Hello everyone! Things are going pretty good in Valsayn. The apartment is much bigger than my last apartment with my own bathroom, which is nice. We live right next to the Williams which is GREAT. They are the best.
Elder Riter and I spent a good long time these last couple days trying to find some new people to teach. We have met some REALLY interesting people in our contacting area recently. Because of some recent baptisms and some investigators who have been dropped we are looking for some new investigators.
Because of all the stuff going on in Venezuela, there are lots of Venezuelan people here, especially in Port of Spain. So we have quite a few Spanish investigators just outside Port of Spain, who have been fun to teach. There is one family, the mother is a member as well as one of her sons, but none of her other kids were ever baptized, so we are teaching her two youngest kids who are 12 and 9. This week we set a date for them to be baptized in the last week of February. Our area covers two wards, the Curepe ward and the Port of Spain ward and we live right in the middle, so we spend about half our time in each area.
I came across some really cool scriptures this week during studies that I thought I would share. I was studying from the book of Alma and came across these verses in Alma 28: 11-14:
11 And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are moldering in heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are mourning for the loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.
12 While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness.
13 And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.
14 And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life.
These verses kind of jumped off the page at me when I read them. Even though I have read this chapter many times, I never really had focused on this or given it much thought. As I was thinking about the situation of the righteous Nephites in this story I realized just how important it is to live righteously. When we live wickedly we are sad over the separation from our loved ones, and we also have great sorrow because of fear, like the Lamanites. However, when we are living righteously we still have sadness over the temporary separation of a loved one, but we don't have to have such lasting sorrow as the wicked because we have faith, which is the opposite of fear. I know, as Mormon said, that we can rejoice in the hope that those souls are raised to dwell with God, and that God really does have a plan for us.
Have a great week!
Elder Porritt
Monday, January 28, 2019
Monday, January 21, 2019
New Companion, Elder Riter
This week was my last week in Arima. I am being transferred only about 30 minutes to the west to Valsayn, Trinidad. Our area covers pretty much the northwestern quarter of the country including Port of Spain and two wards. Elder Riter is my new companion, he's from Gilbet, Arizona.
We finished off the transfer with some pretty good success. Much time has been spent visiting less actives and contacting new investigators in order to find new people to teach. There are several really cool people that I'm kind of sad I won't be able to teach this coming transfer. Some interesting things have happened in our new contacting area. Yesterday we were walking around when we heard a thunderous voice praying from like a half mile away. We walked over to it wondering what was going on. There was a church group that had come in a huge truck with enormous speakers to have some sort of awakening or something. The prayers and music could be heard from MILES away. It was a pretty funny experience.
A cool experience was had just yesterday actually. We were walking through this new area, finding new people to teach. We knew and had been told that there were two young men who lived in the area, and since we had a bunch of lessons fall through we decided to go stop by them. The first young man wasn't home, but his mother invited us in the yard and we sat down and had a long conversation with her about life. She told us some of the thing she remembered about the old missionaries and expressed some concerns she had had. The both of us shared some scriptures about forgiveness and the purpose of life and she said "Those things you shared have touched me" We invited her to have us over again to share anew the Restoration with her, which she had forgotten about for the most part. We also were able to give some service while we were there. It was a spiritual experience honestly to see someone who we are complete strangers to (who had actually been offended by something a member had said to her...) be touched so much by the words of scripture. She opened right up to us and told us all about struggles in life and things she wants to change and what she wants for her son and two daughters. The scriptures HAVE POWER. I know that this is true from these kinds of experiences, but more importantly, COUNTLESS times where the scriptures have shown their power in my own life.
I'm sad to hear about Grandma Porritt... What a Christlike soul she has been to all of us. I can't say what my life would be like without wonderful examples like her to help me along. I will never forget all the memories I've had just sitting and talking with Grandma at home or eating a burger.I pray that she won't have to go through such pain as she is now, whatever the will of the Lord may be.
Have a great week everyone!!!
Elder Porritt
We finished off the transfer with some pretty good success. Much time has been spent visiting less actives and contacting new investigators in order to find new people to teach. There are several really cool people that I'm kind of sad I won't be able to teach this coming transfer. Some interesting things have happened in our new contacting area. Yesterday we were walking around when we heard a thunderous voice praying from like a half mile away. We walked over to it wondering what was going on. There was a church group that had come in a huge truck with enormous speakers to have some sort of awakening or something. The prayers and music could be heard from MILES away. It was a pretty funny experience.
A cool experience was had just yesterday actually. We were walking through this new area, finding new people to teach. We knew and had been told that there were two young men who lived in the area, and since we had a bunch of lessons fall through we decided to go stop by them. The first young man wasn't home, but his mother invited us in the yard and we sat down and had a long conversation with her about life. She told us some of the thing she remembered about the old missionaries and expressed some concerns she had had. The both of us shared some scriptures about forgiveness and the purpose of life and she said "Those things you shared have touched me" We invited her to have us over again to share anew the Restoration with her, which she had forgotten about for the most part. We also were able to give some service while we were there. It was a spiritual experience honestly to see someone who we are complete strangers to (who had actually been offended by something a member had said to her...) be touched so much by the words of scripture. She opened right up to us and told us all about struggles in life and things she wants to change and what she wants for her son and two daughters. The scriptures HAVE POWER. I know that this is true from these kinds of experiences, but more importantly, COUNTLESS times where the scriptures have shown their power in my own life.
