Week #20 - Happy Birthday to Me... My First Transfer!

What Up Fam!

Our explorer in the Blue Mountains above Yallahs

Sorry I am getting to you now, crazy fun day yesterday but long story short, Elder Stewart and I got lost in the Blue Mountains and didn't get back in time to email haha. I basically celebrated my birthday yesterday.

So just like we thought, I’m being transferred tomorrow!  Headed to Spanish Town.  My companion will be Elder Jackson, never met him, not sure what he looks like, I'm just told he is a goofball so I'm stoked!  After some shameless internet stalking, I found that Elder Jackson is from Pocatello, Idaho!!  Can’t wait for them to compare notes…  Anyway I'm kinda excited to be back in a ward (Spain 2nd Ward) that actually functions by itself haha. Although, Yallahs taught me a TON about accountability and being reliable and stuff.

Here’s the skinny on Spanish Town:  Referred to as Spain by the locals, it is the third largest city of Jamaica, with a population of over 160,000.  I was thrilled to see that it comes in as #7 on the “15 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in the World” list, but Cody’s response was, “Don't worry, I'm not in the ghetto part, I'm in the richer classier part of Spain town.”  Hmmmm…

The journey from Yallahs to Spanish Town

I got a package from Oberg (Cody’s scoutmaster and former YM President – you da best, Obergs!) a week ago and it was great! Starbursts, a Mountain Dew Kick Start, some socks and an awesome purple tie! Haven’t gotten your package yet but I’ll probs get it tomorrow. WHAT??? You mean that package I sent 28 days ago???  Gotta love the mail system in Jamaica!!  Also thanks for telling everyone and their dog to email me happy bday. I had 57 emails today...but it was great so thank you!!

Love and miss you guys as always!

Elder Graham

Jordan, me, Alwayne and Daquan (all the future missionaries)

Last day with new convert Tamara
In true "Cody" style, he gave her all kinds of grief about the posing and photo session!!

Elder Stewart

The Blue Mountains are way cool!

Week #19 - True Christians Cannot Live by Breadfruit Alone

Hey Fam!

This week was a little different than usual.

On Tuesday, I tried fried breadfruit for the first time. It tasted just like French fries. Super good!  I've also been making peanut butter and guava jam sandwiches which are delicious.

Wednesday was rough. These guys came and tore out our broken countertops. Two of us had to be home all day which wasn't cool. They came back Saturday and still didn't finish. Hopefully they finish tomorrow.

We went to Spanish Town for zone conference on Thursday. It was cool to see a lot of missionaries that I knew there. I'm starting to actually meet a ton of other missionaries so I don't have to be the outcast from Yallahs anymore.

Elder Stewart was sick all weekend so I went proselyting a little bit on Saturday with Elder Kuehn so he could get out of the house. As we were walking, we talked a lot about finding people. Finding has been one of my biggest challenges as a missionary so far. However, as we continued, I looked over to see some people struggling to start their car. My mind wasn't really thinking about finding a person to teach, but without thinking, I asked them if they needed some help. They were super appreciative of our help and even told us they wanted to visit our church because we resemble "true Christianity." It was a huge morale booster as the majority of the week prior to that was pretty slow. I was flattered to hear from someone that we as missionaries resemble true Christians. That experience let me know that we are doing our job!

Mom note:  A couple weeks ago I received this picture from Elder Fowkes’ mom – naturally Cody was asked to elaborate:  I was going uphill really slow and tried to hop off too quick and the bike tipped over, so I either had to hold on to the handle bars and tumble onto the bike, or let go and be tripped by my front tire and land gracefully on the ground instead. I chose option two in that crisis situation haha. Then I was tired and embarrassed, so when Fowkes got his camera out I was like "No wait wait wai.... ugh fine..." So yep…

Happy late Father's Day Dad! I know I'm a day late, but I got to speak in Sacrament Meeting yesterday and bigged you up big time haha now the whole Yallahs Branch knows that Elder Graham's dad is Superman!!

