I think Jonathan's e-mail messages home are getting shorter! I really didn't think that was possible. We sent him a package last Tuesday and it arrived at the Senior Couple's home on Saturday so he had it when he messaged us today. We were so surprised that it made it to Guyana so quickly! We were also surprised that it cost so much to send! On a positive note, since we sent it FedEx he didn't have to pay any fees to pick it up.
The following are a few quotes from today's messsage:
"Sorry for the short letter but we have limited time today. President's letter was really long. Nothing new is really happening. We taught 34 lessons this week and will hopefully baptize 3 people next week."
"The apartment is pretty sparse but it's okay. It's a lot nicer than most of the places around here anyway. Most people here eat a lot of Curry and something called Cook-Up. It's got rice, coconut, bora garlic, and some kind of meat. It also has some other greens in it but I have no idea what they are! We can't eat it anyway though. Guyana is the only country in the entire mission that you can't eat at peoples houses. I'll let you know more when I get out to the island in like 8 months because I will get to eat with the locals every night!!"
"Can you send me the words to the Robert Frost poem called
"The Road Less Traveled" or something like that. I used to have it memorized but I forgot it!"
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
"Well I gotta run. Thanks for the package again. I now have to send you a package so I can make weight for plane transfers. I probably won't have one of those until early next year though."
Scripture of the week: D&C 122
Monday, July 28, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
First Baptism
"I got to baptize this lady yesterday morning right before church. Her name is Michelle. I also got to confirm her during sacrament meeting about 20 minutes later. That was the same meeting where I had to play the organ. This has been a rough week but it was things like this that got me through it."
We have been asking Jonathan to tell us about his apartment so this morning he sent us two short videos:
He asked us to "tell Uncle Rob that I have some sweet new sunglasses. They're fake Oakly's that I got for $2.50. They beat his Wal-mart specials."
"Anyway, out of time. Love ya, Bye!"
Jon also sent us a copy of a couple of messages that he sent to two of his friends. These are excerpts from them:
"It is pretty here but the sun causes us to forget that. I'm not officially the clerk but I have taken over the job because our branch is a real mess right now. My comp and I are getting along okay. I have received one letter from my grandparents. I've heard they have sent another one so hopefully it will come this week. Speaking of mail, do you remember what I said about not sending packages because it would be expensive to pick them up? One Elder had to pay 540 dollars to get a package this morning. I know that sounds like a lot but it's only $2.70 because of the exchange rate. Basically, as long as the package isn't huge, feel free to send stuff." (I think this is a gentle hint to all of us!)
"Well, that's really all that has happened to me... other than getting chased by a bull, bit by a dog (it only got my pant leg because I jumped out of the way), had someone attempt to rob me and have a drunk guy get mad at me when I "accidentally" broke his unopened 1 liter bottle of vodka."
"We are also struggling with our investigators right now. They enjoy getting drunk because there are no rules here. Almost everyone is either: Hindu, Muslim, Rastafarian or 7th Day Adventist. So pretty much no one wants to listen to us. We are doing our best though. That's all we can do I guess."
Scripture of the week: Mormon 9:27-28
We have been asking Jonathan to tell us about his apartment so this morning he sent us two short videos:
He asked us to "tell Uncle Rob that I have some sweet new sunglasses. They're fake Oakly's that I got for $2.50. They beat his Wal-mart specials."
"Anyway, out of time. Love ya, Bye!"
Jon also sent us a copy of a couple of messages that he sent to two of his friends. These are excerpts from them:
"It is pretty here but the sun causes us to forget that. I'm not officially the clerk but I have taken over the job because our branch is a real mess right now. My comp and I are getting along okay. I have received one letter from my grandparents. I've heard they have sent another one so hopefully it will come this week. Speaking of mail, do you remember what I said about not sending packages because it would be expensive to pick them up? One Elder had to pay 540 dollars to get a package this morning. I know that sounds like a lot but it's only $2.70 because of the exchange rate. Basically, as long as the package isn't huge, feel free to send stuff." (I think this is a gentle hint to all of us!)
"Well, that's really all that has happened to me... other than getting chased by a bull, bit by a dog (it only got my pant leg because I jumped out of the way), had someone attempt to rob me and have a drunk guy get mad at me when I "accidentally" broke his unopened 1 liter bottle of vodka."
