Crazy Week 94

Wearing a Hindu Sari

Tore my favorite bag - bummer

This week was pretty crazy for sure! 

a few highlights because I'm out of time...

We contacted a lot this week with not a ton of success but Wednesday night I was ready for bed just laying down and got a call from the sisters in a panic telling us to come over and that it was an emergency. So I freaked out and we all hustled over there just to find their pipe burst open and water spewing everywhere! Haha it was pretty funny because of how worried we all were for what happened to the sisters...

We did two service projects on Friday and I've been sore ever since. We moved a ton of dirt for some members and it was just the two of us. Brother Ramesar shoveling and I pushed the wheel barrow up this little hill, it was rough. 

We also were contacting on Saturday and found a big empty parking lot and it was just a big Remote control Car track with these two grown men talking smack to each other and racing like a couple of kids. They were just living my dreams.

But Sunday was really great. We didn't have any investigators at church again, but we spent most of the evening finding and found a bunch of really sweet people to go back and see this week so we should hopefully have some more solid appointments this upcoming week!

Thanks for all the emails everyone! Love you all! 

Bless up!

Elder Dorrance

Pointe a Pierre Wildfowl Trust - Week 93

Mormons helping hands Trinidad day of service. Pointe a Pierre Wildfowl Trust

This week was pretty exciting​!

On Tuesday we had a combined district meeting and lunch as a zone, even though only Elder Parker and Elder Albis were leaving. But we had some decent lessons and had our whole night fall through. We found ourselves walking around at night on all saints day. All saints day is kind of like our memorial day, except it's not just for soldiers, its for everyone. But we found two super sweet families just out on their porch with candles all around in remembrance of their loved ones. So it was just a prime opportunity to share the message of the restoration with people helping them to know how they can be with their families forever.

On Wednesday we had some plans in the morning and had them all fall through and went finding again to get back to the apartment to meet up with Elder Prestera and Brother Ramesar, our new missionaries in San Fernando! Brother Ramesar is my new companion from Chaguanas Trinidad. He's just a temporary missionary for these 6 weeks but he is just a hoot! He's always got a joke to tell and it's really amazing because he's only been a member for a little over a year! We also got 2 more sisters in the ward and they cut our area in half to include them so we had to spend the rest of the day showing them to different members in their area but it's really cool to see the work in Trinidad, especially south, just exploding having 8 missionaries in the ward here in San Fernando!

On Thursday we had weekly planning and we had to drive the other elders to a baptismal interview for one of the sisters investigators(ish). She has been coming to church for like 15 years now since she was like 3 or 4 but never had permission to get baptized. So Thursday was her 18 birthday and she had stuck through it all these years and was interviewed and passed with flying colors! We also had an exceptional lesson with a family we met while contacting on All Saint's Day who were curious about eternal families. It was an awesome lesson about the plan of Salvation with them and it really struck home with them! 

On Friday we went finding in the morning and were fasting for President Egbert because he had to have surgery on his eye while he was in the Dominican Republic. But we had an awesome lesson after a day of finding with a member family about testimonies and bearing their testimonies to those around them and being a light unto others! 

We were able to go to the baptism on Saturday morning and it was even cooler to have her uncle, the stake president, come down South to baptize her. It was an awesome service and because she's been in the church for over ten years everyone knows her and it was a huge turnout to witness this special ordinance. We also got to go spend a day at a non-profit wild fowl trust cleaning and spending a day of service as a ward! It was a ton of fun spending time with the ward and cleaning up the trust! It was a super beautiful place! We also had another sweet lesson with a family we contacted recently about the Restoration and they really understood it and committed to baptism! It was sweet!

On Sunday we had church and a LONG ward council and had the rest of the day completely cancel on us. We spent some time contacting and met a few semi-interested people but that night we tried to check some other investigators and we were able to push this truck up a hill in TORRENTIAL rain. This truck couldn't get up because the road  was too slick so we got to help him up the hill! It was pretty fun! 