We sometimes hear songs on the radio of buses and taxis that play old songs like "Letters From Home" and "I've Been Watching You" and "Something to Be Proud Of" and stuff like that. It's cool to listen to those songs at this point in my life and think about them from a missionary perspective. Sometimes it makes me a little homesick, but that is always drowned out by the work that I'm doing right now. I definitely know for sure that it really is a marvelous work and a wonder!

That's about all the crazy stuff for this week. I'm excited for my birthday coming up next week!  Note:  Cody's 19th birthday is June 30 - send him a happy birthday email if you get a chance!  We mailed his package on June 2... it will be interesting to see when he actually receives it!

Miss you guys!

Love,

Elder Graham

Another good shot of the beach

 

The usual Jamaican diet:  Rice and peas with chicken

Week #17 - The Lord Rains Down Blessings Even on Minions

What up Fam!

This week went by way fast. They're going faster and faster, it's crazy.

The zone leaders came to do district leader training for Elder Davidsen on Wednesday and then we went on splits for a few hours. Elder Rammell and I cruised around Yallahs in the truck which was pretty great. Trucks are kind of hard to maneuver around Yallahs because we usually take dirt trails on bikes, so I really have to think about how to get to certain places with a vehicle.

We spent Thursday morning at a members yard replacing rotted fence posts. Her yard has some sketchy cement structures that were there before she got there.
She says she has no idea what they are/were, but it basically looks like a bunch of sacrificial altars haha super creepy. The rest of Thursday was rough. We had one appointment after another text us and cancel on us throughout the whole day. So we spent most of the day trying to find new people to teach. Nada. Kind of tough but I definitely appreciated even the mediocre Friday that we had right after haha.

Saturday night, we couldn't sleep because there was a huge party going on at the cement factory nearby. Our beds were vibrating because of the bass of the speakers over there. It was like 1:30am and Elder Kuehn and I couldn't take it anymore so we called the cops on them. I don't think the police did anything about it but it was comforting at least. And then a few minutes later, it started to rain hard, then the music stopped hahaha it was great. We were just sitting in our hose laughing like evil little minions as if we had anything to do with them stopping the music. But it was pretty late and we were all way tired. We were just happy it was done so we could sleep.

School is out here so we are going to start taking the youth teaching with us a lot more often now. I'm super stoked for that because the youth here all have incredible testimonies and they are not afraid to share them with strangers. It makes me feel bad whenever the missionaries took me teaching back home, I didn't understand what my role was but I see now that having members at lessons makes it SO much better!

Anyway, I'm doing great still. I'm having a blast and a half and it's only getting better. As always, love and miss you guys!

Love,

Elder Graham

Cut up bananas and coconut - they are way good frozen!

Week #16 - Grateful for Miracles as Long as They Don't Pinch

Wagwan family!  Patois for “What’s going on”

This week has been great as always. 

We met a woman on Tuesday who has been a member for years but hasn't been to church in forever. She said that earlier in the day, she was going through some papers and found a picture of her at church with some people. "And then you guys show up and now I know that the whole day was a big sign from God that I need to start coming back." She obviously used some Patois but that's basically what she said haha super cool. Miracles happen way often out here! She said she wants to stop smoking and she wants to be at church every week from now on (she came on Sunday!).

We had zone meeting in Kingston on Wednesday which was pretty fun. The four Yallahs elders were the only ones who participated in role plays and stuff during the meeting so...We're awesome.

Thursday night, we got home and were starting to plan, and then Elder Stewart and Elder Kuehn came in with a camera, so I knew for sure they did something to me and they were waiting for a reaction. I spent like five minutes trying to discreetly figure it out but I didn't and nothing happened haha so finally Elder Stewart was like "This is stupid." and came and pulled a huge crab out of my crate full of books. That would have been hilarious but I'm glad I didn't stick my hand into the crate because, well, you know why.

On Friday, I went on a 3-hour trade-off with Elder Stewart so we could go see a certain less-active in my area.

I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time out here on Saturday! I'm going to read it once every 100 days from now on. That is what President Brown has asked us to do and I'm stoked!

