Well Family,
First off I want to apologize to mom for not emailing yesterday. You see the thing is that Trinidadians are extremely lazy.. and they take any opportunity to have a holiday that they can. So HAPPY INDIAN ARRIVAL DAY!!!!!!!!! And its not just that, but on holidays, EVERYTHING is closed! But anyways, it was a good week, and it definitely had its ups and downs. It sounds like you guys are all doing really well at home. Dad, I cant believe you got a motorcycle! That is really sweet, except I was expecting a harley when I opened the picture. So this coming sunday, the 5th, we are baptizing 3 people. Shakilla, Mark, and Eva. I am really excited. Eva is a 35 year old girl and she is awesome. She has a really strong knowledge of the bible, and we have been teaching her for the past month or 2. She knows that the church is true but the only thing that has been holding her back is she lived with her boyfriend. We hadnt met with her for about a week and on saturday we decided to go see her. She has just recently moved into her boyfriends sisters house, and we went and taught her there. We asked her what she was thinking about baptism and if she was ready to either seperate or marry her boyfriend. In the past when we had talked about this with her, she said that she wanted to marry him, but we had been told by other people that he is a horrible person. So when we asked her this time we were expecting the same answer, but she threw us for a loop. She said that she is ready to seperate from him. I was so happy! She is living everything that we have taught her and is ready to be baptised. Mark and Shakilla are still doing really well too. Nikita, one of our other investigators, is going to be baptized on the 11th as well. I am probably going to baptize Mark, and Nikita though so that is always exciting.
Now for the crazy part of the week. Well it turns out, that Elder Kaelin had a massive boil on his leg, and when I say massive I mean HUGE! So on thursdayhe didnt feel like he could walk so we had to stay in. Haha I literally studied the book of mormon for most of the day and for the first time in my life, I completey loved it. Then on thursday night when we were sitting there and he started to look at it and it was getting worse. I told him that he needed to call Sister Ellison, the mission nurse and at least tell her about it. When he described it to her, she told him that he needed to go to the doctor right then. So our Zone leaders came and picked us up and drove us to Valsayn. We went to the hospital and they said they were going to have to cut it open, but they needed a surgeon to do it and he couldnt do it until the morning. So we went as stayed with the AP's. We stayed up pretty late and talked with them and then went to bed. We had to be back at the hospital at 6:00 the next morning though. When we got to the hospital the next morning, he looked at his boil and it was ready to pop. Then the doctor came in and said that they wanted to put him under general anethesia to cut it open. He didnt want to do that so he said he would just pop it himself. I was one of the grossest things I have ever seen. We went back to our apartment and we had to stay in on friday also. It is crazy how good a day off sounds, but when you have it, all you want to do is get back to work. The worst part was that while we were sitting in our apartment, Satan was out working with our investigators. We went to see Shelene and Nikita on saturday and both of them took a step backward. It made me so mad! the only good part was, Nikita got back on track. I think we might have lost Shelene though.
Just to answer a few of your questions, yes that picture I sent last week was of Doubles, and even though they look horrible, they are amazing! The mission office is in Valsayn, and that is about 45 minutes from me. My area is San Fernando and it is in the southern part of Trinidad. I cant remember what other questions you had but if you have more just let me know. I dont have time to write Individual emails today, but you all know that I love you. Thank you for all the prayers. I know that they really work. Everything is going great here, and I am doing really well. In sacrament meeting on sunday we had a really good talk on Faith. There was one sentence that really stuck with me. It was, Fear ends where Faith begins. Anything that we can imagine is possible when we have faith. I have seen this more on my mission than ever before. I love you all and thank you for keeping me updated.
Love
Elder Gines
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Week 3 is already over!
Hey Fam, How is it going?