This week was rough, but I'm excited to be here with Brother Ramesar and to be staying here in South Zone. I love San Fernando and I love this chance I get to serve the Lord here in Trinidad. I know this church is true and I will tell anyone that wants to hear it! Thanks for all the emails and love! 

Have a great week!

With love and blessings,

Elder Dorrance

Put on gloves and looked busy just for these pictures.

After Zone meeting. Trinidad South Zone

Elder Naylor, Elder Albis, Elder Dorrance, Elder Parker

Bus on the way to doing service as a ward!

"These Meatballs are Super Meat" -Elder Albis Week 92

Aden - The Bishop's rock god of a son  

Well this week was pretty righteous! We spent some time with our members this week really trying to work with them and help them to get excited about missionary work and had some cool success!  But i'll start with a  story...

On Monday we played a little basketball and ended up having Elder Albis roll his ankle pretty badly. He bruised it pretty bad and it was way swollen so on Tuesday he couldn't walk very much and so he toughed it out with me in the car all day and it was sweet! I sure love Elder Albis! He's seriously going to be an apostle, this kid really knows his stuff! He's from the Phillipines and so I get to learn a little bit of Tagalog which is fun! Our biggest success for the day was with a woman that Elder Parker and I contacted, we'll call her K. K is super cool with a Adventist background and has A TON of questions! Elder Albis and I were able to sit down with her intending to teach her about the restoration but Elder Albis felt inspired because of her questions about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon to read the testimony of the prophet at the front of the Book of Mormon. It was such a powerful lesson! She read the whole thing and each time we had her stop she would sit there quietly for a few moments re-reading it and answering our questions about it! It was so awesome! She agreed to baptism if she finds it to be true! The only problem is that she's a single mother going to school and working, so it will be hard to meet with her. But it was such a powerful experience!

On Wednesday we didn't have anything in the morning so we got to go do some finding and actually just walked right up to a house and started painting the house with this guy which was pretty fun! We did service for them for about two hours and set up another time to sit back down with him and his family which was cool! Then we had a fun day with a member who came teaching with us for a few hours but the best part was that night we had everything fall through and talked to the first person we saw who was a really nice woman who owns a nail salon in town. She used to be taught by missionaries in the past but was willing to have us come back to teach her and her husband and they have two young children! So a sweet young family! 

On Thursday I kept making jokes during weekly planning that Elder Parker would have a great time acheiving the goals we were setting with his next companion just kixing with him, but it was pretty funny, he didn't think it was as funny as I did... But we had a long afternoon of getting just hammered by the rain and that night as we were walking to an appointment we got called out to by a lady to go talk to her who told us that she is a member that lives in that area now! Super cool of her to talk to us, so we got her number and invited her to church, which she didn't come to, but we will visit her this week! 

On Friday we did a service project at a members house in the morning using an auger and drilling holes for a couple of fence posts which was fun! Elder Albis and I were able to work together again and we had a really nice lesson with a member family about prayer that night and talked to them about anyone they knew who would like to have a better relationship with God! It was cool to see one of the daughters commit herself to give us some names of her friends to take us by! It was a huge success! 

On Saturday we had a baptism down in the Point Fortin branch which went really nice and also got our transfer calls. I'm staying here in San Fernando and I was supposed to get a new missionary but because of visa complications the Elder who I was supposed to train can't get into the country. So I'm getting a temporary companion for this transfer from Central Trinidad who is preparing to go on a mission! So that should be pretty fun! Elder Parker is heading back to my first area in Rosignol, Guyana! So that is pretty sweet! I'll be writing some notes for him to send to some members down there! So that was pretty exciting! But the other cool part on Saturday was as ElderAlbis and I were still together walking out of an appointment a gentleman stopped us and introduced himself and told us about how he is a member from Nigeria who got baptized like 5 years ago and hasn't been to church in a long time. He has had some issues in the past with people and so we were able to have a kind of mini lesson with him about forgiveness and invited him to bear his testimony at fast and testimony meeting yesterday and he came! It was awesome! He bore a super powerful testimony!

