Week 9 (Photos will be posted tomorrow)

Hey Guys!

 

 

so i have a special announcment. i am probably one of the only people in the Jamaica Kingston Mission history to ever drive a car while in training! driving here is kinda weird cause its on the left side and the wheel is on the right. but dont worry, i didnt crash haha.

Day 69 Monday

Today was super hecktic! it was National Heroes Day down here so 99% of the stores were closed! National Heroes Day is what it sounds like. they celebrate all their national heroes. Jamaicans take their holidays very serious so thats why almost everywhere was closed down. we had to do emailing between the 4 of us missionaries on one computer so it took a long time. luckily we took turns. me and elder dalley went shopping while the other 2 were doing their emails. later in the day the church had a small activity for the Day so we decided to go to that. it was pretty fun. everyone just got up and made of a fool of themselves on purpose! somehow i talked myself into going up there. to be honest.... it sucked. i dont preform well haha.

Day 70 Tuesday

strange strange strange strange day today. we tried to see a member who went to the doctor. i guess on monday he fainted from high blood pressure and sugar, and a fever. one of the members of the branch presidency wanted us to give him a preisthood blessing. the only reason he didnt then is cause he had no oil. i may be giving him some here soon cause he is always calling us. well to say the least, we never found the member. he wasnt there when we were. we went up to a guy who is LA and saw him. he is awesome! if he gets back to church then he could very well be the next branch president!

Day 71 Wednesday

Today we had district meeting in Ochi and we did a trade off. With the car that we now have, every single meeting we have is gonna be in ochi since we can drive. elder dalley is the main driver but president brown didnt think of trade offs with that. after awhile he told me to watch the driving safety video and for me to drive when elder dalley couldnt! i was excited but scared at the same time cause Jamaican drivers are absolutely nuts! so after district meeting i drove us the 2 hours home to Port Antonio. Elder Dalley stayed in Ochi for the trade off. we saw Shanique when we got back. she is super prepared and really converted! Golden Investigator by far!

Day 72 Thursday

i did almost nothing today. me and elder beck had to leave at 11am to go back to ochi so we just went and got him some Bag Juice. NOTE: if you wanna make a lotta money, sell bag juice! its the best thing since sliced bread! which is also amazing i found out haha. we didnt get to Ochi till one and then we had to wait for the other elders to get back to the ochi house. me and elder dalley didnt leave Ochi till after 2 45 cause we had to eat and then i bought a couple of hats to wear around the house. hats are still my life haha. we didnt get back to Port Antonio till like 4 45 cause of all the time we wasted in ochi. then we taught one of our 7th day "investigators". the kid tried to teach us again. he is super solid and thats the problem. the 7th day church really changed his life and he is really stuck on that. hopefully the Spirit will convince him here soon.

Day 73 Friday

so i finally got the package that the family sent me a month ago. the stuff in there isnt going to last me long haha. the circus peanuts are still off limits till christmas tho haha (your welcome fudgebag lol). everyone in my apartment isnt all that excited for that. i guess i have the only bags of them on the island and they all like them a lot. Today for teaching we went out to San San on our bikes. thats like a 90min ride! then went 45 back toward the church, and then 30 min back toward San San. lets just say that me and my bike are in a complicated relationship right now.

Day 74 Saturday

first off. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BRO! DONT CRASH THE CAR!! we went to a member to try and get a referral today. it was frustrating. she is a MAJOR talker! sometimes she will go off about random things that has nothing to do with anyones salvation and she doesnt even realize it! Kudos to the missionaries who taught her a year ago. dont get me wrong tho, she is all for sharing the gospel and has super good referrals. we didnt get one today but she is gonna help us a lot! we tried to have a family history lesson with Kadeen but it was a disaster. Family Search just didnt like us for the day

Day 75 Sunday

So can i just say that i love the brach here! there are some people who have some amazing faith! the blind guy who came last week came again! Brother Colthirst is less active but is starting to come back to church! he has almost no money and he is coming! we love the guy! Kadeen also came to church. the reason that is awesome is cause since she has been coming teaching with us a lot. her money got kinda low with all the taxiing that we did. she wasnt sure if she was gonna be able to make it home or not but she still came! super sick and super solid Recent Convert!

i guess thats really all that i have for today. any other questions or things you guys wanna know??

Love,

Elder Kurt Meacham

 

Week 8

hey everyone!

we got a car so now when we go to mo bay it doesnt cost a lot! no one has driven in jamaica before so its weird being on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on the right side of the car.

