Week 24 in the WIM

Bonjour a tous,

It has been another crazy week here in Guadeloupe! A lot of stuff has happened. We set a baptismal date with Fedler's friend, Matiel, so now we have 4 baptisms planned for the 14!
We had a cool experience yesterday as we were walking to church. We were walking along and noticed our friend, Louisette, sitting in her car across the street. She was just sitting there reading a book. We invited her to come to church with us and she said yes and gave us a ride to the chapel. She liked it and said she wants to come back next week. That was definitely a miracle. Our friend, Jovani, showed up to church too.

In other news, my bike got stolen this week, right out of my hands. Every Saturday we play basketball as a branch. To get into the sports park you have to go through a turnstyle gate. We have done it before but this time it was harder. I was trying to get my bike through and a guy standing there offered to help me, but instead of helping he took off with my bike. I tried running after him but he was too fast. It has been a crazy week! We'll see if it turns up in the next week.

We had the opportunity to clean the church this week; We washed chairs all morning. It was fun and we talked to some returned missionaries who live in the other branch. It was cool to hear about their time serving in Canada and how they are helping the church in Guadeloupe now. It helped me see that missionary service has an effect way beyond 18 months or 2 years.
I am grateful to be here and to be serving with Sister Dorsan for another transfer! Though things get crazy at times, I know that our Heavenly Father is always watching out for us. He loves us and we are here to help others realize His love for them. Remember He loves you more than you can comprehend. Have a great week and remember that I love you too!

gros bisou,

Sœur Banks

A little girl in the branch was so excited that we had the same shoes, so I took a picture

The view out of our bedroom window this morning

Week 23

Bonjour a tous,

It has been a crazy week down here! Xavier was baptized on Saturday! There is a picture attatched of us Xavier and Frère Lecarpe who baptized him.

Its hard to believe I have been in Abymes with Sister Dorsan for almost a transfer. We are excited for this coming transfer. We have set more baptisimal dates with our investigators. I've talked a little about Emilio and Evan before, I think. They are brothers who are 16 and 17. Emilio had some questions during our lesson about the restoration, and Evans started answering his questions and explained the restoration to him. It was really cool. He is definitely going to be a missionary someday. Now he has a baptisimal date, so he is one step closer.

We taught the guy I told you about last week who found us and came to church. He already had all the missionary lessons in Haiti so he knows everything! We are reteaching it all to him before he is baptized. He is awesome and has a lot of faith. He told us that once he knows how to get to the church he is willing to walk to church every Sunday.

A lot has been happening down here, it is exciting. Sorry this is a short email this week. Know that I love you and I love the Lord. I love you and have a great week!

bisou,

Soeur Banks

Xaviers baptism

Sister Dorsan and I eating strawberry Floups

Week 22 aux Abymes

Bonjour,

It has been a busy week here in the middle of the ocean. The exciting news is that we have a baptism this Saturday!!! Xavier is getting baptized! We are so excited for him. We fasted with him this last week and he called us the next day and said he talked to his mother again and he is going to be baptized! I'll tell you all about how it goes next week.

I spent two days this week in Moule on an exchange with Soeur Guernsey. Moule is on the eastern coast of Guadeloupe. It is beautiful. I forgot my card reader, so sorry no pics this week. We got to teach some really cool people there and it was fun to see more of Guadeloupe.

We had a really cool experience finding an new investigator this week. We were walking to an appointment and a guy called out to us. We went over to talk to him, turns out he has been in Guadeloupe for 8 days, he came over from Haiti. He had been studying with the missionaries there. We invited him to church and he came. We were talking to him and found out some of his family are members and he has been going to church in Haiti for the past 7 months. It was definitely a miracle we found him. The Lord is putting prepared people in our path. We set a baptisimal date with him for March. He only speaks Hatian Creole, so Sister Dorsan might be teaching me a little bit so I can talk to him more.

Today for p-day we went to the Zoo as a zone. Guadeloupe has the coolest zoo I have ever been too! It is in the jungle and they have a bunch of rope bridges up in the trees. One funny thing they have is a racoon exhibit which is one of their main attractions. Racoons are endangered here so they are a big deal. We thought it was funny. We got to feed them. We also got to see monkeys, panthers and lots of turtles. It was a fun activity.

We saw a lot of miracles this week. The derailer on Sis Dorsan's bike got ripped off as we were riding along and one of our investigators gave her his bike for the day. We found another cool lady who gave us a stop home. We found Feddler. Xavier is getting baptized. So many miracles! We are definitely being watched over. He loves us.
Thanks for all of your prayers. I love you all! Have a great week!

Beaucoup amour,

Sœur Banks

Week 21

Bonjour a tous,

Wow! It has been an adventure doing emails today. We started but the power went out. The power was out in Basse Terre and some of Grande Terre, as far as we know. Well, all that matters is that it has been a good week here in Abymes. It's hot, but good. It's carnival season down here so it gets a little crazy on the weekends. The celebration goes from city to city, a different city every weekend. Yesterday, it was in Abymes. We avoided going into town yesterday because we knew it would be crazy. We tried to avoid it but still got caught in part of it as we were walking home. Guadeloupe has the third biggest carnival celebration in the islands. First is Barbados and second is Trinidad.

We had the opportunity yesterday to watch the broadcast of the Conference for all of the Caribbean in the Dominican Republic. Sister Bonnie Oscarson, Elder Holland and Elder Packer spoke. It was really good, they talked a lot about the the family. Before we watched the conference two recently returned missionaries from Guadeloupe, who served in Canada, bore their testimonies. It was really cool to hear their mission experiences and their testimonies. They are going to help the church so much here in Guadeloupe. We had five investigators come to church yesterday which was exciting. Emilio and Evans came for the first time. They are brothers who are 14 and 15.  After the meeting, Evans asked how he can become a missionary. It was a good meeting and they definitely talked about things our investigators needed to hear. We wish our investigators Eddie and Xavier could have been there.

Turns out we are teaching a Guadeloupean celebrity. The guy I wrote about a couple of weeks ago that we contacted my first day, Patrick. He had said the first time we met him, he was suprised that nobody was stopping to ask for his autograph. He said something the next time, but we didn't think much about it. He said tell anyone in Guadeloupe his name and they would know who he is. We honestly thought he was making it up, until we brought it up in coordination meeting and sure enough everyone knew who he was. He used to be a comedian. He was known for his comedy sketches and for his wild lifestyle. He has since found Christ and changed his life, gotten married and now has a cute little baby. We have been teaching them for the past few weeks. They love talking about religion, but they do not fully understand the truthfulness of the restored gospel yet. We have a lesson with them tonight, we are bringing one of the members from the branch, which should really help.

It has been a good week and the transfer is already half over! Time is flying. We are doing exchanges tomorrow with the sister training leader so I'll be in Moule for the next two days. I am excited to see more of the island.

I have had some cool experiences in lessons this week where I have really seen the spirit guiding us and giving us the words we need in the moment we need them. I have also realized the importance of having faith in Christ. I love this work and the Lord. Until next week, I send you all of my love from this little island in the middle of the sea.

<3

Soeur Banks