Another Week Flies By...Week 61

"Granny"

And yet another week on this wonderful adventure has completely flown right by.

On Tuesday I was able to go on a trade-off with one of our Zone Leaders Elder Harding. We spent the first hour trying to find out where someone lived which took way too long because I can't really understand Bajan directions very well, but his name is Kareem and he seems to be pretty interested in the gospel! We also had  a sweet lesson with a woman named Heather and her sister Tiffany about the Plan of Salvation and talked to them about conference and they said that they would try their best to come! Also that night we had another awesome lesson with Philippe and Pierre and it was sweet! They both came with so many questions about Priesthood authority and how to get it and where it is! It was sweet!

On Wednesday morning we traded back and dropped the truck off to Elder Woodruff so that they could go and do some baptismal interviews later that day and we had a really good lesson with a woman named Marisa. We had to wait for her to get home for just a little bit so when she got home she was tired and had stuff to do around the house but we just shared something short with her and invited her to read the introduction page of the Book of Mormon! It went really well! But the rest of our night fell through so our night resulted in some okay contacting...

On Thursday we Weekly Planned and had a sweet lesson with a guy named Chris in the morning and later that night had a super powerful lesson with a woman named Valerie and her family about the Book of Mormon. It was super cool because they didn't really see a need for prophets today, so it was way powerful to bear testimony of the need of the Prophet and especially of Joseph Smith! It was way cool!

On Friday we did our studies in the morning and had an awesome lesson with a man named Tony about the Atonement which went really well. He really saw the need for it and how it can apply in his life! We also had another really good lesson with Philippe answering his questions about the Book of Mormon and inviting him to be baptized!

On Saturday we were able to go to a baptism in the morning and have a really awesome lesson with a woman named Maria in the evening about the Book of Mormon! It was just bare finding most of the day because of all the lessons we had fall through that day. Kind of a bummer but an awesome lesson with Maria!

On Sunday we had really good fast and testimony meeting and taught a man named Ian after church a little about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He already commited to coming to church so he seems like he should be pretty interested! and that night we visited some older members in our area and talked to them about having a family home evening at their home which they agreed to! so that should be really good Too!

Sorry this one started good and got short at the end! I ran out of time again!

Thanks so much for everything!

Love you tons! Talk to you soon!

Love Elder Dorrance!

Sick week, literally and figuratively! Week 60

It was a great week here in Barbados! 

On Tuesday we had a second zone conference Skype with the area president Elder Cornish which was really cool! He talked a lot about the doctrine of the atonement and how to better teach it to help our investigators and members! It was really good and took a good portion of the day and later that night we were back at the church for a devotional broadcast from Elder Cornish again for the members here in the West Indies.

On Wednesday Elder Woodruff and I were able to go on a trade off together, but he was feeling pretty sick so we headed home after lunch so that he could try to sleep some of it off and after that we headed out. We had a lot of appointments cancel on us which was a bummer, but we had a sweet couple contacts and an awesome lesson with Philippe and he invited us over to come back the next day. But that evening the Senior couple called to have us drive down and pick up some stuff to soak my nasty toes in to help the ingrown stuff, and after that it was late so we just had to head home!

On Thursday we traded back and came home to do our weekly planning which went well and had another awesome lesson with Philippe and with a lady that we contacted named Natasha! It was really great! But the rest of the day we just spent contacting!

On Friday we had an awesome lesson with a guy named Chris Daniel. He is really open to the restoration and I'm thinking really understands it... I hope he understands it! haha But we were supposed to have a lesson with a member that lives in our area but she had to cancel because of the third male rule, her husband was heading out when we were going to come over, so that was kind of a bummer...

On Saturday we had an awesome day planned with only a few things falling through. But we did have an awesome lesson with a guy named Tony about the Restoration also, he seems really sincere, now it's just a matter of getting him to church! We also had an awesome lesson with a woman named Maria who really had some of her questions answered about the atonement and her purpose in this life. It is so cool to see the way that the plan of salvation can bless people's life and give them a sense of direction.

