Bonjour ma cher famille et amis,
I hope the rest of your Christmas was good after I talked to you. Mine was great! We have some really nice people here in French Guyane. This week we were at our investigators Antony and Eay's house. Antony is a fisher and he was telling us all about his adventures on the Amazon. They gave us some big shrimp some Brazilian sausages and a big red snapper when we left. Our freezer is full, the red snapper almost didn't fit but luckily we got the door closed. So if you have any good recipes for red snapper feel free to send them to us. Or instructions on how to clean a fish.
We had a fun experience on Friday when we went to check up on an old investigator. We were sitting outside talking to her and her neighbor when I hear someone yell my name. I was really surprised to hear my name and I looked over to see Euseiry the boy we taught who was baptised a month ago. He came over and helped us teach our lesson. He is so excited to be a missionary when he is older.
I learned how to jump start a car this week. The battery in our truck (they call them catcats here) was being weird. All of the car places were closed on Saturday so we couldn't get it fixed until today. It was a good contacting method having to ask someone to jump our car whenever we wanted to go somewhere. We got stuck in the pouring rain last night. Luckily we have nice members like sister Baksh who will make us hot cocoa and dry us off.
We are leaving for Suriname on Saturday for zone conference. We are excited to hear from President and Sister Mehr and we are also excited to buy some American food. So next week I will not be writing you on Monday because I will still be in Suriname, but I will be writing on Wednesday.
I love you and miss you but I am so happy to be here. I know the Lord is preparing people for us to teach and help. He is always watching out for us and helping us with his great work. Have a great week and talk to you next Wednesday.
Lots of love and hugs,
Soeur Banks
Monday, December 29, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
WIM Week Number 15
It's almost Christmas! We have been having fun getting ready for Christmas and passing out "He is the Gift" pass along cards here in French Guyane. We had our branch Christmas party/program Friday night, which was really fun. We (the nine missionaries) did a little skit/competition for it. We cut holes in a sheet and had one person's head and the other persons arms and we had a competition to see who could make and eat a PB&J sandwich the fastest. It was very messy and fun and the sisters won!! Sister McDaniels face was covered in peanut butter. We also did one where we had to put shaving cream and cotton balls on the persons face and "shave" it off. My face was the victim for that one. It was a really fun program, we also had a lot of music and poems. The best part was that our investigator Michelene came with her two kids and the Tavares kids came too! It was a great Christmas celebration and it made it seem a little more like Christmas here where it is still really hot.
We have found some cool people this past week. We found Claudjo who has been prepared. I started teaching the first vision and he stopped me and said he had already heard it because he read it in a book at his aunt's house. He is sincerly interested in learning and changing. We also found Richard. We were contacting and found him in Balata. We were explaining the Book of Mormon a little and he asked where he could get one because he wanted to read it. Of course we gave him one and we are excited to go back and visit him. The Lord is preparing people all around us, we just need to find them. It's is a great feeling to find someone who has been prepared and wants to learn more and come closer to Christ. I love missionary work!
Have a great week and a Merry Christmas!
Soeur Banks
We have found some cool people this past week. We found Claudjo who has been prepared. I started teaching the first vision and he stopped me and said he had already heard it because he read it in a book at his aunt's house. He is sincerly interested in learning and changing. We also found Richard. We were contacting and found him in Balata. We were explaining the Book of Mormon a little and he asked where he could get one because he wanted to read it. Of course we gave him one and we are excited to go back and visit him. The Lord is preparing people all around us, we just need to find them. It's is a great feeling to find someone who has been prepared and wants to learn more and come closer to Christ. I love missionary work!
Have a great week and a Merry Christmas!
Soeur Banks
Monday, December 15, 2014
Week 14 in the WIM
Bonjour,
It's Christmas time and instead of snow we get rain!! Lots of it! But it has been a good week in French Guyane. We didn't have a baptism this week because we moved it to next Saturday. Now we have more time to help them be fully prepared to make the important covenants of baptism. They (the Tavares children) have been studying.
