Christmas!!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because this is Barbados and there are no fences to keep them in!

We seriously almost killed about three chickens this week. They saunter across the road like the own it. But this week was great! Last Sunday I gave a talk in church about the role of the Savior. I think it went pretty well. And I told you about the wedding, yeah? Well, the couple got baptized on Saturday! It's really awesome because the elders who taught them have been waiting for this for five months, and finally they committed to be baptized. They are both so awesome; they will be a real asset to the ward.

On Christmas, the six missionaries in the branch went to Sister Brathwaite's for lunch. We had ham and steak and sweet potato pie and cheesecake. It was great. The zone leaders had an appointment afterwards, but then we and the Six Roads elders went to Sister Scott's. She asked us if Sister Brathwaite had stuffed us full, then proceeded to give us more food. It was pretty funny. They called sparkling cider "non-alcoholic wine" here. There was plenty for all, especially after she watered it down with some kind of red soda. It tasted pretty good.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand . . . *drumroll* Our investigator came to church! Yay! *Punjabi happy dance* Richie, the coconut guy, called us during the opening hymn (ooops), asking where the church building was. Sister Bennion went out to meet him and got back right in time for the sacrament, which was a real blessing. He stayed for all three hours and was not freaked out by it. We have to set another, later, baptismal date with him, but he came to church! It was awesome, because we called like five people that morning trying to get someone to church that day, and no one was able to come. But Richie came :) He's awesome.

BTW, forgot to ask on Christmas: did y'all carol at EMWD this year? And, how is the temple work going? I have some exciting pictures to show you, of names you can look up to see if we are related. They are obviously not ancestors, but they have familiar names :)

I love you all.

Have a happy New Year!

Sister Tibbitts

P.S. Role of the Savior outline:

Holidays vs. Holy Days

-Matt. 1:20-21  Jesus means "God is help" or "Savior"

How has Jesus Christ saved us? Alma 7:11-13

     -pains and sicknesses

     -death

     -sins

Pains and sicknesses

-He got sick too

-He had emotions

-He knows how we feel (Mosiah 14:3-4)

Death

-Adam and Eve; spiritual death and physical death

-Resurrection

Sin

-"save from their sins" vs. save intheir sins

-Alma 11:34-37

-How do we become clean from sin? Helaman 5:10-11

-We cannot expect to be saved if we do not repent

What can you do? Missionary work! Why do we do missionary work? D&C 18:10-14

It was really cool, because Sister Bennion found ways to use Hel. 5:11 like three times later that day. The Church is true! :D <3

Barbados, it's been real

Sister Bennion and I at Bathsheba Beach

 Well, after a full six weeks in Barbados, I am being transferred to The Big Island, Trinidad. I am going to be with Sister Hendricks, who is in Tobago right now. I will be leaving for Trinidad on Wednesday, so more news next week. I am sad to be leaving Sister Bennion and everything here so soon, but if Trinidad is where the Lord wants me, then Trinidad is where I will go. Sister Bennion is going to be training another sister from Kiribati; she's pretty nervous, because this sister probably does not speak English very well.

One of our zone leaders, Elder Free, went into the hospital this week with severe pain, and they thought at first it was because he was eating to much greasy food, but then changed it to a heart problem! They thought he was going to have to go back to the US (with only three months left on his mission) and get a pacemaker (!!!). Then the doctor changed the diagnosis to an enlarged heart, which is slightly less serious. He's in Trinidad right now getting a second opinion. His parents were going to come and pick him up at the end of his mission so that he could tour around, and because his brother also served in the West Indies Mission, but if he has to go home I don't know if that will still happen.

On Friday, one of our investigators invited us to a "crusade," where one church invites anyone who wants to come in to a gathering. There was a "prophetess" visiting from the States. Basically, they might as well have called in karaoke night, because they just played a lot of Jesus-songs from YouTube. We had to leave right as the lady was going up to share the word, but honestly, I don't think we missed much: she felt like she needed drums to get the message across. Everyone was really getting into it, and the music was nice (if SUPER loud), but it was kind of weird, to be honest.