That's basically it for this week. Not too much happened, but another great week in the books. Also I've almost been out for four months already. Is time flying or is time flying?!  As always, love and miss you all!

Love,

Elder Graham

Elder Kuehn's manly house calendar

Elder Fowkes throwback

Members of the branch are trying to teach the elders the Usain Bolt pose.
Cody's not quite up to speed...

Instruction on hand placement

Elder Graham, how did you get the girls
back home with this kind of game??

SUCCESS!

Wellllllll... kind of.

Week #15 - New Companion Oat and Aboat, Eh

Hey Family!

A lot has happened in the last week!

First off, I'm no longer being trained so that's pretty cool. Elder Fowkes left on Wednesday and I picked up Elder Davidsen. He is from Canada and he is way cool! He is super good at playing the ukulele. He's teaching me how to play too which is way sweet! 

But yeah we are actually killing it together so far! We have jump started our teaching pool from like three people to six or seven now in just a week! 

On Thursday, we had an interesting lesson where a girl was starting to get a little flirty which is always super awkward and uncomfortable, so we may not see her anymore.

Tamara has started working at some shop and always asks us for pamphlets so she can give them to people who come to the store. She is the coolest!!

View from the hills above Yallahs

Yesterday was really fun. Since it was Labor Day here, we spent the morning cleaning up around the church. In the afternoon we headed out to a road to see if we could meet some new people. The road is a huge hill. For some reason we just kept walking up the hill. We walked our bikes uphill for probably 40-45 minutes through some deep bush until we found a house and an incredible view of the whole area.

We called inside and this old rasta guy came out and was super friendly. He invited us into his house and gave us a whole bunch of different home-made juice. We tried plum juice, cherry juice, soursop juice and even cucumber juice and it was all super good! 

Soursop Juice

Things are looking great here in Yallahs. We are working hard and staying busy which is all we can ask for. Until next week!

Love,

Elder Graham

Week #14 - The Mothman Prophecies and Buh Bye Elder Fowkes

What up Family!

This week has been pretty great as usual! Most of the week was pretty average missionary work.

On Thursday I found a huge duppy moth (duppy means "ghost" in Patois) in our study room, so we thought the best course of action would be to play with it. They are harmless and are way cool!  Mom-like ew ew ew ew ew inserted here...

Messing with a Duppy Moth

On Saturday we got transfer calls. Elder Fowkes is being transferred to Savanna-la-Mar to be with Elder Stever! We got to meet Elder Stever and his family before they left for the MTC through some great friends in Battleground, WA.  I'll be getting Elder Davidsen who just finished training Elder Ostrowski (one of Cody's MTC companions). Elder Evans (Cody's other MTC companion) is going to Port Antonio which is crazy! Lots of changes are happening here. It should be great! 

Elder Fowkes' last Sunday in Yallahs

Today we went into Kingston to play ball one last time before Elder Fowkes left. It was way fun! We had probably ten missionaries there.

Oh one last thing... We were riding through Yallahs Bay on Tuesday or Wednesday and some guy yells from the sidewalk, "The Chiney dem de take ova!" People always say I look Chinese because they are not used to seeing white people ever and there are a surprising number of oriental people who live here. But it is usually just little kids that say, "China men!" or "Bicycle men!" and stuff like that. It is way funny though.

Love and miss you!

Love,

Elder Graham

Basically the entire Yallahs branch - finding the elders is like Where's Waldo!

What I do when I have free time

Week #13 - Happy Mother's Day Skype Session!

Hey Fam!

I don't have much to say this week at all. Not too much has been happening lately, and I'm kind of in a rush but I'll try my best.

Mother's Day was great. I loved getting to see everyone! Also, today marks three months for me! Elder Fowkes is leaving next Wednesday and that will be crazy. I'm not too excited that he's leaving so soon, but it will be cool to meet other missionaries.

Well that's all for this week. I'll have more (plus more pictures) next week. Talk to you in a week! 

Love,

Elder Graham

Mom Note:  To make up for Cody's lack of entertainment this week, here are a few videos of our chat yesterday - forgive the other electronics also in the picture, the rest of the family was there on FaceTime!