"We are also struggling with our investigators right now. They enjoy getting drunk because there are no rules here. Almost everyone is either: Hindu, Muslim, Rastafarian or 7th Day Adventist. So pretty much no one wants to listen to us. We are doing our best though. That's all we can do I guess."
Scripture of the week: Mormon 9:27-28
Monday, July 14, 2008
I won't ever get to say that again!
Sorry to those of you who have been waiting for this week's update. We were having some technical difficulties with the blog but they seem to be solved now. The following are excerpts from the e-mail messages we received from Jonathan along with a few pictures.
This first picture was taken on Michael & Michelle's wedding day! Couples in Guyana often need to get married before they can be baptized.
"The baptisms for Michael & Michelle went well but not quite to plan. Elder Hamilton baptized and confirmed Michael. I ordained him to be a priest yesterday! That was nerve racking! I get to baptize his wife Michelle next week. I'm super excited about that. I have now officially been teaching them for over half of my mission. That's a weird thought and I won't ever get to say that again! "
"We are also teaching a family of 8 and another of 5 a lot. Hopefully they will progress and we can baptize them! This past week we taught 30 lessons, that has been our high so far."
"I'm in a branch down here. We technically have about 250 members but only about 60 show up on a regular basis. That makes running the branch difficult. I have taken over the branch clerk job because I'm the only computer savy person within 1000 miles it feels like. Oh well. It's fun and I have a new found appreciation for those who do it back home!"
"I'm a lot darker because of my mission and I have lost about 8 pounds. I look way good cause of it too. I do miss my old life a little but it's okay. It goes by slow on bad days but fast on good days. Right now we are having even number of both. My brother is the thing I miss the most to be honest. I didn't expect that but it's true!"
"I'm getting to be a very good cook. I made peanut butter cookies from scratch last night. While I'm thinking about it, Dad, remember how you told me about you making the banana muffin mix in a bread pan during your mission? Funny story, I did that same exact thing on Tuesday and I didn't remember the story until I was eating it. I didn't have a bread pan though so I used a cake pan. Still tasted good!"
"I haven't received the letters you sent by the mail yet but they might be at the Larsen's. The mail service is pretty reliable. The best way to send a package is through Fedex though...that's what they tell us at least. So feel free to write as many hard-copy letters and your hands can handle because I have a whole week to read them and then figure out how to respond. As far as overloading the Larsen's go, they would love to see us getting mail because most people seem to have forgotten about us Elders here in Canje."
"Thanks for the sports update. Where did Jaycee Carol end up going? Keep me up to date on the medal count for the Olympics when they start too. That would be fantastic. Thanks a million!"
Scripture of the Week: Jacob 6:11-13
(If I die, I want verses 12 and 13 on my headstone)
(Shane & I just have to add here that verse 12 has been printed on a paper posted inside our back door for years. It is the last thing the kids see as they leave our house. We felt it was the best reminder and advice we could send them out the door with!)
This first picture was taken on Michael & Michelle's wedding day! Couples in Guyana often need to get married before they can be baptized.
"The baptisms for Michael & Michelle went well but not quite to plan. Elder Hamilton baptized and confirmed Michael. I ordained him to be a priest yesterday! That was nerve racking! I get to baptize his wife Michelle next week. I'm super excited about that. I have now officially been teaching them for over half of my mission. That's a weird thought and I won't ever get to say that again! "
"We are also teaching a family of 8 and another of 5 a lot. Hopefully they will progress and we can baptize them! This past week we taught 30 lessons, that has been our high so far."
"I'm in a branch down here. We technically have about 250 members but only about 60 show up on a regular basis. That makes running the branch difficult. I have taken over the branch clerk job because I'm the only computer savy person within 1000 miles it feels like. Oh well. It's fun and I have a new found appreciation for those who do it back home!"
"I'm a lot darker because of my mission and I have lost about 8 pounds. I look way good cause of it too. I do miss my old life a little but it's okay. It goes by slow on bad days but fast on good days. Right now we are having even number of both. My brother is the thing I miss the most to be honest. I didn't expect that but it's true!"
"I'm getting to be a very good cook. I made peanut butter cookies from scratch last night. While I'm thinking about it, Dad, remember how you told me about you making the banana muffin mix in a bread pan during your mission? Funny story, I did that same exact thing on Tuesday and I didn't remember the story until I was eating it. I didn't have a bread pan though so I used a cake pan. Still tasted good!"
