1st Transfer: Week 1 ~ "a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY....without a doubt."

We received our individual emails today then I caught Mackenzie on the computer and we were able to chat for quite a while. She's serving in a poor area and is writing from " the attic of some business that has computers... no air conditioning just some little fan. I'm so HOT. " Here's some of what she had to share: 

Ello my Mumma!!!!! (Jamaican talk) hahahaha!! I came here and it is sooooo hott! I MISS ALL OF YOU!!!! 
My companion is Sister B and she is Jamaican. She is very funny but kind of quiet some times. We have a good time. She has a conversion story similar to mine. She can't drive so I drive this big black truck. It's not stick shift thank goodness. The roads are not even roads. It's ONE ROAD with one car going up and the other coming down. The roads are different of course. We drive on the left. The roads are very dangerous but don't worry I'm being safe. There are mostly gravel roads with some paved. When we go up the mountains there are no railings and the cars come down like 100 miles per hour. So lucky that we are not dead yet. Actually there was an old american couple here a couple of days ago and they died from a car accident.  It's really bad here. The country is so poor but its going okay.
They call this area a "tourist area" but its the poorest in my eyes. The tourist area is fenced round. It's very beautiful....just not a rich part. Very poor area. We go up in the mountains a lot for our investigators. They have really yummy food here though :) This place makes me so sad some times. This country is a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY....without a doubt. I've taken a lot of pictures but I need a cord to download my pictures. Me and my companion live with lots of bugs. I sleep with the spiders and sometimes roaches but whatever..still sleepin' good. We live in the forest. That's what Jamaica is....a huge forest along with stray dogs and stray goats everywhere. There's a lovely rooster that wakes us up every morning. Our neighbors are one little family that says they will bring us some fruit as they grow them. We have a microwave thank goodness. There is no air conditioning anywhere...just a fan. Hair up all day every day hahah!! Cute hairbands every day. It's sooo hot here. Every time I drive I put my face in the air conditioning. "me no like de humiditeee mon" ROFL. No warm water all cold which is perfect. Thank goodness for the tourist area! They only have Pizza Hut and Burger King here that's american food. It's funny. We went to the grocery store and they are not labeled like they are in America.  It was a building with no air conditioning and its the color blue. Also the members houses have no addresses so we go by color of the houses. We seriously have to park far from the house and walk up the dirt path in the jungle to go to their homes. Its like the other side of heaven movie....for real.. no lie. We live pretty close to the church but its not a church building. It's a rented space that they bought out. It's above a store. The church is one single room and we go up into the attic for classes.
Every night as we go up the mountains to different little houses, the streets are packed with people smoking weed and partying. The smell gets into our car vent. It's so strong and smells so nasty. All the people here walk on the streets so thank goodness I haven't killed anyone yet. Music is blasting all of the time but I'm loving the people here and I am getting used to it. The people are nice. Everyone honks here but they're not being rude. It's "friendly"....just to say "hello" or "here I come" ahhahaha. 

Okay, so my area is a big area. We cover a lot. We have an investigator and his name is S....he is 22.  He is amazing!  I had an amazing and spiritual experience with him. I could relate to him so I bore my testimony. He could feel the spirit very strongly. I call him my brother in Jamaica. He always calls me and Sister B just to see if we made it home okay and to make sure we are safe. He is the best. 

My companion and I had a great spiritual experience. We had a lot of cancellations and so we said a prayer to see who we should go visit.  After we said the prayer immediately Sister B and I said at the same time....Brother W. I HAVE NEVER experienced that in my life. The holy ghost was so BIG and strong in that moment. It was incredible. So we went to go see Brother W. He had the flu and was not feeling good. I met this young 15 year old mother named K and her mother was keeping her from baptism. I immediately started to ask her mother WHY? and she told me the reason. K's mother said to me "see finally a missionary who is listening to me, that's all I want" and I felt sooooo good! I bore my testimony about baptism and now her mother is going to come to church one Sunday. That was my very first day doing lessons :)  I've already had amazing experiences.  I love my companion. 
We visit this church member her name is Sister H and she thinks everyone is out to get her its so hilarious. There are some wonderful families here. We have this family..... Sister N......I just love their family. Most women here are single mothers. Their kids are just soooo cute I love them. Such a sweet family.  I gave the kids some stickers and they wanted to try out my hand sanitizer hahaha! They didn't know what hand sanitizer was. They saw it in a pretty casing and the little boy said " wut dis" and I said "cleans de hands" and he said "me want some" ahahaha so I gave him some. And I gave the children stickers. They are the cutest babies. It was awesome. We went out with them for service and went into the bush with machetes and burned grass so she can plant seeds. It was crazy it looked like a forest fire. It was ccrrraaazzzyy. We didn't do service with the elders but we are hangin out with them today. We only have 2.  The Elders, us,  and the senior companions. That's it. So all together 6 of us in our district. There are only 170 missionaries in our mission.  It's so rare to be called here.. its crazy. But we are getting some other missionaries soon.

(The food) is safe but everywhere you will see people selling fruit out of the vans or on the side of the road. K gave me some star apples. Very interesting fruit! Let me tell you something I love it here .. just because of the people. Yes its hard to get used to, but I'm already LOVING it so no worries :) The members here were hesitant for me to come because I am American. They always say that the american missionaries are scared to sit on their couches or chairs because its outside and they don't have a lot of nice things but I don't hesitate. You know how I used to always look around to see for bugs? Well.. I don't care anymore. I sit down and let whatever wants to crawl on me do that. We have a lot of bugs in our little house and I just step on it and keep showering or keep sleeping.. whatever. I am putting all of me into this work I just don't care anymore. I will be so different when I get home.. i have only been here for 4 days .. and I have learned so much. 

Sister B said they have hurricane season which is in June. So BEWARE we will be getting hurricanes! I'm already used to the talking here. Everyone that is Jamaican speaks patois in a quieter tone so its hard to know what they are saying but I understand now and can speak some too.  It was very hard at first. I was like what are they saying?! but I completely understand now. Sister B is helping me out with that lol so I might be talking funny when I get home. This brother over here, Brother H, he is the best! He said that he is gonna teach me patois some more. HAHA! I just love the people. They be so chiiiilll..... Our jug of water is hilarious. In the front it says "WATA" I took a pic and will send it to you once I have the cord. hahaha. All of them say mon after every sentence for example... whaagwaan i love de weh u tak mon. It's broken english. And instead of saying "I" they say ME. For example me like de way u poo yo hair up dat way mon. Which in standard english is "i like the way you pull you hair up" LOL!! I LOVE YOU and I MISS all of you!! I will be going shopping. I will buy some souvenirs and send them to you. I am staying strong and keeping Heavenly Father in my mind.. this is the LORDS work not mine.. so i will try to keep pressing forward. LOVE YOU