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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Island of Guadeloupe

Hi!  I AM IN GUADELOUPE! And I speak French. Well not really yet. It is soooo beautiful here. It's hilly and jungley and so cute. It's like a perfect little combination of France and a Caribbean island. La langue est tres bellè! Ah, I am just in LOVE with Guadeloupe. Cute little bread/pastry sotres everywhere. HUGE beautiful trees. BEAUTIFUL French houses and huge pretty windows that they always leave open. And the food! Ah! Tres bon!

My American companion Soeur Stahle is really nice and a hard worker. She is also really smart and we are good friends. We are also with two other temporary companions that are both native. One is Nadene. She is a convert of one year and doesn't speak any English. She is 24 and the sweetest thing. The other sister is from Martinique and speaks English and French. She served a mission in the West Indies a year and a half ago but English speaking. She is... fun. Really loud and..... nice. hahaha. The French is actually coming faster than I thought it would.

 Our zone leaders and all the other leaders here are super nice. The zone leaders teach us for about one to two hours every day since we didn't learn French in the MTC. They said that they are going to go easy on us this transfer as far as numbers and hard core missionary work goes since we are still learning the language. They are so sweet. The elders all asked for French speaking sisters and here we are. They sort of treat us like little princesses. It's really funny.  The branch here is AMAZING! It is so strong and wonderful. Almost all of the elders that could be endowed are, and there are lots of families. President Mehr said that it is the strongest branch in the whole mission. Elder Gamiete and his family are in the branch. He was the old mission president and just got called as an Area Seventy. We went over to his house on Sunday and had lunch. He is really great and gave us some great advice. A lot of the members can speak English, so that's nice. Sunday was great, but of course I could only understand a few words.

 It's a little stressful because we only have this one transfer with the temps and then we are on our own speaking French. So, I really only have 5 more weeks to learn how to speak French. I really need the Lord's help with this and I know with extreme faith. Keep me in your prayers, s'ill vous plait. They all say I have a good accent and I will just have to start using my amazing memorizing skills.  I can do this! I have a head ache all of the time from constantly trying to really listen to people and catch what they are saying.

My best friend Sarah Lewis got her call to the Ohio, Cinncinnati mission, English speaking! So awesome! I am so proud of Jason for going on his mission.

 I feel like I have completely become a different person. I have been praying for the gift of patience and I feel like I have slowly obtained it. I love you all and pray for all of you every day.  I am so happy here. It's like a dream; I get to speak French and live in this beautiful place and get to teach people about who they are and help them understand God and the Savior more. I love you all so much!

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