Week 45 - Bahamas, Nassau Week 10

September 25, 2017

UPDATE:  Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria did not hit the Bahamas at all.  Hurricane Irma did devastating damage to the Caribbean islands of St. Marten and others and also Turks and Caicos which is in the Kingston Jamaica Mission and she also hit Florida in the US.  Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and devastated the island.  They could be without power and running water for weeks or even months.  Both Hurricanes were category 5 Hurricanes.  There was also another Hurricane all three within days of each other. Hurricane Jose also did damage on Caribbean islands.  They had predicted this would be a bad hurricane season.  

Today was Elder Craig's first P-Day so we went to the aquarium at the Atlantis Resort.  Elder Craig is Elder Wilding's new companion.  The only pictures Eric sent were of sharks and fish at the aquarium and a photo of the Atlantis Resort.  Silly kid!  He could have taken some of the pictures with the other Elder's in the picture.

ATLANTIS RESORT IN NASSAU, BAHAMAS 

One Huge Reef Shark!!

                                     Some big fish known as 'Tarpon' - They are such cool fish!!

Nurse Shark

RIGHT AT ME!!!!

A huge Sawfish!!!!!

Week 44 - Nassau, Bahamas

September 21,  2017 - Thursday

Did not receive an email on Monday, September 18th.  The boys have had an interesting week.  They have slept in 5 different locations this week and had to get up at 4:30 a.m. twice this week.  They have struggled getting into WIFI areas so they were not able to email.  Eric did have and MRI done on his shoulder on September 18th in Kingston, Jamaica to see why it is causing him a lot of pain.

All 6 Elder's flew back to the Bahamas on September 20, 2017.  Another hurricane is coming - Maria is this hurricanes name and she could possibly hit the Bahamas but they are not sure at this time where she will go for sure.  They have returned in time to possibly be hit by this hurricane since Irma did not hit the Bahamas.

TRANSCRIBED RECORDING:
     September 21, 2017 - Thursday

Last Week in Jamaica - Back to Nassau

Hello Everybody!

            It has been a long time since you’ve heard my voice.  I haven’t done a voice recording for like two weeks. Apologies!  Last week was a zone p-day in Mandeville and so Elder Christensen and I, being in Junction, went to that. It was way fun. Played some American football, lightning, and a bunch of fun activities with that zone.  Other than that, I can’t remember why I didn’t send a recording the week before. I’m sorry!  Now I’ll tell you all about this week and a little bit of the previous week.

            So we have just been chilling.  Elder Christensen and I have been doing missionary work all over Junction.  A highlight from last week was we got to teach one of Elder Christensen’s former investigators named Tashai.  She’s a super cool lady and has a few kids.  She gave us some water and just before we were going to teach the lesson but that water was nasty!  I had to filter it through my teeth and I decided I wasn’t going to drink this anymore so I just dashed it out.  It probably would have given me giardia so it’s probably good that we threw it away.  Everything was good other than that.  Tashai was awesome.  We read The Book of Mormon and prayed.  Then we committed her to come to church but she said she had to go with her cousins.  Not a very good excuse.  Elder Christensen and I actually found our purpose in Junction and it was way cool.  We have been going around and doing service for everybody and being friendly.  We have tried to do our best with the missionary work.  Elder Smith, one night, was talking and he said, “I’ve just felt so relaxed and tension released as you two are here.  Even though you haven’t done a ton of specific things that have eased my burden, there have been certain things that have helped me that you have no idea how much you’ve helped.”  It made me feel good because Elder Smith has so much on his plate.  He’s training Elder Edwards, he’s the branch president, and he’s trying to balance missionary work.  He’s finishing his mission next transfer so I don’t blame him at all.  He is just awesome and a really good missionary.  He’s such a stud.  It’s been a privilege living around him and Elder Edwards.  Elder Edwards is Jamaican.  He’s a boss!  I love being around him.  I don’t know if I have any pictures with him but I’ll get some pictures. 

