One Year down, One more to love! Week 53

Hump day tie burning 

So this last week just completely flew by, I literally have no idea where it went!

On Tuesday we were still trying to figure out the bus system up here in the St. George Parrish so we were about an hour late to district meeting, which was basically over by the time we got there... haha, but still a great lesson! Then we headed home and headed out to a kind of sad day of trying to contact people house to house. It didn't work very well for us on Tuesday but that's the fun of it!

On Wednesday we had great lessons with some ladies we contacted the week before. We also found this awesome bakery that sells these rolls that Barbados is famous for called salt bread, they are amazing! They just taste like regular rolls though!

On Thursday we had weekly planning and some great lessons from contacts, but mostly just a full day of contacting. It's kind of what you have to do when you open an area... haha On Thursday I also hit a year mark, which was really cool to see the progress that I've made over the past twelve months! 

On Friday we had some really cool lessons, one with a girl named Crystal who had actually been taught before by Elder Pohl in Black Rock. So that was really cool to see her knowing my last companion, but just another day full of contacting! 

On Saturday we had a great lesson with Tony who we had taught before!

Sunday was area conference, a broadcast from Salt Lake! Elder Holland and President Packer both spoke to us which was great!

Sorry this is short! I'm all out of time!  love you!

Elder Barlow - Bikes finally

These monkeys live in our backyard

Not Homeless Anymore! Week 52

Alright so we are now on week 2 of my time here in the wonderful land of Barbados, and I absolutely love it!

This last week was another crazy one because for most of it we were still homeless and living at other missionary's apartments.So there were a few days out of the week that it was just hard to get into our area which is a little bit of a drive from where we were living.

On Tuesday we had a great district meeting about setting goals taught by Elder Woodruff, and then all four of the missionaries went up to our area in the St. George parrish and spent a whole lot of time just bare contacting. It was really great to get to see a bunch of people and talk to them. Elder Barlow and I are basically opening a new area and so for the next few weeks we will be spending most of our time just trying to find new people to teach and increasing our investigator pool.

Wednesday we had an activity at the branch marking scriptures for investigator kits and then a meeting with the branch president. This took a really really really long time so we weren't even able to get up into our area at all but we did see some cool people in the other Elders' area and had a fireside/meeting with Elder Gamiette who is over the Young Single Adult group and Institute for the Caribbean, so he gave us some ideas that he has to get the YSA back up and running which was really cool.

On Thursday we had our weekly planning session and spent the rest of the day in the other elders' area teaching and contacting. But there was some Zone Leader stuff that they had to do and a meeting pretty far away from them at the branch presidents house, so that took up a good chunk of the day.

Friday, Elder Barlow and I were able to spend our first day actually working together as companions which was pretty fun! He is hysterical and I am excited to work with him. We had some great return appointments with some previous contacts and were able to find some sweet new people! So Friday was a whole lot of just straight missionary work all day long! haha

On Saturday we had a baptism in the morning and spent most of the rest of the afternoon finally moving into our new apartment. But we had some awesome lessons in the evening and some sweet contacts.

On Sunday we had great church and studies and things and nothing super exciting happening Sunday...

This morning we were able to go to a primary school though and do this puppet show for these school kids about not doing drugs and drinking alcohol, it was like a less funded DARE program. We got to be the puppets it was a whole lot of fun!

So where I am emailing, here at the library, we have to get someone to put in a password to hook up a USB. I asked the lady like 20 minutes ago and she still hasn't come and I am out of time so I am sorry for the lack of pictures, but will hopefully do better next week!

I love you all and hope you have a great week! Keep it real!

All my love,

Elder Dorrance

Barbados - Week 51

I've landed here in the beautiful country of Barbados! I've only been here a few days but I can tell that I am absolutely going to love it!

On Tuesday we had a great zone meeting in Kingstown, St Vincent. We spent the rest of the day visiting some of the members and I would send pictures if I could, but I can't... It's really slow to load them, and hour isn't enough... haha

But Wednesday morning we headed to a members house to say goodbye and then to the airport. It was hard to leave, but I'm excited to be here for sure! One funny thing is that when we got in on Wednesday a couple flights from Canada and America got in and so the entire check in place was PACKED with tourists, it was completely strange to hear so many American accents all over the place! haha But we got in and I met my new companion and one of the Zone Leaders. My companion is named Elder Barlow from Central California and I'm extremely excited to be working with him, I can already tell that we are going to get a long great!

On Thursday we weekly planned and headed up into our area (we are living with the zone leaders right now because we are waiting to get into an apartment because our area is brand new. So that's fun) and we just contacted the entire day. It was pretty sweet and we met some really cool people!

On Friday we had to go pick up the other Zone Leader from the airport and we went out to a part of Barbados called Black Rock so that someone could do an interview. We spent a good chunk of the day contacting and meeting new people again. It was pretty great!

On Saturday we went and taught a few lessons and then headed to the baptism in Black Rock, We also were able to go check out the apartment that we will be moving into. IT was pretty cool and I'm excited to have my own apartment again... haha

Sunday here is great! There are some great members in the branch and everything runs really smoothly. Then me and an Elder Harding went contacting all day long, tiring but really awesome to see!