Day 62 Monday

today was super slow. we spent most of our pday in the stores around town shopping. not the funnest thing to do at all. it sucked too cause i remembered that i still had a flat from before so we were going to get that fixed when we started to teach. someone came and fixed it but forgot to put my brakes back on afterwards and we couldnt do it. thankfully someone came and did it for us and we talked to him a bit. the teaching was super short cause that took up quite a bit of time.

Day 63 Tuesday

today we drove to Ochi at like 6pm so our teaching was super short today. none of us have ever driven in jamaica before so we were pretty scared. elder dalley is the driver and that scared us way bad. he started going to kingston before we got to Annotto bay, hit a curb on a bidge majorly, he was hogging the left side of the road too much haha. and then almost went the wrong way on a round a bout when we got tried to fix the kingston problem. we did get to ochi in one piece tho so dont worry haha

day 64 wednesday

our whole day was full of driving. we got up early and left Ochi at 6 so we could be to Mo bay by 8 30. we hung out there for a bit and then had zone meeting at 10. president brown and the aps came so that was cool. zone meeting was super sick too! it was all about how we need to really start using the members in the lessons and how we need to use them to get referrals. pretty cool if you ask me haha. it was like 2pm before we got out. we dropped off ochi and went back to porty tho. about the time that we got to Port Maria a huge storm came and hit us. we were gong like 20kmph and hugging the left line. it was nuts! not what we wanted for our first time driving in jamaica haha! we did get back in one piece agian so thats good news.

day 65 thursday

today was just really stressful. i was super homesick and almost came home. luckly i went throught the day and decided to stay. im not one to quit on stuff i start so im gonna stick this one out. i think that the main things im missing are: sunday drives to harts, my family, friends, sports, and the fact that i probably gave up a great job up at KSL. i never relized just how much that i really gave up to come out here. i guess its worth it tho. plus i do get to talk to everyone once a week so that helps a lot!

day 66 friday

we finally got back to brother banter! he is the investigator that just randomly showed up to church and sasid that he wanted to be baptized. we forgot about him for like 3 weeks so we felt really bad and wanted a second chance at him. thank goodness the Lord had mercy that he gave us another chance. we are not going to let this one go away again. we had a desire lesson with him and he still seems interested to know if what we teach is true so we are going to be sure we see im like 3 times a week. we also had president brown stay the night. he was doing a baptism interview for someone. we didnt teach the guy, the senior couple who works up here did. the guy didnt do anything wrong. president brown just got super excited when he heard that he was being baptized that he wanted to do the interview and the baptism. apparently he has been trying to be taught for like 20 years. he finally got taught a bit ago and is going to be baptized tomorrow. its intimidating to have him here but way cool at the same time! he is basically just one of us!

day 67 saturday

well we had a baptism for the first time in a month! of cousse it wasnt ours but we get to count it in our nuimbers. not about the stats but still. pretty cool haha. president brown is the one who baptized hiom. once that was over he just went back to kingston. it was way cool to have him here tho! he taught us a few things that we are definatly going to be sure to use in our work! we got to a less acitve member and got him to say that he is coming to church. the only reason that he doesnt really come a lot is cause he is blind and doesnt have any money to take a taxi. he also will not beg for money cause its very demeaning to him. which is a good thing just so you know. big respect on that one. he said that he was going to be there tho so thats a good thing.

day 68 sunday

today was awesome! we had brother banter come to church! thats a miracle cause he told us that he couldnt be there this week! he came and loved it tho! he said that he is going to make his choice really soon on if he wants to be here permenatly! big time work that we need to do! brother colthirst also came! he is the blind guy! he said that as him and his wife were walking to church, someone came up to them and offered them a free ride! this is why people need faith. the Lord will always provide a way if yiou try to do what he says you should be doing! miricales are working around us and we need to take advantage!!!

Keaden- HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 26TH LITTLE BRO!!!!!!!!! ITS NUTS TO THINK THAT YOU ARE THAT OLD! JUST THINK, YOU COULD BE DOING THIS IN 4 YEARS TIME. you have to be out of school first haha. JUST DONT CRASH THE CAR WHEN YOU START DRIVING LOL!!!

thats all i got for this week. kinda a weird week but pretty cool at the same time. we had zone conference cancelledc this week so idk when i will be back there but hopefully soon. and just so you know, for any one that goes to Mo Bay on a cruise, its a crappy town. its a lot like LA. lots and lots of gangs

Love,

Elder Kurt Meacham

Week 7

hey everyone! jamaica is still the sickest place on earth! i really couldnt imagine being anywhere else. so far ive been chased by dogs once, and i was charged by a goat.... ya that was embarrassing haha

Day 55 monday

today we only had one lesson. we got a referral from the other porty missionaries so we went and taught her. she is really obsessed with visions. she thinks that every dream she has is a vision. now we need to think of a way to tell her that that is not how it works. not sure how to do that but it should be interesting when we tell her that. she also talks a lot so its hard to say a whole lot. a 10 minute lesson plan turns into us being there for like an hour. its nuts! 