This week was definitely interesting and it had its ups and its downs. So on Tuesday, I went on splits with Elder Vi, and it was amazing! He is a really funny guy but a really good missionary as well. For the first time I really had to take control of the lesson and I was really nervous about it. But it went so well! We started off the day at Shakilla's house. We taught her a really good lesson on baptism and the importance of reading her scriptures, but at the end of the lesson she asked a question that killed me. She said, even if I decide I don't want to get baptised right away can I still come to church? Of course we told her that she still could come but it is really important to be baptised. Her biggest fear is that she will get baptised and then backslide, because she has already done that once in her life in another church. We have really been working with her though and pushing the importance of getting baptised as soon as possible. So make sure you keep her in your prayers! After we taught her we went and taught a recent convert family named the Moralies. They are awesome and make the missionaries feel like part of there family. They had a friend there who's name was Kellon. He has taked all the lessons and is ready to be baptised but his mom will not let him. It is a tough situation. We are trying to find a way to talk to her so that we can but she is really stubborn apparently. For the rest of that day we just taught a couple people in sando. One of them were a family of 5 girls. One of them has a baptism date. I had no Idea what I was going to teach them when I sat down, but the spirit took over and I just started talking. It was a really good lesson and I had never had an experience like that before. It has really helped my testimony grow. It is amazing how everything just clicked! All of the sudden I had no problem doing street contacting, or teaching a lesson. On tuesday night, Elder Vi and I just sat and talked. Haha we talked about everything from girls, to deep doctorine, to scary stories. It was so much fun. Before we knew it, it was really late and we didnt end up getting very much sleep that night. The rest of the week went pretty well, until friday. On Friday we were going on trade offs with the AP's here in sando. It was horrible! I had planned out a day that we could go and see a couple of people that we had been teaching. Well all of those appointments fell through, and because Elder Kaelin was also working here in sando, we didnt have anyone to go and see. We literally tracted all day long, calling into houses! We didnt teach very many lessons and we walked a ton! It was probably the longest day here on my mission. But it was still good. On saturday, it wasnt much better. All of our appointments were falling through and we were having a really hard time getting into houses. One of the houses that let us in was a group of 3 ladies. We were teaching them on there front porch and it was actually going really well. We were teaching them the restoration and I had just got done telling them about the first vision. Then there husbands came and started bashing with us really hard. I dont know if you know this or not, but a couple of the church's in the states had predicted that christ was going to come on saturday. Well that didnt happen! So they started asking about that.. It was so frustrating because they would start saying something and go on for 5 minutes and then when we had a chance to answer them, they wouldnt listen to us at all. The one guy was really annoying, and he had convinced himself that all he had to do to get into heaven, was right before he dies, say from his heart, father forgive me of my sins. It was ridiculous. It made both me and Elder Kaelin really mad and the spirit wasnt there at all. Eventually we just left and it was a miracle that one of us didnt punch the guy. It made it pretty hard for the rest of the day to be able to feel the spirit again. Eventually we cooled down and It was all okay. I was having a really hard time because I had just had 2 really hard days in a row, so we prayed that sunday would be better. And it WAS! At church on sunday we had 8 investigators! It was incredible! The most that elder Kaelin has had since he has been here was 3, so 8 was really good. Right now we are really focused on working towards baptizing weekly, and it is definitely getting within reach. I love it.
The language is getting so much better, and I can understand most people. I can even start talking it a little bit. This morning for our zone activity, we went to an area in our zone called point fortin. We went to the beach there and played cricket. It was really nice but I have never been more tempted to get in the water. It felt so good to be out there and I will attach some pictures of it. I love it here and Elder Kaelin keeps on telling me I am doing really good. I am really comfortable in lessons now and everything is really starting to come together. I wouldnt want to be anywhere else right now. My goal is to be able to be comfortable to train a new missionary after the first 12 weeks. Even if I dont have that opportunity, I want to be ready to be able to. I know that it isnt really up to me, but as long as I am doing what I am supposed to, the lord will take care of the rest. Our investigators with baptismal dates are shakilla, Mark, Shallene, and Nikita. As of right now, they are all probably going to be on the 4th of june. We will push shakilla and mark for the 29th though. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have 4 or 5 more. Keep them in your prayers because the adversary really works hard on people who are investigating the church. I pray for you guys everyday and I know that I am supposed to be here righy now. I love doing the lords work, and it is such a blessing in my life. I love you all and keep on doing what you know is right. I have learned so much here, I wish that you could see how much I have grown. Well I gotta get going.
