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