This morning was pretty great too, we went and played volleyball on the beach which was crazy fun, but I forgot my camera! sorry...

Hope all is well and I hope to hear from you soon!

Love always,

Elder Dorrance

My new companion Elder Barlow (left). Elder Harding (zone leader) in the back. 

Zone Conference

Barbados Bound! Week 50

Well this week we spent a whole lot of time trying to find new investigators and talking to people. Mostly because everything fell through.

On Tuesday we had a pretty good district meeting about planning and making sure that we set effective goals and make good plans for our days. Then we had the rest of our appointments fall through for the day with a plethora of excuses tagged along with those dropped appointments.

Wednesday we headed out to see some people that we had contacted last week but had all of them cancel on us for one reason or another, but we were able to have an awesome lesson with both Tammy and Calicia. With Tammy we talked about laws that have been revealed to Joseph Smith like the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. It is such a strength to me to see people take these things on faith. With Calicia we were able to have a great lesson about the priesthood with her and her boyfriend (not living together) She completely understands and loves the priesthood!

On Thursday we had everything fall through. People wouldn't even really talk to us so we had some contacts but it was kind of a bummer day.

On Friday we went back to the same place as Wednesday and had them cancel on us again, so we tried contacting and no one is really home on weekday mornings, so we kind of had to get out of that area, until we can set up some time in an evening to go through and talk to people. But we did have an awesome lesson about repentance with a less active family, focusing on really desiring to repent. It was sweet!

On Saturday morning there was a baptism in Calliaqua which was awesome and we also got our transfer calls telling us that I will be going to serve in Barbados with an Elder Barlow and Elder Pohl will be staying here with an Elder Cox. I'm extremely sad to be leaving St. Vincent. I have absolutely loved my time here and can't wait to have more great times in Barbados.

Sunday was a pretty regular day of church and studies and choir. I did give a talk about why we need to go to church which I was told was pretty good.... haha 

This morning we were able to head to Bequia, which is the closest Grenadine island to St. Vincent. It was pretty fun, especially going around with some of the other missionaries.

It was a good week and I have absolutely loved my time here in St.Vincent. I have met some amazing people and am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that I was able to come here to experience and learn the things that I have learned, especially from Elder Pohl. I love my time here and can't wait for more to come! 

Thanks for everything! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Much love, Elder Dorrance

Matthews Family - St Vincent

Branch Choir

Brother Selman and Brother Richardson

Cruise Ship in Kingstown Port

L-R Elder Albis, me, Ashana, Sister Fisher, Elder Perez, Elder Vaughn

Bequia Island

Baptism!! Week 49

Calicia

So this week was one of those slow at times and incredibly exciting at others! 

On Tuesday we had an awesome district meeting talking about D&C 121 34-46, one of the scriptures we have been asked to memorize as a mission. Then we had to go and pick up a wheel chair and push it all the way through town to the church because the branch president had someone he had to get one to. It was pretty funny having people stare and talk to us about it. But later on in the day we had an awesome lesson with Tammy about the importance of the Book of Mormon. It was really good and she was telling us about how she wants to find the time to really sit down and study it which was really awesome!

On Wednesday we had a really cool experience going to a part of our area we don't really go to. When we were getting off the bus there was a man sitting next to us and told us that he was going to pay for us. So we walked with him to his home getting to know him and found out that he is the grandson of a member of the branch. He had met with missionaries a long time ago but was very interested in the message that we shared with him and his family. It was really great! We were also able to go and see Calicia who got baptized on Saturday! We went over the interview questions with her and made sure she knew she was ready.

On Thursday was New Years day. We had tried to set up appointments with investigators and members but both had told us that they would be busy. So Thursday was kind of a bust of a day except for the awesome lunch and lesson we shared with a less active family about gifts from God.

On Friday we headed up to a different part of our area that we haven't been to as much and we met someone that we had contacted earlier and shared the restoration with her. She had told us before that she is only here on a holiday and that she is going back on the 8th so we were hoping that what we shared with her would interest her enough to get into contact with some missionaries back in the states. Also on Friday we met some other missionaries to do Calicia's baptismal interview which went perfectly.

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready to head over to the church to fill the baptismal font. Everyone showed up and it was a very big success. Everything went perfectly. It was really great to have the opportunity to baptize her myself. She is a wonderful young women who is already telling us about her friends and family that she wants to take us by! It is amazing to see the impact that the gospel can have on a persons life!

Yesterday was normal church, there were a few less people there than usual because of some rain in the morning, but it was a really nice service. Also later that night we had choir practice and we were able to go by a members house to practice because that member can't walk very far. He has a problem with his legs and can't move them very much and can't make it to church. He was the first person baptized on St. Vincent and is extremely converted to the gospel, so it was really great to go over and visit and sing with him.

It was a great week! We had a lot of work to do and will continue to work hard!

I love you guys so much!

