29 December 2008

Christmas was great!

Another excerpt from Jeff's e-mail.

This last week was very rewarding. We had 2 Baptisms on saturday. The two people that got baptized were really prepared to recieve the gospel. In total the mission baptized 59 people this week. This means that we only need 30 people before the year ends. We will be baptizing a girl on the 31st of December. She is the only person we are able to baptize this week, but I am excited that we can still contribute to our mission goal of 2008 baptisms in 2008. I am confident that we will reach it.

It was great to hear all of your voices and speak to you. I really enjoyed that. At the Evans we ate good food and watched Kung-Fu Panda. The movie was ok. I did not laugh as much as some of the other missionaries because I did not think that it was that funny, but it was ok. One of our recent converts gave us a Christmas present. They gave us each ties. It was a nice thing for them to do.

We are waiting for Transfer calls this week and I am excited to hear whether or not I am going to Suriname. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
Well, happy New Year everyone!
Love, Jeff

25 December 2008

Christmas phone call


It is Christmas and we will be calling our missionary today in Guyana. We have been looking forward to this call.

Merry Christmas from the Vernes Family.

Follow-up

It was a real treat to talk to our son on Christmas day. In the beginning we had difficulties getting connected but after many attempts, we were finally connected. Jeff is having the time of his life. He has been out now for 6 months and he loves the people in Guyana. There is a slight chance that he will be going to Suriname.

He is grateful for all your letters and looks forward to many more. Anyway, thank you all for your support. Enjoy the holidays.

The Vernes Family

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22 December 2008

Merry Christmas to all of you

Things went pretty well this week. We had a baptism and we are expecting two baptisms this coming week. The week was rough, but still rewarding. I can see the blessings of working hard and diligently. Our District was blessed with baptisms and we are all very very happy about that.

There are a few things that will be going on for Christmas. First off there will be a Christmas dinner at the Senior Missionaries' Homes for which we need to prepare a dessert. I am excited for that. The Senior Missionaries really take good care of us. Then we will be able to watch a movie. The movie needs to be on "the Approved Movies List" I do not know what we will be watching, yet. And last, but not least we will be able to talk to our families.

Playing the organ went well again. The Music Director of the cathedral liked the hymn book and told me again that I could come whenever I liked. I really like the people here. The other missionaries are saying that I will be going to Suriname next transfer. It is not official, but I do not know if I want to leave Guyana yet. I like it here so much and I have seen so much success out here. Not that I will not like Suriname, I am sure that it will be great, but I have mixed feelings toward it. We'll see what happens.

The mission is on its last stretch of getting 2008 in 2008 and we are all working hard to achieve that goal. Please include the mission in your prayers, we need them.

Merry Christmas.

Love,
Jeff

21 December 2008

Mary did you know?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that youve delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little boy youve kissed the face of god

Mary, did you know?

The blind will see

The deaf will hearAnd the dead will live again

The lame will leap

The dumb will speak

The praises of the lamb

Mary, did you know that your baby boy is lord of all creation?

Did you know that your baby boy will one day rules the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is heavens perfect lamb?

This sleeping child youre holding is the great

I am

15 December 2008

Singing in the rain


We had so much rain this last week. It was incredible. Part of the appartment was under water and we were fighting to get the water out. In the papers they announced that there could be a flood like in 2005 where the water would have come up to my waist. The senior missionaries just came by and asked us to prepare for it by keeping food storage. They told us to buy things like rice and flour and to always keep filtered water in bottles and things like that. We do not know when it could happen, but last time it was that bad it happened in january. That's when the rainy season should be over. Because of the rain, things go a little crazy over here. People are scared of the rain and so they do not come to church and things like that. It is a little frustrating sometimes.








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The Joy of Missionary Work


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The Joy of Missionary Work




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12 December 2008

I am looking forward to Christmas



This week was quite successful. December is coming to an end fast and we have so much work to do to meet our goal, but I think that if we work hard, we will be able to meet it. We have some really cool people to teach so I am excited to get them baptized.

There have been some changes in my companionship. Elder Olsen was transferred to a place called Allboystown. My new companion is Elder Mecham from Montana.  One of the reasons that I am now companions with Elder Mecham is this: he was called to the Dutch side of the mission but he needs some help with the language.  President Robison wants me to be his "personal language tutor". We might be going to Suriname at the same time. I don't know if I will want to leave Guyana so soon. I love it so much here and I will miss the people a lot. I am starting to write down the addresses of the people I baptized and taught, so I will be able to keep in touch with them, when I am over there and after my mission. The people here are just so amazing; yes, it is hard sometimes, but I love it.

