I hope this finds you well and happy!! My week was good!! But it has been trying!! The work in Uitkijk is tough, but we are making progress and really trying to help the members get excited about missionary work. So hopefully we see some results soon. We have our first baptism on the 29th, so this week. I am so excited! Fabienne is a cutie.
I am so glad that you had the opportunity to finally meet Elder Thompson. Everyone loved him here in Suriname! Hopefully this won't be the last baptism here in Uitkijk. We have a lot of really good potentials but we have a lot of work to do. We had a really awesome multi family family home evening last Friday. I had to give a short talk about working within a family to strengthen and build each other up. I was so scared. But according to the people in the crowd I did a really good job., I have seen the blessing of the gift of tongues in my life. Some people thought I was from the Netherlands. Who would have thought.
I have been trying really hard to learn the language and soak up everything I can. Elder Fernandes said I have the potential to have better Dutch than him. Which was a shock. But all I can do is keep working. But other than that it has just been missionary work. We are learning how to cook. And I have baked about 5 cakes in two weeks for sisters in the ward. I am a pro! Ha grap je. Dat is Naderlands so you know. It means just kidding. But anyway, things are splended in the Jungle. The critters are crawling, and the wlid monkey is howling. I have to catch or kill something new and exciting everyday!! Gotta love life. And I do!! Sorry this is short, time is short as well.
Love,
Mason
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Letter from Oct. 17, 2011
How gaat het? So I had a much better week this week. Things are slowly starting to click. I still cant speak the language but you know I do my best!!
Thank you for your letter it made my week!! And tell kaiah that i love her to death!! She cracks me up !! That book was hilarious! And also tell her that that blue rock she sent me I carry it around with me everywhere. And it always reminds me of her!! So fabienne is a 9 yr old girl in a family of 10.. It is crazy here....so many children. But anyway she is soo so so so shy and it has taken me a while to break down her initial barrier. But I think I have finally punced through!! And I am afraid to say all the girls love me here. I am told that i am mooi (FINE) almost everyday!! But you knew that already!!! She is a sweetheart! And I know this will bless her life!! But things have been going a lot better! We deep cleaned our apartment today! It felt so good!! We biked 40 km the other day my legs are going to be hugely buff when I come home it is ridiculous!! I had lunch at brother Salijo's house today!! He says hello!!! And apparently he will be visiting SLC in Oct. 2013 and he is planning on visiting us!! I am so excited for him to come to salt lake!!! He is such a loving man. And he is going to teach me how to cook!! But life is swell mama!!! Things are starting to pick up and I can feel my testimony each and everyday!!! I love this work and I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be apart of it!! I need a few things I need the address of aaron steffensen, and the email address of Rich Ingerbretsen!!! And my visa card doesn't work here in suriname so i need you to call the bank and see if there is anything you can do.. But other than that know that I love you!!! You are my amazing mama!!! And I love you to death!!
Met liefde (with love),
Your Son
Thank you for your letter it made my week!! And tell kaiah that i love her to death!! She cracks me up !! That book was hilarious! And also tell her that that blue rock she sent me I carry it around with me everywhere. And it always reminds me of her!! So fabienne is a 9 yr old girl in a family of 10.. It is crazy here....so many children. But anyway she is soo so so so shy and it has taken me a while to break down her initial barrier. But I think I have finally punced through!! And I am afraid to say all the girls love me here. I am told that i am mooi (FINE) almost everyday!! But you knew that already!!! She is a sweetheart! And I know this will bless her life!! But things have been going a lot better! We deep cleaned our apartment today! It felt so good!! We biked 40 km the other day my legs are going to be hugely buff when I come home it is ridiculous!! I had lunch at brother Salijo's house today!! He says hello!!! And apparently he will be visiting SLC in Oct. 2013 and he is planning on visiting us!! I am so excited for him to come to salt lake!!! He is such a loving man. And he is going to teach me how to cook!! But life is swell mama!!! Things are starting to pick up and I can feel my testimony each and everyday!!! I love this work and I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be apart of it!! I need a few things I need the address of aaron steffensen, and the email address of Rich Ingerbretsen!!! And my visa card doesn't work here in suriname so i need you to call the bank and see if there is anything you can do.. But other than that know that I love you!!! You are my amazing mama!!! And I love you to death!!