Also, there was a drug awareness meeting/devotional last night that was held at another one of our chapels, and they asked me to play for it. They wanted 'Onward, Christian Soldiers' and 'Battle Hymn of the Republic,' neither of which I know. After a lot of praying, the first song went pretty well, but I completely flubbed the closing hymn. Oh well, everyone kept on singing anyway :) It was an interesting meeting. I'm not sure why they were holding it on a Sunday in our chapel, because that made it feel weird, but it was good stuff.

Our investigator Richie has been trying to quit smoking. He has been smoking since he was 12 (!!!), and he says that the one time he quit for six months was the best time of his life. Sister Bennion and I and another member fasted with him Saturday and Sunday. Richie is very sincere in his desires to become a better person and give up any bad habits he has, so we were really happy that he was able to fast with us. He slept most of the time, but I'm sure it still counts :) I'm sad I won't be here for his baptism (because I'm sure he will be baptised, just now), but Sister Bennion will keep me updated.

Barbados has been great. It is so beautiful here. This morning, we went and visited Bathsheba, which is a beach on the East Coast. It was so pretty. We also visited the Andromeda Gardens nearby. I will send pictures :) I had hoped to get a little more time in this place, at least one more transfer, but I will email you next week from Trinidad. It's going to be great ;)'

Love, Sister Aida Tibbitts

Chefette is like the Bajan MacDonald's.

Bathsheba Beach

ONE MONTH IN BARBADOS!!!!

Things are great here in the West Indies. New Year's Eve (or Old Year's Day, as they call it here) was quite chill: we are on companion exchanges with the Sister Training Leader, Sister Tongi, so we played Old Maid and then went to bed at 10:32 (I know, so disobedient). The roads were almost empty the next morning, probably because everyone was nursing a hangover. We had a couple investigators tell us they were going to a party. That must have been why no one wanted to meet with us; for the first time on my mission we came in early. There was pretty much nothing to do other than update teaching records.

 

New Year's Day, we went over to the Macintoshes for lunch. SO. MUCH. FOOD. We were not even hungry for dinner. They had ham and steak and yam pie and sweet potato pie and sorrel (a drink that tastes kind of like potpourri) and Sprite. And then there was dessert: fruitcake, ice cream, fruit salad, and chocolate-covered berries. We were all dying. Even the elders couldn't finish. But it was really good food, too.

 

Saturday, before branch council, Sister Bennion and I held a reading class. We only had one student, but he's learning the alphabet. Our investigator Lonnie says that Barbados has the highest literacy rate in the world, but we have met five or six people here who cannot read. We invited them all to the reading class, and I think  we will be holding it regularly, but so far only one person has come. It's based off of a book called 'And Ye Shall Have My Words.' It is published by the Church, and uses scriptures and stuff to help people learn to read.

 

Yesterday was Fast Sunday :) I love fasting. We saw a couple miracles happen because we fasted and prayed. Testimony meeting was interesting: someone needs to refresh everyone's memories on what a testimony is. Sister Bennion gave a wonderful testimony, though :)

 

Something funny: a lot of people call the Book of Mormon "the book of the Mormons." Even after we correct them and say the real name very slowly and clearly, they still say "the book of the Mormons." A member even said it yesterday in his testimony! Also, Richie has been insisting lately that the sea is alive, and that her name is Rachel. He says it's in the Bible, but we haven't been able to find it . . . He says there is a scripture that says "and Rachel will give up her dead," but I remember that scripture a little differently. I don't know if he read it in a different version of the Bible or what, but he is very insistent about it. He asked at least two members yesterday.

 

Anyway, one month in Barbados! I can hardly believe it. Sometimes it feels like I've been here forever, and other times I'm like, "I only have 17 months left . . . ?" Being a missionary is weird sometimes.

 

Love, Sister Tibbitts

Me and Sister Bennion on my first day in Barbados. It rained :)

First Preparation Day!

No Bible bashing, please!

Life is great here in Barbados.

We have a few cool investigators. Nobody going to church yet (everyone has an excuse), but they KNOW it is true! It's kinda frustrating when they know but don't act, but hopefully that will change. We met with this guy last week, had a first lesson with him. At the start he was like "I don't go to church; I don't need to." but at the end of the lesson he was asking when our church started. He hasn't come yet, though, but we do have a baptismal date set. We also watered a less-active's nursery, hoping it would get her to church (it didn't), and offered to make food for an investigator's sick neighbor, hoping THAT would get HER to church (it didn't). But, things are great here! I love talking with people; I actually managed to contact someone WITHOUT Sister Bennion's help yesterday! It was awesome!

