How Many Fingers?

So with the picture, you will see Elder Brough and I holding up our hands on Thursday. We can count on our hands how many days left on our mission. Ok, well it took both of our hands, but at least we can count! Zone conference was on Thursday. It was a very long zone conference. I'm not sure why, but I have this curse where I either arrive very early or very late to missionary meetings not in my area. Elder Madsen and I arrived at 8:20 and the conference didn't start til 9. No one else but the Assistants were there when we arrived. It was long, like I mentioned before because we didn't leave til after 3 p.m.

After the conference, Elder Madsen and I went and got some jerk. Not just any jerk, however. This goes on the new foods list. We had jerk pork and jerk lamb. The Pork had a lot of fat and sometimes if there was skin - there was hair. Doesn't gross you out unless you eat it.... We didn't leave Kingston til about 6:15. We had to stop by the mission office and the office Elders sent us in a big circle. Elder Madsen and I walked around for a long while. When we reached. I realized that they could have given us a shorter route if they would have told us to turn around.

Not much else for this week, same old - same old!

Elder Huffaker

2 1/2 weeks

A First of Lasts - Again

It's reached that point again. The point when things are reachin' the end, but not yet! NOT YET!

First of all, I have to send some of the photos I was supposed to send last week. The one with Elder Toutai and of us breakin' into the church because I locked the keys inside.


Last week was an adventure:

So After I emailed and shopped last week, I gave Elder Snelson a trim and then I trimmed myself. I actually had no intentions of trimming my hair for the rest of my mission. I thought about getting my hair cane-rowed (equal to what we call corn rows). However, I had a dream in which I was instructed to cut my hair. There was some quotation or prophecy about young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams. Somehow I didn't think that I was on the old category for dreaming dreams. But I had a dream in which I was instructed to cut my hair. Better follow the counsel. There are the before and after pics of my hair. No I did not walk around with my hair looking like a birds nest. I have hair gel I used to keep it looking nice and decent.

Wednesday was our zone meeting in Kingston at the Constant Spring building. The whole day was discombobulated. So we go down to the bus stop to get a coaster to go downtown. The conductor calls "town! town!" so we got on. Then the bus starts going the other way. I ask the conductor "you're going to town right?" "yeah". Ok..... Then we sit in Yallahs town square for 20 minutes (at least) I'm not too happy about this, because by the time we were halfway to town, I would have liked to have been there already.

Then we get on another coaster from downtown to Constant Spring. No sooner do we get on the coaster then it makes to leave. At this point I'm thinking YES! we're gonna make it on time. However, there's a police man who stops the coaster driver not more than 2 minutes after we get on the bus. So we now have to sit there for 10 minutes while he writes the driver a ticket. grrrr. We get underway again. Not 5 minutes later when he's making a pickup, he gets stopped by another police man and receives a second ticket. These tickets were for picking up passengers in undesignated places. Now we're definitely late. The zone leaders have called and want to know where we are.

Finally we reach the chapel about halfway through the zone meeting.!

On the bright side. I had one of the best lunches ever. after the meeting we all piled in to two vehicles (13 missionaries in two pickup trucks) hopefully you got the front seat. The meal was worth it however. We ate at TGI Fridays! I ordered a JD chicken and shrimp. It was somewhat costly, but so worth it. I haven't ate good chicken and shrimp like that for a long time... a long time.

But then it took another turn for the worse. Oh the bus ride back downtown was ok. However, the ride to Yallahs was ridonculous. We sat in the bus park for an hour waiting for our bus to leave while at least 6 other buses left! We were the bus at the very front, aren't we supposed to leave first! When we finally reached Yallahs, the driver totally passed up our stop. So I had to stop him at the next road. When I get off, I pay the conductor with $500 only to get $100 in return. He jumps back on before I even have time to ask for the rest of my change. I should have received $220. That day just made me mildly upset.

Friday, brought transfer calls. The last time I will receive a phone call about transfers on my mission. Oh, I still have one more, the transfer home, but the last phone call I will get for transferring. I will be staying here in Yallahs for my last transfer. Elder Snelson will not be here for my last transfer. I will be accompanied by Elder Madsen.

I do want you all to know that my mission is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'd even put it above an eagle scout award. I always thought that old missionaries and returned missionaries had to be joking when they said, "I'd switch you places in a heartbeat" I could never understand that until now. I would do anything to do this over again.

