Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année Grand-mère! - The Weekly Letter

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! (The grandma part comes from "Jingle Bells" in French. :) ) 

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with the other missionaries here in New Caledonia. Christmas Eve we played games and sports and ate Hawiian Haystacks and then Christmas Day we watched the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional, sang lots of songs together, and had a secret Santa gift exchange. It was a great time getting to be with my mission family and spend time with them.

I also got to Skype with the family, and my girlfriend (she's waited 13 months, she earned it). It was amazing getting to see them and just talk with everyone again. They are seriously the best. 

We also had the oppourtunity with the quartet to go and sing at the "maison de Pere Noel" and then at Place des Cocotiers, two big attractions during Christmastime. There were groups of missionaries there for the 4 days leading up to Christmas, and we got lots of great exposure and the chance to talk with many people, and above all else, we #littheworld. 

The only bad part about the holidays is that a lot of the people we've been working with have left for the holidays. But that's ok, we just keep trying to find people, and we've been catching up on the bureau work we've gotten behind on because of the holidays. 

I hope everyone's Christmas was merry and that this next year will be amazing for you. I would encourage you all to turn to your Heavenly Father in prayer and ask him what your resolutions should be for this year, and He'll let you know, and provide the way to accomplish those goals.

Love you all!
Elder Miner

Destiny at the Tjibaou Cultural Center

Singing at the "maison de Pere Noel" in Anse Vata. 

Christmas Eve Party

Pere Noel des Isles!

Christmas Present!

#Eclairezlemonde - The Weekly Email

Hello everyone, 

Here I am in sunny New Caledonia and Christmas is coming soon! It's sunny and bright with a goregous ocean, but it's Christmas-time here. 

The Christmas spirit is here in good measure. Our quartet's concerts were cancelled, but we'll be singing in the Place des Cocotiers, a cool spot downtown in the middle of Noumea, looking to spread a little Christmas cheer. 

I have a story of a miracle we had this past week. We were on our way to a residence to see if we could go sing there for Christmas, and as we were going there, we received a telephone call from a member who lives there, she told us that "Elders, I have someone here for who needs to be taught." We looked at each other and headed over. We met someone who had gone to church in Lifou, one of the Loyalty Islands, and had talked with a member there. She then came to the main island and got in contact with this member in our sector. When we got there, she told us her story and then announced that she had started reading the Book of Mormon and wanted to be baptized right away. We taught her 3 lessons over the past two days, but then handed her off to the sisters over the area where she actually lives. This was our Christmas miracle. 

I testify that Christ lives. Christmas is the season to remember His birth. He was born to save us from our sins and to help us all return to live with our Heavenly Father. I am grateful for His miraculous birth, His life, and His Atonement.

Merry Christmas to all.

Elder Miner

I've been dreaming of a White (Sand) Christmas - The Weekly Email

As fun as Christmas is in tropical paradise, I do find myself missing snow ever so slightly. Just a teeny tiny bit though, and only for Christmas. Otherwise, the weather here has been particularly gorgeous recently. 

My son arrived on Friday as well! ("Son" is the mission term for a missionary you train, so I'm his father, and so on. Genealogy is very important after all.) He's the first missionary to be "born" in the bureau here in New Caledonia. Life here is pretty crazy, but he's catching on pretty well and learning about all his fun duties. His French is pretty darn good too for someone who just came from the MTC. He's a good missionary, and I hope I can help him to grow and learn and become better. 

In recent news, we had zone conference over the past couple days, and it's been really good. President Granger is truly inspired to lead this mission. His love for each of his missionaries is astounding.

Our investigator Tony is really progressing well. He has such a desire to change, but 40 years of habits is a lot to break. Pray for him please. The mission is also super close to our goal to baptize 1000 people in 2016, we're about 50 short by the last count. So stinking close, and I think we will see miracles as we offer up the fruits of our missionary efforts to our Father in Heaven as our Christmas gift to Him. 

Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noel everyone!

Elder Miner

LETCHI SEASON! Letchi is soooo good...

My son, Elder Kennedy!

Our shower is being re-done...

The Zone and the Mission, respectively.

The New Caledonia mission region.

Tsunami warnings after magnitude-7.8 earthquake strikes near Solomon Islands

A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck near the Pacific's Solomon Islands, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to warn that tsunami waves were possible in several South Pacific islands.

The quake was centered about 120 miles southeast of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The epicenter was relatively deep at 30 miles below the surface.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Deeper quakes generally cause less damage on the ground.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cautioned that tsunami waves were possible in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, New Caledonia, Tuvalu and in Kosrae, in the Federated States of Micronesia.

*The mission home reported that all missionaries in the Solomon Island are safe.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, Whitewashes in every sector.... - The Weekly Email

So, this transfer has been an absolute doozy. Out of 18 sectors here in New Caledonia, 8 got whitewashed, and only two stayed the same. Wowch. The entire Magenta District except me got changed as well. We'll have 7 new missionaries here. And my new companion will be... Elder Kennedy, a brand new missionary! That's right everyone, Elder Miner is about to be a dad! (Mission slang for trainer, your trainees are your sons). 

With the transfers things are crazy here getting new apartments and everything else ready to go for everyone. Not much has changed with regards to missionary work, other than it getting harder as people leave for the holidays. I'll have more news next week as I start training and we make one final push before Christmas. 

Love you all, Joyeux Noel. 

Finally burned my year-mark shirt. (Don't worry Mom, it was stained beyond wearability)

First picture with the new camera, thanks Mom and Dad!

Family Home Evening with the Parau's! They live in an area that just got added to our sector, so we were there along with the missionaries of the sector where they used to live. And we brought an investigator, the guy sitting next to me.

Mele Kalikimaka! - The Weekly Email

Hello one and all! Merry Christmas from the beautiful island of New Caledonia here in the South Pacific! I know that mele kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day, but it's also the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway, so I think it counts. 

We have been super busy today, between the last district activity for a departing sister and our quartet rehearsal, so this is about all I have time to send off. Just want to let you all know that I'm doing great here. There's always work here to do, whether I'm helping other missionaries or teaching people. We have a lot of investigators in progress, including now a boy named Adolf who is the son of an investigator who was taught by the Magenta sisters and will be getting baptized this weekend. He's super shy but very smart and progressing well. 

I hope everyone at home is doing well. It's raining a lot here, but it's nice because then it's not hot, thank goodness. Transfers will be announced this weekend as well, so I'll let you know how that works out next week. Love you all!

Elder Miner

Thanksgiving Dinner!

We got to destroy an old hard drive (Church's orders). :)

District activity to go see an old abandoned boat and last district activity for Sister Caress

Brace yourselves, a new ward has been created - the weekly email

Hello one and all. Yes, that is the biggest news here in New Caledonia. This past weekend we had a special Stake Conference and a new ward was created! The Dumbea ward was broken off from the Riviere Sallee ward, and the Riviere Sallee ward took in part of the Mont Dore ward, specifically Yahoue. The Church is starting to grow here in New Caledonia, which is great to see, because the Church grows exponentially. Good signs for us as missionaries. :) I'm excited to see the Church continue to grow and mature, since it's still pretty young here. 

This past week has been pretty busy, I've been on two exchanges, one with the Zone Leaders and the other with Elder Darche, an Elder from Quebec who has been here all of 5 weeks who's in my district. They were both great experiences with lots of miracles. For example, with the zone leader, Elder Ursenbach, one of our investigators started asking about baptism. Lessons with him are usually just question-answer sessions because he's studied with the missionaries a lot before in Tahiti, and now he just likes to discuss. The Spirit was so powerful as we discussed and engaged him to fervently pray about baptism. We've also begun teaching the son of an investigator who will be getting baptized on the 3rd of December. His name is Adolf, and I think that he will accept the gospel and probably be baptized before the end of the year. He's kind of shy, but super intelligent. 

