It's a Wonderful Life

Well, I may not be in a black and white film that takes place at Christmas time, but being a missionary is great!

Tuesday, Elder Jarman and I had an adventure of putting up two and a half walls of a house. We used two 4 x 8 sheets of plywood, two hammers, a half lb bag of 2 in. nails, and 3 hand saws. This "little" adventure took all afternoon and left me with a blister. I remember that when it neared 5:30 p.m. all I wanted was to finish this and die! At first I kinda made light of it, but as we went along, it took its toll on me.
Wednesday we had a zone conference in Kingston. We had the area doctor, Elder Kilgore, visiting. He gave a little instruction on missionary health. He told us to drink more water. We need to be drinking 4 liters of water a day, I was at about 2. DOUBLE IT! So Thursday I did, and I've seen more bushes and walls in one day than I normally did in one week. This little fiasco is no good on my body that is used to a lower intake. So when we bussed on Saturday for a baptism (which I'll get to in a minute) I actually had to stop the bus so I could get off and go. Elder Jarman had to as well. We ended paying an extra $80 each. I'll pay an extra bit of cash as long as I don't have a wet spot on my pants by the time I arrive in Kingston.

Saturday was a baptism. Arleen Francis, who lives in Morant Bay, that we did the service project for on Tuesday, was baptized. Elder Jarman performed the ordinance. I think he was really nervous about it, because he kept asking me about it.

I'm sending pics of this week plus a few other pics I bummed off Elder Jarman.
Pictures include my white shirt after Tuesday's project, Friday Night Activity where we floured a member for his birthday, some red pea soup, our project on Tuesday, and the baptism.

I'll have to send the other pictures I got from Elder Jarman next week (red pea soup and the project)

Easter Week

Well good morning again, class. Today we have a very interesting lesson.

First off, let's look at the missionary we were watching last week. On Tuesday, on of the Assistants to the Mission President came to visit. They taught some lessons and even got a couple of people interviewed to be baptized. We'll come back to these people later on. The Assistant was busy busy busy working with the missionaries. They had to sit down and work a few things out about what was happening. In the end, it all was good. While the Assistant was there, he enjoyed taking a nice warm shower. Apparently in Kingston, they are experiencing a drought. How do you experience a drought on a tropical island?

Back to the people who were interviewed. This couple has been visiting with missionaries for a long time. That's right ladies and gentle folks! The Halls are BAPTIZED!!!!! Friday night was the ceremony. Needless to say, the missionaries called a church brother to fill the pool for the missionaries. When they arrived 15 minutes before the baptism, the pool was still empty. They rushed in and turned on the water only to have the power go out 5 minutes later. The water flow is dependent on a pump - which runs on electricity. So Bro. Hall started to put up a bit of a fuss. Luckily the power came back on, but the water still wasn't as high as it was supposed to be, only up to their thighs. But the show must go on, and it did.

Every Friday, the missionary and his companion go through a weekly planning, where they plan out events for the upcoming week and see what they need to do to help investigators move towards baptism. Last Friday, the missionary made an interesting concoction for Breakfast that tasted quite good. In fact one missionary from Negril tasted and approved. He made pancakes, but not just any ordinary pancakes. Strawberry flavored pancakes with currants. After they were cooked, they were topped off with peanut butter and some vanilla raspberry syrup. MMMMMMMMM Tastes good.

Lastly, twice a year there is a general conference of the church. This time, the missionary didn't have to travel and got to enjoy it in his "home town". He really enjoyed the Saturday sessions. Following General Conference, he had the brilliant idea to adjust his name tag to fit the local style.

See you again next week, class!

Elder Huffaker

P.S. I'm back in Sav for this email... YEAH ME!

A Missionary's Life

Hello everyone and welcome to todays new email from Elder Huffaker and what's happening in the wild wild world of Jamaica. Today we're going to zoom in on a missionary's life.