In other exciting news we had district conference this weekend, we skyped into it because it was in Guadeloupe. We found out that as of July 2015 we will no longer be the West Indies Mission, the Mission is splitting!!! We will be in the Barbados Bridgetown Mission consisting of the islands north of Trinidad and French Guyane. the Trinidad Port of Spain Mission will consist of Trinidad, Suriname, Guyana and the ABC islands. So I will be serving in a different mission in July, the West Indies will be no more.We will also have a different mission president because the Mehrs finish their mission in July as well.
It's almost Christmas! Wow, Time flies! I'm coming up on my 5 month mark. One of the cool things we are doing for the Christmas season is we have been handing out pass along cards for the new Christmas Mormon Message "He is the Gift." If you have not already watched it go watch it now. It is a beautiful reminder that Christ is the reason we celebrate Christmas and that he is the greatest gift that we have ever received.
I love you all and have a good week before Christmas!
Bisou,
Soeur Banks
It's Christmas time and instead of snow we get rain!! Lots of it! But it has been a good week in French Guyane. We didn't have a baptism this week because we moved it to next Saturday. Now we have more time to help them be fully prepared to make the important covenants of baptism. They (the Tavares children) have been studying.
In other exciting news we had district conference this weekend, we skyped into it because it was in Guadeloupe. We found out that as of July 2015 we will no longer be the West Indies Mission, the Mission is splitting!!! We will be in the Barbados Bridgetown Mission consisting of the islands north of Trinidad and French Guyane. the Trinidad Port of Spain Mission will consist of Trinidad, Suriname, Guyana and the ABC islands. So I will be serving in a different mission in July, the West Indies will be no more.We will also have a different mission president because the Mehrs finish their mission in July as well.
It's almost Christmas! Wow, Time flies! I'm coming up on my 5 month mark. One of the cool things we are doing for the Christmas season is we have been handing out pass along cards for the new Christmas Mormon Message "He is the Gift." If you have not already watched it go watch it now. It is a beautiful reminder that Christ is the reason we celebrate Christmas and that he is the greatest gift that we have ever received.
I love you all and have a good week before Christmas!
Bisou,
Soeur Banks
Monday, December 8, 2014
Lucky Week 13
Bonjour ma famille et mes amis,
It has been a great thirteenth week in French Guyane! Members are the people who really make missionary work progress. We took Leno, a recent convert in the branch, to see the less active part-member Tavares family again this week. We had been nervous to extend baptismal dates to their kids who are not members yet, but we decided to go for it. Near the end of the lesson we extended December 27. They said they wanted their kids to be baptised, and their kids were very excited about it, but the 27th would not work because their Dad would be in Brazil. The parents and Leno started talking and figured out all the details. They decided on the 13 Dec and Leno would baptise them. They figured it all out by themselves and Leno even offered them his other car to take to church on Sunday because their car is in the shop. It was a miracle and members make all the difference. If Leno hadn't taught this family with us, none of this would have happened. It was so cool to see them all at church on Sunday. It gave the branch a new hope for less actives, because so many members had given up on the Tavares family but they are coming back, thanks to Leno. We are excited for Fransisco, Poena and Claudenir to be baptised this week.
A lot of other fun stuff happened this week too. We tried playing soccer with a whole bunch of little boys. It was really fun but they beat us...by a lot. We ventured into the jungle to find Christmas trees. We helped the daughter of a member move. Ramona taught us how to make bread. We did splits yesterday with two young women in the branch, it was really fun and we got a lot done. Members are the best, they help missionary work happen.
We got a new elder this past week. Elder Mooux, he is from Tahiti.