Much love,
Elder Gines
This week was definitely interesting and it had its ups and its downs. So on Tuesday, I went on splits with Elder Vi, and it was amazing! He is a really funny guy but a really good missionary as well. For the first time I really had to take control of the lesson and I was really nervous about it. But it went so well! We started off the day at Shakilla's house. We taught her a really good lesson on baptism and the importance of reading her scriptures, but at the end of the lesson she asked a question that killed me. She said, even if I decide I don't want to get baptised right away can I still come to church? Of course we told her that she still could come but it is really important to be baptised. Her biggest fear is that she will get baptised and then backslide, because she has already done that once in her life in another church. We have really been working with her though and pushing the importance of getting baptised as soon as possible. So make sure you keep her in your prayers! After we taught her we went and taught a recent convert family named the Moralies. They are awesome and make the missionaries feel like part of there family. They had a friend there who's name was Kellon. He has taked all the lessons and is ready to be baptised but his mom will not let him. It is a tough situation. We are trying to find a way to talk to her so that we can but she is really stubborn apparently. For the rest of that day we just taught a couple people in sando. One of them were a family of 5 girls. One of them has a baptism date. I had no Idea what I was going to teach them when I sat down, but the spirit took over and I just started talking. It was a really good lesson and I had never had an experience like that before. It has really helped my testimony grow. It is amazing how everything just clicked! All of the sudden I had no problem doing street contacting, or teaching a lesson. On tuesday night, Elder Vi and I just sat and talked. Haha we talked about everything from girls, to deep doctorine, to scary stories. It was so much fun. Before we knew it, it was really late and we didnt end up getting very much sleep that night. The rest of the week went pretty well, until friday. On Friday we were going on trade offs with the AP's here in sando. It was horrible! I had planned out a day that we could go and see a couple of people that we had been teaching. Well all of those appointments fell through, and because Elder Kaelin was also working here in sando, we didnt have anyone to go and see. We literally tracted all day long, calling into houses! We didnt teach very many lessons and we walked a ton! It was probably the longest day here on my mission. But it was still good. On saturday, it wasnt much better. All of our appointments were falling through and we were having a really hard time getting into houses. One of the houses that let us in was a group of 3 ladies. We were teaching them on there front porch and it was actually going really well. We were teaching them the restoration and I had just got done telling them about the first vision. Then there husbands came and started bashing with us really hard. I dont know if you know this or not, but a couple of the church's in the states had predicted that christ was going to come on saturday. Well that didnt happen! So they started asking about that.. It was so frustrating because they would start saying something and go on for 5 minutes and then when we had a chance to answer them, they wouldnt listen to us at all. The one guy was really annoying, and he had convinced himself that all he had to do to get into heaven, was right before he dies, say from his heart, father forgive me of my sins. It was ridiculous. It made both me and Elder Kaelin really mad and the spirit wasnt there at all. Eventually we just left and it was a miracle that one of us didnt punch the guy. It made it pretty hard for the rest of the day to be able to feel the spirit again. Eventually we cooled down and It was all okay. I was having a really hard time because I had just had 2 really hard days in a row, so we prayed that sunday would be better. And it WAS! At church on sunday we had 8 investigators! It was incredible! The most that elder Kaelin has had since he has been here was 3, so 8 was really good. Right now we are really focused on working towards baptizing weekly, and it is definitely getting within reach. I love it.
The language is getting so much better, and I can understand most people. I can even start talking it a little bit. This morning for our zone activity, we went to an area in our zone called point fortin. We went to the beach there and played cricket. It was really nice but I have never been more tempted to get in the water. It felt so good to be out there and I will attach some pictures of it. I love it here and Elder Kaelin keeps on telling me I am doing really good. I am really comfortable in lessons now and everything is really starting to come together. I wouldnt want to be anywhere else right now. My goal is to be able to be comfortable to train a new missionary after the first 12 weeks. Even if I dont have that opportunity, I want to be ready to be able to. I know that it isnt really up to me, but as long as I am doing what I am supposed to, the lord will take care of the rest. Our investigators with baptismal dates are shakilla, Mark, Shallene, and Nikita. As of right now, they are all probably going to be on the 4th of june. We will push shakilla and mark for the 29th though. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have 4 or 5 more. Keep them in your prayers because the adversary really works hard on people who are investigating the church. I pray for you guys everyday and I know that I am supposed to be here righy now. I love doing the lords work, and it is such a blessing in my life. I love you all and keep on doing what you know is right. I have learned so much here, I wish that you could see how much I have grown. Well I gotta get going.