First off, missionaries go on tradeoffs at least once a transfer with their district leader. This missionary is going on a tradeoff with Elder Figueroa. Sometimes missionaries do crazy things on these tradeoffs. They like to make extra big dinners and make desserts. Watch out though, sometimes it'll give you the runny-belly.

Following a missionary's tradeoff, there may be times when there is a zone conference the very next day. So then the missionary has to wait for his companion and his tradeoffs companion to meet them before they can leave. The night before they will play a game called, "Settlers of Zarahemla" and polish shoes and iron shirts.

Then, when they get back, they have to prepare for a baptism the next night. A wonderful man named Joshua Vanriel got baptized (picture pending). Brother Vanriel trains boxers for a living and also makes castor oil.

Castor oil has a very unique smell. I dunno if I can even describe it. There is a song that goes, "that's the only decent kind of medicine, the man who made it must have been an Edison. It's a lick on a spoon guaranteed to make you swoon." Boy if that ain't the truth. Castor oil takes a very tedious process to make. You make it from very small seeds that go through about five steps before you can even get one drop of oil from one seed.

Prior to Brother Vanriel's baptism, missionaries can be prone to make mistakes. Sometimes they will lock themselves out of their house. Then they have to break into a house that has been designed so that people will not break in. Amazingly, the missionary's companion could fit through the grill, grab the keys and save the day.

Lastly, missionaries love packages, even more than they love the mail. When a missionary receives a package, customs has usually gone through it and made a mess. Hopefully they didn't eat anything. Then the missionary throws it into the freezer so he can eat chocolate that isn't melted. Usually the package will be half gone in 3 days, if that.

That's all for today's look in on a missionary's life.

Elder Huffaker

P.S. I had to travel to Negril today because the internet went down in all of Sav. Talk about a pain in the butt just to go and email.

The Barber of Savanna la Mar

So, this week has been very interesting. First off, the Zone Leaders came after District Meeting on Wednesday. They heard that I had a set of trimmers and decided to get haircuts. Both Elder Talbert and Elder Tonks got a trim with the shears and the scissors. If you want to see, take a look at the blog - I'm short on time. Along with the zone leaders in our area, I got to go around proselyting with Elder Talbert -- YEAH!

Elder Hicken and I have been doing a lot of riding on our bicycles. We ride to places that are 11 KM away. It's kinda a pain in the butt, but it has to be done and there's no one else to do it.

Then, while the Zone Leaders were here, there was one crazy storm that blew in. We had to shut all the windows in the house so it wouldn't get wet inside. It was in the middle of the night too. There was so much rain it was hard to hear anything. Not to mention the lighting outside and all the thunder too. That was quite the night.

Next, I got cocky this week. I had my bicycle go out from underneath me. I was riding without hands, like I like to do, and was no more than half a mile from home. I've taken this turn without hands many a times. However, I wanted to see how tight I could take the turn. Then my bicycle went out. Put a nice hole in the knee of my pants and got some battle wounds, but otherwise I'm ok. Had to fix a few things that got screwed up.

Lastly for this week. One of our investigators - Brother Hall - who is getting baptized on Saturday! Well, he had this crazy thing pop into his head. He started going off on how Joseph Smith had to have been a black man. Now, lots of people claim Jesus is a black man down here, but never before have I had anyone say that Joseph Smith is a black man. It took us a couple of days to correct that one, but he's still just as good.

I sent my mom some photos for the blog, so go and check em out!

Elder Huffaker

P.S. from Marilyn: The first photo is the house in Savanna la Mar, the second is of a sunset there, and the last is our barber with the zone leaders: L to R is Elder Talbert, Elder Huffaker and Elder Tonks.

The Next Transfer

PICTURES!!! First is the baptism of Perez Gibbs. It has his daughter and our branch president in the second pic.

Then, I caught the last rasta supper in some rasta's shop and thought it was kinda humorous and had to get a picture.

GOLDFISH the smile that snacks back. (that's for Elliot)

Lastly, me with my new comp. Elder Rebeiro enjoying sodas and chips ahoy during a dinner break.

