I can't believe it's already almost Christmas again! I've started to hear some Christmas songs here in Guyana, but it's definitely not looking like Christmas here! It's still around 80 degrees every day and the humidity is a killer! It just feels like I'm on a long summer vacation.
I'm excited to hear about Rylees call. It would be SO cool if she got called to the West Indies mission. I was thinking about it a few days ago. I would talk to President Mehr and see if I could serve in the same place as her until my mission was over. I could help her transition faster than I did and she could get working. The chances of her call coming here are slim, but I still think it would be really cool.
I've been doing pretty well. Health wise, I'm alright. Kind of like your situation right now. I have a rough day every now and then where I feel EXHAUSTED all day no matter how much sleep I get, and then I'm good for a week or so. It's kind of hit or miss.
I was a little bit negative in my e-mail last week. It's been tough here in Guyana, but the Lord needs me here for a reason. My Zone leader told me a story last week. I want to share it with you. He taught me a lesson in the form of a parable. :) Here it is......
A farmer was working one day out near the edge of his farm land. His farm was on the edge of a town. A van pulled up on the road beside him with a family in it. They began to talk to the farmer and asked him what the city was like. The farmer responded "Well, what was the town like that you just came from?" They responded. "It sucked! Our neighbors were rude, the sports teams were biased at our high school, the kids didn't get along with their teachers and we that't why we moved!" The farmer responded "Well, I'm sorry, but it's the same way here." The van drove off and the farmer went back to work. Sometime later, another car pulled up next to the farmers land. They called out to him. It was another family that was moving in to the town. They asked the farmer "What's the town like here?" The farmer replied again "Well, what's the town like that you're coming from?" The family responded "It was great. The kids were doing great in school. We loved the town. We loved our neighbors. We're so sad to be leaving such a great place." The farmer smiled and said, "You're in luck, because it's the same way here."
I talked to my Zone leader about the story. I got a pretty important lesson from this story. I realized that you get what you look for. If you come to Guyana looking at it as a ghetto, third world, under-developed, and worthless place....that's what you'll find. But, on the other hand, if you look for the silver lining, you'll find that there are some great members here with testimonies stronger than any you'll ever see. You'll find a people who work hard to earn a living by doing anything possible to support their family. You will find a happy people despite their surroundings. You'll see the Light of Christ. You get what you look for.
This week was pretty good. We had 4 investigators at church yesterday. We taught some good lessons last week, and met some great people that we're now teaching. We also got to celebrate Diwali! That was a lot of fun. I'm attaching some pictures of 7-Curry. We eat it with our hands, and we ate it out of a leaf! They set off some fireworks (I almost got shot in the face twice with fireworks. Once with a bottle rocket and once with a Roman Candle.). It was fun to be in a relaxed environment where I could get to know the members better. It was a fun branch activity. Hindu families lit up a TON of candles that night. You could tell which houses were Hindu. Fireworks went off until about 4 in the morning. Our neighbors are Hindu.......
Other than that, I'm doing really well. I'm excited to hear that lots of people from back home are leaving on missions. It will be fun to see the huge increase of missionaries in the field. Did i tell you that the W.I.M. is getting 60 more missionaries? President told me a few days ago that he is going to need me to train and be a leader in the coming transfers because we need the new missionaries to be trained well. I'll keep you posted on what's happening. No worries.
I'm alive and well. Elder Rollins and I are doing great. We get along really well. It's great to have a companion you get along with all the time. I've found that you usually get a rough area OR a rough companion. Heavenly Father knows how much you can handle. I'm going to try and look for the silver lining here in Guyana, and maybe by the end of this transfer, I'll have a good area along with my good companion.
I love you guys!
Brad
