The riots are still going on on the other islands. The french president has said that he will give into their demands but it hasn't happened yet. The missionaries from Guadeloupe (8 of them) were relocated to my apartment on Tuesday. That was fun. I was the only English speaking elder. Half of the elders were from the states, 2 from Tahiti, and 2 from France. I couldn't really speak to them in French, but I could understand them. Six of them are in St. Lucia until Thursday and then they are headed to Guyana.
I was shocked to find out that my companion isn't Elder Catherine. I am the senior companion to Elder Neff. He is a pretty cool guy and we both love sports and music. There are just two other missionaries, Elder Julian and Elder Catherine, in the apartment now. They will stay for the rest of the transfer. That should be fun. With 4 elders we are a little tight but its okay. We have a lot of mattresses and a futon to sleep on. (I was on the futon for 4 months).
We did lots of tracting while the other missionaries were here. We have lots of new investigators but more time is necessary to determine if we will keep them. I also had to do a lot of computer fixing this week for the 2 senior couples. (We have a couple that was relocated here when the missionaries were evacuated from the other islands).
Still no luck with Celine. I think that she is starting to realize that her father doesn't want to baptize her and that she should just go ahead with it. All we can do is hope and pray. We have a couple of other investigators that are so close but haven't gotten married yet. It's frustrating!!!
The temperature here usually is between 75 and 85 all day and night. We have had some pretty strong winds for the last couple of days and that has cooled it down a bit. It feels great!
We played soccer Saturday morning and I hit the post 7 times! Reminds me of hockey!
I'm in Mark 10 and 4 Nephi 1 in my personal scripture study.
The scripture of the week is Romans 8:16-17. It's a pretty good one that I used on Saturday to completely shut down a couple of Jehovah Witnesses that wanted to argue with us. Apparently they don't believe that God actually created us... they think we are only the offspring of Adam and Eve. I really didn't want to argue with them but it was an interesting discussion.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I have been made a senior companion
(Special e-mail day)
Just thought I would drop you a quick note to tell you that everything is going well on St. Maarten and to send you some pictures.
I also wanted to let you know that I have been made a senior companion and have a new companion named Elder Neff. He and the rest of the missionaries from Guadeloupe and Martinique were evacuated yesterday so I have 7 elders stay in my apartment besides myself. There are also 5 in the French Apartment. (Mine is bigger so more were able to stay with me). For the next 4 weeks or so there will be 8 missionaries on the island (4 on each side). That should help the work progress! Then we will go back to being just 4 missionaries if things have calmed down on the other islands.
The rest of the missionaries that are here will be flying to Guyana over the next couple of days until they have all left. It should be an interesting month! I'll keep you posted on how things are going. This was a special e-mail day because none of the elders that came in had e-mailed yet. So I had these few minutes to write. E-mails will come on Monday as normal next week.
France sends police to quell Guadeloupe riots
by Benjamin Sportouch – Wed Feb 18, 3:36 pm ET
POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe (AFP) – France dispatched hundreds of police reinforcements to its Caribbean island of Guadeloupe on Wednesday as a month-long strike over the rising cost of living descended into deadly riots.
Union representative Jacques Bino, aged in his 50s, was shot dead overnight when he drove up to a roadblock manned by armed youths in Pointe-a-Pitre, the island's main city.
It was not immediately clear who shot him, but he was the first victim of the escalating violence on Guadeloupe, normally a tourist-friendly island but crippled since January 20 by a general strike.
"There were no police nearby," said local prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre.
Bino's car was hit three times by 12-gauge shotgun slugs. Two rounds hit the rear of the vehicle and the third was fired through a side passenger window and fatally wounded the activist in the chest.
"These were not stray rounds," Pretre said, adding that he was looking into the possibility that, given their age, Bino and a passenger had been mistaken for plain-clothes police officers.