The bulla man

Company slogan - A Suh Wi Dweet

Love for the people of Jamaica

Week #12 - Let Them Eat Cake!

What up Fam!

This week has been a little less interesting compared to previous weeks. Still great though!

Starfruit

On Tuesday, we saw a less-active who is super cool. She is probably the most "Americanized" Jamaican I have ever met. She actually understands our humor and stuff like that. She also has a starfruit tree in her yard so I tried some and they are SO good.

                                                 

Wednesday was zone meeting in Kingston. It was taught by our zone leaders and was great. Not much else happened.

We had interviews with President Brown on Thursday and he told me he has been impressed with my growth in the last 3 months, so that was super great to hear from him! Also on Thursday, we decided we need to clear our teaching pool because no one is progressing at all. So that's what we did. The remainder of the week was spent finding new people to teach. We're now in the process of increasing our new and improved teaching pool. This is pretty much the main reason why the week was so interesting.

For Friday night activity, we played more Minute to Win it games and it was way fun! We actually had quite a few people show up so that made it even better!

Sister Nicely fed us turkey neck on Sunday which was just as great as the first time I had turkey neck.  Mom Note:  Late last night as I was emailing Cody I received a Facebook message from Sister Nicely, a great lady in their branch.  She just wanted to tell me how much she loved the elders and to have a good week.  As we talked for a few minutes, she also told me that Elder Graham wanted us to have her steamed cake recipe – you’ll see from his response how he feels about it, so I’m sharing the recipe love with you:  Sister Nicely is the coolest haha. She makes us steamed cake all the time and it is FANTASTIC.

Sister Nicely’s Steamed Cake

One pound or a pack of cake mix

3 eggs

1/4 cup of cooking oil

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp rose extract

1 tsp almond extract

1/ 2 c water

OK so when you are finished mixing, put it in a baking container that can fit in a pot with water - not much water, just a small amount.  Put in baking tin in a covered pot with water put on stove on low flame for 30 minutes and cake is ready.

Sorry this is pretty short but not too much happened haha. We’re in town (Kingston) so we’re emailing earlier because we’re going to Price Mart which is like Jamaica's Costco. There's no big grocery stores in Yallahs so we are excited!  Transfers are on May 20 and Elder Fowkes will for sure be leaving because he has been here for 7 months. But we will see I guess.

Our question this week:  Are you holding back the negative or are you really are just having a great time?  I guess you will find out if there was any negative when I get home won’t you?  ;)  jk jk jk there has hardly been anything bad haha. It is GREAT here - I love every second of it.  Our stake president said Cody was the perfect person to serve in Jamaica because he was so laid back... glad he really is having a blast!

Can't wait to be able to talk to you guys on Mother's Day!

Love,

Elder Graham

Big banana spider we found way back in the hills

Week #11 - Blessings of Faith and Stiff Necked Turkeys

What up Fam,

This week was awesome!! A lot of things happened.

Last Monday, I was starting personal study and asked in a prayer how I can help investigators gain faith. I was reading in the Book of Mormon and got to Alma 32 which talks about planting a seed and nourishing it and partaking of its fruit (a huge analogy which explains EXACTLY how to gain faith). That was a blatant answer to prayer - it was great!

Tuesday we went to Tamara's to have a lesson. At the end, she told us she was going through a bit of a hard time and wanted a blessing from us. When we asked who she wanted to give it, she pointed at me. I usually don't get nervous for giving blessings but for some reason my heart was pounding out of my chest. I had no clue what she was going through, just that she was going through a hard time. So I just started talking. I basically centered it on avoiding temptation because that was the only thing coming to mind. Afterward, she told us that that was exactly what she needed. I was starstruck. I've never felt so much direction from the Spirit before then so that was an awesome experience. Tamara has great faith and an awesome testimony. 

On Wednesday, the zone leaders came to Yallahs and did a little trade off with us. Elder Rammell and I took the truck all the way out to Pondside so he could interview Ashanie for baptism. It was kind of nice having a truck but I don't know if I would like to have one permanently because it would be hard to meet people on the street.

