Letter and Pictures - Week 90

Hey family! Happy Easter to you all!!

     My little sister is a super star!!! I wish I was there for Kaylee's dance performances! They sound amazing! That's so cool that she helped choreograph the piece and that it was so well liked and well done! That's also fun that she got to be lifted up! So does Kaylee do a lot of dances at games and assemblies?  

     Happy birthday Mike and Kim!!!!! Sorry I'm late... I remembered last week but forgot to write it. I love the pie pics :) You should've bought 4 and thrown 2 haha ;) I love you both!!

     One of the focuses of this week has been preparing Lorraine for her upcoming baptism. We feel she is ready. She has been faithfully keeping all of her commitments. She has a testimony and has a desire to be baptized. You can see the light growing inside her. She is happier and more at peace. She also brought a friend to church this week with her who stayed the whole time and learned from it. She is going to be interviewed this week by President. If all goes well she will be baptized on Saturday! Yeah!! 

     We have also been working with Kelvin. He has been doing a ton of study and prayer. He has doubts he is striving to overcome. He wants it to be true but he has a hard time accepting it. He didn't come to church this week because he was sick. As he keeps up all the study and prayer it will build his faith and he will find his answer. 

     The only other one who came to church was Ulanda. I'm not sure why others didn't come. Since we've lost a lot of our investigators we've been trying to find new ones. We taught several people this week for the first time. It's hard to tell if they really have that much potential this early on. The real way to see is if they keep their commitments. We are going to do a lot of finding this week and a lot of praying that God will lead us to those whom He needs us to teach. 

     A cool happened this week! Last week Kim gave me some money to use to help someone out. On Thursday we were contacting and we knocked on this man's house. His name is Randolph. He wasn't particularly interested in our message as he goes to another church. He did accept some literature but somehow the conversation turned to how he was out of gas for his stove for cooking and wasn't able to cook dinner. Here they use gas tanks for their stoves like we would for our barbecue and you have to go to the gas station to replace the tank. I didn't know how to help him since we can't use the money we get to help others. I really wanted to help him and I said a prayer in my heart and I yearned to be able to in some way help him. The thought then came into my mind of how Kim had sent some money for that specific purpose and I was like Yes! We can help you! Because of that we were able to take his tank and walk to the nearest gas station and then walk back with a full tank so he was able to cook his dinner for the night :) Thanks Kim for your goodness!!! He was very grateful and it softened his heart so we were then able to teach him the first discussion. He accepted a book of Mormon too.

     I know the Lord can bring to pass great works by small and simple means and that if we desire and have faith that he can work through each one of us to the blessing of others. There is much good for us to do and it brings happiness to others and makes us happy too :) I love you all! This work is true! It's the work of love and I love this work!

Love,

Elder King

1 - Randolph after helping him out

2 - Bro. Sampson! He is awesome and comes out with us often. He is from Trinidad but has lived in Barbados for a long time.

3 & 4 - Sis. Nelson. We went home teaching to her and she made us cake and local juice #Blessings :)

5 - The Yearwoods(branch president) made us missionaries lunch for Easter #MoreBlessings

6 - We went to the fish fest here for lunch and I tried some fried marlin and it was delicious

For p-day today we went to the Animal Flower Cave up at the north end of the island and it was absolutely amazing!! The waves that were crashing were more than massive! They would crash and splash up and over the cliff! It was legit! We all got wet :) It was a fun day

The first two photos are at the same height as you can see the people behind the water. There is an actual cave I believe but not that we were able to go in. The water crashing over a long time created these holes where water will splash up and out.

Letter and Pictures - Week 89

Dear family!

This week had it's ups and downs I guess as every week does. There was a lot of great things that happened but also some disappointments. 

Monday: We saw the sobers and watched a temple video and connected to enduring to the end. They can't wait to be able to go to the temple. They went to Florida this week and while they are there they may go walk around the temple grounds if they can. That would be so cool! They would never want to leave haha :) We also saw Simon and Nadecia with her son Richardo who is 18 or so. We watched the restoration video. John wasn't there because of work. It was good and brought the spirit. I think it is causing them to think more about what we are sharing with them and stirring their souls. 