Well, a lot has happened. Of course there were the transfers. Elder Vea went home and I spent the night in Ochi on Tuesday and got to proselyte with one of my favorite missionaries - Elder Ronhaar. Then, I got picked up from Ochi to return to Falmouth. We now have a vehicle in Falmouth, which makes it so much better. Elder Rebeiro is the reason we have a vehicle, it's because he's a zone leader. Falmouth is to be a zone leading area. Basically, I show him around the place and I get replaced next transfer by the other zoneleader.

Last Monday, after emailing, I spent the rest of my p-day with Elder Vea's parents. They drove us around and I got to see some new parts of the island. Then they took us out to Pizza Hut in Mobay. That was quite the treat. It was really cool meeting them and definitely had a good time.

Lastly, I've been putting up with a lot of crap, and this time it's not from the people. It's my bicycle. I know you have to be smarter than the bicycle, but when the bicyle is extremely dumb, it can't be beat. One thing after another just seems to happen. Everything I do for it just seems to say, let's see how long I can last.

Well, take your time and enjoy life this week.

Elder Huffaker

P.S. from Marilyn: "Ochi" is Brandon's shorthand for Ocho Rios, which lies east of Falmouth, also on the north shore of Jamaica. "Mobay", as you know if you've been following this blog, is Montego Bay.

Well, before Elder Vea and I got to kick off the New Year, we had an unexpected trade off with the zone leaders. I went to Sav le Mar for a day and got to sit in a vehicle with air conditioning. While I was gone, an investigator we were teaching decided she wanted to be baptized and was interviewed while on this tradeoff.

Then, our branch had a New Years party in which Elder Vea and I had to leave early, because our mission president wanted us in before too late and all the drunks head out for their fun. We were supposed to get fed at this party, but the food ended up having to be delivered to us at our house.

Then, of course, we had our baptism. I'm the one who did the performance and we did it in the ocean. My white pants were trying to fall down a lot. So I can officially say it doesn't always happen in a font.

Check out the blogspot to see other photos and maybe some things you missed.

Elder Huffaker

Another One Finds the Truth

My apologies for not posting Brandon's last email right away; it has been a wild week. The photos go with his letter; the last one of the flowers in Bellas Gate he described: "a garden we saw up there and it was awesome, because it had flowers out of one plant that were 3-5 different colors. (a flower itself wasn't five colors, but one flower would be blue and another yellow and another pink)" He had this to say in his emailed letter:

Yes, we had another baptism. This one is Vanessa Bell. Vanessa is 14 yrs-old and loves school. She lives next to the Relief Society Pres. here in Old Harbour. She was baptized yesterday and I had the privilege of performing the ordinance.

This week has also been very weird in the weather perspective. It has been raining off and on so much. I wonder sometimes whether to take a plastic bag (they call them scandal bags down here) or whether to wear my sun glasses. It will rain cats and dogs for 20 minutes and then let up, and won't rain for a couple days. Sometimes it rains so hard, I like to say instead of raining cats and dogs, its raining horses and cows.

Nextly, this week, Elder Olson and I received a referral to go to the edge of our area to a place called Bellas Gate (very expensive taxi ride) There we got to meet Debbie Clark, who just moved there from England. Very interesting lady, but doesn't really have any interest right now.

While there, we got to try a new fruit to my taste: Passionfruit. For those of you who have not had fresh passionfruit, it's very tangy. Elder Olson has a picture of me eating it and making a "sour" face. You don't even really eat it, technically, you suck out the insides, seeds and all. It looks like frog eggs. I'll have to get the picture from him later to send to you.

That's about it for this week. Keep in touch, I like to read up on everyone to see how it's going.

Elder Huffaker

One Today, One Tomorrow

This last week has been somewhat eventful. I bought Orange Marmalade last Monday. I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT! It tastes like fruitcake. Needless, to say, I'm finishing it, it seems like a waste of money to not eat it.