Six members of the security forces were slightly injured during clashes with armed youths, police said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a nationwide address he would meet with elected officials from Guadeloupe on Thursday to "address the anxiety, worries and also a certain form of despair from our compatriots."
After holding an emergency meeting on the deteriorating security on the island, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie announced that 280 police reinforcements would fly to the island immediately.
Gangs of youths looted shops, smashed storefront windows and threw up burning roadblocks overnight along the main streets of Pointe-a-Pitre and in at least two other towns. Fourteen people were detained.
Ary Chalus, mayor of the town of Baie-Mahault, where three police were hurt, described the scene as "chaos."
"We have 15-year-old children who are clashing with police. We may well have families in mourning," he warned.
Bino, a tax official, had been returning from a labour meeting, said Elie Domota, leader of the Collective Against Exploitation (LKP), the coalition of unions and leftist groups that launched the strike.
The LKP had said it planned to step up protests this week after the government refused to bow to demands for a monthly 200-euro (260-dollar) pay increase for low-wage earners.
Domota appealed for calm but also accused the French authorities of treating the island, one of its four overseas departments, like a "colony."
"Guadeloupe is a colony because they would never have allowed the situation to fester for so long in a French (mainland) department before taking action," Domota said on RTL radio.
The conflict has exposed race and class divisions on the island, where the local white elite wields power over the black majority.
The economy is largely in the hands of the "Bekes," the local name for whites who are mostly descendants of colonial landlords and sugar plantation slave owners of the 17th and 18th centuries.
A Socialist opposition leader, Malikh Boutih, said it was "shocking" to watch a police force "almost 100 percent white, confront a black population" and drew a parallel with the 2005 suburban riots in France.
"There are no concrete buildings, there are palm trees, but it's the same dead-end, the same 'no future' for young people, with joblessness and a feeling of isolation," Boutih said.
Unions launched a strike on the neighbouring French island of Martinique on February 5 also to press for higher salaries and measures to bring down the prices of basic goods.
Most shops, cafes, banks, schools and government offices have been shut in Guadeloupe and Martinique and the strike has also hit the key tourism industry.
Just thought I would drop you a quick note to tell you that everything is going well on St. Maarten and to send you some pictures.
I also wanted to let you know that I have been made a senior companion and have a new companion named Elder Neff. He and the rest of the missionaries from Guadeloupe and Martinique were evacuated yesterday so I have 7 elders stay in my apartment besides myself. There are also 5 in the French Apartment. (Mine is bigger so more were able to stay with me). For the next 4 weeks or so there will be 8 missionaries on the island (4 on each side). That should help the work progress! Then we will go back to being just 4 missionaries if things have calmed down on the other islands.
The rest of the missionaries that are here will be flying to Guyana over the next couple of days until they have all left. It should be an interesting month! I'll keep you posted on how things are going. This was a special e-mail day because none of the elders that came in had e-mailed yet. So I had these few minutes to write. E-mails will come on Monday as normal next week.
France sends police to quell Guadeloupe riots
by Benjamin Sportouch – Wed Feb 18, 3:36 pm ET
POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe (AFP) – France dispatched hundreds of police reinforcements to its Caribbean island of Guadeloupe on Wednesday as a month-long strike over the rising cost of living descended into deadly riots.
Union representative Jacques Bino, aged in his 50s, was shot dead overnight when he drove up to a roadblock manned by armed youths in Pointe-a-Pitre, the island's main city.
It was not immediately clear who shot him, but he was the first victim of the escalating violence on Guadeloupe, normally a tourist-friendly island but crippled since January 20 by a general strike.
"There were no police nearby," said local prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre.
Bino's car was hit three times by 12-gauge shotgun slugs. Two rounds hit the rear of the vehicle and the third was fired through a side passenger window and fatally wounded the activist in the chest.
"These were not stray rounds," Pretre said, adding that he was looking into the possibility that, given their age, Bino and a passenger had been mistaken for plain-clothes police officers.
