nate morris west indies mission

12/20/10

Don't you hate it when you have 25 minutes left at an internet cafe and you realize you have to use the restroom?? Goodness. One time I was in Guyana and I almost had an accident. I had to run out of the shop and over to Church's Chicken and use thier bathroom. Oh... the joys of third world country bowel movements. That was probably too much but hey that's a big part of a mission. Hah.


Merry Christmas!!! On Friday night we had our annual Christmas party. It started out interesting. We got there about 10 minutes before and nothing was set up or ready. We put out tables, got the food out, and then the branch president and those in charge showed up 30 minutes late. There were a lot of problems with the food after, for instead of a buffet they served those attending (about 70) one by one. Therefore instead of everybody getting food in a few minutes after an hour there was still some very hungry people waiting patiently (and most impatiently) for food. We had a lot of investigators there too, which was great they came but Shevorn with her 3 kids, all way young, was pretty upset. She was one that wasn't fed and she got up and left. Saturday was damage control as we went and talked to those that were obviously offended to help them build back up the trust and courage in their testimonies. It was a really fun program though. The best was seeing the primary kids get up there and sing some christmas carols. It was a fun event and it's fun to see people's attitudes and what a difference it makes. Some were just fine with waiting an hour. Brother Drakes, one of the nicest guys ever, just sat there patient. It's 9 o clock, he is starving, and he is partly crippled and has to walk an hour back to his home. But there he is with a big smile on his face. The members were relentless trying to feed us but it seemed like we were the only ones that noticed the unhappy guests. So they'd give us a heaping plate of delicious food and we'd just go and give it to someone that needed it more than we did. People were happier, we felt better, and although we went home hungry our bowl of cereal was just fine. Haha.


Over the weekend, the Travelling Assistants came to St. Vincent on their tour. This is the first time President has had travelling assistants. Elder Hicken, my ZL from Barbados went on splits with me on Saturday and it was a blast. All day we just were finding all these great people, having great lessons, and it was just way fun. Elder Hicken is from Holladay, and he is good friends with the Muir's. Do they have a son named Ryan? If so then yeah that's the right family. I was with Elder Lake on Sunday, he's from Bountiful. We had a great weekend, both Elder Welch and I. We found tons of just ready prepared people. Most weren't able to come to church but we finally have some great people to work with. I had been praying for it for a while and finally we were led to some great ones. Funny Story. On Sunday Elder Lake and I went to this member named Bailey. Now he is probably the hardest to understand person i've met from the west indies. Just mumbles. He's like 82 and has 25 kids (before he was a member thank goodness). Not married. We were there for like half an hour teaching him the lessons over again and all Elder Lake understood was Jesus is good and "amen" when he said the prayer. He's quite the character. Haha. Shevorn wasn't able to come to church again. She's got so many things in her way but she's doing well overall i guess... we can't keeep teaching if she doesn't come to church.


This week is going to be way fun. Friday night (christmas eve) we're getting together with the Kingstown missionaries and sleeping over in Calliaqua. We're buying pies and they're baking cookies. We're going to find a service activity to do in the morning and then at 1 Sister Samuel, a wealthy lady from England invited us to Lunch. The rest of the day we're going to Walilou bay where they filmed pirates of the caribbean and to some waterfalls up the west coast. Then we're going back to do calls and stuff. It'll be a fun christmas. I'm super excited. I still haven't gotten any packages. I'm crossing my fingers they come this week but if not oh well! I wasn't able to send my stuff home to you for christmas. They aren't sending normal packages to the states right now and DHL would cost like 200 bucks (EC) like 80 US. I decided to wait... haha.


I'm so grateful for all of you. Family has really been the most important thing to me. While in the past I wasn't the best example of it I am grateful the Savior is there to help me be better. I have so many fun memories on Christmas eve, watching It's a wonderful Life, reading christmas stories, and eating delicious food. It was a time to just be with the family. I can't wait for next year. I hope you all have a great week and an awesome Christmas!


Love ya, Elder Morris