Then, Elder Tonks and I had a close encounter. Have you ever been wandering around in the complete darkness and not realized how close you were standing to someone? That happened to Elder Tonks and I; Elder Olson and I had just finished turning off the lights in the house for the night. When I walked into the bedroom (dark) and I have to pass everyone's beds to get to mine. Elder Tonks was standing by his bed - which I didn't know - and I was just walking through. He knew I was coming but didn't know how close I was. When all of a sudden, Elder Olson flips on the lights. And our faces our inches from each other, with the looks of utter terror. He fell back onto his bed and apparently I "shrieked". It was mildly humorous and we all laughed about it and as such took us a while to go to sleep that night.

Then, I had an awful experience in which, I just finished frying some dumpling (a local dish which I'll be happy to make for anyone who wants it - when I get home) and was moving the pot full of hot oil to the back burner of the stove so that the others could use the front; when all of a sudden the handle broke off of the pot! There was no sign of wear or anything to say that it could come off. All of a sudden it did, and hot oil was all over the stove top. So I didn't have a fun morning.

Nextly, Elder Olson and I have come to an agreement in which once a week, we cook dinner for each other. So I got to prepare Mac n Cheese with some dumpling, and enjoy some Spaghetti. Yep, Spaghetti, I was so happy.

Then, I've told you about a local soda I've come to enjoy, called Bigga. They just came out with two new flavors: Mango and Pommegranite (I don't know how to spell) The Mango isn't a good one, but I do enjoy the other.

Lastly, we had a baptism, shout hurray. (see picture) This is Sandino Gordon, aka Spoogy. He was baptized Sunday and we have another baptism this Sunday. That's the longest my hair will be. I just got a trim yesterday. I think it was about 3 inches that the barber took off. :D

That's all folks
Elder Huffaker

A Quiet Week

There isn't much that happened this week. We did have a couple of baptisms postponed though. We have to get our mission president to make sure they're ready. Normally a district leader does the interview unless a big concern arises. Well, we've got a couple of candidates with that issue.

We had quite the experience yesterday. A recent-convert brought her uncle, who was visiting from Chicago to church. Needless to say, we found out that he was a Pentecostal minister. So in the middle of our last meeting, he stood up and went on about the day of Pentecost (because that's pretty much the only thing they know). I was just blown away that a visitor would stand up in the middle of church and start preaching his own doctrine.

That's all for this week, sorry I have nothing else.

Elder Huffaker

Two out of Three Ain't Bad

(Um, the title is from the song; no reflection on the content of the blog entry.)

Brandon's email brought pictures and news of a baptism! We're so excited for him. He writes:

Alright, so I met the new Mission President last Wednesday. President Graff is an interesting person and has already instituted new rules. The trip to zone conference is much better though. We travelled to Linstead, and once you get out of the cities, it is beautiful country. There's times when it looks like the plains of Africa with the weird trees, like you're along the Amazon and like the forests back home. ITS AMAZING!

I learned that investigators will sometimes join the church thinking that we can solve their problems. Thinking we will give them money for dental care or to get glasses, etc., then they don't come to church anymore when they realize this. Makes ya wonder how many investigators are sincere.

We baptized 2/3 of a family yesterday. The father and mother were baptized (the Seaton family), but when the son watched, he flipped out and did not want to. He sat in the water for like half an hour and just wouldn't. We're working with him for next Sunday though. Elder Harris baptized Bro. Seaton and I baptized Sis. Seaton.

On the way to the baptism, we passed a donkey cart, like the one photo that's been goin' around on the internet. Except instead of a truck cab, it was just a wood cart. But it did have the car tires. Haha.

Then last night, the power went out in the middle of the night. It sucked! I kept waking up waiting for the power to come on and cool me. That was one of the roughest nights I've had here.

I'm getting a watchline with my "amazing tan" I would like to hear everyone's opinion on whether I should keep it or get rid of it. Lemme know!

Elder Huffaker