Day 56 Tuesday

we did service today. i felt bad cause we were running late and could only stay for like 30min. we are way behind on studies that trainees have to do so thats why we stayed for so short. we then went up to Stephanie and had a good lesson! i think she is finally starting to get this obey thing! hopefully she comes to church this week! we had a long ride out to Clear Springs so we could teach Shanique. i dont think that ive mentioned her yet but she is way sick! she loves hearing what we have to say and accepts everything! shes been to church once. she missed last week cause her daughter was in Kingston in the hospital. kinda weird with that one. no details. we wanted to teach janet but she wasnt home and it turned into a horror film. her house is way in the forest and it got scary cause we heard something in the bushes. lets just say that we booked it out when we could haha

day 57 wednesday

elder gordon got transferred to portmore (near kingston). he was the native missionary in my house. we got elder strickland who doesnt know where he is from cause he has moved so much. we told the district about our one investigator for prayers. within a few days he had his mom die, house burn down, and get thrown in jail for "something he didnt do". sometimes things happen haha. we taught Julia again. ..... that was a lot of talking. it was long and lets leave it at that haha. im starting to wake up really cold. i have no blanket. just a sheet. i got thinking, and i realized one thing. ITS NOT EVEN 70 DEGREES! I BET ITS LIKE 75! haha temperature is really screwed up here haha

day 58 thrusday

it was a painful day. normally when we start out our days we stay near the church. this time we went clear out to Clear Springs to teach shanique. my legs werent used to riding yet so the ride there hurt a bit. sometimes i wish i rode my bike more but then i think, nope, there is a reason i had a car. they are nice haha. our dinner appointment blew out cause she had gone to kingston. it wasnt too bad cause she is a member ahah. we went and bought some food and then taught stephanie. she is still doing really well

day 59 friday

super planning took up a lot of time today so we had almost no lessons. it used to rain in the nights mostly but now its creeping up into the time that we are out. like i said before, people hate rain here. they all take cover in their homes. they wont let us come cause its rude to make us be in the rain i guess. president brown did say we could have lessons in the KFC tho.... might need to try that haha. my bike gave me trouble too. i had a flat so we went and got that fixed. then as we were riding along, like 3 min later, my other tire blew out. we had to walk clear back and get that fixed. that took up a lot of our time too. i think i spent like 1200 on it cause i had to get new tubes too. so glad that my bike was only 7000 instead of the 20000 for the new ones.

day 60 saturday

its crazy to think that its basically been 2 months since i went into the MTC! its gone by pretty fast! only 22 months left i guess.... cool but not cool at the same time. we have not had a lot of lessons this week. travel time is really killing us and people keep blowing out. we always get stuck on what to do. president brown did say that he wanted less lessons and more baptisms but this isnt the way he is planning i dont think. Julia is still obsessed with visions! we have not found a good way to tell her no yet. we did find one thing out tho. there is a big difference between state side missionaries and the missionaries down here with that topic. when a state side missionary hears that, they think "dude that is the coolest thing ever! your so elect to have seen that! will you be baptized tomorrow!?". when we hear that, we think, "aw crap. not another vision! why does everyone think they have visions!?" its kinda funny but frustrating haha...

day 61 sunday

fasting is real hard for me. ive only done it one time in my life and that was last month. when i was out here. thankfully i had something to fast for this month so it wasnt too bad. church is still really awesome! we only had one person that we are teaching show up so we need to improve on that. i did get charged by a goat. it was probably the funniest thing ever! 2 other missionaries messed with it and nothing happened. but when i went to it it charged me! why do all goats hate me!?! haha. we taught Kadeens friend tho. he is way in the world but he can progress fast if he wants to. it was really the only lesson we had. hopefully things look up next week!

thats all i really got this week! hope that everyone is doing well!

Love,

Elder Kurt Meacham

Week 6

HELP IVE FALLEN AND I CANT GET UP!!!! haha conference was awesome if you couldnt tell from that! it was the first time that i watched them all and the first time that i took notes! i loved every second of it! i have like 18 pages of notes! its weird to think that its already the end of the first transfer. im staying here in Port Antonio with Elder Dalley for at least the next 6 weeks so no changes on my end.