Elder Huffaker

Now what...

So now I need something else to talk about this week.

First off, the zone leaders came up Wednesday afternoon and followed Elder Snelson and I around to see how we do. I'm sure a few people were intimidated when they see four white Mormon missionaries coming up to them. We had a good time though; this included our weekly study night that we have at the church. Only one member showed up sadly, but we had a ton of laughs along with our lesson. Plus Elder Brough is always happy to hear "The Matterhorn".

The Matterhorn is so named by my favorite companion who has probably heard it the most: Elder Gantt. Some of you may be familiar with the way I laugh, and when I get into a laughing fit... well, let's just say it gets hard for me to breathe. So imagine if you will when you fill a balloon full of air and then you pull the stem/neck to let the air out and it makes a annoying noise. Same basic concept. Except, I sound like a matterhorn. Personally I think it's more like a donkey braying.

We also had zone conference Thursday morning. The zone leaders drove us down since they stayed the night Thursday night. It was a good zone conference and very long. Elder Snelson and I didn't get back until the evening time.

It's also mango season again. It's my last one so I gotta get em while they're fresh!

PICTURES!

Anakay and Shauna-kay begged a photo

Then they snapped one of me - without permission:
And I thought mom would get a kick out of the Copacabana:

Elder Huffaker

12 Days of Christmas

(Brandon's letter from December 14, 2010)

It's getting closer, it's true! In fact Elder Brough and I are singing one more line of the song to each other for every day that we get closer.

Not included in the song is about missionaries in Jamaica! This week we had a service project at the Meddow's house. There is this "pile" in the back yard. They share the house with a couple other tenants, and one of the tenants made this pile! The pile is composed of: decomposing garbage, dirt and rocks. Well the landlord isn't the happiest. So we were asked to come move the pile. The rocks get pushed off to the side, the dirt goes in a ditch around a tree and the garbage.... well it gets raked up for burning. It was quite unexpected to find the rocks, but the dirt and the garbage I expected. I thought it was gonna be easy until I found the rocks.

Wednesday we had zone meeting. This was also part of getting ready for the Christmas party we missionaries have. Each zone is asked to perform a skit. Well, we got one. Our skit is to start off doing a "Christmas can-can" we'll then stop in the middle of it and change to the Haka! I made the mistake of calling it a Samoan Slap Dance. NO! NO! NO! Elder Toutai is a Tongan.

After we practiced the Haka for a while. The Flakes and the Herberts, senior couples, fed us a lunch of waffles and oranges. Oranges aren't always orange down here. They also have green skins!

Hoping for a baptism this week.

Elder Huffaker

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)

Another Week in Yallahs

I dunno about you, but when you're not Lance Armstrong and you ride your bicycle all over the hills. You get pretty tired. So tired, you can't stay awake in studies.

Anyways. Well, we had zone meeting last Thursday in Kingston. Well this is great an' all, but the last elders had a car and we don't really know how long it would take us to get there. So we left out at 8:00 for the 10:00 meeting. One bus to Kingston, another one through Kingston, plus walking time to the church building equals 10:40!?! We were really late. I think the bus we got on to go through Kingston took the scenic route. Not to mention it stopped every 2 minutes to let people on and off. grrrrr STOP RINGING THE BELL!!!

We also had the fun experience of making rice and peas. It's not my first time, but the gas ran out. So the rice and peas turned to mush. Elder Jarman ate it still, but I've got to make another batch for him.

Then we rode up the side of the mountain. It takes about an hour to go up and only 10 to come down. But I did slap the bull! :)

We also got to enjoy some local ice cream cake. It's more like a 2 inch layer of ice cream with cookie around the outside.

Lastly, they've been building up a levee for the river to help control flooding. This involves a bull dozer. So when we rode by last night and it was parked, we decided. Hey! WHY NOT?

~short, simple and to the point. PLUS picures are worth a thousand words. Here's seven thousand words~

Elder Huffaker

Week 2

Well, I know I promised you pictures, but it's still not working. I know there are pictures on my camera. However, when I try to load them on the computer, I can't get them from my camera. Sorry guys :(

This week we had zone conference in Kingston. It was a combined conference with the Kingston and Spain zones. The conference started at 8:00 and we had to wake at 4:30 in order to make it. I was sooooo tired during the conference. It was hard to stay awake. It was still a good conference. After the conference, everyone went to the one Wendy's on the island. That was a twist for me. I guess that's one of the perks of Kingston is that's where all the restaurants from home are located. TGI Fridays, Wendy's, the list goes on.