"I haven't received the letters you sent by the mail yet but they might be at the Larsen's. The mail service is pretty reliable. The best way to send a package is through Fedex though...that's what they tell us at least. So feel free to write as many hard-copy letters and your hands can handle because I have a whole week to read them and then figure out how to respond. As far as overloading the Larsen's go, they would love to see us getting mail because most people seem to have forgotten about us Elders here in Canje."
"Thanks for the sports update. Where did Jaycee Carol end up going? Keep me up to date on the medal count for the Olympics when they start too. That would be fantastic. Thanks a million!"
Scripture of the Week: Jacob 6:11-13
(If I die, I want verses 12 and 13 on my headstone)
(Shane & I just have to add here that verse 12 has been printed on a paper posted inside our back door for years. It is the last thing the kids see as they leave our house. We felt it was the best reminder and advice we could send them out the door with!)
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Hello from Guyana, (the surface of the sun!)
Sorry to those who were waiting for us to update yesterday. We received Jonathan's e-mail letter in the afternoon. Being on vacation, we didn't get around to posting it until today. Here are a few quotes.
Hello from Guyana, (the surface of the sun!)
Things are going well here. It is always hot and we walk a lot (about 13 miles a day I figure) but we are doing our best. We are baptizing a couple this weekend named Michael and Michelle. I'm pretty excited about that because I helped find them and we've been teaching them for like 3 weeks. They call us by our first names and it's weird. They are a great family though.
We only have one other family that we are teaching steady so we spend a lot of time trying to find new investigators. That means we have to be among the people a lot and listen to their taunts and have stuff thrown at us... There are just somethings that really bother me and that ranks right up there.
I have a request for you... Ask all of the other returned missionaries in the family if they ever struggled with Hindu's and Muslims. If they did, ask them how they got through to them. I need all the advice I can get on the subject.
I hope you had a fantastic 4th of July. We didn't get to celebrate it down here. I made jello and sugar cookies and then sang the
"patriotic songs" in the back of the hymn book for our party. It was fun but there weren't any fireworks.
The food we eat is very interesting. I wish I could have normal milk and I would have no worries. (I would also like a microwave and a clothes-dryer. That would just be for convenience though.) We add a lot of pepper to flavor stuff up and to hide the ants that crawl into our stuff. We also drink lots of Kool-aide because there is no milk and the filtered water tastes funny.
Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 5:13
Love ya!!!
Elder JLAR
Hello from Guyana, (the surface of the sun!)
Things are going well here. It is always hot and we walk a lot (about 13 miles a day I figure) but we are doing our best. We are baptizing a couple this weekend named Michael and Michelle. I'm pretty excited about that because I helped find them and we've been teaching them for like 3 weeks. They call us by our first names and it's weird. They are a great family though.
We only have one other family that we are teaching steady so we spend a lot of time trying to find new investigators. That means we have to be among the people a lot and listen to their taunts and have stuff thrown at us... There are just somethings that really bother me and that ranks right up there.
I have a request for you... Ask all of the other returned missionaries in the family if they ever struggled with Hindu's and Muslims. If they did, ask them how they got through to them. I need all the advice I can get on the subject.
I hope you had a fantastic 4th of July. We didn't get to celebrate it down here. I made jello and sugar cookies and then sang the
"patriotic songs" in the back of the hymn book for our party. It was fun but there weren't any fireworks.
The food we eat is very interesting. I wish I could have normal milk and I would have no worries. (I would also like a microwave and a clothes-dryer. That would just be for convenience though.) We add a lot of pepper to flavor stuff up and to hide the ants that crawl into our stuff. We also drink lots of Kool-aide because there is no milk and the filtered water tastes funny.
Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 5:13
Love ya!!!
Elder JLAR
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Caricom Day & A Cool Tie
We didn't get any messages from Jonathan yesterday on his p-day, but this morning we received this brief video explaining why.
We didn't know what Caricom Day was, so we looked it up.
Caricom Day commemorates the treaty establishing CARICOM
(the Caribbean Community and Common Market) and is observed annually by all CARICOM countries, though not necessarily on the same date of the year. The Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed on
July 4, 1973 at Chaguaramas in Trinidad.
Guyana, Antigua, and Barbuda are among the CARICOM countries that observe the day on the first Monday in July every year.
St Vincent and the Grenadines celebrate Caricom Day on the second Monday in July, Jamaica on July 4, and Barbados in August.