Anyway, our teaching pool is getting a bit small, so we took some time on Thursday to walk around and just talk to people. We met a guy named Peter who was great. When we asked when a good time for us to come back to talk with us some more, he told us that he wasn't interested because he was already in a church from birth, but he wants to just talk religion with us. Got our hopes up and then crushed our dreams but no big deal. Thursday night was pretty weird. First, there was like a 20-minute power outage at like 2 am. Then later in the night, we kept hearing stuff falling down in the house. So we checked, and a cat had weaseled its way in the house and was getting into our trash. Super odd haha.

Our Friday Night Activity was great. We bought some supplies to play some of the games from Minute to Win It! That was WAY fun!

Ashanie's baptism with his mom, Sister Nicely

Ashanie got baptized on Saturday. He bore his testimony after and it was great. You may not expect much from a 10 year old boy, but his testimony of the church is absolutely awesome. Later that day, his 13 year old sister, Zadie, told us she wanted to be baptized now (this family is so great)! So we told her to pray about a date and get back to us. We're still waiting on her answer, but it's really cool to see such a desire from such young kids!

Quick side note: Some white (European?) rasta man came over to us before the baptism and was like "You can't tell me anything about Jesus, you're way too young." Wrong thing to say to a missionary!! I went off talking about the life of Christ and how it influences our lives and how we can know for a surety if God was real and stuff. He just said that he had nothing else to say that wouldn't offend me and then left. Bless his soul haha.

Stewed turkey neck

Ashanie asked me to confirm him on Sunday, so that was great as well! Later at Tamara's, her mom fed us stewed turkey neck which was DANG good! Kinda tasted like beef with the texture of chicken back. So good! 

That's about it for now. As always, love and miss you guys!

Love,

Elder Graham

Alton (the guy who gave us lobster)
let us see some of the fish he caught on his latest venture out to sea.

The beach in Yallahs is way cool even with no sunset

Week #10 - Blessings Gained, Hair Lost and a Norman Bible?

What up Fam!

This week has been awesome!! We've been teaching a girl named Kavia for about a month and a half now and she is showing some great progress! She is coming to church, keeping commitments, and pretty much learning from Tamara's example. 

On Wednesday we visited Sister Nicely and her family. Her two kids had been in Montego Bay for the past week so it was cool to see them again. The first thing she told us was, "Ashanie has something he wants to tell you guys!" Her 10 year old son, Ashanie, told us he wanted to be baptized on April 25th! The only thought that came to my mind was a quote from The Blind Side, "Well alright then." So we have been working with him every day since then to make sure he knows what he's getting into and all that stuff. He's way sick. He asked for Elder Fowkes' name tag and wears it every time we meet now haha.

On Thursday, we thought we would branch out and try a different cook shop than the one we usually go to. We found a place called Ian's One Stop Shop and their food is amazing. All cook shops in Jamaica are super good. On our way to Sister Nicely's, we were walking up a big hill to get to her house, when some construction workers called us over and asked us why we "hike this hill every day." We told them who we were and one guy spoke up and started going off about how he knows all about us. So obviously we asked him what he knew and this was his response: "Ya I know all about how your David Smith thinks he's Jesus Christ and you worship David Smith and..and..OH and he wrote the Norman Bible too!" On and on and on haha Elder Fowkes and I tried our best to keep a straight face. I just told him he seems to have a lot of ideas about us but that none of that stuff was even remotely correct, then we all shook hands and went our separate ways. Super strange but that's how it is here I guess haha.

Elder Fowkes bought Monopoly when we were in town a week ago and that is pretty much what we do at night until we read and go to bed. It is way competitive between the four of us but super fun!

No hair I mean new hair

Friday night I shaved my head because it is either that or pay for a less-than-good hair cut by a Jamaican barber.  Elder Stewart used normal settings on the trimmer last time on me and it hardly cut anything (we must have been on a low power setting) so this time I wanted to do a little shorter and... well... hahaha whoops. Happy accident though, now I don't have to do anything with my hair so that's good.