Six members of the security forces were slightly injured during clashes with armed youths, police said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a nationwide address he would meet with elected officials from Guadeloupe on Thursday to "address the anxiety, worries and also a certain form of despair from our compatriots."
After holding an emergency meeting on the deteriorating security on the island, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie announced that 280 police reinforcements would fly to the island immediately.
Gangs of youths looted shops, smashed storefront windows and threw up burning roadblocks overnight along the main streets of Pointe-a-Pitre and in at least two other towns. Fourteen people were detained.
Ary Chalus, mayor of the town of Baie-Mahault, where three police were hurt, described the scene as "chaos."
"We have 15-year-old children who are clashing with police. We may well have families in mourning," he warned.
Bino, a tax official, had been returning from a labour meeting, said Elie Domota, leader of the Collective Against Exploitation (LKP), the coalition of unions and leftist groups that launched the strike.
The LKP had said it planned to step up protests this week after the government refused to bow to demands for a monthly 200-euro (260-dollar) pay increase for low-wage earners.
Domota appealed for calm but also accused the French authorities of treating the island, one of its four overseas departments, like a "colony."
"Guadeloupe is a colony because they would never have allowed the situation to fester for so long in a French (mainland) department before taking action," Domota said on RTL radio.
The conflict has exposed race and class divisions on the island, where the local white elite wields power over the black majority.
The economy is largely in the hands of the "Bekes," the local name for whites who are mostly descendants of colonial landlords and sugar plantation slave owners of the 17th and 18th centuries.
A Socialist opposition leader, Malikh Boutih, said it was "shocking" to watch a police force "almost 100 percent white, confront a black population" and drew a parallel with the 2005 suburban riots in France.
"There are no concrete buildings, there are palm trees, but it's the same dead-end, the same 'no future' for young people, with joblessness and a feeling of isolation," Boutih said.
Unions launched a strike on the neighbouring French island of Martinique on February 5 also to press for higher salaries and measures to bring down the prices of basic goods.
Most shops, cafes, banks, schools and government offices have been shut in Guadeloupe and Martinique and the strike has also hit the key tourism industry.
Monday, February 16, 2009
We just got approval for the first stake to be created in our mission!!!
Things are great in the West Indies! We just got approval for the first stake to be created in our mission!!! It will be in Port of Spain, Trinidad. That event is happening the first week of March!
The new West Indies Mission president has been announced. He is from Guadeloupe. He starts on July 1, 2009. I have met him once but don't really remember him because it has been a long time. (Check out the mission blog for more information).
My week was fantastic. My companion, Elder Marshall, left the island last Monday so I have been hanging out with Elder West, a British missionary, that is supposed to be on the French side of the island. It has been a lot of fun and I have been trying to convert him to speak "American" instead of English. Elder West's companion came back so we were put together for just the few days of the zone leader conference.
Elder West has now been sent to St. Lucia. President wanted to put him in a place where he would be totally immersed and that isn't here. He was actually transferred to Martinique but hasn't gone there yet because of the riots that are going on there and on Guadeloupe. They haven't changed the price of gas even though the price of oil has dropped. It is still like $5 a gallon here now. Since Elder West left I have been with Elder Gray (Elder West's old companion) and Elder Vogel (Elder Gray's new companion). Elder Gray is one of the missionaries that got lost last December on Martinique. We make fun of him for it but he takes it pretty well. We always ask how you can get lost if you can see the water!
We have a lot of cool investigators right now. The problem with most of them is that they like to "eat, drink, and be merry". It's an uphill battle to say the least! But as it says in D&C, "all victory and glory is brought to pass through our diligence, patience and prayers of faith". Celine, the 9 year old girl, is good. Her dad is still being a butt but we are going to see her in a day or two to see if she'll let us do it. I hope so!