Tuesday: We had an awesome zone conference where we learned a lot about finding those who are searching for the truth. There was a lot of great stories and experiences shared that just give a boost to your testimony that there are those people out there that the Lord is preparing to hear and accept the gospel. President also talked about Eternal Marriage connected to the temple. He was a temple sealer and he shared some personal meaningful experiences that he has had that brought the spirit. It was a special meeting to be in. I loved it. We saw Lorraine in the evening. We taught about the end of the plan of salvation on what happens after we die and her son Nicoli joined in the lesson. He is 20. We gave him the book of mormon and the tracks to read and he started looking through them. It was good. 

Wednesday: We read again with Bro. Brewster. It's been having a positive influence/change on him. We can start to notice a difference in him. He also likes it when we sing hymns too. We saw Juanita and taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After teaching about repentance and the importance of keeping commitments we gave her a choice to continue the lessons and she said she wants to when things settle down. She will call when she is ready but for now we have stopped going by. We had a lot of fall through appointments and so we contacted a bit. We also went and played basketball to do some sport finding. We've been challenged to do that to help seek out the youth and young adults which is a direction from the 12 Apostles. It's fun! We get to go play with some really great players and then share the gospel with them. We go on wednesday nights for an hour or so. They are more open to us and we have found some interest. It's cool.

Thursday: We saw Kelvin who had done the assignment we had given him to watch Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration. He watched it like three times and it honestly scared him and kinda made him angry at God. He was really emotional and we just talked with him about it and what he felt from the movie. He believes it is a true story and that Joseph Smith had a lot of faith and was a true prophet but he didn't like it because of all the terrible persecutions that happened to all the faithful saints. It left him with questions and concerns. He was confused as to why a loving God would allow his saints to go through so much trial and suffering. He wanted to know why God didn't just put his hand in to play and stop the bad from happening. We talked with him to help him understand and explain and teach about God. We also answered his questions from conference which were great and he had many. We later gave him some things to study to help him more. We gave him several talks and several scriptures to look up. One of my favorites was from last conference called God Shall Wipe Away All Tears. There are a myriad of different reasons but I know God loves us and does everything for our good and to help us learn, repent, and progress. It's so much sense because it's part of our purpose here in this life.  We also dropped Renee. He isn't ready right now but we told him to give us a call in the future when he is ready. We saw Meredith and taught about the plan of salvation. She said she was going to come to church this week but she didn't. I think we are going to have to say goodbye for now as well. Ah! It's so hard! We love them so much! We saw John, Simon, and Nadecia, and Richardo for a short lesson. We just watched a mormon message called Because of Him about Jesus Christ and as we watched I felt the spirit come over me very noticeably with peace and warmth. I don't know if they felt it like I did but it was amazing to me. We talked about their thoughts and feelings after. They enjoyed it and they said it gave them a sense of hope. John spoke about his feeling a need to read the book of mormon. They haven't come to church yet but they say they will and they feel they need to. The greatest disappointment happened today when we went by to see Rodney. He told us that he didn't want to meet anymore. It was such a shock to us. We were like wait what?? He told us that he was talking with his old bishop and that he had chosen to go back there and repent there. It was really heartbreaking. It was so sad. We tried to talk to him about it but he couldn't then. We aren't quite giving up yet but I don't see a lot of hope because he is pretty set. We are wanting to have one last lesson if he will let us. We will see but for now we aren't teaching him anymore. He says he will still read from the book of mormon because he likes it. 

Friday: We did a lot of contacting and saw Lorraine with Elvis. We taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ and a few of the basic commands to pray, study, and go to church. She is committed to do them. She spends a lot of time praying and reading. She has read all the assignments we give her and more. She's great!

Saturday: We saw Bro. Brewster again. He feels a need to repent. We read Alma 36 with him. Elder Anderson felt like we should contact near a supermarket in our area during our allotted time to contact and so we went there. We found across the street at the bus stop a young married man named Rommel who had heard a little of the church before and was super interested. We gave him a book of mormon and he was excited to read it. He lives in another area but I think he has a lot of potential. I'm excited to see what happens with him. We saw Travis who isn't really accepting what we are teaching him. He is a nice guy with a great family but we aren't going to continue teaching him. We saw a guy named Don for the first time who accepted baptism. He is good friends with a couple of strong members so he has some potential. He was taught before by missionaries. We saw patrick and talked about general conference with him. He enjoyed it and found what was said was true. 