Much love,
Elder Gines
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Week #2 in Trinidad
Hey everybody, How is everything going back at home? Everything is going great here. Today for Pday we drove up to valsayn, and went to a really nice mall, and then went and ate at Wendys. It was really good and it felt like I was back at home, especially because the Real Salt Lake game was on the TV in there. It was crazy! This week was pretty good though. We found quite a few new investigators and we have some baptism dates set. One of our investigators that we have been teaching the whole time I have been here is named Shakilla. She is amazing. She has a pretty strong testimony and is already doing her missionary work. We went to visit her at her daughters house in sando on Saturday. When we were there she told us that her grandson wanted to sit in. We taught him and it went really well. Then on Sunday she brought him to church and he really liked it. We have a baptism date for the 29th for both of them. It is really cool to see how the gospel can change peoples life. Our other investigators name is Eva, she is actually one of the members in our wards, maid. She has a pretty solid testimony and knows that what we have taught her is true. The only problem is she isn't married to her boyfriend/husband. We are doing everything we can to try and get them married so she can be baptized. She didn't come to church yesterday though so that was kind of disappointing. The work here is going really well though. I can't believe how hard it is, I still have so much to learn but I am doing my best. I am glad to here that some of you were able to get out on the lake the other day. I would do anything if I could do that. I will live though. Tomorrow I am going on trade offs with my district leader elder Vi. I am kind of nervous because for the first time I will have to take the lead in all the lessons and I have to plan our whole day, it will be fine though and what better way is there to learn. I will send some pictures in another email this time so hopefully they are easier to view. I've got to get going though, sorry this email is so short. I pray for all of you every day and I can feel your support. I know that I am in the right place and I really do love it here. The gospel is true and I know that with all my heart. It is so frustrating when people just wont listen to our message because I want to share it with everyone. Keep me posted and send me pictures!
I love you all!
Elder Gines
I love you all!
Elder Gines
West Indies! #1
Hey everyone!
It was really good to talk to you guys yesterday. I dont think I could have timed it any better because not many missionaries get to talk to their families twice in one week. It was really good to hear from you though, trinidad is still trinidad. Today we woke up at 545 and went to go play football with our zone, but the missionaries that were supposed to pick us up didnt get to our apartment until about 715. While we were waiting we went and got some breakfast. I dont know if you remember when nick told us about doubles or not but I am addicted to them. I dont really know how to explain them though. It is kind of like 2 scones, with curried peas, and beans in it. It doesnt sound very good, but it is amazing! I really think they are going to make me fat. When they finally got to our apartment, 6 of us piled in a toyota corolla. It was pretty crammed. We got there around 730 or 8 and played the game. It was the north zone vs. the south zone. We beat them 5 to 3, haha and I had 2 touchdowns. It was alot of fun. Then at 1030 we had a meeting with the AP's, Zone leaders, President gamiette and all of the trainers and trainees. It was really good and it amazes me at how much president gamiette knows. He really is an amazing guy. This transfer, our mission is trying out a new 12 week training program. It has come straight from the brethren. With this program we are given 2 hours of companionship study each day. It is really cool. President also challenged us to baptize either a man that could be a potential priesthood holder, or a family, each week! It is going to take alot of hard work but all of us know that it is very possible down here. There is so much work to be done! I am really excited to be here though. I am coming right when the mission is starting to pick up and me and elder Kaelin have had a really good time together. Well there isnt much to write, cause I just talked to you yesterday. I will try and attach some pictures of my apartment and a couple of trinidad. I will get some better ones though. Thanks for all your support. I love you all!
