Week 23-- When doing wheelies, watch for mud holes...

This week was fun, I have a few stories. The first one is that I've gotten really good at wheelies on my bike so whenever there's a bunch of kids they just yell, "Wheelie wheelie!!" So I was riding up the street to an investigators house and there's a 5 foot deep 4 feet wide gutter on the side off the road for floods, and I saw some kids so I did a wheelie and then I fell of my bike head first into the gutter!!!!  I was covered in mud and the the bike fell in on top of me! I handed my bike to Elder Simpson who was laughing hysterically, and then climbed out.  All the kids started laughing so hard! Then all the parents came out and laughed too. It was so funny, funniest thing that's happened on my mission so far:) and I wasn't even hurt! But I did smash my bottle so if you could send me an new 32 oz hydro flask that would be great:)

This morning we went to these caves-- really just a really deep depression in the ground. It was still way cool though.  I made a fort out of rocks:) 

Mom: What does E. Simpson think of your rock creations? 

L: He thinks they're cool:) but he also thinks I'm a hippie:)

It was surprise missionary Sunday in church this week, which means we all had to give a talk with 5 min. notice. I talked about keeping the commandments and having the spirit, then I bore my testimony and cried in front of every one. I told the branch that I had literally felt the arms of Christ around me. It was cool, and I have.  This funny old guy in the ward came up to me and was like, "Hey why are you crying?!" It was funny:) Oh, and the youth sunday school teacher didn't show up so me and Elder Simpson taught it:) It was way fun and we had a great lesson on following the revelation that God gives us.

Mom: What is the branch like? 

L: The youth is like 7 kids, and the branch is like 60 active members, 300 less active. 

Mom: Do you work with the inactive? 

L: We are working with 4 inactives, but the rest have been inactive for like 20-30 years and we just can't find them anymore.

Mom: Tell me about E. Simpson.

L: He's been out for a year, he has an older brother and 4 younger sisters. One died while he was out, I think about 5 months ago, it was really hard for him, but he's really helped me get through my trials, because he's already been through so much. I think it's interesting that God has put me with two companions who have had a family member die while they were out. I think he's trying to show me I'm not the only one going through hard stuff, and compared to them I'm not.

We helped a member chop her yard the other day and she called me a bulldozer. I've bought my own cutlass (machete) and I've gotten really good with it:) so when I come home I won't need the lawn mower any more. I'll just use a cutlass:)

M: They won't let you bring that home you know.

L: They actually will if you check it. :)

Dad: Dude, we are keeping the mower.

Oh and yesterday we had three different members feed us!! It was awesome, one lunch and two dinners:) {Getting fed by members is rare, bc everyone is so poor.}

Mom: Couldn't you spread out the meals over a few days? 

L: When someone offers you food in Jamaica, you just say YES. End of story.

Mom: What do the chicken feet taste like? Don't they have bones? 

L: They cook them so long the bones are soft and they just taste like whatever you cook them in, so curry.

M: Gross. gross. gross.

I have to go in like two minutes but I really love you guys and I miss you so much, tell the family I love them ok:)

Luke

I stole this photo from the sister missionaries blog. Luke said he didn't trust the internet cafe they were in today for viruses, so no pics. :( There are 4 Elders and 2 sisters in his district, he says having the sisters is fun, but they never see them except at church and meetings.

Week 22--Book of Mormon Balance

The new area I'm in is flat, windy as heck and very hot, with little rain, but I like it. People are a little better with mental comprehension here. My companion is Scottish and used to be in a gang and fight all the time, but he's way cool and way fun to be with and he's really nice and funny. I will enjoy serving with him.

Conference was really good, it answered a lot of the questions I had on my mind and was praying about. I felt like the general theme was enduring trials by way of faith, keeping the commandments and relying on Christ's atonement in all things. It really gave me a lot of hope. But seriously, every single talk went back to trials. I wonder if people are already going through trials or people are about to go through trials?

Luke's new district

We woke up at 4 in the morning to go to the caves in Linstead before I left to Old Harbor. It was way fun, I climbed this vine like a firemans pole. It was only like 2 inches thick and could hold my weight.

This is my district in Linstead before I got transferred.

This pic is a cow in the back of a truck with almost no securings:) hahaha.

The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion:) hahaha, this makes a great teaching visual:) it took me like 30 min to balance. The Jamaican kids who watched me build it thought I was magic:)

This picture is stew peas with rice, chicken foot and pigs tail, it was surprisingly good and I'm looking forward to the next time I'll be eating it:) They are actually quite delectable.

These are pictures of me and Elder Simpson, he's pretty short but really strong. We are the fastest missionaries on our bikes in our zone:) We race a lot --it's fun.

Luke on TV!!

The story starts at 42 min. and goes till the end. You can see him a few times, singing, on the roof, shoveling and cutting grass.