Sunday: Kelvin was the only one who came to church this week but I'm sure glad he came. He was again taking a lot of notes and asked good questions in our gospel principles class. He is still going strong despite doubts and concerns that satan is throwing at him. He is really trying to overcome and understand it all. He hasn't accepted a date for baptism yet because he wants to learn more first. The Sobers were on vacation and Junika was sick. Sister Jones also came. We went and taught her after about faith in the Savior and repentance. She is doing good things to help build her faith and repent. She asked us for an assignment to read before we gave one to her. We also saw a couple of new investigators and then we saw Lorraine again. She didn't come to church this week because her daughter was sick and she had to take care of her. We helped get conference and she is excited to watch it since she missed it last week. We had given her the word of wisdom, law of chastity, and tithing for her to study and prepare and then we taught them all together. She is already living them all and was fully prepared to accept the commitment to live them. She found a tithing slip and already set aside money to pay tithes and offerings. It was amazing. What amazes me even more is that she isn't financially well off. It shows the great faith that she has. She is excited about her upcoming baptism and is ready. 

 

I love you all! I know this gospel is true! I know that Jesus is the Christ! I've been striving to learn all I can about Him. I feel my faith increasing and my love for Him grows more and more. I hope you all have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder King

Basketball and Kelvin at church!

Zone Conf. , at Lorraine's, and fixing a flat.... haha we do that too much :)

Letter and Pictures - Week 88

Dear Family,

     It's been a fun eventful week with General Conference! Wasn't it great?! I guess it always is :) This week was long because of the excited anticipation for conference. We began teaching Kelvin this week. He is awesome and very prepared. He has a story similar to Joseph Smith where his parents are a part of different religions and it's made him feel confused by it. He has been around to many other different places and is searching. He has really opened up to us and the gospel. He told us that he feels he may have ended his search and may stop here. He has had these questions of the soul that he has had for his whole life and using the Book of Mormon we were able to help answer them all in such a short time. He was amazed. He is intrigued by the Book of Mormon and knows it is powerful. He has began his study of it and he also came to conference this weekend and was busily taking notes of it. He loved it. We didn't yet get to talk to him to much about it because he had to leave right after the session but he was so happy and had the brightest smile on his face there. It was a joy to see his joy. 

     It was a beautiful conference. What stood out to me from it was the talk by Elder Rasband on quickly following the promptings from the Holy Ghost. I've been working a lot on seeking personal revelation and recognizing and following the promptings as soon as they come and so that talk stood out to me. I'm looking forward to being able to go back and really study the great talks that were given. 

     We saw Lorraine several times. We taught here a couple different lessons about the plan of salvation. She has been doing a lot on her own. It's great! She takes her books with her everywhere and has been doing research. She wrote a question about covenants at church and went a looked it up and she also looked up repentance and now she knows. She didn't come to the conference this weekend unfortunately because she was with her family. She had her thoughts on the conference and was feeling guilty she didn't come. We touched on repentance when we went by to follow up with how she is doing and she is for sure coming next week to church. We are going to help her get the talks so she can watch them. 

     We saw Meredith and after talking about the book of mormon extended a date for baptism. She said she would try for the date but still wasn't fully committed yet. She just needs time. She didn't come to the conference and when we also went by she felt really bad she didn't come. We will do the same for her as with Lorraine.  Rodney said he was going to come this weekend but for some reason he didn't show. We think something might have come up that prevented him from being there but we don't know. He is still doing awesome. He is now finished with first Nephi :) 

     Ulanda came to conference. We were able to see her this week and talk to her about the restoration and remind her about when she first came to know the truths of the restoration and when she was baptized. It was good and I guess it helped since she kept her commitment and came to conference which she enjoyed. Patrick surprised us as he was able to make it to one of the sessions. He had to leave right after too so we didn't get to talk to him too much except over the phone but he thought all of the talks were really good especially the one President Uchtdorf gave on fears. We set up a time to go and see him this week. 

     It's been a great week. I loved it. I'm finding a lot of joy in doing this great work :) I can really feel that this gospel is true. I find myself really gaining a deeper and stronger connection between me and my Father in Heaven as I fervently pray each day and communicate with Him. I know He hears and answers each of our prayers with great love. I feel that He is there. I feel that He is listening I am grateful for all that He does for me. I love you all and am really grateful that I have such a wonderful, loving family!

