Thursday, September 17, 2009
September 16, 2009
Good afternoon,
Haha, it is really funny, because even here you dont knock on doors, you still yell at the house, but here you dont just say good afternoon, you have to yell "Good afternoon inside", Or they think you are yelling at someone in the street. Well life is good. I am still trying to get used to them driving on the left side of the road. It is actually pretty dangerous for me, because I go to cross and I forget which way the cars are coming from. Plus the cars don't stop here, they will just hit you. If you are on a narrow street, they will be cruisin down and give you two warning honks, but they never slow down. You got to jump onto the sidewalk or gutter. Speaking of gutters, they STINK here! It is supposed to be jsut their normal sink and shower water that is running down the street, but they all smell really bad. I wonder what they put down their sinks sometimes.
There is a good variety of religions here. Like you said, a lot of Anglicans, or however you spell it, there is also a lot of Methodist. They are all very nice, and willing to listen, but it is hard to make them act. But we found some really cool people this week. Talked to some old investigators who had baptismal dates, and they said they are ready to talk to us. So the work should start progressing soon.
We had zone conferece in St Kitts last week. St Kitts is beautiful. It is like a mile maybe two miles wide in a lot of parts, and then really long. So it is really skinny and long. I guess they have a lot of monkeys there, but I never saw any. Sometimes they come into the church parking lot on sundays, so the members have to go chase them out. Zone conference was SWEET! We flew in on Friday, and there was a general authority, Elder Coleman, who is taking a tour of our mission, and we had a fireside with him. He is a convert to the church, but he knows so much about the church. It was really cool listening to him. Then we all slept at the Zone leaders house, all 8 of us. Then the next day the senior couples of the Island made everyone this really good breakfast. It was interesting, because Elder Coleman came and sat with us and ate breakfast. He is a really nice man, very funny, he is always cracking jokes. After Zone conference and interviews, we flew back saturday night and i had a little troube getting back into Antigua. It all just depends on who you have at the immigration office, my guy was jsut angry and i'm pretty sure didnt like white people (You run into that here). Long story short I was stuck in the airport, seperated from my comanion for two hours.
Rasta is a religion. They dont have set beliefs, but they all have dredlocks and smoke the Herb. They are all pretty nice, not going to hurt anyone, but they dont seem to have too much interest. Although there are a couple of members who used to be Rasta in the branch. And the branch has about 70 people a week. Which is extremely good for the Carribean. That is a Ward in Puerto Rico.
This week is the branch talent show, so I am playing the guitar (ITS BEEN WAY TOO LONG) and me and Elder Harvey are going to sing I know that my redeemer lives. I am pretty excited.
I still dont understand the people too Clearly. It is just super hard, they speak rediculously fast, and have different ways of saying stuff. Like "I be vexed mon", thats means that I am angry, or "How you mean?" is like are you serious? So i am just trying to understand them, I feel like how i felt when i arrived in Puerto Rico. It is better though because at least the people can undestand me.
Me and Elder Harvey go running every other day, and do curls and sit up and push up on the off days. So with all this working out, not eating fast food, and not having a car I will lose this extra weight i gained in puerto rico. And you better be planning on coming to Antigua as well as puerto rico, and any other island i might serve at. If you want we can plan on coming back like a week after my mission, in November. But that is prime time tourist season, so you might want to not wait too long. November through february there is about 7 new cruise ships here every today.
And yes I do need some supplies, my shirts are wearing out, a lot of them you can see through the collar. And others have stains on them. I also need a couple more G's. I will find out what exactly I need, and tell you next week. I heard that you can send stuff through DHL and it only takes a couple of days. But the Antiguan mail is like 3 to 6 weeks if no one steals it. So find out how much the DHL is, and if that is super expensive, then I can drag it out for about two months until next zone conference. I will just have to wash all my stuff more often.
The Food is SO good here. We eat at this one members house all the time, and other members feed us every once in a while. There are a lot of members from Guyana here. Guyana is actually apart of south america, but they speak english, and it is more commonly associated with the Carribean. But they make the best food. Curry and chicken, Bakes (Very sweet fried bread stuff) Roti (Sweet tortilla stuff), we also eat a lot of fish, which is really good. I get feed more here than puerto Rico. but it is good because it is a lot healthier.
I wasnt able to buy a memory card, and I will look around here to see if they have any (I doubt it), but maybe I will give it to Sister Dewsnup to send at next Zone conference. They take everyone's mail and stuff back to Puerto Rico and send it from there because it is faster and more secure. So you send it with the shirts and stuff and we will be straight.
Well I love you all very much, keep the faith, peace.
