"I Love the Now"

Elder Snow and I saw the blessings of the Lord with our member work this week. George, was baptized yesterday by President Constant(branch president). We have been working with our members a lot lately, just on teaching them how to teach the gospel. And I'm talking about all our members not just our branch missionaries. So we have even scheduled a few rendez vous with George where two members have taught him without us being there(once or twice when we have had too many other appointments). On one of these occasions, my favorite sister in the world, Soeur Eclar challenged him to be baptized(another testimony of the effectiveness of members). This was not a missionary baptism...it was a branch baptism. We have seen top many problems with that here, where missionaries do too much of the work and the investigators are left after baptism with no one. When we were explaining to George who could baptize him, the missionaries were not even made an option. We are seeing the work which we have put in over the weeks with the members pay off! Our members are learning better how to teach...and even though there are many who are still scared and not ready to take that leap into the cold waters of missionary work. There are some who are creeping to the waters edge and getting their toes wet, watching other members like Soeur Eclar dive right in, and are taking a little more confidence.

I never really realized the importance of father's blessings until the mission. Right now there are so many part-member families in the branch that the elders quorum is having a rough time getting together to make sure that every family with children will receive a blessing before the school year. We as kids are so lucky for the home that you and dad built for us. Every time I teach about scripture study or prayer I use the example of our family.

hahaha, Ashley is such a nerd....are all girls seriously like that? That's weird...I'm trying to learn to be a good companion so I can be a better husband...sometimes it's hard, and sometimes I need a whole lot more patience, but I'm thankful for the lessons it teaches me. I sent some photos with the email today from the baptism and also from my one year anniversary(you burn a shirt, but i also sent a package a few weeks ago and in it was a CD for the family with a bunch of photos and stuff.

Anyways Paix Dehours!

Elder Andy Neff

We had a few questions for Andy. Thankfully, he responded.

• What is going on with Judicael (haven't heard much about him lately)? He is coming to church and all the activities, but he does not yet have a contrite spirit or a broken heart. He is not reading the Book of Mormon much or keeping the commandments. He is not progressing....we are going to let him go for a little bit and check back in a while.
• How many missionaries in the Lamentin branch? We are fluctuating with legality things and elders getting hurt. Elder Snow and I are hauling elders all over...we have had 6 to 2 missionaries in the last 3 weeks.
• How is handling the manual transmission? I am not driving any more luckily haha...I actually had a little accident with a speed bump, and lost the privilege.... I don't want talk about it.

"Pacing the Cage"

Well, things are going.... Some of the older missionaries tell me that it's because it's the summer and vacation, and it was exactly the same last year, but I don't buy it. I'm disappointed in myself. There should be changes since last year. We should be having more and more at church, not the same. Our finding efforts were greatly hindered by Elder Miles this week(no fault to him) who has had terrible problems with his feet. We did splits with him and his companion, Elder Olsen, when he needed to go to the doctors, and because the doctor gave us the results that led to his transfer to Trinidad. I was with Elder Olsen for about two days, and Elder Snow couldn't do much with our investigators with Elder Miles who couldn't walk. So I have faith that contacting and finding will be the key this week, as we have had less time with that. Its frustrating with not having as much time to work...but it just means we have to work harder and smarter...THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY TO DO WHAT GOD ASKS OF US. That's why I love this gospel! 3 Nephi 3:7 is a verse that everyone knows, but we must live with that faith...that there is always hope, always a way to accomplish our righteous goals. We were extremely excited to get our Branch President back this week...as soon as we could we set some goals to activate some of our priesthood and he fixed a goal FOR THE BRANCH of 5 baptisms this month. We move forward with faith... I have faith in him and his priesthood keys that he holds. So the work goes forth, and we will work harder and smarter. I know that all this is giving me experience that I will need...we should treasure up our trials in our life...all our afflictions, because they are trials and afflictions in Christ.

I love Elder Snow, he is so cheerful, and uplifting. Like with all companions there are things that I would like that he would do different. He gets distracted easy, and sometimes looks too hard for the fun in things, but I sometimes feel I push him too hard, and I'm too critical. Of course, the first person I need to look to if there is a problem is myself. All in all we get along great, and I pray that I can love him even more....

I want to address what dad wrote about a little earlier in the week. He had read my patriarchal blessing this last week...about the gift of healing...as this summer has been a slower, and I have prayed and pondered ways to help the work...I have also sought counsell in my patriarchal blessing...and I read that..and I'm grateful for your advice dad. So let me recount an experience from this week from my journal(I have it with me)...