Thursday's here in Linstead are about the same as in Sav. We are there in the morning time for the employment office. I guess it's the same here as in Sav. It's slowed down a lot.

Elder Peterson is an interesting guy. He's pretty much down with anything, but he's very subtle. Take it from me, there is no way that he could ever be a guy cheerleader. He is very toned down. Doesn't say much and doesn't show much emotion. He almost has a monotone when he speaks. Like he feels emotion, but just doesn't show it.

Right now, we're planning on doing a fireside here to help move missionary work along. It kinda reminds me of back home. We get into this little valley of relaxation thinking we've done our part or done enough. Truth is, we're never done. What happens when you die and reach the Spirit World, you're doing missionary work. ITS INEVITABLE!

So help out the local elders, give away a Book of Mormon today!

Elder Huffaker

A Week of Hurricane Season

Since we're at the beginning of hurricane season, the weather here has been extremely wet. Sometimes you're like "YEAH RAIN!" and other times you're like "Ugh..... it's raining again."

This week, along with all the rain, we had zone conference on Wednesday here in Sav. We got to listen to Pres. Hendricks instruct us, and boy did he give some instruction. That's what happens when you get a mission president who used to be a temple president. We were totally blown away with some of the things he talked about. I also got to catch up with some of the other Elders on the island, seeing some new faces and some old ones.

During the week, Elder Gantt and I also started listening to some other really interesting lectures. He has it on his i-pod, so I can't get a copy, but I highly recommend it. It's Truman G. Madsen and 8 lectures on the Prophet Joseph Smith. One thing that I remember that was really cool is the comment that Joseph Smith made that there was 100 times more to be revealed about section 76 in D & C and that if he revealed it all, it would have taken up as much space as it covers right now. (There are 119 verses in that section - it's the section that talks about the kingdoms of glory) So, if you have the time and resources available, I recommend listening to it.

Otherwise, things are going fairly well down here.

Elder Huffaker

Mother's Day Week

Whew, it's been quite the week down here. I dunno, how are you guys faring?

Well, first off, zone conference was last Wednesday here in Sav. It was nice having zone conference in the area where I'm serving. We got to listen to Elder Coleman of the Seventy give instructions as he is our unofficial, temporary mission president. We already know who are next mission president is. His name is President Hendricks from Lubbuck Texas. He previously served as the temple president down there, and he's a retired FBI agent. Talk about intense!

Then on Friday, we had an amazing experience in which I got to try some curry crab. Down here they don't give you a little mallet to beat the crab shell to crack it open. You use your teeth. WOW! that was quite the surprise to me. Needless to say, I wasn't used to it, so I was the last one done.

So, news to the family. I'm sure everyone remembers when we used to sing to Elvira by the Oakridge Boys. Well, I learned that that song was written for Elder Gantt's grandmother. She used to date the singer, I guess.

Check out the pics of Elder Gantt and I with our matching ties and sox.

Elder Huffaker

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.

Happy Thanksgiving?

Well, it's sad to say, but true. Thanksgiving doesn't exist down here. How I miss good quality food. Not that the food is bad down here or anything like that, but it gets boring eating bread day after day.

Anywho, this week, Elder Vea and I decided to go to a bible study class, to learn about other religions and how to help those we teach that are in those religions. We went to a Church of Christ bible study and whoa, was the teacher way off course. He didn't know that Moses sent twelve spies not Joshua, and that Joshua was the second good spy along with Caleb. I feel sorry for those who know not the truth because they know not where to find it.

Then, we had Zone Conference last Wednesday in Sav Le Mar. It was awesome to not only see Elder Tracy, from the MTC, but also Elder Tonks from when we were in Old Harbour last transfer. I really enjoyed it and learned a few things.

Next, we did some service for a member and I am very disappointed in the carpentry skills of Jamaicans. They can't frame a house to a square at all, and I hate using hand saws. We cut lumber by hand. NO ELECTRICITY!

I quote Elder Vea, people don't travel to Jamaica for vacation, they travel here to appreciate America more.

That's all for this week.