Some of the members have been asking if we could eat with them for Christmas. I told them that we would need to ask for permission because we are not really allowed to eat with members, but one of the members owns a restaurant and wants to feed us on Christmas, so I think that we would be able to get the approval. I am so excited to be here in Guyana for Christmas. Things are very different over here than at home. We are planning some cool activities for Christmas. We want to do some singing and things like that. Then on the other hand we have Jehovah's Witnesses here that tell everyone that Christmas is bad and that we should not celebrate it, because it is not mentioned in the bible. We had quite the discussion with some of them the other day. The discussions did not accomplish anything, because they were not open to what we had to say. They knocked on our door and I think that they will not be coming back too soon. I was able to disprove everything that they said from my studies in the bible. The other missionaries were also talking with them and proving with scripture that they were wrong. They have been telling some of the investigators we have, "The Mormon Church is racial." I have started carrying pictures of the family around with me. I told the JW's to please stop doing this, because it was not true. I told them that my mother was black and that if they would tell other people that they were racial they would be offending me, my mother, two of the missionaries that live with us, and all of the members at church. They were taken back at that and they realized that they had to leave.

So all in all, everything is going well. We are seeing success as we work hard and we love the work. I am looking forward to Christmas.

Love,
Jeff

03 December 2008

This week has been great!


This week has been great. I am feeling a lot better. (Jeff had another virus again thanks to the a friendly Mosquito) We had a baptism last Saturday and we are working with the daughter of the person that was baptized. She is 21 and she only came to Church once, so we need to wait another week. We are also teaching some cool investigators and we are seeing quite some success. We only need a little over one hundred more people to meet the mission goal of 2008. I believe that we can do it. I am excited, too.

We were not able to write emails yesterday because the computers were down and we did not have the time to come back, so the Zone Leaders gave us permission to email this morning.

I played the Organ in the Catholic Cathedral which was great. I loved every minute of it. It was a big pipe organ and I played for about an hour and a half. When we were about to leave the person that is in charge of the music in the cathedral said that I could come back whenever I wanted, and that he would like a hymn book. I am going to give him a hymn book one of these days and then we might just spend some more time playing the organ. Elder Olsen plays the piano really well, so he likes going there, too.

I am reading the New Testament right now and I am learning so much. There are so many things that are written in the Bible that a lot of members of the church do not know about. I am loving ever page that I read. I read it every morning in Dutch. When there are words that I do not understand, I check the verse in English. It has worked pretty well so far. I am in Mark Chapter 9 right now. I also finished the Book of Mormon again and I have learned so many things that I am using in lessons to teach investigators.

For example: There was an investigator that came to church on Sunday. She did not like it, because there was no loud singing and clapping and all of that. When we met with her on Sunday she told us that she did not like it. I told her to read Moroni 7 and then to pray about the Book of Mormon and the Church. When we left the lesson we thought that we might have to stop teaching her. However, when we came back on Monday she had read the chapter and prayed. She told us that she felt differently about the church now. She told us that her attitude had changed because of that prayer. That showed me again that God does answer prayers and that he does want us to be happy. She will be getting baptized on the 13th of December.

I cannot believe that I have already been out for 5 months. I remember going to the MTC as if it were yesterday. Then I remember coming here as if it were yesterday. Time is going really fast and it only keeps n going faster.

We are having the raining season in Guyana. The rain is making work pretty hard. We have not bought umbrellas yet, so we need to do that this week. it rains really hard for quite some time. It will be like this for the entire month. When it rains everything just seems dead. We had to start sacrament meeting with just 5 people the other day. The people here just do not come out in the rain.

I know that this gospel is true. I love the work. I am looking forward to Christmas. I am excited to see how the people here in Guyana will celebrate Christmas. One of our investigators has already invited us to come and decorate the Tree with them. I love the people here and I love serving them.

I love all of you.

Jeff

18 November 2008

Last week before transfer








This is the last week of the transfer and I don’t know what is going to happen. I might be going to Suriname, but I also might stay here for a transfer. Who knows what’s going to happen. Most of the missionaries in the area say that I will be going to Suriname. I guess I will need to wait until Thursday to find out. Transfers are always exciting.