It's so exciting to see people coming to Christ. It really is the best feeling. I am glad to be a part of this great work. Its hard, but its good. Have a nice cold week back in the states and we'll try not to sweat to death down here:)
Lots and lots of love,
Soeur Banks
It has been a great thirteenth week in French Guyane! Members are the people who really make missionary work progress. We took Leno, a recent convert in the branch, to see the less active part-member Tavares family again this week. We had been nervous to extend baptismal dates to their kids who are not members yet, but we decided to go for it. Near the end of the lesson we extended December 27. They said they wanted their kids to be baptised, and their kids were very excited about it, but the 27th would not work because their Dad would be in Brazil. The parents and Leno started talking and figured out all the details. They decided on the 13 Dec and Leno would baptise them. They figured it all out by themselves and Leno even offered them his other car to take to church on Sunday because their car is in the shop. It was a miracle and members make all the difference. If Leno hadn't taught this family with us, none of this would have happened. It was so cool to see them all at church on Sunday. It gave the branch a new hope for less actives, because so many members had given up on the Tavares family but they are coming back, thanks to Leno. We are excited for Fransisco, Poena and Claudenir to be baptised this week.
A lot of other fun stuff happened this week too. We tried playing soccer with a whole bunch of little boys. It was really fun but they beat us...by a lot. We ventured into the jungle to find Christmas trees. We helped the daughter of a member move. Ramona taught us how to make bread. We did splits yesterday with two young women in the branch, it was really fun and we got a lot done. Members are the best, they help missionary work happen.
We got a new elder this past week. Elder Mooux, he is from Tahiti.
It's so exciting to see people coming to Christ. It really is the best feeling. I am glad to be a part of this great work. Its hard, but its good. Have a nice cold week back in the states and we'll try not to sweat to death down here:)
Lots and lots of love,
Soeur Banks
Monday, December 1, 2014
End of my Second Transfer Down Here! Week 12!
Bonjour,
It has been an exciting week for the sister missionaries in French Guyane! We had our first baptism on Saturday! Marianela and Eusiery, they are mother and 10 year old son, were baptised. They were both so excited to be baptized. They are like our family here, we love them so much. Marianela also has triplets that are about 7 months old, they are the cutest and everyone at church loves them. Euseiry is so excited to be a missionary when he is older. After his baptism he was asking when he can be a missionary and how it all works. He will be a great misionary now and a great full time missionary when his time comes.
I am staying in French Guyane with Sister Riley and Sister McDaniel! We got our transfer calls on Saturday. We are excited to be staying together.
We had some adventures this past week. Our water did get turned back on so we got to shower which was a blessing. We went to visit an investigator but we came the wrong day and they were having a prayer meeting, she invited us in. It was a very different experience than our church meetings. They gave us the oppourtunity to share what we wanted so we all got up and bore our testimonies. I had never had someone say amen and hallelujah during my testimony before. It was an experience I will never forget. It reassured me that I have found the true gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth and that I am so grateful for that truth and direction in my life.
We are looking forward to the holiday season down here because it means more service projects for us. It doesn't seem like December because it is still so hot! Time flies--it is already December! I love it down here and I am happy to be serving the people here. Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts. I love you all.
Until next week;
Love,
Soeur Banks
It has been an exciting week for the sister missionaries in French Guyane! We had our first baptism on Saturday! Marianela and Eusiery, they are mother and 10 year old son, were baptised. They were both so excited to be baptized. They are like our family here, we love them so much. Marianela also has triplets that are about 7 months old, they are the cutest and everyone at church loves them. Euseiry is so excited to be a missionary when he is older. After his baptism he was asking when he can be a missionary and how it all works. He will be a great misionary now and a great full time missionary when his time comes.
I am staying in French Guyane with Sister Riley and Sister McDaniel! We got our transfer calls on Saturday. We are excited to be staying together.
We had some adventures this past week. Our water did get turned back on so we got to shower which was a blessing. We went to visit an investigator but we came the wrong day and they were having a prayer meeting, she invited us in. It was a very different experience than our church meetings. They gave us the oppourtunity to share what we wanted so we all got up and bore our testimonies. I had never had someone say amen and hallelujah during my testimony before. It was an experience I will never forget. It reassured me that I have found the true gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth and that I am so grateful for that truth and direction in my life.
We are looking forward to the holiday season down here because it means more service projects for us. It doesn't seem like December because it is still so hot! Time flies--it is already December! I love it down here and I am happy to be serving the people here. Thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts. I love you all.
Until next week;
Love,
Soeur Banks
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| Me, Marianela, Eusiery, Sister Riley and Sister McDaniel |
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