Sunday, January 17, 2010

That Thing's Operational!


Family,
Well it sounds like an interesting week at home, hopefully everything goes well. I am glad to know that the insurance switch over went mostly smoothly. Thanks for the address Dad; I have been waiting to send a letter to them.
This week was good! I got a haircut, we have a baptism, I got interviewed by a general authority, and an earthquake rocked Kingston.
This morning we got up and went to the mission home and got hair cuts from sister Graff. It is always nice to get haircuts from someone who does something more then just buzz it. Most Jamaicans just have buzzed hair so most the hair places only know how to buzz hair.
On Wednesday Elder Vinas and Elder Anderson of the seventy and the Caribbean area presidency came to our mission for a few different reasons, one of them being they wanted to interview missionaries. So all the missionaries came into Kingston and we got to be interviewed by them. It was good. Elder Anderson interviewed me. And then I went off with Elder and Sister Bradley to help them with some car stuff and immigration stuff. It was a fairly long and boring day but it went well.
On Tuesday there was an earthquake that dominated Haiti, and could be felt throughout the Caribbean. It was felt in Jamaica although I personally didn't notice it. Elder and sister Cheesman said they felt it, and many random people we have talked to said they felt it also. Doesn't sound like Haiti is in the best situation currently. Elder Vinas and Elder Anderson were fairly concerned and were working on seeing what the church could do to help the situation.
Our teaching has been going great. We have been working more or less only on 8th street in Trench Town. We are having a good amount of success. Ignatius is getting baptized tomorrow. He is a star. Very intelligent and loves to read/learn. He is excited to be baptized and begin learning more and teaching with the missionaries. His mother, Mavis, who we just baptized, is also doing very good. We have been working with her grandson, Dillay also. He is coming along but has some peer pressure that he hasn't been responding to the best. The best part about teaching Ignatius was how he pointed out on his own how when we first met him he felt a different feeling and then the feeling went away when we did but returned when we returned. That is always what we hope for. When the spirit is strong in a lesson it is the perfect opportunity to testify, commit, pray and leave. That way they notice the difference when you leave and they have a desire for you to come back so that they can feel the spirit again.
Transfers are in like 11 days or something like that. So assuming I really do get transferred (which I think I will, and president thinks I will, and Elder Cheesman thinks I will) then next Saturday would be my last Saturday preparation day and it would return to Monday preparation day; which is a lot more convenient for you at home. I am sort of excited to leave the office and go out and teach all day again, but at the same time I have really enjoyed my time in the office.
It sounds like your new job has worn you out dad haha. I am sure that once you get the hang of everything it will be a lot of fun. That is how it was in the office here to. When I first got to the office it was a struggle to really find entertainment in what I did, it was so much different then just going out and teaching all day and I had little idea of what I was doing. But after I understood everything and then adapted it to how I liked to get things done it has become a lot of fun. I also know that working in salt lake is a lot better in the summer when you don't have to endure the snowy roads and everything else that comes with it. What exactly have you got to do all week? Do you work in like a big office place or is it a lot smaller? Who oversees what you do?On Sunday night some strange cold front passed by and made Jamaica very cold. The wind blew all night long and it rained plenty.
It was cold. All night everyone kept waking up trying to reposition themselves for greater warmth (which isn't easy when all you got is a sheet). Outside everyone was all bundled up. We had fun joking that everyone in Jamaica was freezing even though it was only like 70 degrees. It is odd how use to a certain temperature your body can get and when that temperature is removed rapidly it can seem really cold. I can already tell it will be a very cold experience in a year when I have to come home in February. I am attaching a picture of our cold morning.
Elder Tanner is all wrapped up in a sheet and some towels. And everyone else is wearing jackets. To make it worse the power went out (not that the house has a heater, but it made it so our food had to be cold also since we keep even cereal in the fridge to keep out bugs). The candle burning is our art project. It created out heat. We took a candle and put it in a bottle and have been letting the wax drip all over the bottle. It has started to look really good. Perhaps I will take a closer photo of it and attach it next week.
Well I think that is about it for the week. Things are going really well. I am enjoying myself. I hope that this coming week is great and that school/work goes well. I will watch for the package this week and hopefully dad's card will arrive if it hasn't already. Good luck at work dad. I love you all!
Elder B. Kent Talbert

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