We had District Conference in the Georgetown Guyana District yesterday. The District President and some other people spoke on some things including the fact that everyone is working on getting a stake in Guyana. There were a lot of people there. I even saw some people from my last area that I baptized. That is the most amazing thing. It brings up a great joy knowing that people that I’ve baptized are still active and are taking the church seriously. On top of that, we had 8 people at Church. They all liked the district conference and so 6 of them can get baptized on Saturday. I really love this work.

The people here are going crazy about the elections in the US. The all think that I am an American and so when we pass them on the street they start talking to us about politics and things like that. The funny thing is that most people do not know what they are talking about. They are just happy about the fact that there is a black President in the US. A lot of the missionaries here are not happy with Obama being the president. They are all republican. There are some funny discussions that come from that.

10 November 2008

Greetings from Guyana

This week was pretty good. We had 9 investigators at church on Sunday and we have 20 people with baptism dates for the next 3 weeks. I hope we will be able to baptize most of them if not all of them. A lot of these people are really prepared to receive the gospel. That is always really exciting and very uplifting. It makes all of us really happy. As a mission we are hoping to get 2008 baptisms by the end of this year and every missionary is working hard to achieve that goal. As for Elder Olsen and I, we got up early and left the apartment early on Sunday to get as many people as we could to church. We really saw the fruits of our labors.

The district meetings I plan help a lot, because I can just focus on the things that my district needs. Basically I stand and teach a lesson for about one hour. I am giving my second district meeting on Tuesday. My first one was about love for your area, your investigators, and your companion. Without love missionary work does not work. Nothing happens without love. President said, “Do ‘Missionary Work’, not ‘Missionary Things’.”

I finally got the package and I was so happy about it. Thank you for all of the things in it. I really like the CDs. I listen to them all the time. The kids love the lollypops. The smiles on their faces are amazing. We took this really poor family consisting of a mother and her two children out last week. We took them to an ice cream store and bought them ice cream. The children (10 and 7 years old) loved it and the mother was so thankful. Things like that are just really amazing. We did not do much, but they were really grateful. The people here really like it when we roll up our sleeves and help them with different things. We moved a pile of sand for a person we did not know. After we were done they gave us drinks and pineapple and all this fruit, because they were so thankful. Just simple things like that make them so happy.

I love this work. It is amazing. It changes people’s lives and it changes the lives of the missionaries. It has changed mine. I know it has.

Anyway, I need to get going. I have just a few minutes left on the computer and I need to write president Robison his weekly letter.

Love,
Jeff

28 October 2008

Thank you for your prayers!

Another excerpt from Jeff's weekly letter.

I am feeling a lot better. The blessing really worked and I am so grateful for it. I am really thankful for the Priesthood in my life. Elder Olsen took great care of me and now we are working hard and I have the feeling that we are being prepared for something great here in Guyana. Elder Olsen and I are really tired at the end of each day, because we have so much to do and so many people to see. We are always trying to find new people that are ready to receive the Gospel. And we have found lots of new people that are ready and we are working with them.

This last week there were a lot of changes in the Zone. Changes that affected me as a missionary and the things that I need to do. There was what we call an Emergency Transfer. An Elder that was living in the same apartment as Elder Olsen and I was Transferred back to an area he had previously served in. The area was dying and they needed help in the area, so President decided that he needed to get that Elder back into that area. However, this elder was the District Leader in our District. Now that he is gone he is no longer in the District, so President needed a new District Leader here. Well, I got a call from the Zone Leaders one day before the Elder was going to leave. They told me that they wanted me to be the District Leader in the District. I did not know what to say, when they called. I was never in my wildest dreams expecting something like that to happen. Especially not this soon. I told them that I would accept the responsibility, but that I would need help. They told me not to worry. They said that they had complete confidence in me that I would do well as a District Leader. They also said that they would help me whenever I need help. My responsibilities include talking to the missionaries in my District every night and seeing how they are doing. Asking them about the work in their area and giving them suggestions. I need to call the Zone Leaders every night and report on the District. Every Tuesday I will need to hold District Meeting, in which I will need to provide a lesson on topics in missionary work and help the elders improve their skills in finding people and teaching. It is a lot of work and I have spent much time in prayer, praying for help and guidance and assistance in this assignment.