            This week we did some service.  Here’s a cool story about service that we did.  We were just chilling, walking up the road getting ready to go to MLC because it was Thursday.  Thursday we were going to go with the Santa Cruz zone leaders and stay the night at their house and ride with them to Kingston and have MLC.  We were so excited.  What ended up happening is: we went to MLC and on the way back up the road to have lunch and comp study to prepare for MLC, we saw some guys trying to lift a truck.  It was an old beat-up truck and they were trying to lift the frame off of the axels and stuff.  They couldn’t do it.  So I asked them, “can we help you?”  I thought they were going to say back, “Naw man. Ya’ gud. We don’ wan’ ta dirtee up ya white shirt” like they always do.  But they didn’t.  They were like, “Ya’ you can ‘elp us!” So me and Elder Christensen dropped our bags and we just heaved that sucker.  It was awesome!  Elder Christensen and I had “gains from the Lord” for a couple of seconds and lifted this huge truck.  It was basically me and him.  So these Jamaicans were like, “Yo! These white men strong!”  It was just sick! We were pumped out of our minds.  So they asked where our church was.  We then told them where we lived and they said they lived in Mandeville.  We then told them that we had a church in Mandeville too, and they said they’d seen it before and that they would have to come and visit sometime.  We didn’t force the gospel on them or anything.  They just asked us about who we are and where our church is, as simple as that.  We didn’t throw a pamphlet at them or give them a Book of Mormon.  We were just good examples like Jesus Christ, and we moved on.  MLC was killer.  We talked on having joy and also how missionary work can be more unique and we can build trust with members through our talents.  For example: playing basketball with an investigator or if we want referrals from members, instead of going to their house and sharing a scripture, what Elder Christensen and I have planned for the zone is to go and be chill with these members.  But, we have to understand our missionary purpose and work hard to do all that we can. 

            Saturday we had to stay inside in Junction.  We came home for lunch.  We had been out all morning and got back around 1:00 and there were gunshots all around the house.  Junction is usually not like that.  It’s one of the most peaceful places in all of Jamaica.  We stayed inside the rest of the day.  Elder Smith and I just lifted weights and stuff.  Other than that it was a normal day.

            Sunday was nice.  Elder Christensen and I taught gospel principles.  It was more like gospel doctrine actually.  Talked about the doctrine and covenants.  Later we had interviews with President Peterson now that I remember.  That was awesome.  In fact, I brought up my shoulder and how I’m kind of injured.  I brought that up with President, long story short.

            We had zone conference on Monday.  We talked about how we can build trust with members through being real with them by learning what they like to do and going to do it with them.  Then they can invite their friends to do these things with us.  That way we can share the gospel, instead of just street contacting and ways like that.  We were way excited.  The assistants presented, we presented, also our district leaders off-island: Elder Jensen and Elder Houston, presented about love and charity and building trust.  So it was a meshed thing.  Afterwards, Elder Christensen and I had district leader training with Elder Jensen and Elder Houston.  Since we are usually all off-island we don’t get to be around each other.  So with us now being on the island of Jamaica we can work together.  Being in Junction has been awesome.  We’ve seen some red dirt roads and all that kind of stuff.  I’ve been very grateful to be here.  We are ready to go back and we should be going back sometime this week.  We are supposed to leave tomorrow but because of Hurricane Maria is also that way, president won’t be sending us for a few more days just to be safe.  With my shoulder issue President sent me to get an x-ray here in Kingston.  My collarbone was broken last time they checked it.  Elder Christensen gave me a blessing in Nassau but apparently my collarbone is no longer broken.  So that’s a miracle that I’m seeing.  That’s incredible.  They’re going to have me get an MRI just to see if it’s something with a ligament or a muscle.  I’m just praying that it’s a sprained shoulder or something or a pulled muscle.  Then three or four weeks go by of taking it easy and I should be able to lift and do what I always do.  I won’t have to worry anymore.  So that is nice to hear. 

            This week I have been built on when we serve others they are going to feel the radiance of our spirit if we are just like Jesus Christ.  It’s simple as that.  They’ll see the spirit in our lives and they’ll want that spirit in their lives.  So instead of us forcing the gospel on them, it just comes natural.  They ask why we do these things and who we are.  That is what I’ve seen.  I’ve been reading a lot in the New Testament and a little bit in the Pearl of Great Price seeing what God did for us through the creation, and why Adam transgressed and why we are here.  I’m really grateful for what I’ve learned on my mission and these tender mercies.  Continually building upon Jesus Christ is all we have to do.  As you all build on Jesus Christ you’ll have good lives as well.  I love you all and I hope you have a great week.  I’m grateful I got to talk to you again.  Everything is good.  I’m healthy as can be, just have to go to the doctor and get everything figured out.  Then we should be going back to Nassau here soon.  Hopefully my next voice recording will be in Nassau.  Right now, Jamaica me yard! So big up ya’selves.

