Elder Mason Garcia: Letter from 10/1/2012

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Letter from 10/1/2012

The DL duties stretch me everyday but I love the learning process. I love getting to know the Elders and building lasting friendships with them, giving trainings is still weird. But I love it. I will be talking tomorrow about the Book of Mormon. My back is doing OK. Still hurts but I cannot do much about it. I just try to use it better and really make sure that I have good posture and doing the things that are going to make it easier to go through out the day. I have really learned to love my mission. I do not know. as the time ticks by, I get more and more anxious. More and more sad. I do not want to leave. There is nothing better. This is how life ought to be. Selfless, teaching and doing all that we can to bring others to come unto Christ. Do not get me wrong when the time comes to go home, I will be excited to see you, to see my lovely sisters, dad, and my little brothers. But I want nothing more than the time to take easy and not leave so fast. I will be 21 in 2 months....what the heck. It is sickening. I still have so much to learn and so much refining to do. There are still so many people that I need to find. I love this gospel. I love it with all my heart. More than anything I love it. I want to know it, live it, and help others live it too!! It is perfect, led by the perfect head, and brings perfect peace. I can never thank my God enough for giving me the chance to have it in my life. Never.

Love,

Elder 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