I hope you got the pictures from this morning, because they are quite spectacular! So this morning we climbed Mount Pelée, at it was really cool. We got up in the morning bright and early and all drove to the north to hike Mt. Pelée. When we got there the mountain was covered in clouds and we hiked through the mist. It was a little cold actually! But when we got to the top all of the clouds separated and we could see all the way across the island!! It was incredible! I took a lot of pictures :)
This week was a week of miracles! For this last week of the transfer we had to achieve 21 lessons in order to hike Mt Pelée. We average 14 a week. But our zone leaders said we could do it so I believed them. I am so tired though! Everyday we prayed and prayed for miracles, in order to get all the lessons that we need to get each day. The Lord answered our prayers and that for sure!
The first day we planned for 5 lessons. We were in our 4th lesson at the end of the day with a lady we met a week before. Towards the end Elder Johnston and I looked at each other thinking, "There is no way we are getting 5 lessons today." When all of a sudden Mary-Jo's friend walked by and she called him over, sat him down and told him to listen to us. We had another lesson with him and were miraculously able to accomplish our daily goal.
The next day we had 5 planned again. Again we did not have enough time, and NOBODY was able to have a lesson or was willing to listen. We were at the top of a staircase in a building knocking doors, when a man literally RAN up the stairs and asked if we were missionaries. We said yes and he cried, Hallelujah! haha, we had a quick lesson on the top of the stairs with him. Afterwords Elder Johnston and I said a little prayer of thanks.
We have a couple people we are teaching right now, but the progression is kinda slow. One lady who is Buddhist is really nice but we are trying to get her real faith in Christ first before anything else. Muriel, who has been an investigator for a long time and has a daughter who was baptized and we are also teaching the Family Manuel that we have a hard time seeing.
The mosquitoes haven't bothered me too much. There are more here than in Guyane though.
The tourists here are usually French, and there are lots in our area. We see cruise ships just about every other day in Fort-de-France. We don't talk with them too much.
We do a lot of tracting, because we just don't have that big of a base to grow off of. Its a lot bigger here in Martinique than Guyane was church wise, but we still are out trying to find people around the town usually.
I love all of you so much still!! I hope the last couple days on vacation are good! I hope Jordan and Brianna are doing good at home, and anyone else that happens to read this, Have a great week!!!
je vous aime,
Elder Call
Here is a little history about Mt.Pelée
Mount Pelée ("Bald Mountain") is an active volcano at the northern end of the island of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean.
The volcano is famous for its eruption in 1902 and the destruction that resulted, dubbed the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century. The eruption killed about 30,000 people. Most deaths were caused by pyroclastic flows and occurred in the city of Saint-Pierre, which was, at that time, the largest city on the island.
The flows completely destroyed St. Pierre, within minutes of the eruption. The eruption left only two survivors in the direct path of the flows (with a third reported): Louis-Auguste Cyparis survived because he was in a poorly ventilated, dungeon-like jail cell; Léon Compère-Léandre, living on the edge of the city, escaped with severe burns. Havivra Da Ifrile, a young girl, reportedly escaped with injuries during the eruption by taking a small boat to a cave down shore, and was later found adrift two miles from the island, unconscious. The event marked the only major volcanic disaster in the history of France and its overseas territories.
Pictures of our hike to Mt. Pelée.