Manna’s and respekt

9/14/2017  
Say hello to my little friend-
Serving in Junction, Jamaica while waiting for Hurricane Irma to pass.  They were flown back to Jamaica on Sept. 6, 2017 and will return to Nassau, Bahamas as soon as the hurricane passes. 

Some wicked pomegranates with Elder Christensen in the hills of Junction, Jamaica  9/14/2017

←Soursop  back in Junction 9/16/2017

  

Saw a Rolls Royce at the airport - on our way back to Nassau, Bahamas 9/20/2017

He sent this selfie on 9/21/2017 after he returned to Nassau - he didn't want mom mad at him because he didn't email her on Sept. 18th

Back to eating healthy!! Not Jamaican food - that's for sure!  9/21/2017

Sister Seawell made Sushi!!   The Elder's love Sister Seawell - AKA: Missionary Mom! 9/21/2017

Week 43 - Junction, Jamaica

September 11, 2017

In Junction, Jamaica temporarily - will return to Nassau, Bahama's as soon as Hurricane Irma has passed and they are able to get back to Nassau.   

The information below was copied form Elder Austin Wilding's Blog:

9/4/2017  Monday we spend most of the morning doing visa stuff for other missionaries to come out to the the Bahamas, went to Del Sol for like an hour, hung out with Brother Pierre right before his tour, meet some members on a cruise ship, then went to the church to email. Later that evening we went to buy jugs of water to prepare for the hurricane and while we were there, there were tons of people waiting for the jugs to show up. A truck pulls up with cases of bottled water so we started to help them unload the truck and stack it in the storage container so the truck could go get the big jugs faster. Once the jugs showed up, people went crazy. They lost all the little bit of patience that they had left in them. It was a mad house so again, we stepped in to help get it all organized and started to pack the jugs of water to people's cars as they paid for them. It helped the crowd calm down and it took a load of stress off the workers. We got 3 jugs of water free for helping them. It was nice to help them all out. They loved it.

 9/5/2017  Tuesday was crazy! So first thing in the morning we had district meeting. We then took the water jugs to the Seawell's house to store them. While we are there, sister Seawell tells us they they were being evacuated out of Nassau for Hurricane Irma. So we call the Assistants to tell them what's going on and they made the decision to pull us out of Nassau. So the rest of the day we spent packing up all of our clothes and all of the Books of Mormon into the lower bathroom to keep them save and every other valuable thing. We took a lot of stuff to the Seawell's house to leave it there in their house to stay in Nassau and also helped them prep their house. They fed us pizza then we said our goodbyes as we headed to the apartment for our last night in Nassau for now.

9/6/2017   Wednesday at 3 in the morning we woke up to get ready for our flight at 7. We left the house around 4 to the Seawell's house to drop off our car and Sister Seawell took us to the airport. We got to the airport and sat in line for about an hour, maybe less, then ran to catch our flight. Our flight didn't end up leaving until 7:45... Anyways, we land in Miami and we are looking for our next gate to our next flight. We make a left turn and I look behind me as we turn the corner and I saw a big Bell. Guess what that means...  TACO BELL!!!🙌🏼 Elder Call and I freaked out, bought Taco Bell, took selfies, then happily strolled away from our beloved Taco Bell. #Missionaccomplished
After those events of pure joy, we scrambled to find a place to get our tickets. We ended up waiting in another line for another hour to book a return flight to Miami from Jamaica that we will never need. Jamaica has to have evidence that we aren't staying in the country for very long... I don't know why that is but oh well. So we book it to our next flight and barely make it through the entry way before they locked up! We get on the plane and we sit down next to a Jamaican and chat Patious the whole ride! After we landed in Jamaica we went out to meet Sister Jones and her companion who I forgot the name to. They took us to the Montego Bay elders house where we were to stay the night. While we were there we cleaned their house, took a shower, took a 2 hour power nap, then talked with the other elders before we went to bed.

At the airport in Nassau - 7 a.m. flight headed back to Jamaica until Hurricane Irma passes.

Left  to Right - 
Elder Eric Call,  
Elder Dylan Christensen,
Elder Austin Wilding

         Elder Call and Elder Wilding were way excited to eat at Taco Bell in the Miami Airport!

9/7/2017  Thursday wasn't eventful whatsoever until we got a phone call from the Assistants telling us where we were to go while we waited to return to Nassau. Elder Christensen and Call went to Junction! I am with Elder Craig in May Pen. So that night the Brown's picked us up, took us to Junction, then to May Pen.