Reallllly annoying pigeons inhabiting our roof

Also, we have been super annoyed by all the loud pigeons that hop around on our roof at night. So Elder Stewart climbed up on the roof and (since pigeons can't see anything at night) went all special ops and caught a pigeon. We gave it to a kid named David who sells pigeons and has a coup and everything.

On Saturday, I went on a trade off with Elder Kuehn into his side of Yallahs. He is great. He is kind of quiet but super funny. Plus he's my age and not 21 like the other two elders in the house. 

Our questions this week for Elder Graham:  

1.  How do you wash clothes?  We have a washer and then we just hang our clothes up on a line to dry.

2.  What do you have for breakfast?  Usually oatmeal or some cereal or something normal (I've been a good budgeter so I can buy my precious milk).

3.  What's your favorite gospel topic to teach?  Favorite gospel topic is probably the Book of Mormon. Because everyone already believes in the Bible, all we have to do is ask them how they know the Bible is true and just say BoM is the SAME WAY, ya dummies, so you gonna read it it or what?!

4.  What would you change about your mission if you could?  I would make Jamaica not such a low-key third world country haha. Everyone thinks of only the tourist locations of Jamaica but if they go beyond that, people literally live in board/cement block houses with zinc sheets as walls and roofing...I have no clue how people do it.

The home of a member in our branch.
Jamaica is a lot different than people expect it to be...

Never mind - honestly I wouldn't change the fact that Jamaica is basically a third world country because it makes me seem cool. teehee  Glad to see the humility continues with our elder... Also there is a 16% sales tax at the grocery store which BLOWS. Why is the most necessary part of life the most expensive?? And I hate the way Jamaican men treat women. It's gross but luckily the women here are pretty independent so that's good. Other than that absolutely nothing.

That's pretty much it for now.  I'm working as hard as I can - gotta make the best of it cuz the clock is ticking!! haha

Love and miss you guys!

Elder Graham

Week #9 - Canned Fish and Handcuffs

Hey Fam!

This week has been great! We've been pretty busy all week long which is always a good thing.

Jamaican June Plum

On Tuesday one of our investigators gave us some plums from his tree and they are way good! They kind of taste like green apples but are smaller and have a huge seed in the middle. 

On Wednesday we did a trade off. Elder Fowkes and Elder Kuehn went together and Elder Stewart came with me. He is a really good teacher and has a ton of confidence. He knows how to be bold but loving simultaneously, and I learned a lot from him.

Everywhere we go, people ask us how old we are. We usually just ask them to guess because it's really funny how many different guesses people come up with. For me, people have thought I was anywhere from 19 to 24 years old. For Elder Fowkes, it's usually between 25 and 30 haha.

We ended with about 19 total lessons which is a way good week. We are working hard out here. We have one investigator who is 16 and lives right next to Tamara, one of our recent converts. Her name is Kavia and she seems way interested.  Tamara has been a huge help as we teach Kavia - they're pretty close in age, and Tamara's testimony is the best influence for Kavia.  She has trouble getting fare for taxis to get to church, though. Not sure what we're gonna do about that but anyway. Also a 13 year old daughter of a long-time-less-active woman told us she wanted to be baptized so we're working with her as much as we can. Still trying to figure out her motives and her true desire/commitment to be baptized and stuff but it seems good.  Tamara gave her first talk on Sunday on baptism and she did great!

For Friday night activity, we played capture the flag and it was awesome. We did us four missionaries vs the 8 or 9 other people there and you can probably guess that we lost. However, we lasted a long time. Later that night, we were cleaning up the church from the activity and we heard, "Come out with your hands on your head!" Obviously we were a little confused because we weren't doing anything illegal (as far as I know). We walked out toward the street and saw three cops who had a guy in handcuffs and were searching his truck. After a few minutes they put the guy in their car and took off, leaving the guy's truck just parked on the side of the road. That was a little strange. 

Tin Mackerel

We went to Sister Nicely's (recent convert, also Tamara's aunt) on Saturday and she fed us tin mackerel which tasted kind of like a mix of salt fish and tuna. We had it with some rice and this pepper sauce that she made. Super spicy but pretty good!