A few days ago, we decided to walk to a lesson with a less-active, since he lived pretty close. We decided to take a shortcut that ended up taking us through someone's fields. The owner wasn't too happy about that, and we're probably pretty lucky we don't have chikingunya from wading through the tall grass ;) Chikingunya has been going around here, though I think it's dying out. I just hope I don't get it; Sis Bennion is still having joint problems from her stint with it.

Driving: I don't have a license yet, but I freaked out at first, because I was sitting on the "driver's side." It took me a while to figure out which side of the car I needed to get into. It still is a problem sometimes, but I'm not getting vertigo every time we drive. The streets here are really narrow, and everyone is a crazy driver, but Sis Bennion is good. She is totally comfortable behind the wheel.

Earlier last week, we got into a Bible-bashing session with this guy. I know, I know, we shouldn't have. He simply would not accept that there was a need for the Book of Mormon. He admitted that the Bible had had things taken out of it, but yet he didn't admit that there was a need for more/new scripture. I didn't say much, but I was getting frustrated. Eventually we just had to agree to disagree, because the conversation was going NOWHERE. Hopefully we did not damage our investigator's faith; I couldn't really tell by his comments which way he was leaning. Afterwards, we were driving to another lesson, and Sis Bennion was just venting. She was really sorry it had gotten out of hand. We sat outside the house and sang "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus" with David Archuleta, and then she opened the Book of Mormon to find peace. She opened right up to Hel. 5:17: "And it came to pass that they did preach with great power, insomuch that they did confound many of those dissenters who had gone over from the Nephites, insomuch that they came forth and did confess their sins and were baptized unto repentance, and immediately returned to the Nephites to endeavor to repair unto them the wrongs which they had done." Not exactly what happened, but it was a tender mercy, and a reminder of what the Spirit can do if we are not contentious. DON'T BIBLE-BASH. IT DRIVES AWAY THE SPIRIT. Some people won't listen regardless, but you can be the bigger person and say "I won't argue with you." It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable.

So, about family history . . . We are hopefully going to one of the cemetaries today :) Also, there is a college here called Codrington College (Heningham Codrington that's one of your ancestors, Mom)? IDK who it was named for, but I'm hoping to find someone who does. I will take pictures and send them next week.

BTW, I don't have enough clothes to last me through the week anymore :P I tore a hole in one of my skirts (I'll send you a picture) and spilled on my white shirt, so I am down one pair of clothes. I'm actually wearing an outfit of Sister Bennion's right now. I guess I'm getting myself an early Christmas present today :) Yay, new clothes! Other than that, everything is good.

Week Uno

Things that are ubiquitous in Barbados:

Stray chickens and cats

Dogs that don't even bark

Buses and "zedars"

Accents I cannot understand

Churches

Nice people

 

I'm serious about that last one: everyone is SO NICE. They aren't even weirded out when you just talk to them randomly. Not that I do that much, but it's pretty cool.

 

Anyway! Stuff that has happened . . . So, six sisters and two elders flew out to Trinidad on Mon. Another elder came in from the MTC in the Dominican Republic, and the other elder missed the bus, so he came on Thursday. Our flight got in at about 9:30-ish PM. Then we waited in line at Immigration for two hours. That was really fun! Not really, but we talked to each other and placed a Book of Mormon. Or, Sister Cole and Sister Walsh placed one. I watched in admiration and chipped in randomly about tent stakes. We found our luggage pretty fast, then headed over to Customs. That took about 20-ish minutes. By that time, we were all despairing that anyone was going to be waiting for us, but President Mehr and the APs were! We were so glad to see them. We drove back to the mission home (it was about 1 in the morning at that point). Sister Mehr had dinner waiting for us; I almost wept. And you know what the best thing was? They let us sleep in the next morning! Only about an hour, but it was so nice. Sister Galea'i and I slept in the "General Authority" room, where all the important people stay when they come to the West Indies mission. The beds were about 500% nicer than the ones in the MTC.