Sunday was bare finding after church and that's basically all we did for the day. We met some pretty cool people! So that was fun, I am starting to really love contacting, it's really how the work starts to move along, sometimes you just have to take it into your own hands...

But it was a great week other than this cold I caught from Elder Woodruff that has been following me all week. 

Thanks for everything! Love you a batch!

Love, Elder Dorrance

This is what happens when you play basketball in your sandals

Elder Moli

We went to the Zoo today

Turtles on the backs of the Alligators

Babados Deer

Good Discussions - Week 59

So this week because P-day was on Tuesday last week was shorter, which is nice but kind of throws things off a bit.

On Wednesday we had a zone meeting in the morning talking a lot about what we heard at Zone Conference, but it was really cool to hear about working with the members in more depth. Then we had an awesome lesson with a woman named Marisa, we talked with her about the Book of Mormon and how it can bless her life! It was really nice to see her already accepting the gospel so early on. Then later that night we had a YSA broadcast from the Dominican Republic where the area President Elder Cornish and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke to us about marriage and things, it got me real excited to start my life... haha But Elder Holland spoke also about how 1 is a multitude, and he gave the example of how Abinadi had an almost unsuccessful mission except for the conversion of Alma who basically had his descendants write all of the Book of Mormon. That was cool.

On Thursday we Weekly Planned in the morning and had a really cool lesson with a woman we contacted named Natasha, she seems like she could be interested in the Book of Mormon, but we will be going by later this week to check up on her. We also had another sweet lesson with Philippe and Pierre about the afterlife and where we go when we die, which was a little confusing to them, but they seemed to want to find out for themselves.

On Friday we had to go to immigration in the morning so that I could be legal in the country and then we headed to the doctors office for Elder Moli. (Don't ask what it was about, none of your business;) But we had a cool lesson about the love of God with a man named Christ later that night that went really well.

On Saturday we did our studies in the morning and then went to go with the other missionaries to clean up a garden of an older woman's home for a few hours all the way on the other side of the island, it was really cool mostly because we did it without her knowing and she probably went out there today and freaked out! So that was really cool! But we were supposed to have an appointment later that night but it cancelled, so that was the let down for Saturday.

On Sunday we had an awesome lesson in Elder Quorum about Jesus Christ. Just a big discussion about his life and what he did for us! It was great! The rest of the day was just bare finding with little success.

It was a great week with Elder Moli here in Barbados and I'm incredibly excited for another one ahead!

Thanks for everything and I love you to death!

Love Always, Elder Dorrance

Zone Conference - Week 58

This week was pretty great! Because of some errands that Elder Moli and I had to run we were able to have the car for a few days which was really nice to help us reach the outer part of our area!

On Tuesday we had a great district meeting by Elder Woodruff talking about member work and how we can improve on our member work. Then we had a meeting with the Mehrs talking about language study for those learning English! The mission is supplying all the missionaries with a work book that can help them learn English faster that is put out by the church, so that should be a huge help when trying to help Elder Moli learn English! But on Tuesday we had a kick butt lesson with our investigator Philippe about the Atonement. He really loves and has a lot of faith in Jesus Christ, so it is great to talk about and discuss a common belief that we have and then to share with him about the Plan of Salvation and how he can more fully apply the Atonement in his life! It was sweet!

On Wednesday we were able to go to a birthday party for this older member in the branch. She had some awesome food and we met a bunch of her friends from around the neighborhood and got to talk about the church and the Book of Mormon with them! It was way cool! Then we had a sweet lesson with a young woman named Rashida about the Book of Mormon. I think she is interested, we are going to see her this weekend again so we will find out more.

On Thursday we weekly planned and had a lesson with a woman named Valerie which went really well. Then we actually had to leave and catch a bus to the Oistins sisters area to go and pick up their car because we needed to borrow it the following morning. But that night we had a pretty successful branch council talking about some of the less active members that we could go visit!

Then the next morning we woke up early and drove all the way out to St. Phillip to pick up some elders to take them down to the immigration office to get them legal then drove them back to the senior couples apartment, Then we drove all the way back out to Black Rock to pick up those elders and drove back to Oistins to get them their driving permit and drove them all the way home and by the time we got all the way home we were able to have an awesome lesson with our investigator named Heather! It was super cool, we talked about the restoration and prophets! It was sweet! 