August 14, 2009
Me and Elder Olsen had a great day today. I'm grateful for the spirit that Elder Olsen carries with him, and I guess so it is with those that love the Lord like him. I was lucky enough to be on splits with him today. We were lucky enough to meet a great family today, Family Anitalo. They come from Haiti, and have two daughters of 8and 10 years. We had planned to find a family night before, and that had been in our prayers since planning and during our studies. We prayed for a family of four...when we knocked their door we didn't think the mother was much interested. But she invited us in letting us know we only had a few minutes, and honestly I just think she invited us in to be polite. We met the father who was busy watching the television...we noticed he had a wounded leg for some reason. He had bandages, and I think that he had been cut by a machete. We talked with them a little about what had happened. After a minute or two I asked him if he would like a blessing. He replied a little half-heartedly "yes", haha. I was not so sure at this point, questioning his faith. Elder Olsen had never given a blessing before so he rathered that I do it. Before I felt to ask if we could give them a quick lesson about the priesthood and the restored power of God on earth. I think that really boosted his faith. The blessing went well and I don't remember what I said. But I felt the family was really touched. After the blessing the father got up from the chair without saying anything and left the room. Before we knew it the mother asked if we could bless her daughter. Elder Olsen, by the comforting of the spirit, felt a little more comfortable giving a blessing, so he did it. Next, we hadn't seen the father and so we were getting ready to leave when the father, Mr. Anitalo, came in with just a towel on, having just got out of the shower, and he said with the biggest grin on his face...IT'S BETTER! His leg had been healed! I don't think fully, but tons better. He was walking a whole lot more confidently on his leg..hahaha before I really thought about it I blurted out the reply "Seriously?!". After registering what I said I felt terrible...what kind of faith is that? Seriously? As a servant and representative of Jesus, I must have a greater faith in his power... But now I know the healing power of the priesthood is real...both spiritual and temporal and in all things.

It was a spiritual experience...I'm sad I will not be able to teach the family...but I find that it is less than a coincidence dad decided to write me about that this week....

ON a funner note...it was the TOUR DE GUADELOUPE this week...hahaha boy was that fun...I don't get what is so fun about watching people ride bikes...its true they wear some sexy spandex...I love it...We saw people who wore their favorite riders uniform..like in football I wore my Brett Favre jersey to the Packers game..there are the fans that wear the spandex haha...ridiculous... k well love everyone

"My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, But I Do Love Jesus"

I'm not going to lie. This was one of the worst weeks of my mission. Actually the last two weeks. Elder Snow and I were not able to get much done on Wednesday and Thursday because of transfers. This week we spent over 30 euros paying for parking at the airport.That was frustrating, but there were a bunch of elders flying in and going out of Guadeloupe. But, even aside for that the work was just HARD. We have received direction from our branch president to work with inactives and part-member families, and that has been slow. We have seen a few families, the family Bilba, Jason, and Demmin. All are part-member families. But, all have there individual problems. We had great lessons in fact with the family Bilba and Demmin about having family prayer and the unifying power that it has in homes. The family Bilba has been pretty good about it, and it has been a sweet sweet blessing to see the difference in her children. The family Demmin was not as diligent, but we have a family night with them tonight. President Gamiette tells us that if they don't come to church then bring the spirit of Zion to them to cultivate that desire. None of those families came to church this last week though, and we only had one investigator. In evaluating the week with numbers it was one of my worst ever on the mission. And to add to that, every week there seems to be fewer and fewer people at church. This last week there were 30! Man, it really hurt my soul to see that on Sunday. It has been a sad week, and I don't know what to do! I know that i can make a difference, but I don't know how. However....I KNOW the direction we have received is from God, and even if I do not see the big picture right now, the spirit tells me to continue in this way,in doing what our branch president wants, in knitting our hearts with that of the branch president's. In doing that we will have success. I love Jesus Christ! As my Redeemer and Savior, he comforts me. Every day that I draw closer to him and become more like him, I realize the weakness and nothingness of myself. I have spent a good amount of time praying about what needs to happen, what the Lord wants Elder Snow and I to do...I'm grateful for that sweet quote that dad sent from President Snow. I'm grateful for the scriptures for the comfort and wisdom that is in them. Thanks mom and dad for making me read them every morning...haha I can honestly say that in drowsing in and out of sleep every morning while reading I didn't learn much from the scriptures, but what you did teach me, and which is doubly important was the great importance to read them.

West Indies Sunsets

Kudos to Sister Robison and the Elders of the West Indies Mission for some fabulous sunset photos.