Met liefde (with love),
Your Son
Monday, October 10, 2011
Email from Oct. 10, 2011
How gaat het met u? Ik ben altijt blij om u emails te ontvangen!!!
Suriname has been good this week! Elder Fernandes and I have had some good success!!! A typical day for us is we rise at 6:30 shower, eat, and then begin our studies at 8. We study from 8 to 12 and then we are out the door! We go to appointments, go tracting, and do everything else that is involved with missionary work. We generally have lunch around 3 or 4 and then return to our apartment around 9-9:30 to eat, plan for the following day, and then finally sleep!!! It is busy and hot and crazy, but I have really enjoyed it.
I have been struggling the past couple days with everything. I don't want you to worry but it has been hard for me. The language and the spiritual level I am required to maintain. I regeret the time that I wasted before my mission doing things that took me away from the spirit. I wish I would have prepared for this time in my life. I fell so far behind the rest of the missionaries. With everything. And it has been really hard for me. Especially spritually. I feel like I am fishing in the dark most days. But Elder Fernandes gave me a book to read about what it takes to be a good missionary and the frist step is converting oneself, and I know that is what I have to do, and it needs to be my top priority.. But until that point things are going to be tough. Keep me in your prayers!! Especially that I will find and obtain my personal conversion!! Because I heb het echt nodig.
So my favorite thing to do it talk with the childern and get to know people!! It has been a blast!! We we are playiong soccer with the kids for an hour every Friday and it is amazing they have such good hearts!!! And I am the fan favorite!! The kids love me a little too much sometimes!! They are always hounding me. It is definetly helping me develop some patience. The most difficult thing is talking with people because I can't really speak with them. But I like it. It is slowly getting easier!!
I love Uitkijk. We biked to Saramaka the other day and we were able to find 6 new investigators and share 7 different lessons.
We had a real sad experience while we were there. We met a man from the Netherlands and we started talking with him. He wanted nothing to do with us. Elder Fernandes then asked him what was important in his life. And he started to say I dont what to start that conversation When Elder Fernandes askd him "is nothing important to you?", he sadly replied with "no, nothing means anything to me"...I feel so sad for this man. What kind of a life is it to live where nothing is important. I am so gald that i know what is most important in this life at such a young age. I am so greatful to have the gospel in my life! But other than that all is well! We have a great vision for Uitkijk!! It is going to take some work but hopefully things will begin to progress!! We don't get much free time on our p-days. We always have something to do, or somewhere to go! But I have so many beautiful photos that I want to share with you!! We are going to have our first baptism on the 29th of this month! I am so excited! Her name is Fabienne!! She is a sweetheart!! I will keep you posted!!slacking!!! I love you mama!! Tot de volginde keer!!!
Suriname has been good this week! Elder Fernandes and I have had some good success!!! A typical day for us is we rise at 6:30 shower, eat, and then begin our studies at 8. We study from 8 to 12 and then we are out the door! We go to appointments, go tracting, and do everything else that is involved with missionary work. We generally have lunch around 3 or 4 and then return to our apartment around 9-9:30 to eat, plan for the following day, and then finally sleep!!! It is busy and hot and crazy, but I have really enjoyed it.
I have been struggling the past couple days with everything. I don't want you to worry but it has been hard for me. The language and the spiritual level I am required to maintain. I regeret the time that I wasted before my mission doing things that took me away from the spirit. I wish I would have prepared for this time in my life. I fell so far behind the rest of the missionaries. With everything. And it has been really hard for me. Especially spritually. I feel like I am fishing in the dark most days. But Elder Fernandes gave me a book to read about what it takes to be a good missionary and the frist step is converting oneself, and I know that is what I have to do, and it needs to be my top priority.. But until that point things are going to be tough. Keep me in your prayers!! Especially that I will find and obtain my personal conversion!! Because I heb het echt nodig.