Elder Gines
It was really good to talk to you guys yesterday. I dont think I could have timed it any better because not many missionaries get to talk to their families twice in one week. It was really good to hear from you though, trinidad is still trinidad. Today we woke up at 545 and went to go play football with our zone, but the missionaries that were supposed to pick us up didnt get to our apartment until about 715. While we were waiting we went and got some breakfast. I dont know if you remember when nick told us about doubles or not but I am addicted to them. I dont really know how to explain them though. It is kind of like 2 scones, with curried peas, and beans in it. It doesnt sound very good, but it is amazing! I really think they are going to make me fat. When they finally got to our apartment, 6 of us piled in a toyota corolla. It was pretty crammed. We got there around 730 or 8 and played the game. It was the north zone vs. the south zone. We beat them 5 to 3, haha and I had 2 touchdowns. It was alot of fun. Then at 1030 we had a meeting with the AP's, Zone leaders, President gamiette and all of the trainers and trainees. It was really good and it amazes me at how much president gamiette knows. He really is an amazing guy. This transfer, our mission is trying out a new 12 week training program. It has come straight from the brethren. With this program we are given 2 hours of companionship study each day. It is really cool. President also challenged us to baptize either a man that could be a potential priesthood holder, or a family, each week! It is going to take alot of hard work but all of us know that it is very possible down here. There is so much work to be done! I am really excited to be here though. I am coming right when the mission is starting to pick up and me and elder Kaelin have had a really good time together. Well there isnt much to write, cause I just talked to you yesterday. I will try and attach some pictures of my apartment and a couple of trinidad. I will get some better ones though. Thanks for all your support. I love you all!
Elder Gines
MTC Week #2
Well Fam,
I made it through the second week here in the mtc or as we call it, heck week. It has been tough but it has been really good as well. The food hasnt gotten any better though, but hey I will live. So I leave one week from today. Well actually I have to leave the MTC at 3:00am next monday morning, the 2nd. I'm flying out at 6:00 so I probably wont call you from salt lake because you will most likely be asleep. From salt lake I am going to Dallas. I arrive there around 940 and my next flight leaves at 1020, then i am flying to miami. In miami I have a 6 hour layover. I get there around 2:00 there time so im not sure what time that is here but I will call from there. after my 6 Hour layover, I will get on the plane to trinidad! I will arive in Port of Spain, Trinidad around Midnight. It is going to be a very long day. I am excited to get out there though. The MTC is good and all but I am ready to leave.
So tuesday, we had Richard G. Scott come and give our Devotional! IT WAS AMAZING! I know that I have been in the room when an apostle has been there but I dont know if I have ever heard one speak. At the end of his talk he said, I dont believe that god exists, I know that he does, I dont believe that joseph smith was a prophet, I know he does. It was one of the coolest things I have ever heard, to hear an apostle of god tell us that he knows for a certainty that god lives. The spirit that he brought was so strong. I loved it.
Mom, I sent a letter home on friday that says most of this stuff, but will you send me my vans, a box of cheezits, and whatever else you want to throw in. In my District we have an elder that is from new zealand. He is an awesome kid, Haha but he has never had cheezits, and everyone else in the zone says that he is missing out. I will send home a package this week with the stuff that I dont need. I have some bad news though, I busted the button/clip on the extra suit pants that I brought. I guess I have been eating a little bit to much... I havent had the guts to step on the scale yet but I probably will tomorrow. Hopefully the damage isnt too bad.
I have gym on every day except monday and sunday. Besides those days it is 50 minutes per day. Iike I said last week, my district is in the Pilot program so we are testing out the method that they are starting in the MTC in august. It is really cool. While most missionaries only get to teach 6 times or so before they leave the mtc, We get to teach about 24. They have really focused on teaching us how to teach rather than teaching us the doctorine, that is up to us. Well, you probably wont hear from me until next monday when I call you, but I will try and write some letters today.
I love you all.