Jonathan said that he will e-mail more later today. When he does, we will add it to this post. Be sure to check back!
(We added another video clip that Jonathan sent today in the previous post, make sure you see it as well.)
We didn't know what Caricom Day was, so we looked it up.
Caricom Day commemorates the treaty establishing CARICOM
(the Caribbean Community and Common Market) and is observed annually by all CARICOM countries, though not necessarily on the same date of the year. The Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed on
July 4, 1973 at Chaguaramas in Trinidad.
Guyana, Antigua, and Barbuda are among the CARICOM countries that observe the day on the first Monday in July every year.
St Vincent and the Grenadines celebrate Caricom Day on the second Monday in July, Jamaica on July 4, and Barbados in August.
Jonathan said that he will e-mail more later today. When he does, we will add it to this post. Be sure to check back!
(We added another video clip that Jonathan sent today in the previous post, make sure you see it as well.)
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
My Brother Forever
Today would be Jonathan's friend, David Heiner's, 20th birthday.
Our family will be attending the memorial service for him today here in Logan.
This was in yesterday's e-mail and Jon asked that we post it:
I was thinking and I wrote something that I would like shared at the memorial service. President Robison said I should write my feelings down to help me release my emotions because he says I'm too good at keeping them bottled up. It's not done yet, but here it is:
My Brother Forever
Friends from the beginning, friends from the start.
You've been a friend with a place in my heart.
Through all the good times we've had a blast.
Too bad we grew up and childhood couldn't last.
Filming movies was cool and so were those drums.
We were water ski-pros, but at golf we were bums!
Remember the Olympics party that your parents threw?
We stayed in the hot tub, February '02.
We grinded our scooters down poles lit on fire.
We jumped of cliffs and out windows when situations were dire.
Canada was cold, snowboarding was too.
So was that time we tipped our canoe.
To a Jazz game we went with our parents one night,
There was that drunk guy below us that wanted to fight!
Dirt-bikes and go-karts, rock climbing and rafting,
The fun things we did always kept us laughing.
Best-Men-to-be at each others big days,
Our futures were bright in so many ways.
I'm sorry we didn't finish the last thing on our "to-do"...
To watch the 6 Star Wars movies all the way through.
We faced trials together and overcame all our fears,
We became quite a team over those years!
Now the hardest trial I've had, when I've needed you most...
You can't come and help with because you're a ghost.
David you're gone, but forgotten never.
You're still part of me, my brother forever.
That's it. I hope they like it.
The memorial service went too long today and they didn't open the time up for people to share memories of David so we were unable to read Jonathan's poem. We did give Mark & Vickie a copy and they really apppreciated it.
Our family will be attending the memorial service for him today here in Logan.
This was in yesterday's e-mail and Jon asked that we post it:
I was thinking and I wrote something that I would like shared at the memorial service. President Robison said I should write my feelings down to help me release my emotions because he says I'm too good at keeping them bottled up. It's not done yet, but here it is:
My Brother Forever
Friends from the beginning, friends from the start.
You've been a friend with a place in my heart.
Through all the good times we've had a blast.
Too bad we grew up and childhood couldn't last.
Filming movies was cool and so were those drums.
We were water ski-pros, but at golf we were bums!
Remember the Olympics party that your parents threw?
We stayed in the hot tub, February '02.
We grinded our scooters down poles lit on fire.
We jumped of cliffs and out windows when situations were dire.
Canada was cold, snowboarding was too.
So was that time we tipped our canoe.
To a Jazz game we went with our parents one night,
There was that drunk guy below us that wanted to fight!
Dirt-bikes and go-karts, rock climbing and rafting,
The fun things we did always kept us laughing.
Best-Men-to-be at each others big days,
Our futures were bright in so many ways.
I'm sorry we didn't finish the last thing on our "to-do"...
To watch the 6 Star Wars movies all the way through.
We faced trials together and overcame all our fears,
We became quite a team over those years!
Now the hardest trial I've had, when I've needed you most...
You can't come and help with because you're a ghost.
David you're gone, but forgotten never.
You're still part of me, my brother forever.
That's it. I hope they like it.
 |
| From David Heiner ... |
The memorial service went too long today and they didn't open the time up for people to share memories of David so we were unable to read Jonathan's poem. We did give Mark & Vickie a copy and they really apppreciated it.
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