Hope you all continue to enjoy this special holiday season, Thanksgiving is tomorrow (for me that is) and Christmas is right around the corner. Benefit from this time with your families and friends.

Love,

Elder Miner

Meetings, DMP's, and the Return of the Rain - The Weekly Email

This has been a doozy of a week, for many reasons, a few of which I will mention now. First off, we finally have a new DMP! DMP is the slang term that the missionaries use in English, because in French a "ward mission leader" is "le Dirigeant de la Mission de la Paroisse" or "DMP" for short. The ward mission leader is basically the bridge between full-time missionaries and the rest of the ward, and he's vital for planning baptisms, being a friend to investigators, and just generally helping the missionaries. Our old DMP was basically inactive, so this will be a good change for the ward. 
The plans for the quartet are also starting to move forward. We've made some progress in getting some concerts in the chapels here in Noumea, and we're still trying to work on getting some performances in public areas. I feel like it'd be a lot easier in America, but oh well, we'll work with what we've got. 

And finally, it's raining today. A bit of a bummer since we'd planned to do a district activity of barbecuing and frisbee, but now we'll just be hanging at the chapel. It's been great though because it has been stinking hot recently. It's not as hot as it gets back home, it's just humid. 

In missionary news, our investigator Tony has made some HUGE progress. He's starting to give up alcohol, and he came to church! HE CAME TO CHURCH! That's like, a really big deal. I think sometimes we who are members of the Church don't realize how big of a change that is to go to church on Sunday since we've done that our whole lives, but for an investigator, that's a big deal. I'm really excited for Tony.

We also have a new investigator named Filipo also. I'm really starting to like Wallisians, they have a great culture and are so friendly. Makes me want to visit Wallis some today. 

Love you all back home, see you in less than a year.

Elder Miner

Also from the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission Facebook page:  

Cyclone season has started today, 1st November and will end 30th April 2017. In the Southwest Pacific most cyclones, especially intense ones, occur January, February or March.
In our next round of Zone Conference Training throughout the Mission we will be reviewing Emergency preparation and response information with all of the Missionaries.

Calm in New Caledonia after clashes

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Reports from New Caledonia say calm has returned to the stretch of road blocked for three days by armed unrest but that one vehicle was stoned overnight.

Negotiations involving traditional and local leaders as well as the French state allowed for the clean-up of the road between Noumea and Mont-Dore which was blocked by armed youths whose gunshots injured five policemen on Sunday.

An estimated 50 stolen cars were set alight by young men to block the road near St Louis after police shot dead a 23-year-old prison escapee William Decoire early on Saturday.

he authorities say police acted in self-defence but a tribal leader from St Louis, Roch Wamytan, said the victim's family is poised to lodge a formal complaint to establish the facts.

He told the local daily newspaper that none of the young people was armed when their stolen vehicle was stopped by police.

William Decoire had 19 convictions and was on the run since June last year.

The only person arrested over the incident so far is one of the passengers of the stolen car.

The clashes cut off road links to the southernmost part of the mainland, leading to broad supply shortages.

This from the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission facebook page:

There has been an incidence of civil unrest in New Caledonia over the last few days. It appears to be under control now.
All of our Missionaries are safe. 
A few Sister Missionaries were hosted by a wonderful member Sister after they were stranded in Mont Dore south of Noumea on the wrong side of the road blockade whilst attending a Ward activity and could not return to their house for several days. Eventually it was arranged for them to be transported back past the blockade via a Naval Vessel which was being used for that purpose.

One Year Older and Wiser Too... - The Weekly Email

So, Friday will officialy mark one year on a mission! It's positively flown by, and I'm so grateful for the experiences I've had and the people I've met. I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity to grow closer to the Savior by serving Him and by proclaiming and bearing his name.