Sunday was pretty cool!  We were able to meet a ton of really cool families contacting! Here the first and second of November are "all saints days". I think that's what it's called, but everyone is home and around! It was pretty cool to see all these families out and about! But we met a ton of super cool people!

I'm excited for this upcoming transfer, it should be a great one, I know I say that every transfer, but it really should be ;) haha Thanks for all the support! 

Bless up, one love.

Elder Dorrance

Baptism in Point Fortin

Recovering our keys from inside the locked gate of the elders next door to us.
My companion Elder Parker on the Left and to the right is Elder Naylor

We aren't allowed inside the senior couples apartment when her husband isn't there so she brought us out breakfast in the driveway because sister Baker was the sweetest!

Sister Baker (Senior Missionary) fed us breakfast with REAL MILK (not common in the islands)

This is the library of Sister Rampersad in the San Fernando Ward

It was Sweet! Week 91

Some Young Men in a neighborhood getting ready for Halloween.

The Blackburn Men.

This week was pretty crazy-ish. We did a lot of finding because we don't have many people to teach and we were only able to find a couple so that was kind of a bummer...

On Tuesday we had an awesome district meeting talking about courage and the story of David and Goliath! It was sweet. Today was a lot of contacting and almost getting robbed. Kind of a scary story and I'll have to tell you about it in a few months but it was pretty intense to us, probably not to anyone who hears the story.

On Wednesday we did some more finding for a few hours and met not a single interested soul but we did get to see a less active family and had a sweet lesson about not falling away and paying attention to the "temptations by degrees" reading from Alma 47! It was a sweet family! We also were able to see another less active family who committed themselves to church and reading their scriptures! It was pretty sweet to see the spirit really help this family feel the spirit again from their own conversion like 20 years ago!

On Thursday we had some okay lessons with some recent converts and an investigator who isn't showing much interest. It's kind of how this whole time in Sando has been. Finding lots of cool people at first and then they just kind of choke themselves out by just not committing to anything. But our weekly coordination meeting was held at our ward mission leaders house which was sweet! He made us ribs and we had a super effective meeting. He gave us some families that we can focus on this week to help to be reactivated! It was sweet! 

On Friday we were introduced to a members friend in the evening, they have been friends for a long time and we had a super sweet lesson with them about the Plan of Salvation! They are very sincere and it was sweet to get to see this members real desire to share the gospel with his friend! We also had everything fall through at night and so we went finding a little bit around some apartment buildings and the first people we talked to were super cool! We were able to have a little lesson with them about the restoration and we got to answer a ton of questions that they had, it was seriously a miracle this week to see!

On Saturday we contacted this family who had SO many questions, we basically just talked with them for a long time answering questions the whole time, it was ridiculous! haha but we did have a good lesson with a member and her daughter and a member from Venezuala who was baptized like 8 months ago! He is super cool and we got to learn a ton about Venezuela and about his conversion! It was super sweet! 

On Sunday we had a pretty low turnout for church and met a way cool family walking around at night having everything cancelled on us again, way cool to see! But they seem super interested and really desire to learn more! It was sweet! 

We spent a lot of time walking this week and got nice and TAN;)

Thanks for everything! 

Bless up!

Elder Dorrance

With Elder Albis eating doubles

Plenty Going On! Week 90

Canadian Thanksgiving Feast

After the Glutony

This week was pretty normal! It was one of the most normal in a while! 

On Monday we got to go to the senior couple's house and have Canadian Thanksgiving! They're the only Canadians in South Trinidad! It was very sweet of them and it was amazing home cooked food to be had! 

On Tuesday I got to go on a tradeoff with an elder named Elder Hunsaker who is from Idaho! It's his second transfer so it was a little different getting to be with a newer missionary for the day! It was a ton of fun though! we had a sweet lesson with our investigator Stacey who has a baptismal date! It was pretty sweet! But we spent a ton of time driving because we had to drive all the way down to Point Fortin to trade with the Elders.

