Bon Bini Na Curacao

February 23, 2010

Hello to All,

Thank you so much for your love and support and all of your prayers. This week has been a different week for me and your prayers were definitely felt. It was nice to feel that love even though I have been out of your lives for quite some time now.

Don't worry, my week wasn't terrible. I hope that I didn't worry anyone with that opening sentence. All I meant was that this week has not been paradise and I wanted to thank you for all that you guys do for me. You have no idea how much you mean to me.

Curacao rocks! It is a lot bigger than Aruba and the people are very very very different (than the people in Aruba). I like it though. Aruba is definitely a paradise. The focus in Aruba is on tourism. Tourism is the entire economy in Aruba. That fact is reflected in absolutely everything in Aruba. The people, the cleanliness, the roads, the cars, everything. Curacao, although it's very close to Aruba, is very different, but I love it! I know that this is where the Lord wants me to be and I know that there are people here who need this message that we bring and I am so excited to get to work.

The only reason that I say this week has been rough is because change is always difficult for me. And then on top of that I've been battling a pretty bad cold. But it's OK. I was able to receive a priesthood blessing this week from my companions and I am feeling much better now. Don't worry mom and dad, I am just doing fine and the Lord is taking care of me! You guys have nothing to worry about.

As for my area, Curacao is changing a lot right now missionary wise. They are slowly taking all of the missionaries from the Puerto Rico mission out of Curacao while they prepare for the big switch this summer. So this past transfer cycle they took 4 missionaries off of the island meaning that the missionary areas on the island are changing a lot. But as far as I know I think that the area that we have been working in this week is going to be my area.

We live in a house and it absolutely rocks! This week we had two other missionaries living with us but they ended up moving out of our house today so now it's just Elder Jacobson and I all alone in a big house. It is perhaps the nicest missionary apartment in the mission. I'm excited about that part for sure (haha)! The crazy thing about Curacao right now though is that it feels like fall. I don't know what it is. Whether it is the way the sun shines or the way that all the trees are dead or in the process of dying and there are leaves everywhere, it just feels like fall. That's something I would have never expected to see but alas here it is. With living in a house it feels a lot more like home and I don't like that very much (haha), but it's just another thing that I will have to get used too.

As for the actual missionary work things are going great. I came in and on our first night we went and visited an absolutely choice family. They are just awesome! Their names are Maedeline and Clifton. They both really want to follow the Savior and they both really want to baptized. The struggle that they are having is that they need to get married first. In order to get married they have to get some paperwork done before they can do so. Maedeline has to wait on the lawyers from Venezuela and she said that it could take up to four months. When I came into the area Elder Jacobson was pretty discouraged by this four-month wait thing but we decided together that we would teach a lesson on faith and miracles. We read them 1 Nephi 3:7 and asked them if they thought God wanted them to be baptized. We asked if they thought it was a commandment. Then we asked if they thought God would provide the way to do so. They both said yes and we set a baptismal date on March 27th! It was a great night and a great feeling. That is going to be a huge miracle when it happens and I am really excited to be a part of it. It's going to require just as much faith on our part as on theirs but, as far as I am concerned, I know that if they do all that they can the Lord is going to bless us with His will. And if His will is a miracle, I will be excited to be a part of it.

I love you guys so much and I hope that you can feel that love. Thanks for all you do and for the great examples that you are to me!

I hope that you all have a great week and I hope that you know that you are in my prayers!

Have a fun week! Enjoy the Olympics for me!

USA! USA! USA!