Elder Mason Garcia: Email from August 2, 2011

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Email from August 2, 2011

So another week has come and gone. It's crazy to think that I have been out for 5 weeks...I only have 3 1/2 left!!! I am going to Suriname!!! I had a really good week. I finished the Book of Mormon yesterday! It was a great spiritual experience to have finally done that!!
James left for Russia yesterday. Espen leaves on Monday. It's crazy that all my buddies are starting to leave.

I don't have much to report this week, so sorry this is so short. Anyway, things are going well with Elder Sadler. A lot better than before. I am the new District Leader and things are going well! I love studying now! I love learning the language and Dutch is starting to click. My vocabulary still needs a little work but that will come. My teacher told me something pretty cool yesterday! He said, "you come to the MTC to learn about the gospel and to learn how to teach. You just happen to be learning to do those things in another language." I know the language will come...And if I just continue to do what I'm supposed to do the Lord will bless me. I had an awesome time at the temple this morning! I love the peace that is in the temple.

I'm sorry I don't have more to say! This week has been kind of a blur!

I LOVE mail more now than I ever have or ever will in my entire life!!

Ik houd van u! Met all mijn hart!

Love,
Elder Mason Garcia

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Info on Suriname

Geography

Area: 163,820 square km. The smallest independent country in South America, Suriname occupies a small, tropical area along the Northern Atlantic Ocean coast between Guyana and French Guiana and north of Brazil. Most reside along coastal areas, preserving the rainforest of the interior. Rivers, lakes and rolling hills occupy the interior whereas swamps and plains are along the coast. Deforestation is the primary environmental issue. Border disputes continue over defining the boundary with Guyana.

Population: approx. 490,000

Peoples

Hindustani: 37%

Creole: 31%

Javanese: 15%

Maroons: 10%

Amerindian: 2%

Chinese: 2%

White: 1%

Other: 2%

Hindustani, Javanese and Chinese arrived as workers during the colonial period. Creole inherited a mixed ancestry from African slaves and whites.Maroons are descendents of black slaves who escaped into the interior.

Languages: Dutch is most widely spoken and the official language. Other widely spoken languages with over 50,000 speakers include Hindustani, Sranan, Javanese, and Guyanese Creole English. There are less than 10,000 speakers of Amerindian languages.

Literacy: 89.6%

History

The Spanish first explored Suriname in the 16^th century followed by British settlement in the 17^th century. Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1667 and did not achieve independence until 1975. Slavery occurred until 1863. Workers were subsequently relocated to the colony from India and Indonesia. In 1980, a military regime took over the government and established a socialist government which fell in the late 1980s. Political stability did not return until the early 1990s. A democratic government was instituted in 1991.

Culture

Suriname shares many cultural similarities with Caribbean nations with large Asian and black communities like Trinidad and Tobago. Due to the large number of Indians and Javanese, Hinduism and Islam have also shaped the culture and integrated cuisine from Asia into local foods. High ethnic diversity has not resulted in ethnic violence.

Faiths

Christian: 40.7%

Hindu: 20%

Muslim: 13.5%

Indigenous beliefs: 3.3%

Other or none: 22.5%

Christians

Denominations Members Congregations

Catholic 110,664

Seventh-Day Adventists 3,724 17

Jehovah’s Witnesses 2,317 45

Latter-Day Saints 1,057 7