"Boats to Build"

I actually slept through the whole flight over the Caribbean! I was so tired! We flew to Martinique and stopped to pick up some other passengers and then it's direct to Guyane. I did get woken up to have a breakfast. There is nothing better than a free airline meal isn't there? That goes right up there with staying in a hotel.

What a great week! I felt so blessed to be able to see all those great people back in Cayenne! I gotta see Cesar who has now taken over for Elder Rodriguez as translator during sacrament meeting. He is also teaching the gospel doctrine class to investigators and new converts, and is blessing the sacrament. Talk about a tender mercy from the Lord! It was so great to see him going strong. It was also equally great to see Jose William, who recently got permission to be baptized. Not just that but he has met another Latino member from the branch and they want to go to the temple! Jeah! But first things first for Jose...he must be baptized. The Fogas has been going well apparently...they are consistently inconsistent about coming to church...usually about once every two weeks. I was probably most happy to see Elder Rodriguez though. He definitely struggled with his last companion who didn't want to work too much...but he was a stud throughout the transfer. He is my boy and easily my best Pal in the mission. He has grown up tons since I was with him, and is now a powerhouse missionary. It's thanks to him the branch hasn't just fallen apart. But now we are back and we have some work to do. There will be no cutting corners though, it will be a lot of hard work, which I'm excited to have already started. The biggest work will be in finding a new branch president and bringing back all the french members that have gone inactive.

Andy wrote to President Gamiette:

Dear President,
Congratulations to your family on the recently completed triathlons and 5K race. I don't know if I told you in my last interview that I'm signed up for a marathon a month our two after I get home. Of course, right now I'm not focusing on training for it, however, I am keeping goals to help me stay in good enough physical shape to jump out of the starting blocks in a few months when I go home. And so for me your example really helps me see the importance again of fixing goals to meet the bigger and greater ones. That is my goal in Cayenne. I know we will not have much success if we do not fix marker goals. But I would like to share with you my personal goal for this transfer. I actually received it from the Lord. It was during sacrament meeting yesterday while we were taking the sacrament and I was doing a count of the members. I felt a strong impression that this branch needs a leader. Right now President Peredes is doing a so so job at branch president. But I had a very strong impression that Elder Lunt and I need to find a branch president this transfer. The funny thing is that later that night, when we past our branch president's home, we found out some interesting news. He and his family have just received French visas...they are planning to move to Paris within the next 3 months. For me that was a strong confirmation that what I had felt earlier was right. So that is our goal. We have not currently set any marker goals, but that will be very urgent to get done. I pray that I may have faith as Nephi and know that when the Lord commands, the way is prepared.

I would like to ask you though what might be some good Key Indicators for finding a branch president?

This week in Cayenne was not the best for numbers. Elder Lunt and I were getting familiar with some of the investigators that were left and try to build strong relationships with members. We are currently teaching a sweet family that is a referral from a good sister! They are not yet married, but are planning to get married by the end of the year. We are having a family night with them tonight and they are planning on attending church this next week.

We did have one investigator who came to church this last week. Evett has actually been to church 3 times already but for some reason had lost contact with the missionaries. She is great though! She was actually the one that invited herself to church.

Elder Lunt is doing well. This last transfer really hurt him though. He was not able to work because of being sick, and there was absolutely no progression in the language. I try to speak as much as I can without making him too frustrated. He is a great elder though! He is a totally different missionary when we contact someone who speaks English. I want to help him have the faith and courage to just give up the English, and I think he is close because as we live in an apartment of 4, the other two elders both speak only french. So, even though I have never been a fan of 4 missionaries in an apartment, it's actually really great for Elder Lunt.

Thanks president for putting me here in this great area! Things are going to get going! We are getting the whole zone going on 40 days again. When I got here there was absolutely nothing. Because of that less active work was slow last week, but things are starting up! I feel incredibly optimistic about the work!