Buite ganafe,
This week blew by like a gust of wind. Last week, after I finished writing, we went to President Hintze's house and we ate dinner. Then on a projector, his assistants showed us all off the areas that we, the missionaries going to Belize, would have. First of all I have to explain that when someone goes to Belize from El Salvador, it is like starting the mission over again. Basicly you have to get "Belize trained". Also, President only sends missionaries he trusts to Belize because it is so far away from where he is, so the majority here are qualified leaders. As such, I am no longer a District Leader, but my companion, Elder Lee is. Elder Lee is great. He is from Idaho and he has about 6 weeks more in the mission than I do. We actually started the mission in the same zone and we had been on interchanges twice before. I am super happy to be his companion.
Second, I found out that I have been assigned to serve in San Pedro. San Pedro is an Island that is an hour and a half boat ride off the coast of Belize. Missionaries have been here since 1996, so the church is young here and is a growing branch. The people here are so kind and loving and I really love it here. The people here come from a wide range of background, as such they speak a wide range of languages: English, Spanish, and Belize Kriol are the main languages and Chinese, Arabic and Garifuna are also spoken. Most people here are bilingual or trilingual. It is an incredible place. I will explain a little more next week, but feel free to look it up for yourself.
For a quick summary of the week to finish up, I flew to Belize City and we got picked up by a senior couple and I got dropped off with my companion at the water taxi and we went to San Pedro. The next day I got to know my area a little bit and got to know the people here. Then, because we had to have a baptismal interviews and because it costs quite a bit of money to travel back and forth, I went to Belize City and worked there for two days while the zone leaders did interchanges with the two areas on San Pedro. I came back for general conference. Between all of the sessions and looking for people to bring to the sessions, we didn't get a whole lot more done Saturday. Conference was really great, I learned a lot about the importance of following the prophet and receiving revelation, which is super important for our investigators.
Sunday, we had a baptism of Favi, Britanny, and Destiny. Family excluded, these are the three most awesome girls that exist in the world. Enough said! Anyway since the building in San Pedro does not have a font, we had to baptize in the ocean. It was incredible!
San Pedro is incredible! See you soon!
Elder Vierkant
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| Baptism of Rosa (she is in the middle in white) |
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| A map to give you an idea of where I am. |
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| A little bit of paradise! |
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| Brittany getting baptised. |
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| Faviola getting baptised. |
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| Faviola, Brittany, and Destiny at their Baptism. |
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| Our District. |
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| Elder Lee (my new companion) and I at the docks in San Pedro. |
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Hi Matthew; ) I just wanted to let you know how much I love and miss you. You are such an inspiration to me. Thank you for sharing your stories and your love of the gospel.
ReplyDeleteLove always, Emily