I'm sad to hear about Grandma Porritt... What a Christlike soul she has been to all of us. I can't say what my life would be like without wonderful examples like her to help me along. I will never forget all the memories I've had just sitting and talking with Grandma at home or eating a burger.I pray that she won't have to go through such pain as she is now, whatever the will of the Lord may be.
Have a great week everyone!!!
Elder Porritt
Beautiful Trinidad mountains (Not like the Rockies though)... This and Valsayn are pretty much the only area in the mission that has real mountains
Monday, January 14, 2019
Amia's Baptism!
Good Morning everyone! The transfer is winding down to a close. We haven't gotten transfer calls yet, but I don't think I will be staying in Arima this coming transfer. However, things are really starting to pick up in this area. Since the baptisms, we kind of found ourselves with nobody to teach, but this week we found a bunch of truth-seeking individuals who are willing to listen to us.
We have been contacting this new area called Greenville, which is producing a lot of cool people. This area pretty much got destroyed in the flood, and just recently, almost everybody has finished re-building their houses. Although it is a little bit far away, we have been spending more time there recently. We started teaching this lady yesterday who told us the exact same thing another person said last week "I am searching for the true church" She hasn't really been satisfied with her husbands' church that she's been attending for a long time now and is trying to find her way.
A cool experience we had this week was with Laurels' boyfriend Kalvin. Just the lesson before we were talking about missionary work, and she had told us that she was pretty sure he didn't want to talk with us, but we challenged her to invite him to do so. Miraculously, we came back this week to teach her and he was there. We had to really change the lesson plan, and we ended up introducing the Book of Mormon to him, talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and eternal families and marriage. We testified to them how much it means to have an eternal family and the joy it brings, Everyone was feeling the Spirit. Like a wise man once said: "The Spirit was so thick you could have cut it with a butter knife." He had been doing "research" on the internet and things like that, but he seemed to be satisfied so far. We di I am so thankful to have the Family a Proclamation to the World. Because he was trying to learn as much about what we believe as possible, we went over a bit of it and committed him to read it. I can't think of anything better to teach someone the most basic and precious things we believe than the Proclamation (Other than maybe the Articles of Faith, I guess). We are going by again tonight hoping that he will be there so we can share all of the Restoration with him.
Sister Gordon, one of the members has a 9-year-old daughter we have been teaching for a while now, her name is Amia. She didn't get baptized when she turned 8 because her mom wanted us to teach her the lessons. But she was baptized this Saturday with another child of record. It was a great service. I'll send some pictures.
Have a great week!
Elder Porritt
We have been contacting this new area called Greenville, which is producing a lot of cool people. This area pretty much got destroyed in the flood, and just recently, almost everybody has finished re-building their houses. Although it is a little bit far away, we have been spending more time there recently. We started teaching this lady yesterday who told us the exact same thing another person said last week "I am searching for the true church" She hasn't really been satisfied with her husbands' church that she's been attending for a long time now and is trying to find her way.
A cool experience we had this week was with Laurels' boyfriend Kalvin. Just the lesson before we were talking about missionary work, and she had told us that she was pretty sure he didn't want to talk with us, but we challenged her to invite him to do so. Miraculously, we came back this week to teach her and he was there. We had to really change the lesson plan, and we ended up introducing the Book of Mormon to him, talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and eternal families and marriage. We testified to them how much it means to have an eternal family and the joy it brings, Everyone was feeling the Spirit. Like a wise man once said: "The Spirit was so thick you could have cut it with a butter knife." He had been doing "research" on the internet and things like that, but he seemed to be satisfied so far. We di I am so thankful to have the Family a Proclamation to the World. Because he was trying to learn as much about what we believe as possible, we went over a bit of it and committed him to read it. I can't think of anything better to teach someone the most basic and precious things we believe than the Proclamation (Other than maybe the Articles of Faith, I guess). We are going by again tonight hoping that he will be there so we can share all of the Restoration with him.
Sister Gordon, one of the members has a 9-year-old daughter we have been teaching for a while now, her name is Amia. She didn't get baptized when she turned 8 because her mom wanted us to teach her the lessons. But she was baptized this Saturday with another child of record. It was a great service. I'll send some pictures.
Have a great week!
Elder Porritt
Amia's Baptism
Monday, January 7, 2019
Aunty Pearl's Baptism!
Hello everyone! Everything is going well in Trinidad, well, for the most part, I guess. During Zone Conference on Friday there was a small 4.1 earthquake in Arima, which isn't huge, but that's the second or third significant earthquake here in the last couple of months, including a huge flood that everyone is still working on cleaning up. Weather has been great though, it's not so hot here as it is in the Islands and more rain which I am enjoying.