On Saturday we had a full morning of regular studies and for Elder Moli's language study we went out and just started talking to people! He's a great teacher and knows English really well! Just needs some refining, as does mine... haha Then we had an awesome lesson with a woman named Maria who asked us about where we come from and why we're here, so we had a really awesome lesson about our purpose here in this life. It was awesome! That night we went to a training by President and Sister Mehr which was really awesome talking about working in unison with our councils and then watched "Meet the Mormons" Which was amazing! It was so cool to see!

Sunday we had regular church with President and Sister Mehr there. and had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators named Wendy and a bunch of her friends! It was sweet! They asked a bunch of questions about the Book of Mormon and were really excited about it!

Yesterday we had to wake up a little early to go all the way to St. Phillip to pick up the missionaries flying in from Grenada for Zone Conference, and then drive all the way out to pick up Elder Woodruff and elder Ort to get to zone conference right on time! The focus of the conference was focusing on our member efforts and how they can improve! It was really great to hear and we are going to take a lot of what we learned and apply it to our area in the coming weeks!

This week was jam packed! But so amazing!

Thanks for all you do for me! 

Love you always!

Elder Dorrance

Setting up for the Puppet Show

Front View

Back view

Comfort Food.  Haven't seen Krusteaz in a year

Crazy Awesome Week! Week 57

So this week was pretty crazy and boring all at the same time.

On Tuesday we had a combined district meeting in Blackrock with the entire zone which was fun, because we get to sign some journals and stuff, but at about 12 all of the trainers on the island had a kind of Skype meeting into Trinidad to meet our new trainees and to learn from President Mehr, it was pretty cool! Then we spent the rest of the day with the Zone Leaders because it didn't make any sense to drive all the way back to our area just to come back down to spend the night in Oistins to get Elder Barlow off to the airport by 6 A.M.

On Wednesday we were up bright and early to go drop those goobers off at the airport, then elder Harding and I went to the driver license place to get me a license so that Elder Felix and I could do some work while we waited for Elder Moli (my new missionary) and Elder Felix's companion to get in. So after a bit we headed to the airport to wait for about a half hour for their flight to get in, but it turns out it was delayed since the morning and we waited for 3 hours for his flight... After which we drove to the other elders apartment for some lunch because we were dying and then headed on home to have a last minute lesson with a guy named Tony and his brother Clyde! It was pretty good! They seem to be interested in the Book of Mormon and are willing to give it a try!

On Thursday we weekly planned and headed to the other Elder's apartment for lunch because right after that we had to go practice for a puppet show we were doing the next day. The puppet show practice was fine, it's just a show about eating healthy and not drinking or smoking, it's kind of funny at times and pretty cheesy at other times, but it's all for the kids... Then we went home that night and had a lesson with a woman named Heather who seems pretty cool, just barely meeting her though...

On Friday we got picked up and driven to where we had the puppet show, it was this big festival thing they call aggrofest. It's all about farmer stuff, but it looked a lot like a regular fair from home, but it went pretty well. And since we were running on Caribbean standard time our show didn't go on until about 2 hours late, so that took the whole day, then we had game night at the branch with a big group of members which is always fun beating Bajan people at dominoes, it's like their past time... haha good times!

On Saturday we had to do the puppet show again and it started late AGAIN so we didn't get home until about 5 o'clock when we started our fast. But we did have an awesome lesson with Pierre and Philippe. It was awesome! We talked about the Book of Mormon again and really answered some questions they had gotten from reading!

On Sunday we had regular fast and testimony meeting and lunch at a members house after. But for some reason on Sundays nobody really wants to talk to the missionaries because we had all of our set appointments fall through on us, some of them we had even set up that day, kind of lame, but it's all good!

It was a great week and I'm excited to be able to serve with Elder Moli! He's a great missionary and we will be able to see a whole lot of success here in St. George over the next few months!

Thanks for all you do and I hope that you have a great week!

Love you all!

Love, Elder Dorrance