Wednesday, September 30, 2009

9/28

Cher Famille,
Sounds like everythings going great back home. That's sad about that monkey. He did always look like he was so tired of living there anyway. I wish I was there to sign Max's cast. That's awesome that Mitch is playing the trumpet. That's the perfect instrument for him. I hope he gets really good before I get back. I'm going to send a package off soon.
Everything is going good here. We've got some investigators that are really good. We have two investigators who love the Book of Mormon and have already read more than the chapter we gave them to read. I really hope they can progress further. There's also a cool family that's been investigators for 8 years or so and the wife is from Brazil and the husband is french and they have one daughter. They have invited us over for dinner for three weeks in a row now and I think they are progressing. They love to ask us how to say stuff in English. I started reading the Portugese Book of Mormon along with the English to try and pick up a tiny bit.
Elder Krause is awesome and way funny. It was pretty hard to see people last week and one of our investigators said he didn't want to discuss anymore so it's been good to be able to laugh and joke about it with Elder Krause.
It has been so incredibly hot this last week. Even the Guadeloupiennes are saying it's hot so that says something.
I'm running out of time, sorry. I will try to write a better email and send a picture next week. Love you ! Bye.
elder hill

Monday, September 21, 2009

9/21 To Family

Dear family,
Next week I will send some pictures for sure.
This week was awesome but pretty weird at the same time. It's my first time ever changing companions and I had to be the one that knows the area now. It seemed like I was forgetting about alot of people or missing appointments but I wasn,t and everything worked out awesome! We went to this new area that I had always seen on the bus and I always wanted to go there but never got the chance. When we started tracting there we got to teach two lessons within 8 houses and we found a couple people that we're going to see this week too. We also have a ton of members really excited to work with us in a city called Saint Francois. You can probably find some great pictures on the internet of a place called Point de Chateaux in Saint Francois. Next week were going to another waterfall so I should have some cool pics.
I would like some music actually! It would be really cool if you could get a cd of classical piano. Try and get a cd of Chopin songs actually. Any motab cds are great.
My companion has been out for one more transfer than me and he is awesome. He is so funny and a good missionary too. His name is elder Krause and he is from San Diego. He is pretty smart and he studied bio chemistry before the mission.
I'm hoping to baptize this family that's been coming to church for 8 years or so but they can't get baptized because the dad doesn't like paying tithing. They're named the Lepennec's and they love having us over for meals and they ask us tons of questions about America and just about us. The mom is actually from Brazil and she speaks Portugese. They have a dog named chance that always tries to eat toads and Sr Lepennec says "c'est pas possible chance! laisse le crapeau!" They're way cool.
I am compeletly legal on october 7. Maybe I will go to french guyana!
Love you fam! I'll send you pics next week, desolée!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

A little about Guadaloupe

Guadeloupe

Facts:

* Population is about 406,000
* This island is owned by France and is part of the European Union. It’s currency is the euro
* French is the official language but many of the inhabitants speak Creole
* Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering the pineapple on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493 during his 2nd voyage.
* Tourism is its key industry

Church:
There are 6 LDS Church branches in Guadeloupe and about 400 members

* Abymes (church-owned chapel)
* Basse-Terre
* Capesterre
* Gosier
* Lamentin
* Moule


Missionary Work
As of June 2009 there were 14 elders serving in Guadeloupe and one senior couple - Elder and Sister Collings



History:
Among the first converts in Guadeloupe was the Claire Dinane family. Dinane came into contact with the Church because of his duties as a customs officer where he met Latter-day Saints. His family soon moved, but a nucleus of members had joined the Church through contact with Dinane. The Guadeloupe Branch (a small congregation) was organized in June 1982, but was discontinued several months later due to the apostasy of a member of the Church.

In June 1984, West Indies Mission President Kenneth Zabriskie sent French-speaking missionaries to Guadeloupe who had been transferred from French-speaking missions in Europe. Through their efforts the Grande-Terre Branch was organized by Elder Ronald E. Poelman of the Seventy (one of the governing bodies of the Church) in August 1984. The branch was strengthened by Dusan Kolvic, a Yugoslavian refugee who learned of the Church in France, but was not baptized. Kolvic’s work as a policeman for the French government required a transfer to Guadeloupe, and one evening he was dispatched to arrest a drunkard who was attacking two missionaries. Kolvic later joined the Church and served as branch president from 1986 – 1988. Because of Guadeloupe’s connection to France, there have been several members from France who have lived on the island for a few years and brought valuable experience to the Church there.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

9/8 To Mom

Hi mom,
I am doing great this week! That's great that the Orem house sold. I hope they like my painting job! Hannah's friends sound really cool. Everyone looks so different already! I got the package on Saturday and it was crazy to see all the pictures. It was a really good package and the drawings are the best. I wish I had peaches too. They have peaches here but I don't know about squash or zucchini. I eat pretty good. I do eat alot of fruit that people just give us when its in season. I bought a cutlas so I can cut open my own cocos now. My six month mark is this week. It's also zone conference. Last Saturday I got to do a baptism in the ocean. It was a child of record so it didn't count for us but she picked me to do it. Her name is Ashley and she has a little brother and three other little sisters who are all so crazy but also the coolest. Their mom is a single mom and it's pretty hard for her.
Stan and brandy are the coolest! I loved when they lived down the street from us. You will have to say hello for me and give them hugs. I'm doing great. Thanks for prayers. Love you!
-elder hill