"Making Music for Money"

Well, this week I felt was a success. After being directed on how to work with our branch president, that's the first thing we did. We went to him and asked for his advice, letting him know that we will do all that his asks of us. I think that's important in showing him that we will do EVERYTHING that he asks...already the trust and unity between the branch and missionaries has increased. Our president left on vacation Thursday taking with him the questions about how many baptisms the Lord would want for Lamentin, and how many inactives he wanted to come to church. The one answer we had to know was with whom he wanted us to work. He commanded us to work with all the part-member and inactive families. We have started that and are excited to see the results of his priesthood power at work.

We have continued to work hard with the branch missionaries. We have been training them individually, creating lesson plans with them in a training process. They are learning and growing spiritually, and this week they had their first lesson without the missionaries! Elder Snow and I were so excited for that. We have a baptism coming up for this week, Judicael. He should have been baptized last week, but he is still having trouble with cigarettes; it is his only problem. He is at all church activities and is calling members on his own to pick him up for church. I know that the Lord is watching over this island and that he will bless us in reaching our goals if we as missionaries are responsible and accountable for the goals we set. In fact, that could be said for any righteous goal we set. Judicael should finally be baptized this next week. He really needs our prayers to stop smoking. We finally fixed a plan for him with our district president. Judicael has the desire, he wants to serve a mission and he wants to follow the path of Christ. We had a great lesson with him about that path, and how if he has not seriously repented and given up his sins he cannot be baptized. And the dangers of if we take up that path, the consequences of leaving it after the baptism. Nephi(2 Nephi 31), tells us that it would be better that we had not known Jesus than to quit this straight and narrow path. This gospel is the best, it is the perfect gospel, and there is no other way under heaven in which we can gain eternal life with our sweet families. Judicael is serious. We are seeing changes in him, and I am thankful for your sustaining prayers that help him. I'm gonna to let him know that you pray for him as well.

So, I'm not getting transferred; Elder Snow and I are still zone leaders. So that will be fun to be with him again. He is my boy. There was a talent show the other night for the district. He can sing pretty dang well, and I played "Everything" by MB....we stole the show! Actually, we didn't see many of the other performances because it started an hour and a half late, and so we had to take all the elders home after only a half hour. Our zone has not changed too much, they are sending over two other missionaries, making 16 here! I feel bad for the collings because they love to teach, but they never have time because they are ALWAYS doing office work...they feel bad, they so badly want to teach and change lives, but without them we would be up the creek. It's too bad too because they have such a great spirit about them; they are great teachers and every time they teach, you sense their sincere love of the gospel. Oh and to answer dad's question, they can speak pretty well. They did serve in France for two years, but they have the most horrible accents ever haha. We missionaries get a kick out of 'em.

Well I gotta go, but I love y'all and you have to give Spence a big "what's up" from me. Oh and congratulate Ben...he is a stud (cousin Ben Seagle made the "A" football team).

"Growing Older But Not Up"

What a sweet birthday I had! Your package actually arrived on Saturday afternoon! So I was pretty excited about that. HAHA I loved every little thing. On judging how much I liked it though I have come to the conclusion that I'm a huge nerd, but that's OK. Thanks so much though! It was really a great birthday! Its weird to think that I'm 20! I still feel about 14, and act probably younger. The Collings made me a sweet cake that we ended up eating at a family night, so it was a good day. The members were good to me, they are such sweet people. I love them, all of them, There are many that the only way to describe them is pioneers, with a roll-up-their sleeves, get it done spirit that I wish I was more full of. My favorite family, The Eclars (its thanks to Pres. Eclar, that I now know kicking butt is the key to happiness). All they do is work. Everyday they are both working, hungering to do missionary work, even though he is the district president and she the relief society president with two young kids. There are days at a time that they do not see each other. And each time Sister Eclar tells us she wants to work we ask her, "Sister Eclar...have you seen your husband today?". She replies it doesn't matter Elders, we have eternity to be together...she is the best. And he is MR Kick Butt.

Well this week has been a little tiring. Elder Snow and I had to prepare for Zone Conference for President Gamiette. That means driving elders and president to and from airport, making sure everything is ready for interviews and zone conference. All really wanted to do was prepare spiritually, but I thank the Lord that I made some time to fast and read a bit before. There were definitely some questions I had that were answered this week.