Zone Conference was great as it always is. We almost have our whole MTC group together now, Elder Sessions, Elder Norton, Elder Stott, and I. The four of us haven't been together since the MTC, Elder Stott is in Guyana, but we got a picture of the other three of us together. This Zone Conference we talked a lot about developing Christlike attributes and listened to a short discussion from Elder and Sister Renlund from the mission presidents seminar. Christlike attributes aren't something that we attain just all at once, but rather, over a long period of diligent work for it. They are also things that we don't really attain by our own goodness, but they are gifts from God, and so there is no shortage of prayer and pleading that is necessary to attain them for sure. We also talked about, and I learned A LOT about, making goals and the power that goals can have when we have faith. Afterward Sister Williams fed us with the best chicken salad sandwiches I've ever eaten. haha. Something interesting though, Elder Soares is going to be coming to visit the mission in Feburary. He will be visiting Curacao to have a skype conference with all the mission except Trinidad, and then coming to Trinidad to have a meeting with the missionaries here, and the members. If I am still here in Trinidad next transfer or Curacao, it will be a great experience.
We started teaching this lady named Afeesha, who we met quite randomly while trying to decide where we would contact permanently. On Saturday we went by, hoping also to speak with her husband who also has some good questions. However, we had a great lesson with her about the Restoration. She is one of those awesome people who really listen to what we say and writes down all the scriptures we use and all the important things we tell her. The First Vision really intrigued her, but she knows that God has appeared to His prophets since the beginning. She told us "I am just looking for the true church of Jesus Christ," and was truthful enough to admit she isn't really sure where she should search for it. We testified that this is what she's looking for and left her to pray and we would come back to tell her more about the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was present and felt by all of us. Elder Hoard mentioned one of his favorite parts of missionary work is seeing the scriptures being fulfilled in front of us, and that is something I love about missionary work too. There are those out there that are "searching for the truth, but know not where to find it." Those people are out there, they just need simple invitations sometimes. She also understood that, if these things are true, that someone must show they wish to follow Jesus Christ by being baptized, so we look forward to sharing more with her on Tuesday. I love missionary work.
Sister Lopez (Aunty Pearl) was baptized this last Saturday. She was baptized into the Arima branch even though the other Elders have done most of the teaching. Her niece, Sister Fore, is the Relief Society President here in Arima. It was a wonderful spiritual service. We didn't quite have sufficient room in the Relief Society room for all the people who showed up. There were many members there to support her.
Have a great week everyone!
Elder Porritt
Zone Conference was great as it always is. We almost have our whole MTC group together now, Elder Sessions, Elder Norton, Elder Stott, and I. The four of us haven't been together since the MTC, Elder Stott is in Guyana, but we got a picture of the other three of us together. This Zone Conference we talked a lot about developing Christlike attributes and listened to a short discussion from Elder and Sister Renlund from the mission presidents seminar. Christlike attributes aren't something that we attain just all at once, but rather, over a long period of diligent work for it. They are also things that we don't really attain by our own goodness, but they are gifts from God, and so there is no shortage of prayer and pleading that is necessary to attain them for sure. We also talked about, and I learned A LOT about, making goals and the power that goals can have when we have faith. Afterward Sister Williams fed us with the best chicken salad sandwiches I've ever eaten. haha. Something interesting though, Elder Soares is going to be coming to visit the mission in Feburary. He will be visiting Curacao to have a skype conference with all the mission except Trinidad, and then coming to Trinidad to have a meeting with the missionaries here, and the members. If I am still here in Trinidad next transfer or Curacao, it will be a great experience.
We started teaching this lady named Afeesha, who we met quite randomly while trying to decide where we would contact permanently. On Saturday we went by, hoping also to speak with her husband who also has some good questions. However, we had a great lesson with her about the Restoration. She is one of those awesome people who really listen to what we say and writes down all the scriptures we use and all the important things we tell her. The First Vision really intrigued her, but she knows that God has appeared to His prophets since the beginning. She told us "I am just looking for the true church of Jesus Christ," and was truthful enough to admit she isn't really sure where she should search for it. We testified that this is what she's looking for and left her to pray and we would come back to tell her more about the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was present and felt by all of us. Elder Hoard mentioned one of his favorite parts of missionary work is seeing the scriptures being fulfilled in front of us, and that is something I love about missionary work too. There are those out there that are "searching for the truth, but know not where to find it." Those people are out there, they just need simple invitations sometimes. She also understood that, if these things are true, that someone must show they wish to follow Jesus Christ by being baptized, so we look forward to sharing more with her on Tuesday. I love missionary work.
Sister Lopez (Aunty Pearl) was baptized this last Saturday. She was baptized into the Arima branch even though the other Elders have done most of the teaching. Her niece, Sister Fore, is the Relief Society President here in Arima. It was a wonderful spiritual service. We didn't quite have sufficient room in the Relief Society room for all the people who showed up. There were many members there to support her.
Have a great week everyone!
Elder Porritt
Aunty Pearl's baptism
Almost all the MTC amigos
Beautiful Scenery
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