 

Tue was orientation. We sat around all day while the APs and the senior couples and President and Sister Mehr talked and did what they could to make sure we stayed awake. It was a struggle, but it was a fun day. They let us go to bed at 8:30, which was awesome.

 

Sister Nelson and Elder Stewart-Johnson went off to St. Maarten/St. Martin and Elder Moux off to French Guiana before I woke up. Sister Cole stayed in Trinidad. The rest of us went to the airport the next day. Elder Dulaki went to St. Vincent, Sister Walsh to St. Lucia, and us others, Sister Takuia, Sister Galea'i, and myself, went to Barbados. A transferring elder, Elder Westbroek, and Sister Galea'i were asleep when they announced we were doing a layover in Grenada and had to be called back on the plane. It was pretty funny, but I'm just really glad we caught them.

Barbados is awesome. My trainer is Sister Bennion; she's from Orem, and she been out about five months, so she's still figuring things out herself. She is so nice, though, and an awesome trainer. We have had a crazy week, because we are the only sisters with a car, so we had to drive the other two companionships places. Zone conference was on Friday, so Saturday was my first real day of missionary work. We have done about six first lessons with people we found. That was awesome. Sister Bennion is so powerful. By the last lesson we had last night, I was able to contribute a bit, but she was carrying most of it by herself. It doesn't seem to phase her.

 

Today we had an American women and her two sons feed all of us Bajans missionaries lunch. They are on a cruise, and they have been feeding the missionaries on all the islands they stopped on. She took pictures, and she will be sending them to you, Mom :) We ate at the beach, and it was really pretty. The water here is really light blue.

Our apartment is great. The bedroom has air conditioning, which is REALLY great. We have no food right now, but we are going shopping after we finish emailing, because this is more important.

 

I don't even know what else to tell you. The missionaries here are really fun. Oh the branch! Um, so we have a small branch with six missionaries. Yesterday was Fast and Testimony, of course. We had one guy get up and talk for forever, and his accent is so hard to comprehend; I zoned out after a while. We visited him earlier in the week, and Sister Bennion said he was just repeating what he had already told us then, anyway (not that I understood him the first time). He's a bit of a weird guy . . . he's been a member for three years, but he doesn't think Pres. Monson is a prophet. He thinks HE is the prophet. Yeah . . . kinda weird . . .

 

Sorry for this super-long email, but it's just really great here. President and Sister Mehr are both so nice and awesome. Pres Mehr is a deep doctrine kind of guy, so sometimes he is hard to understand, but I think I'll get used to it. Sister Mehr is not one inch behind him, and she is so kind and loving. I love this place. The people here are really friendly and humble. They just hand out their phone numbers like it's nothing! They ask wonderful questions, and it seems like everyone we've taught lessons to have been seeking the truth. They just need to understand where they can find it.

Anyway, I guess I'd better go. Remember who you are, the Church is true, don't do drugs. Seriously.

In the MTC

It's been a pretty exciting first three days! My companion is Sister Galea'i; she's from Hawai'i, and she's pretty tall. The two of us and Sisters Cole and Nelson are all going to the West Indies on Dec 1! We all room with Sister Hovermale, an ASL sister from Indiana. She's awesome! She's been here for three weeks already, and she will see us off. She's going to San Fernando.

We've had some long days here, but it is so much fun! We got together with a big group of new missionaries our first night and had lessons with three investigators, all of us against one! I kind of hope they were just actors, because that would be really nerve-wracking, even if you were already a member! They are under contract not to tell us if they are for real or not, though. We didn't do a great job, but it was only our first night. On Saturday, Sister Galea'i and I will be able to sit down with an "investigator" (not really) and teach her a lesson. I hear those lessons are really hard.

I haven't been sleeping great these last few nights, but Sister Hovermale said that as time goes on, you just start falling asleep as your head hits the pillow. I'm thinking that will be fine with me, as long as I don't fall asleep during class. Our teachers are really cool, that wouldn't be fun. We already were told not to be late to class (I know, I know, shame on me) so I  really don't want to fall asleep.

Our district is made up of us four sisters and six elders. The elders are going to Baltimore.

Anyway, this place is really great. Don't forget to write me! I would love to get letters from you guys.

Love,

Sister Tibbitts