Yesterday at church, some random guy showed up for all three hours. After talking with him a little bit, we found out that he lives in the same housing scheme as us. He is a highway patrol officer for the road that connects Kingston and Yallahs. His name is Horace and he is really cool and super nice. Hopefully we can start teaching him. For the evening, Sister Meadow fed us (she feeds us every Sunday) stew chicken and rice and peas. Her stew chicken is the best! By the way, I pretty much eat chicken like a savage now which is kind of necessary for living in Jamaica.

Elder Stewart and Kuehn bought a fishing pole last week and went out this morning super early and caught two fish right out by at the beach. The Yallahs house is the best. The four of us get along great, except for when we play card games like rook haha. 

Cody's grandparents in Pocatello, Idaho asked if he knew an Elder Rammell from their stake.  YES! Elder Rammell is my zone leader and got his Patriarchal Blessing from Grandpa Briggs!  He's way cool, super chill and going to BYU-I in the fall.

That's pretty much it for this week. Not too many pictures this week, but I got one decent one. Anyway, love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Graham

The view from above Sister Nicely's house

Week #8 - Got My Buns Through Easter

Hey Fam!

Our P-Day got switched to Tuesday this week because yesterday was 'Easter Monday' in Jamaica so stores and things were closed down.

Conference was great! We got a 32 inch TV at our church the day before conference which we hooked up wirelessly to our computer monitor and streamed conference from YouTube.

I thought about Grandma Briggs a lot yesterday for some reason, guess I know why now. She's in my prayers… We let Cody know that his grandma in Pocatello, Idaho is struggling with some health challenges.

On Wednesday, President Brown came to Yallahs for some interviews. He said he wanted to come teaching with us but his interviews went too long so he wasn't able to come with us.  The AP trade off was way good. Elder Whitlock said I was a great teacher, and also we went contacting in the richest part of Yallahs, South Haven (for obvious reasons) and he is a wizard with talking to people about the church. Like people who say not interested at first I would usually be like "k see ya" but he would just keep the conversation going and figure out some way to bring up the gospel again. I learned a lot from Elder Whitlock, although he almost lost the key to my bike lock when he was trying to lock missionaries' feet to chairs haha. He is getting transferred tomorrow though so he won’t be AP anymore. Yep, one transfer in already for me. On Saturday I hit two months?!?!?! Time is flying for me, almost too fast!

Transfers are tomorrow (April 8th) and no one in the Yallahs house is going anywhere – I’m still being trained, six more weeks before I’m no longer a trainee. So May 20, Elder Fowkes will probably leave because he’s been here since October.

Easter Bun & cheese

So for Easter, the tradition here is Easter bun and cheese. They are basically spice buns with raisin and other fruits in it. It tasted pretty much like fruit cake...with cheese. So not something I would die to have in the future. I'll be totally honest, we were given a huge spice bun and cheese, and I stuffed it in my bag like a wimp, and when we left I tossed it as far as I could. Not my proudest moment but I repented. 

Tamarind is super bitter

Our friend Paul has a cashew tree in his yard and they are finally ready to be picked and roasted. Crazy how that process happens. But home roasted cashews are fantastic! Elder Fowkes and I ate so many on Friday hahaha! We also got some tamarind to take home from Paul's place. Not sure how to describe what it is except for it is way bitter and really sour.

I got a card from the Zundel family at zone conference a couple weeks ago that I forgot to tell you about. They are awesome. Tell them thanks from me will ya? Also Dave Luman sent me a nice email this week. Mail took about a month to get here haha so tell mom if she wants a package to get to me, plan at least a month in advance if not longer.   Was that a hint, maybe??

That's it for this week. Not too much happened other than teaching and learning some new things as I continue. Tonight is reach out night where we go visit a few less active members and share a spiritual thought.  Talk to ya next week!  Love and miss you guys!

Love,

Elder Graham

Elder Kuehn's machete

One more sweet pic that I took just now right outside our house

The Spanish Town & Kingston Zones