I must say, Halloween here is nothing like in the States. Very few decorations, hardly any trick-or-treaters, it's just not that big of a deal here. I was kind of sad about that though since I have lots of great Halloween memories from back home. It's always been one of my favorite holidays.

This week has flown by as well, I can hardly believe it's P-day already. This past week we were able to work a lot with Beatrice. She's still returning to activity, and her daughter Rebecca was baptized not too long ago. She's facing a lot of opposition from her parents and family against the church, and she doesn't know where to go. We've been doing our best to help her and encouraging her to pray and to listen for the answer. Our investigators Fred and Phrasé have also been making huge progress and I'm very excited for them. We had a great discussion on faith last Saturday. Finally we have a new investigator named Jonathan. He's in his 20's and lives alone, and really loves studying and learning about God. He could go far. 

We also had our first rehearsal for the quartet last p-day, and it went really well. I'm optomistic for this group, and I'm looking forward to the Christmas season to start performing. 

I love you all, Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Elections for those of you still in America!

Elder Miner

Dressed all in white, but it wasn't a wedding - The Weekly Email

Hey everyone, so this past weekend there was a baptism! It was an investigator named Christiana from the Motor Pool area, but after I did her baptismal interview she asked if I could baptize her, which I did. It was an amazing experience, and I'm so grateful to have the priesthood, which gives me the power to help others make covenants with God, what a wonderful, precious thing. The baptismal service was great as well because we had our investigators Fred and Phrasé and another investigator named Tony there. Tony had a great story about he felt like there were two voice the morning before, one telling him not to go and the other to go, and he got up and left, but then couldn't find the chapel, but when he was going to turn around he said it was like someone turned his steering wheel left and then he found the chapel. There can be miracles....

Otherwise the week has been good. Settling in with a new companion, trying to introduce him to the sector still. We've started teaching Patrice again which is really cool. Life is good here, life is good. We're working on finding more, and Elder Chong-Ayou is a great example of talking to everyone. 

Hope all is well back home, love you all!

Elder Miner

Baptism. :) The water was a little cold, I must say. 

Transfer number 9, in which I will reach my year mark - The Weekly Email

Yes, once again ladies and gentlemen it's transfer time. This one's a little early since our mission President has a conference to go to, so the next one will be a little longer, ending the first week of December. Elder Kessler finally got transferred after 10 months in the bureau. My new companion is named Elder Chong Ayou. He's from Tahiti, and he's been in the mission for about 6 months. He's super tall, at least 6' 5", an amazing athlete, guitar and piano player, and a great missionary. This transfer is going to rock. I'm also now the senior companion and district leader here in Magenta, which means I'm in charge of exchanges with the Elders in my district, baptismal interviews, and overseeing the work in the district of Magenta. A little busier now for me, but I've been companions with the district leader since I got here, so not a big change. 

In other news here in the mission, 4 missionaries just went home, and a fifth from here is now one of the Assistants to the President, and we're only getting two missionaries on Friday, so numbers are down a little here, but that's no problem! We'll just keep on working anyway. This past week we've continued to meet with some of our potential investigators that are turning into investigators, I'll keep you posted if any start to really advance. Ana is on again/off again with the lessons, still not sure how to help her most. 

That's about all for now, the last few days have been packed with transfer stuff, so I'm still a little worn out. Hope all is well back home, enjoy your nice fall weather all you people state-side!

Love,

Elder Miner

All I want for my birthday is a baptism... - The Weekly Email

So yes, in the biggest news of recent times, it was my birthday yesterday! I'm officially two decades old! I didn't do anything too special for my birthday though, although I was blessed with some great success talking to a number of people, we found 3 new investigators in one day! God really does answer prayers, and he is right here next to us out in the mission field. 

Aside from my birthday, one of the biggest things also happening out here is that I've been put in charge of helping our mission president organize a missionary quartet to sing in and around Nouméa. We're looking to perform a lot during Christmas time and then to continue to do so throughout the year. I have seriously missed performing at a high level, and I'm super excited to use my musical talents and the experience I have in instrumental and choral music and in directing and conducting to help further the work of God in New Caledonia and to give people amazing experiences. 