Anyway, we had a baptism of a man that is amazing. His wife is a member of the Church. He was just never interested in listening to the missionaries. However, he was always very nice to us. He just never came to the lessons. A few weeks ago he lost his job and decided that he needed God in his life. He came to church. We started teaching him and I was able to baptize him on Saturday. He came up after the baptism and thanked Elder Olsen and myself for the efforts we put into him. We both did not do too much. All we did was go by and teach him. He was being prepared before we ever talked to him. When we taught him about the word of wisdom he decided right then that he was not going to drink coffee any more. He gave us his Coffee and we threw it in the gutter outside. He never drank again. He received the Priesthood on Sunday and he was so happy. He will be such strength to the branch and to the District. He will be able to influence the people around him in such a manner that they will also want to change their lives. His family will be able to become strong in the church. His daughter will be able to grow up in the Church. All because of him decided that he needed God in his life.

We did find a girl that is totally prepared. We were walking by a house and I stopped and called into the house and this 20 year old girl came out and talked to us. I asked if we could teach her a lesson and she said yes. We taught her and committed her to baptism after the first lesson. She accepted and accepted all the other commitments we left with her. I think she will get baptized on the 15th of November.

We give people the "Family Prayer & I Love You" challenge. Elder Olsen and I came up with that. We tell people to have family prayer every night and to tell everyone in the family that you love them. We then promise blessings from God. And we tell them that the love in the home will grow. It works!

I hope all is well with all of you. I love you all very much. Thank you for your prayers. I pray for you every day.

Love,

Jeff

26 October 2008

The Sacred Grove

What happened here changed the world
Let it also change your life


I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!

If you are interested to learn more about the message Jeffrey is sharing with the people in Guyana, please visit the following link: Missionary Message

22 October 2008

A little sick....

Hi,

Right now I'm not feeling too well. I am a little sick. I have been to the hospital twice in four days. The Doctor that treated me was an American Doctor, which is why we went to that hospital. I had been feeling weak, having aches in the stomach and head, with some crazy temperatures. I had a temp of 39.7 Degrees Celsius just yesterday.

I have been freezing all the time. The senior couples got worried and took me to the hospital. The doctor said that I have a viral infection that could lead to
pneumonia if I'm unlucky. I have not been able to go out to work for 3 days. He
said that he knew what it was, but that he could not treat the virus here. "If
we were in the US...", he said. All he could do for me was give me some
medication against the symptoms. He told me that my body would need to fight the
virus on its own. He said it would take about 10 - 14 days for a full recovery.

Elder Olsen, my new companion, and Elder Evans, a senior missionary, gave me a
blessing on Friday. Today is the first day that I have felt good enough to go
out for P-Day. The rest of the days I have been sitting at home sleeping all
day. I think we will be able to do some work this week. I really do not like
sitting at home doing nothing.

Besides the Illness I have been doing fine. People were happy to see me at
church on Sunday. The attendance was very very weak on Sunday.

My new companion is a good guy. He's from Spanish fork, Utah. He plays
the piano really well. He is also really caring when his companion is sick. He
has been on his mission for no more than 2 months.

I am excited for Zone Conference on Wednesday. We have a General Authority
coming to speak to us. He is also coming to check
out the application for Guyana top have a stake.

Love, Jeff

17 October 2008

Moving back to Kitty

I am being moved again. President Robison called me and asked if I was tired of all the moving yet. He then told me that I was going back to my first area. I will be finishing the training of a missionary as his second companion. I am a little nervous about that. I have only been out for 3 and a half months and am already involved in training an elder.

President told me that he wants kitty to boom. He said that we would have a great transfer. It will be easy going back because I know the area, but it is hard to leave this great area. The members are so great here in LaGrange. I have had so much success here and we have been able to do so much good. I definitely want to visit that area after my mission. The branch president was not too happy about me leaving the area. My Zone leaders even want me to stay, but the Lord wants me in Kitty.

I just hope that I will be able to do what he expects of me.
This week has been alright. We did not have any baptisms this week. The people we planned for did not come and we don't really know why, but I hope to get to the bottom of things. This next week is going to be a little stressful. I need to pack my bags again, say good bye, and get ready to move back to kitty.