I will get a new companion on Wednesday I guess it will now be Elder Cathrine. He is an actual Frenchman. I have a feeling that I will be doing some pretty intense studying of the French language. That will be alright though. I always feel left out during lessons to French speaking people. It's getting easier though. I'm learning pieces of Spanish, French, Creole, Dutch, Papiamento, and Patwa. It's quite a task! I love it though!
The weather on this island is great because we always have a breeze. We have a Burger King here that we like to get milkshakes at every once in a while.
I'm in Mark 6 and 3 Nephi 18 in my personal scripture reading.
The scripture of the week is John 20:24-31.
The new West Indies Mission president has been announced. He is from Guadeloupe. He starts on July 1, 2009. I have met him once but don't really remember him because it has been a long time. (Check out the mission blog for more information).
My week was fantastic. My companion, Elder Marshall, left the island last Monday so I have been hanging out with Elder West, a British missionary, that is supposed to be on the French side of the island. It has been a lot of fun and I have been trying to convert him to speak "American" instead of English. Elder West's companion came back so we were put together for just the few days of the zone leader conference.
Elder West has now been sent to St. Lucia. President wanted to put him in a place where he would be totally immersed and that isn't here. He was actually transferred to Martinique but hasn't gone there yet because of the riots that are going on there and on Guadeloupe. They haven't changed the price of gas even though the price of oil has dropped. It is still like $5 a gallon here now. Since Elder West left I have been with Elder Gray (Elder West's old companion) and Elder Vogel (Elder Gray's new companion). Elder Gray is one of the missionaries that got lost last December on Martinique. We make fun of him for it but he takes it pretty well. We always ask how you can get lost if you can see the water!
We have a lot of cool investigators right now. The problem with most of them is that they like to "eat, drink, and be merry". It's an uphill battle to say the least! But as it says in D&C, "all victory and glory is brought to pass through our diligence, patience and prayers of faith". Celine, the 9 year old girl, is good. Her dad is still being a butt but we are going to see her in a day or two to see if she'll let us do it. I hope so!
I will get a new companion on Wednesday I guess it will now be Elder Cathrine. He is an actual Frenchman. I have a feeling that I will be doing some pretty intense studying of the French language. That will be alright though. I always feel left out during lessons to French speaking people. It's getting easier though. I'm learning pieces of Spanish, French, Creole, Dutch, Papiamento, and Patwa. It's quite a task! I love it though!
The weather on this island is great because we always have a breeze. We have a Burger King here that we like to get milkshakes at every once in a while.
I'm in Mark 6 and 3 Nephi 18 in my personal scripture reading.
The scripture of the week is John 20:24-31.
Monday, February 9, 2009
We have 11 progressing investigators
These three pictures are from Sis. Robison's blog. She took them at the St. Maarten Zone Conference last week on February 2nd.
Sint Maarten/Sint Martin Missionaries
Jonathan and his companion, Elder Marshall
It was a pretty good week. Zone conference was really nice. My companion, Elder Marshall, left the island to go to zone leader training in Trinidad. He won't be coming back because he is going to Guyana this transfer. I will get a new companion on Friday named Elder Cotton. Until then I am with Elder West. He is a funny Englishman that is still in his first transfer. His companion went with mine to the zone leader thing. So I am a senior companion for a couple of days. I don't know what to do! Just kidding! As much as I loved Elder Marshall, I love being with Elder West. I feel bad for him because he's an awesome guy but he has a forgetful, undependable, and argumentative trainer.
We have 11 progressing investigators but no solid baptism dates. Most of them are Guyanese and Jamaican. One is a 9 year old girl named Celine Mayeko-Coklee. Her parents are both members and they come to church every week but they are separated. She wants her father to baptize her, the problem is that he's not worthy. I would like to change her mind about having her dad do it.