As for our investigators, we have one young man named Boris who is the son of a member here that has recently come to stay with his dad. He's already had the missionary lessons before, and as Elder Kessler and I have prayed and meditated on which of our investigators could be baptized in October to contribute to the goal our President has set for us, his name is the one we agreed on. On Sunday we spoke with his dad, and we called his son who was visiting his mom for the weekend and asked if he wanted to prepare to be baptized before the end of the month, and he said yes! I really think he is in a state to accept the Gospel now. Ana has also started taking the lessons again, and is progressing and again cleaning up her life, although not without opposition, because Satan doesn't like it when we change our lives to follow God.

Thanks everyone back home for your prayers and support, smile at a missionary, they need it sometimes.

Love,

Elder Miner

This is us eating pizza on Elder Kessler's birthday, and it only cost $35! (I'm not joking, pizza is so expensive here and still not that good, and the first thing I want when I get home is Pizza Hut).

 Hunting for venues for our quartet. That's an outdoor ampitheatre at the university here.

 My birthday breakfast. :)

Magnums are 150 Francs and no one is wearing ski coats? It must be summer! - The Weekly Email

Summer is officially here! No spring or anything, oh no, just sudden heat and humidity. But that's ok, these delicious ice cream bars called Magnums are on sale for about half price all month, so I'll be ok. And fatter. But oh well. And yes, now the locals are dressed normally again, so it's definitely summer here.

Hello everyone who is tuning in once again to my updates from the South Pacific! October is shaping up to be on par with our month of miracles in July. We've already seen just me and Elder Kessler a lot of things falling into place, lots and lots of little miracles, as well as people coming up to us or us easily finding people who are interested. There are also a lot of things starting to change out here. I won't go too much into detail, but it's gonna be big. We just had our mission President here yesterday for a specialized training, and I feel great. I was translating so I was really able to listen and take notes, and I had a lot of impressions come to me about what I can be doing better. Once some stuff really starts happening, I'll let you all know.

I hope you are all doing great back home! Talk to you next time!

Au revoir,

Elder Miner

Me next to a replica of a traditional Kanak hut, known as a case, pronounced like caz.

Me and Elder Kessler inside the entrance to a case. 

"There can be miracles... When you believe..." - The Weekly Email

Ah Prince of Egypt, what a great movie. That song might as well become this mission's theme song with all the emphasis we've put on miracles.

Hello one and all, here's me sending off from New Caledonia again. The weather is beautiful, the water is gorgeous, the people are smiling, and I'm just loving it.

We've seen a ton of progress this past week. Fred and Euphrasé, a younger Melanesian couple we've been teaching both came to church this Sunday, and Patrice finally made it out to his old church, something he said he needed to do to help his conscience. And, the biggest news of all.... WE FOUND ANA AGAIN! Sunday night we were about to leave when we saw her walking, so we stopped and got out and started talking and she said she wants to start the lessons again! Elder Kessler and I were super excited, and we're so optimistic for October to help New Caledonia hit its baptismal goal.

Fun little side-note, Elder Kessler hit his year mark last Friday. Time flies by so fast sometimes, my year mark is only about 5 weeks away. Crazy huh?

I just want to talk about an interesting phenomenon in mission life. It seems like the more success you have, and equally the more obedient and dedicated you're being, the more opposition and rejection also seems to come your way. The trick is to keep your head up high and focus on the mini miracles, and not the tough stuff that gets in the way. I love my mission, and I couldn't be happier than I am being here right now. I love you all, and I'll see you soon!

Elder Miner

PS No pictures for a while, my camera broke, sorry everyone...

