I think I take it far too seriously.

We had a good week. I taught district meeting on Tuesday and did a trade off on the French side that night. It was all in French for about 26 hours which left me with quite a headache when it was all said and done. Elder Vogel has been doing great since I went over to help him.

Being district leader is going fine. Teaching district meeting is a joy, not. I think I take it far too seriously. I try to make sure that the elders actually learn something!

I spoke in church yesterday. I compared the efforts of Stephen and Abinadi. They both had only one convert who ended up changing the lives of many people. Great examples for all of us.

This morning I sent our senior couple, the Oliver's, off to Guadeloupe for zone conference and we will be joining them on Wednesday. Until then, I have the truck that they normally drive because I'm in charge. That's always fun. I can't wait to go to Guadeloupe, I just need to get off this island!

My old companion, Elder Marshall, asked President Robison if I could come to his zone in Georgetown, Guyana when I leave here. He was my companion for one transfer right after New Years. (When we went to Anguilla together was the last time I was off St. Maarten). He was my favorite companion. Gotta wait and see what happens. It would definitely be better than going to the office!

I got the birthday package you sent. Thanks! I couldn't wait so I opened it! Elder Vogel, who's from France, loves the pictures from Paris. (We sent him a small digital photo frame with a memory card loaded with family pictures for his birthday).

The scripture of the week is 2 Samuel 22:33.

That's where my companion is from!

We went hiking this morning up the mountain that is right behind our house. I thought that I would send you guys some pictures. I hope that you enjoy them.



Things are going good here. I noticed on the ward program that you sent that my friend, Eddy Morris, is serving his mission in a place called Searcy, Arkansas. That's where my companion is from! We are going to send him a letter this week.

I made a guy named David a tea this past week out of a couple of his cigarettes because he wouldn't stop smoking them. I had him drink the whole thing including the tobacco left in the bottom of the glass. He had a very miserable night after we left because it made him so sick! I kind of felt bad, but maybe now he can stop smoking.

My first district meeting 2 weeks ago went well. I was going to tell you about it last week but I forgot.

Well, gotta run. I have a district meeting to prepare for tomorrow morning and then to go on my first trade-off as district leader. I have to go help one of the guys on the french side since he is having some problems with his teaching. It's my job to go set him straight. Oh joy...not.

The scripture of the week is Alma 37:6-7. (Sorry I forgot to send a scripture of the week last time).

P.S. I am back down to 149! I'm so skinny now!

I only set my shoe and pants on fire once!

Jonathan's p-day is on Monday, but for some reason he didn't e-mail us until today.

Well, things are going good and we are hoping to get a couple of baptisms before the end of the month. It's a struggle though!

I made a pot roast for the first time last week. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing but it turned out really good!

We found a huge dead centipede a few days ago. The sucker was about 9 inches long!!! He's currently sitting in our freezer and he's frozen solid.

I also think that I failed to mention that I got to learn how to do the whole fire dancing thing from a couple of the Tahitian elders that were on the island last transfer. It was really fun and I managed to only set my shoe and pants on fire once! These are both pictures of me. It was so cool!!!!

It was weird but fun to make!

Yesterday, after conference, Brother and Sister Mickelson from River Heights stopped by to deliver a special surprise. They spent a week on Sint Maarten last month and met Jonathan and his companion, Elder Neff, at church. Sister Mickelson just happens to work at the hospital with Shane. They tracked down Jonathan during the middle of the week and shot some video of him for us. We put a few clips together for the blog:



Now to Jonathan's e-mail from today:

All is well here on St. Maarten. I got a slip from the post office today that I received a package. The stamp on it says that it has been here for a long time already! I hate the service here... Oh wait, there is no service here! I'll be picking it up as soon as we are done with e-mails.

My new companion is Elder Kelley from Arkansas and he's tiny. We came to the field at the same time but he is a transfer ahead of me because he is French speaking. I thought I would get an English speaking companion but I think I may be the last English speaker to serve here. We need more multilingual elders. Elder Kelley and I are getting along great. The only thing that has bothered me was when he managed to spend 115 dollars at the store this morning on food! When there were 4 of us last transfer we could live off of $75-80 a week. I don't know how he did it.

The others elders got stuck on St. Barts last week because their connecting plane to Guadeloupe got cancelled. I couldn't help but laugh about that.

It sure was a surprise to see Grandma & Grandpa Larson at the airport. They were there when I was picking up Elder Kelley. We took some pictures and went to eat ribs with Scott when he landed. Then we went to the apartment and I gave them some stuff to take home for me.

Conference was fantastic. We got to see all of it! We had a really small crowd at the church though, most people watched on their computers at home.

I have to teach district meeting in the morning! Ahhh!!!!!!!

I have lost 14 pounds in 7 weeks! I am back to 150 lbs as of this morning. That is only 5 pounds more than when I left for the MTC.

I still can't believe that Michael is driving. He isn't old enough for that! I also can't believe how much snow you guys have gotten this year. So much for global warming! I just wish I could have a little bit of that cool weather.

I'm glad that you enjoyed watching the movie of Elder Neff and I. It was weird but fun to make.

The scripture of the week is 2 Nephi 2:27-29. I like it!

Say hello to everyone for me!

I think that's my grandma!

Shane's parents and brother, Scott, have been on Sint Maarten the last day or so and were able to take Jonathan and his new companion to dinner. They sent us this e-mail tonight after their brief visit:

Hi Shane and Carole,

We were at the airport to meet Scott at the same time that Jonathan was there with Elder Oliver, the senior Elder, to pick up Jonathan's companion, Elder Kelley, who was coming in from another island. When I came in the airport, Jonathan saw me, and he said to Elder Oliver, I think that's my grandma. Elder Oliver said, "oh sure that's your grandma." Jonathan said, "yes it really is". About then I saw him and ran over and gave him a big hug. It was very neat to see him. Elder Oliver was very nice and he let us take him and his companion that we picked up with us. We went to our hotel and picked up Scott and then we let them pick the place to go to dinner. Jon picked a good place. They had all you can eat barbequed ribs. They were great and they all ate alot of them. Then Jonathan showed us where they held the baptism on the beach, and a neat look off point from the top of a mountain. We ended up dropping them off at their apartment which is a little drive from the airport.

After driving around a little yesterday, Ron commented he gained a whole new perspective of Jonathan's mission. People may think he's on this beautiful island, but it's pretty 3rd world in alot of areas. I can imagine it being a very hard mission on this island. Jonathan said it was one of the nicest places in the mission, but I can't imagine how some of the other places must be.

He's doing good. I hope we left him and his companion with a good feeling. This morning I twisted my back just wrong getting out of bed, and I was in so much pain I couldn't even bend over to put on my pants. I had to have Ron hold them while I put my legs in. Anyway, I had one Ibuprofen, and it really helped, but I had to keep taking them, which is going to get my stomach hurting. So Scott asked Jon and Elder Kelley if they would give me a blessing, which they did. Jonathan gave me a wonderful blessing. I really appreciated it and I'm sure it will help me get through this trip. Before we left Scott asked them if we could leave them a word of prayer. They agreed and Scott asked it. They've had so many changes in their week with all those missionaries being there and then all the trips to the airports to get the elders where they were all going, that they haven't gotten alot done. But one good thing with all those missionaries being there, a lot of contacts were made and so him and Elder Kelley have follow ups to make.

We took lots of pictures and so did Scott.

Jonathan with his new companion, Elder Kelley, and Grandma Larson.

Jonathan's apartment on Sint Maarten.


Well, just thought you'd like to know. You have a wonderful son, and he's doing great. We gave him hugs for you.

Love, Mom and Dad