On Sunday (Yesterday) we were asked to sit in on primary. It was a disaster. I could not believe it. The teachers were not prepared and they did not really know what to do with the kids. I took notes and Elder Williams and I gave some suggestions and I handed the notes to the brach president. He was very grateful for that. We always just need to remember that the church is still very new in guyana and that things just dont really work the way we are used to. That includes teaching children out of the Gospel Principles Manual. :D

Anyway, things are fine with me. I love you all very much. Take care.

Love,
Jeff

30 September 2008

Greetings from Guyana

Dear all,

Rachel and Sandra's son, Terry, got baptized on Saturday. It was so cool to see Rachel finally get baptized. After the baptism Rachel told us that she couldn't feel any pain which she had felt before the baptism. Elder Williams, my companion, baptized her and I got to do the confirmation on Sunday.

The Branch Choir sang for the first time on Sunday. It was pretty good. I was impressed. The branch enjoyed it and the people really like coming to choir practice. We started singing a new piece on Sunday, Abide with me 'tis even tide. I am excited for the choir to sing that in sacrament meeting soon.

Oh, we are teaching a girl and her grandmother. The girl is 10 years old and really cute. She's really nice and I guess she likes me. During the lesson yesterday she sat there looking at me and at the end of the lesson she finally asked, ''Why are you so white?'' I had to laugh a little and said, ''Because I was born that way.'' She asked, if I was from Guyana. I told her that I wasn't, but that I was from Europe. Then she asked, ''Will you take me to show me Europe some day?'' I told her that I would try to get her some pictures. I just thought that was funny. Her name is Cadesa. She should be getting baptized on Saturday.

I also know a girl that reminds me of Amy. Her name is Sheena. Maybe amy could write her a little letter. I showed her a picture of Amy, so she already knows who she is. She 's really nice and she is just like Amy in many ways. She's 11 years old.

So, I am doing really well. Take Care.

Love,

Jeff

23 September 2008

Sandra's baptism was pretty cool...

Excerpt from Jeff's e-mail from 22 Sep. 2008

Hi everyone,

Things have been going well lately. We had a baptism this week. The person that I was able to baptize was Sandra. She is related to Rachel by marriage. She married her brother. The baptism was pretty cool. She said that she felt really light when she came out of the water. She seemed like the happiest person on earth.

Rachel said that she was going to get baptized this coming Saturday, which is great because Terry, Sandra's son is also getting baptized that day. He is excited and totally ready to get baptized. We are also working with some other people that should be getting baptized soon.

I was not able to send the small package with the CD of pictures yet, because they were giving me some trouble at the post office. I didn't quite get what was wrong, but the Lady made a fuss. Since I didn't feel like making a big fuss out of it, I decided to try again another time. I'll be sending it this week.

Well, as you know we had Zone Conference this past week. That was really good. We heard some great talks from President and Sister Robison. During the zone conference, I also had a great interview with President Robison. We talked about the possibility of me going to another area in a couple of months. He is really a loving and caring mission president.

Love, Jeff

20 September 2008

Come Thou Found of Every Blessing

The music of "Come Thou Found of Every Blessing" is one of Jeff's favorites. We were so pleased to see the latest pictures of our son (taken by Sister Robison), who is serving a mission in Guyana. In the mission-blog. Sister Robison recorded a music piece, and we could see and hear Jeff singing with 4 other missionaries.

He is really enjoying his mission and has developed a love for the people in Guyana. As parents we enjoy reading about his weekly adventures and successes.

Please pause the MP3-player (left) before watching this video clip..
Voordat u het filmpje bekijkt, zet dan eerst even de MP3-Player op pause.

15 September 2008

The Branch is really cool!

We'll have Zone conference on Friday again. They are always very good. The messages our mission president, his wife and the APs share are amazing. They help us do better at our missionary work.

My companion and I are getting along very well. We have a lot of fun doing our work. He is very committed and strives to do his best. I am learning a lot from him.

The branch is really cool. We had our second week of branch choir and it went very well. The people are having so much fun and so am I. I have had people come up to me saying, "I like the way you teach. You make it a lot of fun." I enjoy doing that. Everybody is doing their best. We are starting the recitals on Wednesday. I could use any music you have, so keep sending more. We have a Kawai piano and not the organ. I cannot wait to play on a real organ when I get home:D.

Love, Jeff

08 September 2008

LaGrange is Great!