Love, Elder Dorrance

Guess boys never get too old to pick up gross stuff off the ground.  Human?

MeRRy ChrIsTMaS - Week 48

Well Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you were able to have a wonderful Christmas! It was so great to Skype with you guys!

I guess I will start with Tuesday as usual, on Tuesday we had a whole lot of stuff fall through mostly because everyone was trying to get things set up for Christmas and had to go into town to do it. It was kind of a bummer, but we found things to do and some cool people to teach! 

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we couldn't find a single person to talk to or teach. We ended up having some member ask us to help them clean their house on Christmas eve. Here in St. Vincent most everyone has a funny tradition that on Christmas Eve everyone stays up until the wee hours of the morning cleaning and baking cakes. Then they sleep for a few hours and get up and eat and relax all day. It's kind of funny, but they sure know how to make some good cake.

On Thursday we woke up and had Christmas breakfast. In Elder Pohl's family, for some reason, they always have banana splits after breakfast on Christmas morning. So, thanks to the Pohl family. I was able to enjoy some wonderful Ice Cream early on Christmas morning. After getting ready we walked up the hill a little way to a members house where they fed us lunch. After filling ourselves too much we headed back down the hill so that I could Skype my wonderful family, and then back out the door to another members house to be fed another pile of food. After which we went back down that hill and up another to get another... yes you guessed it... another plate of food! haha I thought I was going to explode! But we eventually made it home and slept it off.

On Friday they celebrate something called Boxing day here, now I have a Canadian companion who also celebrates boxing day and from what I have figured out by asking anyone I could, no one knows what boxing day is or where it came from, so that was cool. But it was pretty hard to see anyone on boxing day either, everyone was recovering from Christmas.... 

On Saturday we had an awesome lesson with Calicia and her boyfriend. Which is way cool because Calicia is scheduled to be baptized this upcoming Saturday! She is super excited for that! So lets all pray that everything goes according to plan! haha. We also had a wonderful lesson with Tammy who has committed to pray about a baptismal date and hopefully when we go see her tomorrow she will have set a date herself!

Yesterday we got invited over for a little post-Christmas lunch which was fantastic and had some great talks in Church about remembering Jesus Christ.

I have had a wonderful and weird first Christmas from home, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!

I love you all and hope you have an awesome new year's eve and an even better 2015! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

Love, Elder Dorrance

(I don't even come home in 2015... weirdness...)

 Added pop tarts to my banana split (pop tarts are a Dorrance Christmas stocking tradition)

A p-day visit to Fort Charlotte.  From Google:

Fort Charlotte is an historic fort with spectacular views overlooking Kingstown. It is located just to the west of Kingstown and perched at 600 feet overlooking the bay - a short drive from Kingstown.

Constructed in 1806, Fort Charlotte was a significant fortification that housed around 600 troops and a battery of over 30 canons. The canons were mostly pointed inland, to defend against Caribs.

With wonderful panoramic views of Kingstown it is certainly worth a visit.

Elder Albis was photographed by Elder Perez who was photographed by Elder Gutierrez who was photographed by me.
We thought we were pretty funny.

with Elder Gutierrez

'Twas the Week Before Christmas...Week 47

So this week was kind of great at times and kind of really slow at other times.

On Tuesday we had a Zone Meeting kind of following up about Zone Conference which was really good and some interviews with the district leader after that which went really really well. We talked about some cool stuff that I want to put into practice that I hope will help the area... But that took a good amount of time and we had the rest of our appointments fall through for the night so that was kind of a bummer.

Then on Wednesday we decided to go into an area that we don't usually work and found some kind of cool people, but it was a Wednesday morning so a lot of people weren't home. After lunch we went up to see a young girl named Calicia who is really cool and open to the gospel! We also had practice for the branch program which was extremely funny and very successful.

On Thursday we had our appointments fall through in the afternoon and headed down to the church to set up for the Christmas program. There were a lot of dances and songs and skits, us four missionaries did a few of the old Boy Scout skits that these people just cracked up over... We did the invisible bench one and another one called the ugliest person in the world. They were pretty funny. But the one that was the funniest was the last one. It was hilarious. You would just need to be there, sorry... haha

On Friday we went back up into these areas we don't visit as much and found some more cool people and had some great lessons. It's really cool to be able to see if someone is going to progress towards baptism in a contact based on whether or not they are interested in the Book of Mormon. It is such a powerful tool to help find those that God has prepared to receive the gospel!

On Saturday we had another wonderful lesson with Calicia and set a baptismal date with her for the 3rd of January. She is really excited for her date and moving towards it really well!

Yesterday it rained a lot in the morning and so we had kind of a poor turn out to church, but it was still really great, especially some of the talks about Christmas in sacrament meeting.

It was a great week. I hope you all have a wonderful week and a very merry CHRISTmas. Don't ever forget the first and best gift given to us by a loving Father in Heaven.

I love this work, I love this Gospel, and I love my brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Love, Elder Dorrance

Branch Christmas Party Hosted by Elder Wilson and myself