Day 48 Monday

i think that the tropical storm is way close cause it is super wet! i was drenched when i went for emails. my shopping was way cheaper too. it wasnt the $3100 like last week haha. i did find out that some CDs that i bought before dont work so im gonna have to get more. i wanna get a few discs with the Mormon Messages on them haha. no teaching today cause they all blew out. people need to learn to keep commitments

Day 49 Tuesday

we did some more online training and it was about family history. i never knew how big that stuff really was! its something that i wanna do now and me and elder dalley are gonna be sure to use it as a finding idea! people are interested in it! Teaching is still hard this week cause it keeps raining. we have to find shelter like all the jamaicans do. its more of a finding activity but its not bad cause we do need people to teach. Rainy Season is almost done, like the end of the month i think, so after that its just going to be like 75 degrees till christmas and april haha.

Day 50 Wednesday

Today was super sick! district meeting was in Ochi today and it was all about planning and finding people. even the APs showed up!  after that was over they took us to Annotto Bay which really helped with taxi fare. we then went out on an hour long bike ride to get to our teaching appointments. we taught a less active and got him to come teaching with us after an hour break! then we went and taught our golden investigators! they are so sick! November 4th is gonna be a great day for them! Prepared people are awesome!!!

Day 51 Thursday

we had a slow but productive day again. my lunch took an hour to make so i had to eat it while making it if that makes sense. then we went and taught stephanie right before our dinner appointment. she is pretty receptive to the gospel but doesnt understand the importance of obeying the commandments too well. we still have a ways to go. after that we went to the church and preped kashane on a lesson. Kashane is a member who is 18 and getting ready for a mission. he just has medical papers to send in and he is good. we thought that he would get along great with Janets 16 year old daughter Cutie. dont worry that is just her yard name. her real name is Lorene. ALWAYS PREPARE THE MEMBERS FUTURE MISSIONARIES!!!!

Day 52 Friday

Today was super strange. during personal study we had one of our investigators text us saying that he was in jail. the police just have not been very kind to us haha. a few days ago they came to our door at 6am. they asked us a few questions and then said they had the wrong house when we told them that we were missionaries. then they pulled us over that same night and got mad cause we didnt have lights on our bikes. ironically, they were stolen earlier in the day. we told them that and they asked if we reported it. we thought to ourselves, who cares. they're like $700. we really cant do anything. cops are so weird. but i guess our investigators house burnt down, his mom died, and he is supposedly innocent from whatever they said he did. hopefully he will get out cause we are gonna teach him no matter what. the question is just, what lesson does he need right now?! every lesson applies to him at this point! really weird.

Day 53 Saturday CONFERENCE

i have decided that conference is aweome! i guess i kinda gave a lot of info at the beginning of the letter so thats basically it! we had no teaching cause we went to all 3 sessions today. we did find out patterns of how conference works and who talks on what. the pattern didnt happen this time but one thing did for sure. Ever since Elder Bednar become part of the 12 in 2004, he has not had a talk where he didnt say in some sorta way "i pray that the holy ghost will be with me in this talk". of course he said it again and all us missionaries laughed so hard! it was sick! Elder Gifford Nielsons talk was way good too. ive been waiting to hear him speak since he got put in the 70.

Day 54 Sunday CONFERENCE

nothing really went on today so ill just put some quotes that i liked from conference

"Never look back, always look at what you still have to do" "its not where you serve, its how" Edward Dube

"Sometimes we must act instead of expecting" Bednar

"Take up your cross and join with us!" Uchtdorf

"the work will never move forward without the members" Gifford Nielson

"we chose to live in a fallen world" "the love of god is there for you whether you deserve it or not" "Dawn will break!" Elder Holland

"we should strive to be in the world but not of the world" "there are no strangers or outcasts" Gerald Causse

"I had fallen and i couldnt get up" "rise up and become men of god" "rise up, stand up, and walk in the light" Uchtdorf

"the lord knew you would have those days" "i knew you could and would..." Eyring

"look to the lords law for our standard" Oaks

"dont trade your membership for the world" "living the gospel is not always easy or comfortable, but its worth it" Bonnie Oscerson

"Dedication Perseverance, and self disipline" "you must become the rock the river cannot wash away" Richard J Maynes (who came and spoke at the MTC)

"the stronger the wind, the stronger the tree" Monson

"make any necessary sacrifices to protect you children and the future generation" Cook

"Sin is still sin even if its legal to man" Nelson

Thats all i got for this week, hopefully it seems interesting to you cause it is for me haha

Love,

Elder Kurt Meacham