Monday, January 11, 2016

#11 Weird Barbados

Alright, I will try to make this one a short and long one at the same time because this email will consist of a lot of weird and disturbing things that make being a missionary in the Caribbean a very hard but rewarding thing to do. 

First I will start with the great thing that will be happening this week. We will be baptizing our investigator who’s name is Verna.  She is just a super sweet lady.  She used to have a lot of problems and struggles but seeing the gospel work within her heart and to see how Jesus Christ and his example has set for her and all of us has changed her life forever. We had her baptismal interview on Friday and hearing our district leader, Elder Kuru walk out of the interview saying without hesitation, "she is ready!" was just a great feeling in my heart and to think that I was a part of helping her get to the point that she is now and to see that nothing can stop her!  Her testimony has grown so much over the last little bit and it is just so beautiful to see. It grows my testimony to see how the simple actions of just showing someone love and showing them that we are hear for her always and that we will do anything that will help her to be happy in this life.

Now to some things that are really just weird.  So Elder Cox, Elder Pape and I were walking around finding people to teach and we start talking to this lady in a fairly rich area.  We are telling her about what we do and how we are out here for two years and we want to share a message about families and how it can help bless the family.   She just stop us and says, " okay! hold on just one second!" so she leaves and were just thinking okay, she is going to go get her husband so we can talk to them both or that she is going to go get some voodoo dolls to cast us away and were not really paying attention and we just hear this, " hehe...  Hello Elders!"  We look up and we see 3 girls like our age.  We, being the good missionaries, just freeze and stand there because we have no idea what to do. And we are just so confused and we literally have no idea what is going on.   So us being even better missionaries... we give them a book of Mormon because the gospel blesses families and well, there was no other way to get out of that situation without just running away, which we probably should have done. This isn’t the first time that someone has tried to set me up or anything or flirt with Elders because were White and American, even though we are weird and super poor they think were cool. But this experience was just so weird that it was unique in ways.

Contacting is just weird in general.   We can be thinking someone is a super amazing guy and that we will be able to teach him and then he will just turn crazy and start like running down the street after dogs or something.  It’s just a really weird.

Now finally, it has been Elder Cox's last week on his mission and leaves this Thursday. It has been really weird for me because of the relationship I have grown with Elder cox over these last couple months. He is great Missionary and has taught me a lot.  Something that he has really taught me just by his example is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I have learned that no matter what stage you come out on your mission or whatever stage you are in life, that if you have a desire to get better and to become a better person you can but you have to do something drastic, either change how you think about the people you are around or how you think about yourself.  Before I went on my mission and sometimes out here I think that I am not enough but I think about the things Elder Cox has taught me and I remember that I have to make a change.  I have change this because if I don’t, I will just go down and down and it will be harder. He has set a great example and I will cherish the time I have left with him. 

I love the Savior Jesus Christ and I know it is through him that I can make these changes and I will be the man I want to be!


Love Elder Fokken




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