Hello everyone,

Well, the new area is great. The Area is huge. Its about 7 miles in width and a few miles in length. We're doing a lot of finding, because they baptized all of the investigators before I got there. The members in the new branch are great. They are very committed to the work with the misionaries and will do anything to strengthen the church. I started a Branch Choir on Sunday. We had a great turn out. There were about 25 to 30 people there. They liked it and I guess they like my music teaching skills.

I really love this work. It is so great to see people change their lives. The work really goes faster and better, when members work with the missionaries. When members feel the same desire we as missionaries feel, the ward or branch becomes stronger and they will want others to have a part in this as well. Referrals from members are the best investigators.

Love,

Jeff

01 September 2008

Moving to LaGrange Guyana



Excerpt from Elder Vernes weekly letter 1 Sep. 2008
Hi everyone,

Well I am moving to my next area on Wednesday. My new companion is going to be Elder Williams. I know him and he's a great missionary. I am moving to the only church building in the mission with an Organ. President Robison wants me to give weekly organ recitals there. I am excited to start doing that. The only thing is that I need to get my hands on music. Mostly Church music. I brought some with me, but I think I'll be through that in a short time.

I am excited to find out what it is going to be like. There will be quite some changes. I will be in a two man apartment, I will need to practice the organ regularly, I will need to get to know the new members and I will need to get to know the new area. After spending six weeks in an area, a new area is quite the change. But I look forward to the next transfer! I can't wait to go over the river on Wednesday. My new area is called LaGrange.
Anyway, that's about all. I'm doing great. I'm having fun and I love the work.

Love, Jeff

29 August 2008

Excerpt from Weekly Letter

I love being a missionary. It is hard work, but it pays off, when you give service to others. I love the gospel and I have seen how it can change lives. I love you all! And I enjoy hearing from you! Take care!

Love, Jeff

The Good Samaritan

This is a short video clip of Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In this clip he talks about the good Samaritan and encourage us to do the same.

24 August 2008

Zone Conference - 22 August 2008

We had Zone conference this week. That was amazing! The mission president and his wife are so cool! They taught us so much about the gospel. The spirit was really strong and I learned so much. During Zone Conf. we always have interviews with the mission president. I had a great interview with him.


My companion Elder Moala and I have matching ties.

15 August 2008

Guyana - Baptism 26 July 2008

Guyana is great!

I really like it here. My first week has been a lot of fun. We had a baptism on Saturday. His name is Adrian. He's a great guy. I got to confirm him a member of the church and give him the holy ghost on my first sunday. That was an awsome experience. The branch is actually quite large. They have over 300 members, but they have a big problem with retention. Only 75 people came on sunday. we're doing a lot of less-active work here. We need to get more people to come to church, because they want to have the first stake here in guyana. Part of this involves me teaching people how to read and lead music and teaching one or two how to play the piano. I am also starting a choir in the Branch. The mission president told me to use my music in the branch, so that's what I'm doing. I played the piano on Sunday. They usually sing to the CDs, so they were happy to have someone there to play. The only thing is, that they do not listen to the music. They just sing as fast as they want. It's really funny to listen to.


From left to right: Elder White, Adrian, Elder Holmstead, Elder Moala (my trainer) and me.

14 August 2008

Mission Home in Trinidad

I am in Trinidad now!!! I do not know who my companion is going to be yet, but I will be told tonight. I leave for Guyana tomorrow and I am very excited. The mission president and his wife are really nice.



This is the group of new missionaries. We traveled together on 21 July 2008 from the MTC in Provo to the Mission Home in Trinidad & Tobago.
From Left to Right, Elders Chambers, Huntsman, Tupou, Vernes, Shroath, Scott, Mecham, Holtz


We received some great instructions from President Robison.


Sister & President Robison

13 August 2008

Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah


Salt Lake City - Temple Square


The Andrewsen's


Provo - This is a great place!!!


MTC - Provo


Here is my mission field

On 30 June 2008, I left Frankfurt Germany and arrived the same day after a long flight in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was picked up by Brother and Sister Andrewsen from my home ward Frankfurt. They were on homeleave and offered to pick me up and take me to the MTC the next day. I stayed in the MTC until 21 July 2008.




My Family
















My first Baptism (Amy 8 years and Me 16 years)


Mom & Dad


Opa & Oma at the Temple in Zoetermeer




My Wela (Grandma)


At the Temple in Zoetermeer with Mom & Dad


Opa & Oma




Family Picture taken a few days before my Mission