On Wednesday we had to drive back to point in the morning to trade back and then came home to have some seriously sketchy chow mein that Elder Parker and I tried to make, it was like chow mein noodles, frozen vegetables and chopped up hamburger patties... haha it was a disaster, but we ate it all and headed out to another day of a ton of driving! like loads and loads of driving! We picked up some members and headed out to Princes town which is pretty far and had some super cool lessons with some members out there! But the coolest lesson for the night was with a sweet member family who is related to the member that just got shot last week and had a super powerful plan of salvation lesson with them and they just wanted to share it with everyone! They just started handing out names of people to go see! It was sweet! 

Thursday was a struggle for sure, we only got to see like two people, but our lesson we had at night was so powerful! We were teaching a recent convert and her husband about the Restoration. He has been taught plenty in the past so he was asking about the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and what not. Because of our trip we took a few years ago to Nauvoo I was able to testify of the spirit felt inside of Carthage jail! It was such an amazing experience to get to testify of the Prophet Joseph Smith!  Awesome lesson! 

I found out earlier in the week from some other missionaries that a member I got pretty close to in Sangre Grande was coming down South for a few days to do some work and on Friday I was able to visit him for a few minutes and it was so good to see him! Brother Samaroo is his name! It was sweet! But we had another lesson with an older member lady who was reactivated this last week about the restoration and she asked for a Book of Mormon to give to her friend! It was sweet!

Brother Samaroo who I knew in Sangre Grande

On Saturday we had everything fall through in the morning and so we thought to go and see a less active member that I haven't seen since one of my first weeks here a few months ago and she invited us right in and sat down to chat with us and invited her son's friend in for a lesson with us! It was way cool and we got a solid return appointment with the family for Wednesday! Then the other cool thing that happened was we went to contact one of the referrals from the family we got on Wednesday and when we headed over there things had happened where we went and had to leave and come back so when we came back he was there and said that he had just gotten home and that he never gets home so early! It was a huge miracle and he accepted a baptismal date right there! It was a huge success! 

Sunday was another day full of struggle. We had almost everything fall through and found ourselves just trying to talk to anyone we could. But we were able to have a sweet lesson with a family of members, but the dad isn't a member. We talked about obedience and used the story of Daniel in the Lions den and talked about how it's not always easy to be obedient. The dad loved it and we had a very cool experience getting to visit with them! 

All in all it was a great week! We had a ton of cool people to teach and were able to really see some progress on some and a need to stop teaching on others...

thanks for everything!

Love always, Elder Dorrance

Late night Gyro Run after missionary Council with the San Fernando Elders and the ward missionaries

This dog was so mean that this kid had to have it chained up when we came around or it would actually attack us.

Relaxing waiting for thanksgiving to start.

FINALLY, NEW PEOPLE - Week 89

Well this week was a huge success in finding new people to teach! 

On Tuesday I was able to go on a trade-off with Elder Albis but it was funny because while they were going to do language study we were going to go finding for a bit but we got a call from the manager of all the buildings in Trinidad asking us to go to the church and open it up for some guys dropping off some chairs that he ordered which was kind of silly because that's not really our responsibility... haha But Elder Albis and I found some super sweet people that are very interested! It was a day full of answered prayers for sure!

On Wednesday we were able to have a great day out in Princes town visiting a bunch of members out there. Unfortunately,  we also got a phone call the night before telling us that the first counselor in the Stake President was murdered in his driveway. It was a pretty huge shock to everyone in the church and country here in Trinidad. He worked for the water company. It was sad to see but we got a couple phone calls on Wednesday telling us more about it from members and what not. But the funniest thing that happened on Wednesday was a lesson at night. We saw a lady who is a friend of a member and just talks our ears off. She doesn't even really let us teach her! Haha

On Thursday we had a zone meeting in the morning which was good and it all went well and then I was able to go and do a baptismal interview for a wonderful lady from the Dominican Republic who speaks little to no english. I was able to have Elder Uri translate for me and it was just a sweet experience! The gift of tongues is real! HAha But we just had to hang out at the church until like 8 o'clock because we were waiting our turn for interviews with the mission president.