Old Friends, New Faces, and Intimidating Gates

Hello once again everyone, it's your favorite Elder Miner sending emails once again! This week has been busy, and full of mini-miracles. I'll start with the title, first off the old friend this week was my friend Leo from Mont Dore. He was baptized at the beginning of the year, and we often passed by to help him understand everything in the church and to keep him company a little since he's retired and single. We received a call from the Elders in Mont Dore letting us know that Leo was in the hospital in our sector and that he would be leaving for a hospital in Australia really soon and that he wanted a blessing. We got in to see him, he's doing fine he just has some problems with some organs and he needs to go somewhere with better medical care. It was great seeing him again and we were able to give him a Book of Mormon to take with him since it had all been a really fast process. Now for the second part of the title. The mission has a goal to baptize 180 people next month, with 25 of those coming from New Caledonia, so to facilitate that one of our goals is to "find like crazy." For me and Elder Kessler, that's meant leaving the Tours de Magenta where we do most of our work and we're now going gate-to-gate in some of the richer neighborhoods that make up most of our area. It's a little tough since we usually get rejected pretty hard by richer people, although we've had a little success, more news next time if it pans out. But really, everyone rich here has gates and fences and it's a lot different than America. 

Other than that, we're doing pretty well here, Elder Kessler's year mark will be this Friday. Our investigators are all still doing well for the most part. We had 4 investigators at church last Sunday which I think is the highest for my time in Ouemo, as well as one of our long-term inactive members that we've been working with for a while named Nadine. I consider her coming back is thanks to us trying harder than ever to work with members.  Other than that it's just business as usual here I guess. But stuff is moving, we're definitely beginning to progress, and same with some of our investigators.
Love you all!

Elder Miner

Dual-zone photo from the last zone conference.

Us and Leo in the hospital.

Beautiful views while gate-to-gating.

The Tremendous Transfer

So, the biggest news since last P-day is transfers..... Drumroll please, Elder Miner is staying in Ouemo and his companion will be..... ELDER KESSLER! That's right, no changes for us two. Elder Kessler has been here since I got to New Caledonia, and he'll pass his year mark here. But, we will be together for our birthdays, so that'll be cool, his birthday is October 7th and mine is the 11th, so that'll be fun. The rest of our district stayed the same too, except the trio of sisters changed sectors. 

Other than that, missionary work has basically stayed the same. We've had some trouble getting in contact with Alexia again, but that's somewhat par for the course. We've been trying to find like crazy to get ready to baptize like crazy in October, but I don't really have any good stories from that... I do want to give a shoutout to the Elders in Kone, the farthest North sector. They had a baptism this past week, the first in at least 10 years, if not ever. The work is really starting to move here, it's amazing to watch. It's great to be part of a mission where the culture is continuing to change for the better. 

Love you all back home! I love all the stories from your lives, whether you're on missions too or just living life back home! 

See you soon,

Elder Miner

The district of Magenta.

We went to the WWII museum last week, it was way cool and very well done. America basically changed cultural relations here between the French and native Kanaks, and left behind infrastructure like roads and airports. Thousands of Americans passed through here either going to, returning from, or recovering from battle in the Pacific.

Some of the money here. The top red one is the equivalent of a $100 bill here, but it sure doesn't go as far... 

Faith, the Final Frontier - The Weekly Email

Faith, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the mighty Vanuatu Port Vila Mission. It's ongoing mission: to do the 5 and baptize, and invite others to come unto Christ. To boldly go where no mission has gone before. 

We just wrapped up our latest zone conference yesterday, and one of the things we talked about was the frontier of faith, that as we become more and more obedient and follow the five steps (Be obedient, be faithful, work hard, achieve the goals that you set, and never give up) President Granger has given us, we approach the frontier and once we break it, anything is possible. The zone conference was awesome, and once again I was translating. It was much easier this time, especially with the help of Elder Claveau, one of our newer Tahitian missionaries who speaks great English. I really do enjoy translating, although it does make it harder to participate in the conference. Luckily I have great companions who help me with that. 

