11/30/2009
Well hello family and friends,
It was so great to hear from all of you in your emails this past week. Thank you for all of your prayers and your support in your letters and your emails. It's a little rough to be here in a new country again, trying to learn 2 new languages (mostly just one), but your love and support are helping so much! Don't worry things aren't nearly as bad as they were my first week in Puerto Rico. hahah. It's just a little difficult to adjust to not being to communicate with anyone again. But that's OK because I am learning a ton of stuff and I am loving every minute of it. Be sure to keep me in your prayers because I can use all the help that I can get hahah.
I'm not sure how much I told you last week and I think it's because I didn't really know that much about Aruba yet. But today I will tell you a little more about my new country, and i hope you love it! Aruba is a beautiful island, it's sooooooo much different then Puerto Rico though. It's so dry and desert here. It's weird, it feels like southern Utah. It rains every now and then but nowhere close to the kind of rain that we had in Puerto Rico. The beaches are beautiful of course and the sun is amazing. By Christmas I should look tall, dark, ripped, and handsome. Too bad you are all thousands of miles away and you can't see me! :) haha! Guess you'll just have to wait until I get back.
Anyways a lot of you had questions about the people here. I absolutely love the people here and to be honest I think they are just amazing. Like dad said, Aruba is tourism. That's what it is. That's why the country is here. It's here for the rich tourists. But the people here are so loving and humble. I love it! What's cool about this experience is that every person and every family comes from a different country and a different place so there is a ton of different cultures that I get to be a part off. Already I've talked to a ton of Colombians and people from Venezuela?! (I don't know how to spell) Anyways the fact is I am loving it and the people are so open and friendly (except for the dutch people on vacation . . . they just want nothing to do with us). But that can be expected haha. Did I also say that there are a ton of people from Jamaica here too. Yeah, it's fun. I am teaching in 3 different languages each day and I'm loving it! Ahhh it rocks here!
The people here all speak about 4 or 5 languages. Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish and English. Some people speak other languages like french, but the big 4 are those. Papiamento is basically a mix between Spanish, Dutch and English, with a little Portuguese and French mixed in. We are supposed to learn Papiamento here first and then try and learn Dutch. Dutch is ridiculously hard! hahah But Papiamento is coming along nicely. It's a hard situation to be in again, but its such a cool experience to have to rely big time on the Lord again.
Don't get me wrong, I love Puerto Rico, and I always will, but I think this is such an awesome experience.
The downer about the islands though is the whole package thing. As far as I know the mission will not bring packages down here for us. So if you want to sent me a package, I will give you the address. But to be honest, I don't need packages. Just send lots and lots and lots of letters to the mission home because i will get all of those. :) Oh and do it quick! They'll bring them down on the 7th and I think that's the last time this transfer.
So yeah, that's a lot of information about Aruba. I am loving it. It's a big adjustment, but i am loving it! Thanks again for all that ya'll are doing for me. If you want me to answer any more questions just let me know.
But now I am going to talk about the work because I don't want you to think that I am just down here on vacation! haha The work is going well down here. It's a big adjustment from the area where I was just serving in Puerto Rico. But I like it a lot. We ride bikes all over the island. This is nice because it's a good leg workout. But it is also hard because our tires get flat or pop constantly. My first day here we had 5 flat tires! hahah. But we bought some extra thick tubes to solve the problem and that seems to be working.
As for our investigators here we have a baptismal date with Vivian on the 19th. She had a date before but it fell through so we set another one with her on my second night here it was great! She's doing well and I think that if we can help strengthen her testimony she will be getting baptized on the 19th!
Other then that we have been working hard to find people this week. Yesterday we found Angelica and her family. This awesome family has 5 cute little boys who love our magic tricks and a great set of parents who want the best for their family. We have an appointment with them on Wednesday and I am really looking forward to it. It should be a good one!!!
So other then that the work is just continually progressing. I will however share a neat experience that I had this week. I had to teach in Spanish this week for the first time without a native speaker by my side. It was really scary but I said a prayer and asked for some help and the Lord sent it right away. I taught the lesson in great Spanish and didn't seem to struggle at all. I know that it was the Holy Ghost helping the whole time. It was such a great experience to know that the Lord really was there for me and that He was helping me to teach these people that needed to hear the gospel. I know He loves us and is there to help us. I am so thankful for this Church, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the knowledge that God IS our Heavenly Father and that He loves us!
Well that's about all I have to write this week. I am sure next week I will have some better stories to tell you. But yeah, if you have questions about Aruba lemme know!
It was great to hear that BYU won on Saturday. There were some members in church from Utah who told us that they had won but I couldn't believe it until I heard it. O ye of little faith! I am sorry and I hope that you will all forgive me! But what a neat game! I hope you all enjoyed it for me!!!!
I love you guys so much! Thanks for all you do. Keep me in your prayers and if you have a minute write a quick letter to the mission office! I love hearing from you all!
Have a great week! Read and pray every day!
Go Cougars!!! YEAH!!
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