Monday, September 15, 2014

Guadeloupe!

Bonjour ma Famille!

Well I am just going to go as quick as I can over this crazy last week.

So Tuesday we had the big meal with the Lacambé family.  That was just about the whole day, I sent a picture of their house. Then on Wednesday I got all packed up and had to wait until 3:00 or so to fly out. We sat in traffic driving up to the airport to pick up Elder Simms who replaced me, coming from Basse-Terre, where I am replacing him, we did a little switcharoo.  He came in around 12 and then we went to eat kebabs with everyone.  Then Elder Fraley and I headed out.  I was really happy that he was on the same flight as me heading up to Guadeloupe, but it was really sad having to get off while he stayed on to go up to St. Martin.  We finally got separated, this time for more than 1 transfer I bet.

When I got in I was picked up by the zone leaders for the island of Basse-Terre, Elders Christiansen and Peterson. (Guadeloupe is actually 2 islands connected by a bridge, I'm on the very bottom of the left one) There are 2 zones to answer you question, Basse-Terre and Grand-Terre.  Then we made the long trip to my area, which is in the bottom left corner, more west than the actual tip.  We stopped to drop of the blue Elder Okano at Capesterre.  By the time we got home there was just enough time to do studies.  Elder Drennan met me at Capesterre.  I think we are going to have a great time.  We both have a big vision for the area.  He was on Martinique with me for 3 transfers so I know him pretty well.  We are going to have a lot of fun and we are going to get a lot of work done!  I'm excited.

So for Basse-Terre, the church is only a group and we have a family that is progressing very well towards baptism.  We had the first real lesson with them this week though, and the kids all want to be baptized but their mom is a little hesitant. We also have a guy that wants to be baptized who used to be a part of a gang but changed his whole life when he met the missionaries.  In our area there are a lot of less active members so we are going to try to focus a lot on visiting and helping them rather than knocking doors the whole time. Its nice having people to see.

There are 2 zones on Gwada but we almost never see Grand-Terre zone.  We have 10 in our zone and I'm not sure yet how many missionaries are on the island total.  There is a couple here, they are the Richmond's from Tahiti.  We have a nice apartment, its smaller than my last one but it has a balcony that goes all around the building which is perfect for my hammock and it has a good view of the ocean.

Je suis bien installé à la Guadeloupe et je suis content être là:)
passez une bonne semaine!

avec amour,
Elder Call




The whole Martinique zone before Elder Fraley and I left



Elder Fraley and I are departing.  He's heading to St. Martin.  We've been together all but 6 weeks since the very beginning!



Packed up and ready to go



Exchanging ties with Elder Fraley at the airport



Photo bombed by Elder Russell



My new apartment






View from my apartment






Pruning some gardens for a lady



Lacambé family's home