Love Elder Hardy
Haha, it is really funny, because even here you dont knock on doors, you still yell at the house, but here you dont just say good afternoon, you have to yell "Good afternoon inside", Or they think you are yelling at someone in the street. Well life is good. I am still trying to get used to them driving on the left side of the road. It is actually pretty dangerous for me, because I go to cross and I forget which way the cars are coming from. Plus the cars don't stop here, they will just hit you. If you are on a narrow street, they will be cruisin down and give you two warning honks, but they never slow down. You got to jump onto the sidewalk or gutter. Speaking of gutters, they STINK here! It is supposed to be jsut their normal sink and shower water that is running down the street, but they all smell really bad. I wonder what they put down their sinks sometimes.
There is a good variety of religions here. Like you said, a lot of Anglicans, or however you spell it, there is also a lot of Methodist. They are all very nice, and willing to listen, but it is hard to make them act. But we found some really cool people this week. Talked to some old investigators who had baptismal dates, and they said they are ready to talk to us. So the work should start progressing soon.
We had zone conferece in St Kitts last week. St Kitts is beautiful. It is like a mile maybe two miles wide in a lot of parts, and then really long. So it is really skinny and long. I guess they have a lot of monkeys there, but I never saw any. Sometimes they come into the church parking lot on sundays, so the members have to go chase them out. Zone conference was SWEET! We flew in on Friday, and there was a general authority, Elder Coleman, who is taking a tour of our mission, and we had a fireside with him. He is a convert to the church, but he knows so much about the church. It was really cool listening to him. Then we all slept at the Zone leaders house, all 8 of us. Then the next day the senior couples of the Island made everyone this really good breakfast. It was interesting, because Elder Coleman came and sat with us and ate breakfast. He is a really nice man, very funny, he is always cracking jokes. After Zone conference and interviews, we flew back saturday night and i had a little troube getting back into Antigua. It all just depends on who you have at the immigration office, my guy was jsut angry and i'm pretty sure didnt like white people (You run into that here). Long story short I was stuck in the airport, seperated from my comanion for two hours.
Rasta is a religion. They dont have set beliefs, but they all have dredlocks and smoke the Herb. They are all pretty nice, not going to hurt anyone, but they dont seem to have too much interest. Although there are a couple of members who used to be Rasta in the branch. And the branch has about 70 people a week. Which is extremely good for the Carribean. That is a Ward in Puerto Rico.
This week is the branch talent show, so I am playing the guitar (ITS BEEN WAY TOO LONG) and me and Elder Harvey are going to sing I know that my redeemer lives. I am pretty excited.
I still dont understand the people too Clearly. It is just super hard, they speak rediculously fast, and have different ways of saying stuff. Like "I be vexed mon", thats means that I am angry, or "How you mean?" is like are you serious? So i am just trying to understand them, I feel like how i felt when i arrived in Puerto Rico. It is better though because at least the people can undestand me.
Me and Elder Harvey go running every other day, and do curls and sit up and push up on the off days. So with all this working out, not eating fast food, and not having a car I will lose this extra weight i gained in puerto rico. And you better be planning on coming to Antigua as well as puerto rico, and any other island i might serve at. If you want we can plan on coming back like a week after my mission, in November. But that is prime time tourist season, so you might want to not wait too long. November through february there is about 7 new cruise ships here every today.
And yes I do need some supplies, my shirts are wearing out, a lot of them you can see through the collar. And others have stains on them. I also need a couple more G's. I will find out what exactly I need, and tell you next week. I heard that you can send stuff through DHL and it only takes a couple of days. But the Antiguan mail is like 3 to 6 weeks if no one steals it. So find out how much the DHL is, and if that is super expensive, then I can drag it out for about two months until next zone conference. I will just have to wash all my stuff more often.
The Food is SO good here. We eat at this one members house all the time, and other members feed us every once in a while. There are a lot of members from Guyana here. Guyana is actually apart of south america, but they speak english, and it is more commonly associated with the Carribean. But they make the best food. Curry and chicken, Bakes (Very sweet fried bread stuff) Roti (Sweet tortilla stuff), we also eat a lot of fish, which is really good. I get feed more here than puerto Rico. but it is good because it is a lot healthier.
I wasnt able to buy a memory card, and I will look around here to see if they have any (I doubt it), but maybe I will give it to Sister Dewsnup to send at next Zone conference. They take everyone's mail and stuff back to Puerto Rico and send it from there because it is faster and more secure. So you send it with the shirts and stuff and we will be straight.
Well I love you all very much, keep the faith, peace.