As for some investigator updates, Patrice is still doing great, our last lesson with him he had a list of about 8 questions on what he had been reading in the Book of Mormon, and great questions too about why Laman and Lemuel still murmured after seeing the angel, questions like that. We also had a great member-present lesson with Alexia. I don't know how much I've talked about her, we've had a tough time getting in contact with her, but she's turning into a much more solid investigator. She was raised Catholic, but always argued with the priests in Catholic school and felt like she could never get answers, but she loves our lessons because she feels like she gets truthful, logical answers. The member who came with us was raised Catholic as well and he had a lot of similar experiences and they connected really well. It was an awesome experience. 

I also had a CT scan today for my sinuses, we should get the results this afternoon.

Other than that, not much else to report, hope you all are doing well back home!

Love you all!

Elder Miner

Tracting, two peepholes?

Elder Claveau and me.

                          The 4 Elders from my MTC district.

Infected Face Tunnels - The weekly email

So, I went in to the doctor last week. I've been having a lot of sinus pain and headaches recently, I decided that at this point it's interfering with my being able to work as a missionary. We've been trying a few different things, but they've only been treating the symptoms. The doctor says that because there are so many things constantly in bloom here that it can really aggravate any sinus problems I may have had from before, and he thinks I have sinusitis. I'll be getting a CT scan of my sinuses next week, so we'll see what happens. Nothing can stop the work though!

This week has been a bit of a rollercoaster, some investigators have made some amazing progress while some others, haven't... We haven't seen Ana in probably a week or more now, and we are really not sure why. It doesn't look like her baptism is going to work out for next week... However, we have one new investigator named Patrice who is making amazing progress. He has been reading the Book of Mormon at an amazing rate. There are some things about the Church and his old church that he's still working through, but after a long in-depth conversation about the priesthood and restoration he's much more inclined to accept what we have to say. He asks so many questions, and our discussions are always awesome. 

I can't really think of anything else big and important. Next week will bring a zone conference and transfer news, so expect a bigger email then I guess.

Love you all!

Elder Miner

PACKAGE!!!

Exchange! That's Elder Tauotaha, one of our Zone Leaders here in the South. We had a great exchange a couple days ago.

When roundabouts are the norm here, you need a stop sign WITH the red light.

Referrals? We don't need no stinkin' referrals - the weekly email

The reason I say that is because we've been having some odd success with tracting recently. Between people who we've taught quick lessons too at the door with a return appointment that went through, to one lady inviting us in because she'd seen us walking around so much and wanted to talk to us. It's been awesome. 

With tracting comes my quick story for the week about our investigator Patrice. This is a story of tracting with the Holy Ghost working with you too. Whenever we tract in the Tours de Magenta, we always pray in the morning beforehand, study our homemade map, and choose a tower or two to work during the day when we have lessons fall through or a little time there or whatever. I felt directed to one specific floor in a building. We knocked the first three doors, nothing. Then the last one, and Patrice opened up. We introduced ourselves and our message, gave him a Book of Mormon and made a return appointment. The first time we went by we had a great lesson and he asked tons of questions, and it's been like that ever since. He's progressing well, and all through tracting.

In other news Ana is doing, OK. The father of her two oldest kids, who want to be baptized, didn't give his permission for them to be baptized, so now we wait. We'll still teach them, but they can't be baptized until they have the ok from their father... Ana has been down about it too we think and we haven't seen her in a while, wish us luck.

On a happier note we're working better with the members now since we made a list for people to sign up on with what days and times they're available, which has helped us quite a bit. Things are picking up a bit out here, especially since a school vacation just finished up. Hopefully we'll have some great news to share soon!

Love you all!

Elder Miner

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Ouémo cannons pique-nique last p-day

*Quick explanation on the cannons, there are still a number of old WWII cannon emplacements that the Americans and Australians stuck here scattered around the island, now they're just lookout points for the most part, pretty cool though. 

 

The local supermarket. It's really not too different here sometimes.