Week #42 - Pilgrims and Domino's

Happy late Thanksgiving Fam!

This week was pretty uneventful except for Thanksgiving. It's still hot during the day, but the last couple nights it got down to around 72 degrees and we were all freezing our tails off... I really don't know what I'm going to do when I get home in the dead of Winter in Oregon, but I'll figure something out.

We got fed ackee and pork by some members Wednesday night which is always a good combo.

Thanksgiving was great - we just bought some pizza and made some brownies and pudding and stuff and had a district Thanksgiving dinner at our house. Super fun.

We had three people come to church on Sunday thanks to the fellowship of some awesome members. Our investigators, Dwayne and Yaneek, are now pretty good friends with another couple, Ramon and Janelle (who are being taught by Elder Knight and Koegler). So they are kind of going through the conversion process together. Ramon and Janelle are getting married in December and then baptized soon after, and they are helping Dwayne and Yaneek by their example so that is awesome.

Today is Elder Christensen's birthday, so we celebrated by dumping handfuls upon handfuls of flour on his head and then throwing water on him to start the birthday off right. Glad he is a good sport.

That's about it for this week!

Love,

Elder Graham

Elders Graham, Christensen & Pulsipher
keeping the Jamaican tradition alive with birthday flouring...

Elder Christensen

Week #41 - Respeck Rasta Yout

Hey Family!

This whole week was pretty crazy. Every day except for Sunday I went on some trade off or another for a bunch of different reasons.

Tuesday I went on a trade off with Elder Koegler so I could interview someone for baptism.

We had an emergency zone conference on Wednesday, addressing the Lord's call to serve with all our heart, might, mind and strength. It was an awesome meeting. It got Elder Christensen and I way hyped to continue the work here in Spanish Town. Later in the evening, I went on a trade off with Elder Knight.

Elder Koegler and Elder Gardner got sick on Thursday, so I went on a little trade off with Elder Pulsipher so they could go see someone who was preparing to be baptized a couple days later. Sister Harrison fed us some curry chicken and fried bread fruit which is always amazing.

On Friday evening Elder Koegler was still sick, so I went back out with Elder Knight in the evening to see someone in their area who was also preparing to be baptized over the weekend.

Saturday I went on a trade off with Elder Gardner, but finally stayed in my own area this time. A woman named Opal was baptized Saturday morning!

The mother of a kid who is now serving a mission in the Dominican Republic was baptized on Sunday morning which was awesome! We had more investigators than usual show up at church on Sunday which was great. After church, we went home and made curry chicken with boiled dumpling and potatoes for our house lunch. Later in the evening, we got fed (by a member) baked chicken and rice and peas with some dang good chocolate cake.

Crazy week but it was great. Weeks like these build faith and character. Until next week…

Love you guys!

Elder Graham

Respeck Rasta Yout
Translation:  Respect Rasta Youth
Spanish Town Zone Turkey Bowl!
Front:  Elders Christensen, Gardner, Kolomalu
Back:  Elders Dean, Robbins, Senior, Koegler, Graham, Knight, Pulsipher

Week #40 - Getting Famous in Willowdene

Hey Family!

I'll jump right into it this week.

Tuesday night we found a bunch of Christmas stuff in a storage room of our house, so we threw it up as best as a bunch of 19 year-old boys could.

I went on a trade off with Elder Knight on Wednesday. He is awesome. We had a good time doing all sorts of missionary work and eating berries that make your tongue go numb and other stuff.

Some people called out to us as we were riding by and called us over. We asked them how they knew we were missionaries, and they said they knew people who have talked to us before. So we're getting pretty famous in Willowdene, I guess. 

Sister Murdock has been getting pamphlets from us and taking them to the health clinic and handing them out to people. She knows now to make sure to get people's number, name, and address and then she just gives the info to us. She is a beast at finding referrals for us!

Sunday was the primary program. It was a little interesting, but still really good. After church, we went home and made our own family dinner: stew peas with pork.

That's it for this week!

Love,

Elder Graham 

We crossed over Highway 2000 to get to a member's house way out in bush

Week #39 - Sometimes You Just Need to Chill Eat

Hey Fam!

This week has been great.

Inside Chilitos - a great JaMexican spot!
Oh and Elder Koegler.

So last Monday we planned on going to Kingston for the Bob Marley museum, but we couldn't get the residency discount so it would have been way expensive. We went to Chilitos instead, which is the only Mexican restaurant in Jamaica. We also went to a place called Devon House and got some ice cream. 

I went to another trainer's meeting on Tuesday which was good. We talked a lot about obedience and discussed some little things that we as a mission can do to be more obedient. It'll be good for the work, so I'm excited to see how the work improves.

Transfers were on Wednesday. Elder Biddulph went to Downtown Kingston, and Elder Pulsipher is here in Spanish Town now – he’s way sick (translation: he’s a great guy) and from St George, Utah.  Not too many changes for myself or Elder Christensen.

Fry fish and boiled dumpling

On Thursday, Sister Murdock gave Elder Christensen and I some fried fish, so we took it home that night and boiled some dumplings, threw some jerk seasoning on the fish and had that for dinner. It was so good!

A member invited us over for a game night with some of his friends Friday night. We played domino, ate some good food, met some people, it was awesome. Some of the people were pretty interested in the gospel, and two of them are soon getting married AND baptized around Christmas time so that's exciting.

Saturday was the International Day of Service. The two Spanish Town wards went to go chop a whole bunch of thorn bushes and tall grass so a garden can be extended further. The place is called the Mustard Seed Jerusalem Center; it's in Spanish Town somewhere and it houses physically and mentally handicapped children. It was cool to hang out with them for a little bit before we got to work. My neck is so burnt right now, it hurts to turn my head because my collar rubs it raw. But it was great.  So glad we sent him with a good supply of sunscreen… 

Elders Gardner, Graham, Banton, Pulsipher and Christensen

Sunday, as we were walking out from church, I saw Elder Banton (one of the elders Cody lived with in Yallahs – he went home for a short time)!  He was set apart as a missionary yesterday so he is back in the mission field and is serving in the Boulevard Ward in Kingston. It was so good to see him!

So there was my week. Hope yours was good!

Love,

Elder Graham

Week #38 - No Tricks, Just Treats

Hey Family!

My week was awesome, but I will keep this pretty short. 

His response when asked if he went Trick or Treating:  Halloween isn't celebrated at all here. It was just a normal day besides the 2 pounds of caramel and gummy worms we bought. So I’m guessing a visit to the dentist is looming…

We had zone meeting on Wednesday. Elder Christensen and I had to teach a section of it which was pretty great. Wednesday night, Elder Havili got to come teaching with us which is always a good thing - I learned a lot from it.

Shout out to the twins for turning 21 on Thursday! I truly can't believe they made it this far. Just kidding.

The whole week, we focused on talking with EVERYONE, which has become so normal that it has pretty much become second nature to just stick your hand out to shake the hand of whoever is passing by... That's our sneaky attempt to get them to stop walking and chat so we don't have to chase them down and walk with them. It's great, don't worry.

Overall this week, Elder Christensen and I got a ton of work done this week and it is starting to show.

This one lady named Annie is trying to get rid of the bar that is inside her house because she knows it’s no bueno. She came to church yesterday and loved it! I'm excited for her. She is on date for baptism on December 20th so we will see how it goes! Of course she still has a lot to do between now and then but it can definitely happen.

Unfortunately that's all I got for ya this week.

LOVE YOU!

Elder Graham

I forgot to take any pictures this week so here's the crew at the email shop.
Elders Christensen, Graham, Biddulph & Gardner