I've been teaching most of our investigators for 6-8 weeks, it's very frustrating. I am really good at progressing investigators but I have trouble getting them to make the commitment to be baptized. The biggest problem is living together. We have 2 guys that are begging to be baptized but they each have kids and need to get married first. Here they have don't stay together and they have kids with other people. There is one family that the children have 4 different last names! Guyana wasn't as bad, they would usually stay together for the rest of their lives, just not get married because it was too expensive (4000 Guyanese Dollars)! They would go through a Hindu Rite. It isn't a legal marriage but most people honor it. We have a sponsor from Colorado that pays for all the weddings for new members, he only asks that we send him a picture of every wedding and that's easy enough.
The French side has a baptism on Saturday and I get to count it on my total as well because I helped teach the guy. He thinks that my french is hilarious! I don't know if I told this, but I can actually understand more French than Spanish now. I didn't think that that day would ever happen. I guess I was just in denial!!!
I'm in Matthew 27 in my personal New Testament reading and 3 Nephi 3 in the Book of Mormon.
The scripture of the week is Alma 3:26-27.
I had an interesting experience last week. The French Branch President invited us over to his house and we got to eat more weird food. This time it was Stingray Curry. It was very odd, it feels like calamari. It really wasn't too bad, just different. Since the guy can't understand me, I didn't feel too bad for making a few jokes about it being "Steve Irwin's Revenge". Little did I know that it would take revenge on everyone that ate it except me. Luckily, I was born with an iron stomach.
I will be leaving the island on April 1st to go to the office. Word has gotten out that I can fix anything, dang it!
Sint Maarten/Sint Martin Missionaries
Jonathan and his companion, Elder MarshallIt was a pretty good week. Zone conference was really nice. My companion, Elder Marshall, left the island to go to zone leader training in Trinidad. He won't be coming back because he is going to Guyana this transfer. I will get a new companion on Friday named Elder Cotton. Until then I am with Elder West. He is a funny Englishman that is still in his first transfer. His companion went with mine to the zone leader thing. So I am a senior companion for a couple of days. I don't know what to do! Just kidding! As much as I loved Elder Marshall, I love being with Elder West. I feel bad for him because he's an awesome guy but he has a forgetful, undependable, and argumentative trainer.
We have 11 progressing investigators but no solid baptism dates. Most of them are Guyanese and Jamaican. One is a 9 year old girl named Celine Mayeko-Coklee. Her parents are both members and they come to church every week but they are separated. She wants her father to baptize her, the problem is that he's not worthy. I would like to change her mind about having her dad do it.
I've been teaching most of our investigators for 6-8 weeks, it's very frustrating. I am really good at progressing investigators but I have trouble getting them to make the commitment to be baptized. The biggest problem is living together. We have 2 guys that are begging to be baptized but they each have kids and need to get married first. Here they have don't stay together and they have kids with other people. There is one family that the children have 4 different last names! Guyana wasn't as bad, they would usually stay together for the rest of their lives, just not get married because it was too expensive (4000 Guyanese Dollars)! They would go through a Hindu Rite. It isn't a legal marriage but most people honor it. We have a sponsor from Colorado that pays for all the weddings for new members, he only asks that we send him a picture of every wedding and that's easy enough.
The French side has a baptism on Saturday and I get to count it on my total as well because I helped teach the guy. He thinks that my french is hilarious! I don't know if I told this, but I can actually understand more French than Spanish now. I didn't think that that day would ever happen. I guess I was just in denial!!!
I'm in Matthew 27 in my personal New Testament reading and 3 Nephi 3 in the Book of Mormon.
The scripture of the week is Alma 3:26-27.
I had an interesting experience last week. The French Branch President invited us over to his house and we got to eat more weird food. This time it was Stingray Curry. It was very odd, it feels like calamari. It really wasn't too bad, just different. Since the guy can't understand me, I didn't feel too bad for making a few jokes about it being "Steve Irwin's Revenge". Little did I know that it would take revenge on everyone that ate it except me. Luckily, I was born with an iron stomach.
I will be leaving the island on April 1st to go to the office. Word has gotten out that I can fix anything, dang it!