HURRICANE IRMA

HURRICANE IRMA - September 5, 2017







I received a phone call today at 2:27 p.m.   The caller ID showed that the call was from Congo, Brazzaville so I did not answer it because I had no idea who would be calling me from Congo and figured it was a telemarketing call.  Then MaKayla called me at 2:43 p.m. and said she just got off the phone with Eric.  Eric had tried calling me first but I didn't answer, it was him calling when it showed Congo, Brazzaville.  He then tried calling Kelsey at 2:28 p.m. and her phone call also showed Congo, Brazzaville so she didn't answer her phone either.  He called MaKayla and talked to her and then when he hung up with her he tried calling Matthew at 2:43 p.m. but Matthew was in a SCBA training so he didn't get to talk to Matthew.  He then called Roger and Roger's call came through as Bahamas, Nassau so he answered the phone and Roger, Kelsey and Andrew got to talk to him too.  I believe he called Matthew again when he hung up with Roger and Kelsey and Matthew made a three way conference call with Emilee and the kids so they were all able to talk to Eric too.  Eric called my phone again at 3:28 p.m. and it showed Nassau, Bahamas so I knew it was him.  We talked for about 30 minutes. He said " I love you momma!!" as we hung up and I said "I love you too honey!  Be Safe!!!"  I did not cry while I talked to him but tears fell after we hung up.  I pray for his safety!

The reason why he was calling was to let us know that President Pearson was having the missionaries that were on the Bahamas flown back to Jamaica tomorrow, September 6 because Hurricane Irma is threatening to hit the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands.  Sister Pearson told the missionaries to call any immediate family members they wanted to call to let them know that they were being evacuated from the Bahamas and flying to Miami and then onto Montego Bay in Jamaica.  We are praying for their safety and pray that the people in the Bahama's will be watched over.  This storm could go just about anywhere at this point but they did not want to leave the boys on the Bahamas just in case there was a direct hit on such a small island.

 Right now it is difficult to forecast where this "Monster Storm" will hit.  Hurricane Irma is a Category 5 Hurricane tonight and they say it is possible she will gain more force and could be the largest and most devastating storm the Atlantic Ocean has ever seen.  Irma is a Category 5 hurricane with with speeds around 185 miles per hour.  A Category 5 storm has to have winds of at least 155 mph and they are relatively rare.  With winds that strong, there is a high likelihood that framed homes could be destroyed and damage to trees and power poles will result in power outages that last for weeks. They have estimated that the eye of hurricane Irma is 23 miles wide.

This is an email I received from Julie Christensen who is Elder Dylan Christensen's mom:
Julie is friend with a lady who lives in the Bahamas and is the "Missionarie's Mom" on the Bahamas.  She sent this *** email at 9:42 p.m. on September 5, 2017:

***

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From:
Date: September 5, 2017 at 9:42:30 PM MDT
To:
Subject: Nassau update

Hello missionary parents,
What a hectic and exhausting day we have had here!  Things changes quickly during the course of the day.  We went from prepping to ride out the storm at the house to making evacuation plans!

The elders spent the afternoon packing up their apartment and this evening brought personal belongings over, for what we are hoping will be safer storage at our house. We had pizza and they helped us move furniture around to make room inside for all outdoor items to come into the house.

Tomorrow will be an early day.  The Elders are parking their mission cars in our neighborhood and we will drop them at the airport around 5:00 AM for a 7:30 AM flight to Miami, then off to Jamaica.  Our family is scheduled to leave Thursday morning for Washington D.C.

I wanted to express my gratitude to our Heavenly Father.  He is truly looking out for His servants here.  I still don't understand how the mission office found three tickets off the island for Wednesday.  Everything had been sold out and although President Pierson decided to evacuate the Elders, I was concerned that the window had passed.  It truly is a miracle that they are able to leave!

I'm also grateful that Sister Pierson allowed them to call home.  As a mom she knew how you all must be worrying!

I'd better go.  We have an early start tomorrow!

Love,
Sister 

At Brother and Sister  house in Nassau Bahamas - September 5, 2017.  
Boxing things up and leaving the island before Hurricane Irma hits.
The missionaries are flying back to Jamaica.
The  family is being evacuated also

                     Elder Eric Call,
                     Elder Wilding left front and Elder Christensen in the dark blue.