Elder Huffaker

(This week's photos include a parting shot from Old Harbour, and the threesome of Elder Vea, Elder McGlossan, and Brandon.)

WHOOOO WEEEEE!

That would be the shout of one drunk Jamaican last week Monday night. He thought he was the baddest man in the whole world. And just loved to shout that phrase.

So news for this last week is somewhat good. I finally started paying attention to my surroundings (more than usual) and noticed a big faded sign on the way to Falmouth from Mobay that has something about a swamp safari. It also says on the sign "James Bond was here in Live and Let Die" It makes me want to go and watch the movie, but you'll have to do it for me.

Tuesday night, Elder McGlossan was picked up by Pres. Graff and taken to Portmore. An Elder had to be sent back to Jamaica from the U.S. and so our threesome was broken up.

Yesterday, we taxied out to a members house who wanted to feed us and on the way out, I saw this Jamaican walking down the side of the road balancing a chainsaw on his head. I wish I had my camera! It was pretty cool - how many of you can walk while balancing a chainsaw on your head?

Also, when Pres. Graff came and picked up Elder McGlossan, he told us he wants us to find a new house. So Elder Vea and I are now in the house hunting business. He wants us closer to town/the church. So Elder Vea and I are currently on the lookout for a new place to rent that will be decent for missionaries.

Lastly, I was on a tradeoff again on Wednesday, and in order to bring Elder Vea back, we had to travel to Sav. Not only is it an arm and a leg to taxi there, but on the way back, it took an hour longer because we had to turn around and take a detour to make it to Mobay. I left at 10:00 a.m. and didn't get back to Falmouth until 5:00 p.m. I have to go to Sav again this Wednesday for Zone Conference. This is gonna really suck.

I'll send photos when I have more time, I'm done for today. I also can't remember the last photos I sent, so hold on, they're coming!

Elder Huffaker



P.S. from Marilyn:

Brandon's shorthand for the locations might be a little vague. "Mobay" refers to Montego Bay, and "Sav" is Savanna La Mar, which is quite a distance from Falmouth. It looks about 40 miles away on the map.

Bikes!

First off, We had Zone Conference last Tuesday in Spanish Town. The Kingston-Portmore zone came as well. There, we met a new senior couple who will be serving in Turks and Caicos-Elder and Sister Herbert. They're from Eagle, Alaska, I think. Also, I got to enjoy the zones singing happy birthday to me as well as a few other Elders who had and will have birthdays.

Next, Elder Olson got sick for 2 1/2 days He got sick on Thursday and didn't head back out until Saturday afternoon. We're not sure what it was, but he had strep throat about 3-4 weeks ago, and we thought it might be that coming back. So I stayed home all day Thursday. At first I thought it was kinda nice, but then it turned to the fact that I now had boundless amounts of energy. Then on Friday after our weekly planning, we split. I went out with Elder Tonks in the afternoon and Elder Hicken in the evening. I learned my lesson of patience, which brings me to my next point...

I will not ride a bike ever again while on my mission. The bikes down here are quite different, despite the fact that they ARE bikes. My butt still hurts from riding just half a day. Sure it doesn't hurt when you first get on and you have a good time, but by the end of the day. OUCH. I then stayed in again on Saturday morning and proselyted the rest of Saturday with Elder Olson again, he felt good to get back outside.

Lastly, I finally finished peeling my sunburn that I got a week and a half ago. It didn't blister, but it kept peeling.

Thats all for today, hopefully I will get some photos later today to send next week.

Elder Huffaker

I'm Still Here

This week, Brandon send a couple of emails and just one photo. He talks about sister missionaries coming to Jamaica. For quite some time now, there have not been foreign sister missionaries called to Jamaica, probably because of its third world status, the fact that it's considered a "tough" mission, combined with the high rate of violent crime there. So to have sister missionaries called there now is big news.

Brandon sent a picture of himself with Elder Darling, who was in the other companionship of elders in Old Harbour, and shared the house with Brandon and his companion. The "dear elders" he refers to are some letters we have sent via http://www.dearelder.com/, which are on the way to him now. He writes:

Elder Darling and I reunited at Zone Conference after he became the new assistant. I dunno how, but when I last talked with him before he left Old Harbour, I told him he was gonna be the next assistant. I didn't think it would prove to be true.

A few things....

Did you hook up the on-demand hot water heater? Is it any good?

How about sending me one of those electric bug zappers that you sell at Welenco? ha ha!