Love Elder Hardy
September 9, 2009
Hey! How is it all? My flight got a little delayed because a tropical storm rolled through on Wednesday, so I had to kick it with the moving elders is San Juan for a couple of days, But I finally made it to Antigua Saturday night. The Branch is amazing! There is more priesthood here than in most of the wards in Puerto Rico. There are 6 return missionaries in the branch too, so they are are willing to help out with the work. Yes,there are a lot of black people here. The only other white people I have seen (not too many) Have been tourist. Pretty much they look like the guys off of cool runnings, Ben Wallace (Basketball player), or there are the occassional caramel, but mostly they are just SUPER DARK! They are really funny and nice though. There are a lot of Rastamen, havent noticed too many odd smelling ciggarettes in the street though if you know what i mean. But I hear it is a big problem on the island. Some of their dredlocks are ridiculously long, some drag on the ground when they walk, or they have these huge beenies, all rasta style, and they stick out 4 feet from their head, its like a huge pot for a plant is on top of their head. I have heard to not drink the tap water. It is pretty much a third world country. Most of the people dont have drinking water, so they have these systems set up to catch the rain water from their roofs and store it in a tank. I thought I saw some poor people in Puerto Rico, but it is really sad to see some of the shacks that the people live in. But for the most part they are really nice. I still can not really understand them. It is a whole different language. I cant even describe it. But when I first got here I thought they were speaking Spanish, So I started to speak Spanish in the airport immigration. When they speak to white people they make it more understandable.The Normans are the senior couple here, they have been here for a year, and they still cant understand the Antiguans when they speak to each other.
People laugh when they look at our name tags, Hardy and Harvey, what aw ya brodas man? Everyone thought that was funny in church. But Elder Harvey is cool, we were in the same district in the mtc. And yes I am district leader here, but it is just me, elder harvey, and the Normans, so not a very big district.
The members are sweet! A lot of them use to be Rasta, but they cut their dreds. We went over to one guys house they other day, and he was just jammin out on the guitar, playing a bunch of Bob Marley and a lot of his own songs. They really do say "Man" every other word, it is super funny.
And yes the island itself isnt that pretty, but I have seen some pictures of the beaches, and they are amazing! The Normans are going to take us on a tour soon, so I will get some pictures.
The food is really expensive here, it is a about 12 Us dollars for subway or KFC (the only fast food on the island). Oh, and they dont use us dollars, they use eastern carribean money. They all have queen elizabeth on them, but it is about 2.67 EC to every US dollar.
This is a completely different mission than what I started out on, everything moves a little slower here, but I love it all, I am super excited to help the work progress. Know that I am safe, and I love you.
Love Elder Hardy
People laugh when they look at our name tags, Hardy and Harvey, what aw ya brodas man? Everyone thought that was funny in church. But Elder Harvey is cool, we were in the same district in the mtc. And yes I am district leader here, but it is just me, elder harvey, and the Normans, so not a very big district.
The members are sweet! A lot of them use to be Rasta, but they cut their dreds. We went over to one guys house they other day, and he was just jammin out on the guitar, playing a bunch of Bob Marley and a lot of his own songs. They really do say "Man" every other word, it is super funny.
And yes the island itself isnt that pretty, but I have seen some pictures of the beaches, and they are amazing! The Normans are going to take us on a tour soon, so I will get some pictures.
The food is really expensive here, it is a about 12 Us dollars for subway or KFC (the only fast food on the island). Oh, and they dont use us dollars, they use eastern carribean money. They all have queen elizabeth on them, but it is about 2.67 EC to every US dollar.
This is a completely different mission than what I started out on, everything moves a little slower here, but I love it all, I am super excited to help the work progress. Know that I am safe, and I love you.
Love Elder Hardy
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
September 2, 2009
Hey,
I'm getting shipped out to Antigua. CRAZY HUH! I Dont know too much about Antigua, but it doesnt look ridiculously small. I hear it isnt the most pretty island, but what can you do? Well my companion will be Elder Harvey, that aint going to be confusing, Hardy and Harvey. It will just be me, him, and a senior couples on the Island. I hear the ward is really cool, and down to help the missionary work progress. I am pretty sad to leave, I Really am going to miss Arroyo. I told the Sanchez family last night that I was leaving, but that I would come back tonight and say goodnight, and Patricia and her daughter Edylis, and the grandmother who is a strong member all started crying. It is going to be really hard to say goodbye. I had a hard time sleeping last night, and just felt sick in the morning. But they are my family here, I know this aint the end, we are gonna come back and visit them in a year.
Well don't have too much left to say, just know I am safe and doing well. My flight leaves tomorrow night at 7 for Antigua.
Love Elder Hardy
I'm getting shipped out to Antigua. CRAZY HUH! I Dont know too much about Antigua, but it doesnt look ridiculously small. I hear it isnt the most pretty island, but what can you do? Well my companion will be Elder Harvey, that aint going to be confusing, Hardy and Harvey. It will just be me, him, and a senior couples on the Island. I hear the ward is really cool, and down to help the missionary work progress. I am pretty sad to leave, I Really am going to miss Arroyo. I told the Sanchez family last night that I was leaving, but that I would come back tonight and say goodnight, and Patricia and her daughter Edylis, and the grandmother who is a strong member all started crying. It is going to be really hard to say goodbye. I had a hard time sleeping last night, and just felt sick in the morning. But they are my family here, I know this aint the end, we are gonna come back and visit them in a year.
Well don't have too much left to say, just know I am safe and doing well. My flight leaves tomorrow night at 7 for Antigua.
Love Elder Hardy
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