Love,

Elder King

General Conference Weekend!  You can't have conference without a big conference breakfast :) Elder Anderson made some french toast with bananas, nutella, and passionfruit juice. We watched conference at the chapel. On Sunday we went to the Herrington's for a nice lunch provided by them. It was really nice of them and it was really good. Ulanda came to conference and she came at just the right time because she came late but as soon as she got there the speaker said something that really spoke to her. Patrick, Kelvin, Sister Jones, and the Sobers also came. Sister cadet and many of the members watched from home.

Today we played volleyball for pday :) It was fun as always!

Letter and Pictures - Week 87

Dear family,

     This week has been a blessed week and I thank you all for your love, support, and your prayers. I can feel of it and it helps bless and lift me. Last week we contacted into a father of two young boys named Rodney at his home and gave him a Book of Mormon. This week we came back and found that he had read all the beginning pages and through chapter 9. He finds it more interesting than the bible and he loves to read it. In our lesson with him there was a special spirit and he felt that God had sent us to him. He has been praying to know the truth for months. He knows the churches that he has been to are false and he wants to know the truth. He accepted baptism and even a specific date for the 29th of April. God has been preparing him and led us to him.  

     We haven't been able to teach Renee in a long time. It's almost as if he were avoiding us. He hasn't really been progressing lately. So far though he has been able to quit coffee, tea, and smoking. He is working on the alcohol. He is slowly reading the book of mormon and he hasn't been to church. We stopped trying to teach Asa because of how we felt. His mother isn't really supportive and we feel it's not quite the right time for him. We were able to see Lorraine and help her understand the Book of Mormon more. She's been reading and has read the beginning pages and the first two chapters. We read another chapter with her and help her understand the story. 

     Wednesday we went shopping because that's when our money came in for the new transfer and a lady stopped us in the store and wanted us to come and teach her. She said she's never had missionaries up by her otherwise she may be a member already. She lives far away which is why no missionaries have been up by her so we referred her over to the Sisters in the Oisten's Branch who are closest to her. She was really cool and is already making plans to be able to come down for conference. We've been teaching for a while an older less active member named Bro. Brewster. We've started to notice a real difference in him lately. We've been coming by and sing hymns with him and read from the book of mormon and the spirit has been working with him and stirring his soul. He has been asking us to come by more often and is expressing gratitude for us coming by which wouldn't really happen before. He has expressed a desire to come back to church. 

     We saw Meredith this week and we read from JS-History to help strengthen her testimony as last week we went over repentance and the interview questions and found some areas to help her in. The spirit was there and this time her heart was softened and she accepted baptism again. It was a miracle. I don't know what caused the change but something did. We were also able to see Ulanda this week though she didn't keep the commitment she made to come to church. 

     Saturday the Assistants had a baptism for the grandson of a member. His mother was really late to the service and the service had started but they didn't want to go ahead with the baptism until she was there so we had testimonies given, piano arrangements played, and hymns sung. It made the service even better and finally the mother came and was able to witness the baptism of her son. It was a really beautiful service. As I sat and pondered during the service I thought about our Father in Heaven. I felt the spirit and I could really feel and understand of HIs love and desire for us to return home to Him. I felt the spirit witness that He lives. I know this and I know He loves us.

     Sunday was absolutely incredible. It was such a blessed day. We went to church to come to find all our recent converts there (The Sobers, Junika, and Sister Jones) and early too. We also found Rodney with his two boys (Rodney and Rory), we found Meredith there, and we also found Kelvin there. Kelvin lives close to Rodney. We just recently contacted into him and we haven't even taught him yet. He is awesome. He was taking notes during church asked great questions during class and was really excited for us to come by and teach him. Church started and Lorraine wasn't there. I really wanted her to be there and I prayed then that she would be able to come. I didn't see her all of Sacrament but I came to find out that she came a few minutes late and was out in the hallway since the chapel was full. She too was taking notes. Everyone loved church. Rodney said that he felt something there that he hadn't in any other church. What also just adds to all this goodness is that Fred was able to bless the sacrament for his first time. He did great. We later taught Rodney and we found that he had read the restoration track we left with him and is now up to chapter 18. As we taught the restoration the spirit was there and he believed it was true. 

     It's been a really great week! The Lord is doing His work and this work is true! I love all of you!

Love,

Elder King

 

Elder Anderson and I with Rodney after a lesson outside his home :)