Christ turned outward instead of inward and I've been really trying to apply that. I've been thinking so much of others out here and it has changed my perspective. I love the gospel and how it changes lives. Love you guys and thanks for all the emails! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder King

We did some more service a while back where we helped mamma sherba cut down some vegitation around her home. This is called a cutlas or machette.

 Climbing a coconut tree at the service at sherba's!

Walking into the water for the baptism of Petrus

Elder Odhiambo and I at Randy and Emmauel's place! These guys are awesome! They were rasta's before they joined the church. They are really strong in their faith.

From left to right: Ambrose, Christian, and then Max. This is at their shop where we always teach them. They are really cool.

Doing some service! We carried sandbags up the mountain to Janal Felix's home. He is a recently returned missionary here and is now our branch missionary leader. He is building a basement for his home.

Elder Whipple and I at the Church in Castries

This is where we do all our studies! I've learned some cool things but mostly received a lot of inspiration for our investigators here.

My apartment here! I'm staying in this one again with Elder Whipple. It's not a bad apartment. I like it.

I thought you guys might like this :)