I believe every missionary at the conference was humbled and edified more than ever before. At the beginning President Gamiette started off a little bit shaky with the English, but I think as we were praying in our hearts to feel the spirit, the Lord began to speak by President Gamiette. The spirit prompted questions by elders, and we had a powerful experience. President Gamiette has a way of taking the simplest scriptures and opening your minds to what they mean. I guess it would be more appropriate to say the spirit has a way of teaching the scriptures simply. He taught us from the Beatitudes, 2 Nephi 31, Mosiah 4, and Moroni 8:24-26. If you would like to do a study I would encourage it. Oh and also 2 Nephi 32 the first part. Even Elder Colling came away saying, "I have taught the doctrine of Christ and the Beatitudes thousands of times but I have never understood much until today." It was a great humbling experience. We ought to be so grateful for those that have the keys to receive revelation and lead and guide us in our wards, in our stakes, even our primary class rooms. I do know that those keys had been passed and the President Gamiette holds them.

After Friday I was so excited to get out and work, even though it was a busy week we got a lot done. There was some running around Saturday for some baptisms. Judicael is stuck between two chairs(as they say in french) because his parents don't want him to be baptized, or at least not right now. They say it is too early. He wants to and he is ready, but we are glad he doesn't want to be disobedient to his parents. If it continues to be a problem though he knows that his first loyalty is to his Heavenly Father. So if you could pray that his parents' hearts will soften that will be great. We have also been working with Stephanie and Katia, a part member family whose mom is DIFFICULT! Elder Snow and I have tried teaching the doctrine, she even had a spiritual experience, and she still believes they are not ready. I have tried working the Neff charm, we made a cake and all but nothing. But things are going very well. I'm excited for this week to come and this transfer coming up. President has been worrying about the youthfullness of our zone so he has talked about making Elder Snow and I zone leaders and trainers at the same time. I about pooped my pants when he said that. I'll do it if I have to, but zone leader is tiring enough. So I sure hope not. I miss the days of just worrying and focusing on my area. Anyways, I love you all!

"A Pirate Looks at Twenty"

Dad, I would've put money you were going to fall asleep at the Harry Potter movie! haha, but that's OK, I'm sure the family will use that as another excuse to see the movie. It sounds like everyone at home is doing well. One of my biggest regrets is that i never got too involved and close to any of my aunts and uncles and did nothing to really help them. It was all about having fun for me haha. Its exciting to hear about Brian! It is so bizarre to hear that he has talked with the Robisons! This whole mission goes by way too fast...its a downer it has to stop and I'm almost half way done. I cant believe Spence (Young) he is almost done.

Well, this week was another one where Elder Snow and I really were blessed by the Lord. It's amazing how much his hand is extended towards us his children to bless us if we will just pray to know how he wants to bless us. This week Elder Snow and I have continually prayed for success for all our elders, and, of course, for ourselves. We have been trying to find ways to be more effective and even bought a cooler to make lunch more effective. We don't return home for lunch now and are able to eat in only half hour. It saves us a good amount of time. So this week we had a good number of lessons and were able to see the progression of many of our investigators, but when Sunday came around and we were doing our morning rounds of calling our investigators we found that many of them had problems that kept them from going to church. It was the biggest kick in the pants after one week of hard work, but what would you know when Judicael came and in fact we had 5 people at church, 3 of which we didn't plan for. These three are a mom and 2 daughters. The mom has two older daughters, Starling and Wendy that have already been baptised(they are older) and the two younger daughters(Stephanie and Katia) want to be baptized, but their mom has told the missionaries no for years because they are too young. We passed by last week and had an alright lesson with them, but didn't think much of it. This last Sunday though the whole family showed up. And during the sacrament meeting the mother had a beautiful experience. She recounted that during the blessing of the sacrament she felt the spirit poured out upon her and filled her with a warmth she has never before felt. During the whole meeting I was praying that something might touch this lady, that Heavenly Father might push her just a little bit and that she might accept the persuasion of the spirit. We are going by tonight again, so pray for us! Things other than that are great! I have not got your package yet, but that's alright...I'll still have a great birthday...I love you all and pray for you all... I'm grateful for your prayers and for all the prayers of cousins and friends, too...best family in the world.

Also, in a letter to Tucker, Andy recounted:

I cannot honestly express how important and awesome the mission is...it is truly the most important thing one can ever do in his or her life. You get to kick butt all day! This last Friday Elder Snow and I had lessons all day from 9 AM to 9 PM , 10 lessons in all...all we ate other than breakfast was a little pasta we had made the night before in the car while driving...we came home dead physically and spiritually, but its the nights like last Friday that make the mission memorable..ITS THE COOLEST BUDDY....just kick butt, nourish your testimony by sharing it with your friends, your testimony is really something you have to fight for.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SATURDAY!