So my favorite thing to do it talk with the childern and get to know people!! It has been a blast!! We we are playiong soccer with the kids for an hour every Friday and it is amazing they have such good hearts!!! And I am the fan favorite!! The kids love me a little too much sometimes!! They are always hounding me. It is definetly helping me develop some patience. The most difficult thing is talking with people because I can't really speak with them. But I like it. It is slowly getting easier!!
I love Uitkijk. We biked to Saramaka the other day and we were able to find 6 new investigators and share 7 different lessons.
We had a real sad experience while we were there. We met a man from the Netherlands and we started talking with him. He wanted nothing to do with us. Elder Fernandes then asked him what was important in his life. And he started to say I dont what to start that conversation When Elder Fernandes askd him "is nothing important to you?", he sadly replied with "no, nothing means anything to me"...I feel so sad for this man. What kind of a life is it to live where nothing is important. I am so gald that i know what is most important in this life at such a young age. I am so greatful to have the gospel in my life! But other than that all is well! We have a great vision for Uitkijk!! It is going to take some work but hopefully things will begin to progress!! We don't get much free time on our p-days. We always have something to do, or somewhere to go! But I have so many beautiful photos that I want to share with you!! We are going to have our first baptism on the 29th of this month! I am so excited! Her name is Fabienne!! She is a sweetheart!! I will keep you posted!!slacking!!! I love you mama!! Tot de volginde keer!!!
Pictures!
Here are some pictures from Mason this week and some of the area that he's in. He's doing great!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Letter from October 3, 2011
So a week has come and gone and I love Suriname!! Uitkijk is an interesting place with its own tempo. Things are just slower here. People move slower, talk slower, and live slower. I love it here!. My apartment is nice. I will hopefully remember my camera next week to upload some photos. My house is hot, bug loaded and just beautiful. We have A-C in our room which has saved me. I actually get cold at night. But Uitkijk is a little farmish town in the middle of the country. We have a store and a chineese resturant and that is about it. There is not much out here. But its pretty easy to catch a bus here and get to the city. The only thing is that the buses don't have schedules. When the bus is full they leave. So who knows how long you will be waiting. But I love it. My dutch is coming. Everyday I can say more and more, and understand more and more. I have been speaking 100% dutch with Elder Fernandes which has been amazing. I have also been trying to learn Saranantongo (street Creole). It is going to be a little bit harder than expected, but the kids have been an amazing help. I loved watching conference. It was a treat!!! I absolutely love it here. I haven't had anything too to eat strange yet. The most lekker thing has been Roti!!! It is curry, meat. beans and a whole bunch of other sutff that i dont know. And you pick it up with the Roti bread which is kinda like pita bread or naan!! It is so so so so so good!! I love it. I was hoping to lose weight so hopefully that happens!
My zone is the beans knees!!
Elder Tullis
Baker
Fernandes
Scott
Norton
Sadler
Warner
Grange
Job
Peredson
Bell
Gwuinn and me!
They are a great group of guys! I'll put a photo up next week. The work has been slow. But I know it will pick up with time. Reopening an area has been a great learning experience. I love Uitkijk!! Oh, and I had to buy a bike! So So when there is a big withdrawl it is me! But other than that I don't have much.!!! Me takki u en graan tangi fu!
I love you!
Elder Garcia
My zone is the beans knees!!
Elder Tullis
Baker
Fernandes
Scott
Norton
Sadler
Warner
Grange
Job
Peredson
Bell
Gwuinn and me!
They are a great group of guys! I'll put a photo up next week. The work has been slow. But I know it will pick up with time. Reopening an area has been a great learning experience. I love Uitkijk!! Oh, and I had to buy a bike! So So when there is a big withdrawl it is me! But other than that I don't have much.!!! Me takki u en graan tangi fu!
I love you!
Elder Garcia
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