Monday, February 2, 2009
We are the first missionaries to ever go there!
We were unable to go to zone conference because the people on Guadeloupe are still striking, so President Robison came and did a special one in St. Maarten for us...again! During zone conference I was told that I will be staying in St. Maarten until April 1. Then I will most likely be going to Trinidad. :( From a few things that President said it sounds like I might go serve in the office for a few transfers because word has gotten out through the senior couples (The Platt's and now the Oliver's) that I can do almost anything on a computer and I am very reliable and that I get things done. Perfect recipe to be an office Elder.
I hadn't been off the island since October and my legality expired Monday morning. So Elder Marshall and I had to go to a neighboring island called Anguilla on Wednesday so that I could get a new stamp on my passport. Anguilla is an old British island. We had to hire someone to take us by boat. It was pretty much like going on a ski boat. The ocean was really rough. Most of the waves were higher than the boat! We didn't get too wet but a little spray got on us. It sure felt nice. The boat ride lasted for about 25 minutes. I was also able to get on a beach for the first time since I came to the island! (Except for the baptism of course).
Here are some Anguilla pictures. Enjoy!
Me on the boat just leaving St. Maarten
They gave me my own office when we got to the island! (Just kidding)
Picture of the beach on Anguilla that we got to "play" on
It was really fun. We were there for about 8 hours and we just hung out on the beach and talked to people in the main city. We are the first missionaries to ever go there so we got a lot of strange looks!
The baptism didn't happen like we wanted. We have rescheduled it for this week and it is going to happen or else I will be very frustrated! We also started teaching a really cool guy yesterday that will probably get baptized on like the 21st. Hopefully he comes to church so that we can baptize him that soon!
My hair has been slowly getting darker since I left home and I really am 160 lbs! I'm starting to look more and more like Dad every day! (Shane says that obviously means he's just getting better looking!)
I got a postcard from G&G Olson that they sent from Barbados. It told me all about their trip to Trinidad and them meeting the Meyers. I actually talked to the Meyers on Saturday and they said that G&G were very sweet people. They liked them a lot.
FYI I am in Helaman 4 in my personal Book of Mormon reading and in Matthew 25 in the New Testament.
The scripture of the week is Luke 17:11-19.
I hadn't been off the island since October and my legality expired Monday morning. So Elder Marshall and I had to go to a neighboring island called Anguilla on Wednesday so that I could get a new stamp on my passport. Anguilla is an old British island. We had to hire someone to take us by boat. It was pretty much like going on a ski boat. The ocean was really rough. Most of the waves were higher than the boat! We didn't get too wet but a little spray got on us. It sure felt nice. The boat ride lasted for about 25 minutes. I was also able to get on a beach for the first time since I came to the island! (Except for the baptism of course).
Here are some Anguilla pictures. Enjoy!
Me on the boat just leaving St. Maarten
They gave me my own office when we got to the island! (Just kidding)
Picture of the beach on Anguilla that we got to "play" onIt was really fun. We were there for about 8 hours and we just hung out on the beach and talked to people in the main city. We are the first missionaries to ever go there so we got a lot of strange looks!
The baptism didn't happen like we wanted. We have rescheduled it for this week and it is going to happen or else I will be very frustrated! We also started teaching a really cool guy yesterday that will probably get baptized on like the 21st. Hopefully he comes to church so that we can baptize him that soon!
My hair has been slowly getting darker since I left home and I really am 160 lbs! I'm starting to look more and more like Dad every day! (Shane says that obviously means he's just getting better looking!)
I got a postcard from G&G Olson that they sent from Barbados. It told me all about their trip to Trinidad and them meeting the Meyers. I actually talked to the Meyers on Saturday and they said that G&G were very sweet people. They liked them a lot.
FYI I am in Helaman 4 in my personal Book of Mormon reading and in Matthew 25 in the New Testament.
The scripture of the week is Luke 17:11-19.
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