Then on Saturday we had two baptisms which was sweet! we had one down in Point Fortin in the Morning and then another one for Sister Isabel who is the spanish lady up in San Fernando! It was so cool to see Elder Uri be able to translate everyones testimonies and was even able to do the baptismal prayer in spanish! It was so cool to see! 

Sunday we were able to have a bunch of less actives come out to church which was super cool! There is also a member of the church who spoke spanish on his mission and was able to confirm Sister Isabel on Sunday in spanish as well! Just a great weekend to be a missionary for sure!

Sorry this email is so spotty, but I'm out of time! Love you all! Adios!

Bless up!

Elder Dorrance

These huge speakers are actually attached to the the bike

Apparently Deacons are the same all over the world

A little gift from home

Conference and a long drive! Week 88

Elder Parker

Members fed us lunch in between conference sessions.
Sister Roubidoux, Dorrance, and Elder Parker

Well it's been another week here in the B-E-A- utiful land of Trinidad down in San Fernando and quite a bit has happened this week! And if this email is a little funky it's because I left my planner at a members house on Friday and won't get it back until Thursday! Sorry!

On Tuesday we had an awesome district meeting by Elder Naylor about having a positive attitude on our work and how a positive attitude really blesses us! Then we had a full afternoon of everything falling through and when we called an investigator to see if she was home while standing outside her house she told us that her husband doesn't want us coming over anymore but that we can still call to check up on her and stuff... so that was a for sure downer. But we had a great lesson with a recent convert of ours, sister R and her husband who is high up in the Methodist church here in Trinidad and was asking some great questions! 

On Wednesday afternoon we headed out to a part of our area called Princes town and had some cool lessons with the members out there! There used to be a branch out in Princes town, but because of fighting in the leadership they shut it down, but there is still great members out there! But that night we were able to have a great lesson answering some questions of an investigator named Marcus who is a relative and referral from a member out in Couva! He has a ton of questions and loves to talk and even asked us if he could be baptized! But right now we are a little worried that he may be seeking information from not the best sources... But right now he seems solid and just got married to the woman he's been living with on Saturday!

On Thursday we did some more finding after lunch which was normal. But there was a lady who was really rude to us when we just asked her name and she straight up told us that she already knows everything about our church. So that made me a little peeved and I got kind of smart with her which was completely un-Christlike of me to do and I felt super bad after we walked away... haha but we met this crazy cool guy named Chris who we talked to outside of his house for about 15 minutes and then he invited us inside to learn more! We testified of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon which was super powerful and invited him to read it which he said he would! He is a single guy with two kids and is trying to know the truth! 

Friday was the so-called "Long Drive" We got up and drove about an hour to the mission home for Mission Leadership Council with the other leaders in the mission to go over some policies that President Egbert and the Assistants want us to review with our Zones to help us be more obedient. We also talked a lot about what to teach members. One of our Key indicators that has been assigned to us from President Egbert was AMV's which is Active member visits where we teach active members and seek referrals from it. But they told us that a great way to help investigators feel the spirit to share the gospel is found in the Atonement! So that was way cool! Then we drove the hour back to San Fernando to meet up with Bishop Moore to drive us out to Rio Claro which is about a 90 minute drive. We had a sweet lesson with them about the Atonement and they fed us Hot Dogs and Root Beer! Real American Stuff! It was extremely nice of them! But Rio Claro is right in the middle of San Fernando and Sangre Grande and Brother Gopaul works in Grande so he got it to them on Sunday. By the time we got back it was about 7 and we just had everything fall through to do some night time contacting which was a bummer...

SAturday conference was exceptional! Shout out to my mom for loving my almost as unconditionally as Christ does and I loved being reminded of it by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. It was amazing to be so spiritually fed both Saturday and Sunday! 

But on Sunday in between the morning and afternoon sessions we got "Real Fed" by a member family at a park close to the church which was way cool! Curried Aloo and Roti! It was sweet! We also set a baptismal date with our investigator named Stacey which she is stoked about! It was amazing!

But this week was good! lot's of driving and lots of "Spiritual Food"

BLESS UP

Elder Dorrance

Sister Roubidoux, Sister Buckhave, and Dorrance