Looking forward to some dear elders,

Elder Huffaker

In another email, he writes:

Yes, I'm still in Old Harbour and so is Elder Harris and we are still together. Transfers were very boring for us as we were both expecting something to happen.

We did have a combined zone conference this last week in Kingston where we got to listen to Elder Vinas, who is originally from Spain and is the area president over the Caribbean.

Along with Elder Vinas there, we received a new assistant to the president. Elder Darling was chosen! He spent one transfer in the Bahamas and was called back. Generally you spend 4 transfers off island for a total of 6 months.

We also learned that they are bringing foreign sisters back to Jamaica! That's right, American women are coming here. Apparently they already know of one who got her call who is from Minnesota.

Secondly, I was telling my mom about how Elder Harris is very unclean. Needless to say, after we got home last Monday, we had a surprise inspection. Haha! He had 40 minutes to clean the house. However, when they passed us, they said they could tell we upkept the place; Elder Harris knows he doesn't but he also doesn't know I do. So he felt the need to take credit where credit wasn't due. I didn't say anything though, I just let him be hisself.

We've been so busy lately that we're always very tired when we come in. Just last night we ran for about 15 minutes just to make it home on time. As such, Elder Harris sometimes drops off to sleep during personal studies in the morning. So, a couple of days ago, when our personal studies were finished and it was time to start companionship studies, I slammed my hands down on the table really hard and shrieked like a banshee. :D It was quite humorous to see his reaction. Thankfully I'm still alive.

This next one is for you, Grandpa: on our way to another teaching appointment, one of the members saw us and offered to give us a lift. While on the way I noticed the music he was listening to was the old country music. I didn't know the artist, but I could just imagine you sitting there singing along.

I experienced a few funeral processions while here, but the craziest one happened yesterday. They always have a vehicle playing music and its generally party music. Whether it's what the deceased listened to, I dunno, but this one was really rambunctious and loud and very flashy. We heard it a few times though, because we think they got lost.

Lastly, I think my mom was telling me about a meteor shower going on. I caught a really nice meteor with a good red hue around it the definitely travelled a good distance. There isn't that much of a difference in the night sky down here, just different constellations.

That's all for this week. Go make a hamburger and put some blue cheese and bacon bits on it and tell me if ya like it. ;)

The Next Series

Although Brandon doesn't mention it, President and Sister Gingery are soon reaching the end of their mission presidency -- I believe in the next week. The new mission president will be Rick Graff. Sister Gingery sent out some photos of recent Zone Conferences, and a tie-cutting all-around. Sister G. is apparently using the cut ties in a quilt. So this is a photo with Brandon's zone, and that's why his tie is cut. (Brandon is at the far left of the standing missionaries, with President Gingery in the red tie next to him) He writes:

Alrighty, so I came up with some more things to talk about and noticed a few things I didn't cover.

First off, when someone is crunked, its nearly impossible to communicate with them. Crunked means they're drunk and high at the same time. Elder Harris and I ran into one and the way I could tell was by the smell of alcohol on his breath and the spliff still in his mouth.

We did some service the other day, we chopped someone's yard using the machetes (mowing the lawn) and I got burned on the back of my neck. We were in regular clothes (which feels so weird when you're used to wearing slacks and a tie all the time) and thankfully I had jeans on. Elder Harris didn't and got sunburned on his calves. I got burned on the back of my neck, it sucked when we went back out to proselyte.

I mentioned before that they are a little racist down here and yell whitey or white man at us all the time. The funny thing is is they sometimes (children in particular) will mistake us for Asians and yell chiney. So it's always kinda funny to hear that.

I noticed that they dont have any rootbeer down here. Which really disheartened me. Especially since on Wednesdays after district meeting, we go to a Pizza Hut. I love rootbeer with my pizza and they don't have it. They have a couple of their own flavors of soda down here. I mentioned before the brands but these flavors are unique. There's ginger beer which is really gross, they will add it to fruit juice so sometimes you can taste ginger in your juice. The other soda is Ting, which is grapefuit soda and I think it tastes pretty good, its kinda a lot like Squirt.

Another thing they do down here is if they're black, sometimes they will bleach. Apparently brown is the prime color down here. So they have a bleach cream that they rub on to make their skin lighter, it makes them look kinda gross.

That's all for now,

Elder Huffaker