Elder Gines
I made it through the second week here in the mtc or as we call it, heck week. It has been tough but it has been really good as well. The food hasnt gotten any better though, but hey I will live. So I leave one week from today. Well actually I have to leave the MTC at 3:00am next monday morning, the 2nd. I'm flying out at 6:00 so I probably wont call you from salt lake because you will most likely be asleep. From salt lake I am going to Dallas. I arrive there around 940 and my next flight leaves at 1020, then i am flying to miami. In miami I have a 6 hour layover. I get there around 2:00 there time so im not sure what time that is here but I will call from there. after my 6 Hour layover, I will get on the plane to trinidad! I will arive in Port of Spain, Trinidad around Midnight. It is going to be a very long day. I am excited to get out there though. The MTC is good and all but I am ready to leave.
So tuesday, we had Richard G. Scott come and give our Devotional! IT WAS AMAZING! I know that I have been in the room when an apostle has been there but I dont know if I have ever heard one speak. At the end of his talk he said, I dont believe that god exists, I know that he does, I dont believe that joseph smith was a prophet, I know he does. It was one of the coolest things I have ever heard, to hear an apostle of god tell us that he knows for a certainty that god lives. The spirit that he brought was so strong. I loved it.
Mom, I sent a letter home on friday that says most of this stuff, but will you send me my vans, a box of cheezits, and whatever else you want to throw in. In my District we have an elder that is from new zealand. He is an awesome kid, Haha but he has never had cheezits, and everyone else in the zone says that he is missing out. I will send home a package this week with the stuff that I dont need. I have some bad news though, I busted the button/clip on the extra suit pants that I brought. I guess I have been eating a little bit to much... I havent had the guts to step on the scale yet but I probably will tomorrow. Hopefully the damage isnt too bad.
I have gym on every day except monday and sunday. Besides those days it is 50 minutes per day. Iike I said last week, my district is in the Pilot program so we are testing out the method that they are starting in the MTC in august. It is really cool. While most missionaries only get to teach 6 times or so before they leave the mtc, We get to teach about 24. They have really focused on teaching us how to teach rather than teaching us the doctorine, that is up to us. Well, you probably wont hear from me until next monday when I call you, but I will try and write some letters today.
I love you all.
Elder Gines
MTC Week #1
Hey Fam Whats up? Wow it is really early but in order to make sure I got to wash my clothes we decided to wake up early and beat all the other missionaries here. Well I made it through the first week and all I have to say is that I loved it! This place is amazing! On the first day, we just kinda got to know our district and our teachers. Our district is amazing and its really good because none of us are really home sick yet. My companions name is Elder Watchman and we get along really well. Our Zone is one of the zones that they chose to try the new pilot program on. It is really cool. They are really focusing on teaching us how to teach and leaving learning the doctorine up to us. We have been teaching some "investigators" and It is amazing. If you go into a lesson with the right spirit, anything can happen. Our first lesson was a little bit rough, but we were able to make a return appointment. But the next investigator we taught, It went amazing! Both elder watchman and I Just Talked by the spirit and we felt that it went really well. I am really excited because we get to teach again tonight. Starting this week we are going to go and start teaching at the TRC which is where it is a little bit more realistic, We wont know if we are teaching a teacher, a member, or a non member. I am a little bit nervous about it but I know that If we just speak through the spirit, it will go well. So how is everyone doing? Jason, how was prom? Mom, thanks for the package, It really is the best feeling when you get mail or even better, get the first package out of anyone in your district. Haha, but I really love most things about this place, the only bad part is the food! I have only been here for 5 days and it is already horrible! On the first night, we went into the cafeteria, and it said it was going to be steak. Yeah right, that was probably the farthest thing from steak that I have ever tasted and my stomach is still recovering. Well Im running out of time, mom you would be really proud of me because I just did my laundry all by my self! I hope everything is going well, Dont miss me too much because I am having the time of my life. If I have learned one thing this week it would be that the lords hand is in everything. I love this gospel and it has really taken me this long in my life to figure that out. It is amazing and I couldnt imagine myself being anywhere else right now. I love you guys lots, and thanks for everything that you do for me. I cant wait to here from ya.
Love,
Elder Gines
Love,
Elder Gines
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)