Rob vs. the Volcano

"Joe vs. the Volcano" is a movie from 1990 with Tom Hanks, very cheesy. "Rob vs. the Volcano" describes this week's missive from Elder Platt - not just because he is disappointed in missing a volcano and possible tsunami, but because his letter is erupting with good news. Here is Rob's email from this morning: "Things here are good! We just reactivated part of Vinique's family [see blog posts dated June 1 and June 8 for references to Vinique and her younger brother Chris]. We have yet to get Vinique to come out to church, but she'll soon be back and at it, I'm sure. We have a baptismal date for the 8th of August, and the investigator came to church this Sunday, which is really cool! Rumor has it I'll be getting transferred this transfer, so we'll see how that goes. I'm thinking Grenada (hoping Grenada). Haha. But yeah, we had a little scare here on Wednesday or Thursday. Apparently, because of the earthquakes, a submarine volcano near Grenada was expected to erupt and as an effect we had tsunami warnings O.O I was debating getting a surfboard and just riding it out ;). Just kidding. But it turns out we are out of reach and won't be getting anything out here :P. The branch is growing slowly and we are seeing a LOT better turn out at home evening. Like, before we had 1 or 2 people show up and now it's like 25-30 :D, including a lot of less actives. Kinda cool! I got your snail mail about the Bajan slang [see sidebar to the right, under Rob's picture on the blog]. Haha. It was all actually SUPER accurate, except 'all-a-wanna' is just 'wanna' meaning 'you all.' Things this week were pretty cool! Elder Pollard and I got into a couple of Bible bashing sessions, which we dominated, haha. We probably shouldn't have been Bible bashing, but we were nice about it. Thanks for everything and for supporting me in this. I really appreciate all you guys do and have done for me over the past few years and I don't know how to repay you for it, but somehow I'll figure it all out. But thank you:)."

Worthing Beach, Barbados

Earthquake News

A few people asked this week if Rob was okay, having heard about a 6.4 earthquake 81 miles off the coast of Barbados. So of course we asked Rob for information. Read all about it, Rob style, in his email notes posted this morning: "As far as the earthquake goes, I didn't feel it but everyone's been talking about it. haha. They apparently aren't as used to them as I am. Nobody is hurt here and everything seems to be going well." In other news, regarding teaching the YM, he said, "It's hard, but things are pretty good. We have a family visiting here from Idaho so it's nice to have a little larger turnout at HEG [Home Evening Group?]. We got a less active family to come join us at HEG for the past four weeks, so that's pretty cool considering they really seem to enjoy it. Hey, have you ever read Jesus the Christ? Really good book. I highly recommend it!" We asked Rob if he has met his new mission president yet. He said, "We met the mission president and his wife a few weeks ago and he comes to our branch for church, so I'm assuming the mission home is pretty close [new mission, new mission home; apparently Rob has not yet been there]. Seems like a really nice guy, great people." Regarding investigators he is teaching, Rob wrote, "We have a few people who 'PROMISED' they'd make it out to church but no one showed :P. We're gonna try to do some things that'll get them there, though." Roger and I both told him we are thinking about him a lot with the recent hot, humid, and rainy weather here. He said, "That's nice about the humidity and rain! Get a little taste of Barbados over there. hahah ;). It's still raining here off and on all the time and it's constantly hot, but I'm getting a nice tan going on, so that's good. As far as transfers go, I have no idea if I'll get transferred or not, but transfers will be in two weeks so we'll see. I'm okay with leaving, I'm okay with staying. It's wherever the Lord sends me. I'm not too concerned about it. Tell Baxter [the dog] to book a flight so we can hang out in Black Rock!"

I found this picture on the West Indies/Barbados Facebook page. Nice photo of Rob with the new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Herrington, along with other missionaries and branch members. Photo credit goes to Brother Taylor. Also on the WI/Barbados Facebook page this morning, this picture of Rob with his companion (to his right) and the two other elders in his zone. Not sure what they are eating, but it looks like French fries are involved. Thanks again to Ziggy Taylor for the photo.

Muricaaaa!

Note: Three missionaries in red, white and blue, spelling USA with their hands. Photo caption is "Muricaaaa!" Took me a minute, but I finally got it. It's a July 4th picture, "Murica" being a patriotic contraction of "America." There is no explanation for the face Rob is making in the picture. Here are his notes from the field: "Randy [who had planned on being baptized yesterday] is complicated. Basically he has a girlfriend in Guyana right now that will be moving back in 10 weeks. Elder Wilson and I decided we could figure out the plans for that after baptism, but our zone leader here gave him the interview and he basically foretold future sin. Weird, right? But it's okay. We are still working with Randy and hope he will be ready for baptism soon. Nothing too exciting here. I was on the news for Agriculture day. haha. It was kinda cool. We have an investigator who is steadily reading the Book of Mormon, which is exciting cuz he seems really interested in it. But other than that nothing really exciting has gone on. Hopefully we'll work out this whole Randy situation soon though!" Rob's nephew Riley was just ordained a deacon, so reacting to that news he wrote, "That's crazy that Riley is already that old! Time flies. Let's hope these 2 years pick up as well. haha. Just kidding. I love it out here but there are times when I miss the simple things in life.:P HOW'S BAXTER!?"

This is a picture of Rob with branch members at Agriculture Day. No details, and the photo is courtesy of Ziggy, a branch member.

The photo above was taken a few weeks ago at a zone conference in Barbados, and features the outgoing mission presidency, along with Elder Platt, second from left in the back row. We just received the picture through a mission newsletter online, and decided to post it this week because there are no new photos from Rob in his emails. He is excited for Randy's baptism this coming Sunday. Here is his email: "Randy is doing great and he'll be baptized this Sunday! Can't wait! It's gonna be rad. He's pretty stoked on it too. I know it'll help to have more priesthood, or soon to be priesthood, considering there are only like two active holders here. :P Anyway, time is just going really slow right now, but I told myself from the start that I'm not gonna give up, so I'm just biding my time right now. Just want you to know I love you guys and I'm so glad that I was raised the way I was, with morals and such. So thank you! Any who, I just finished John and a lot of it is still confusing but I'm getting into Acts right now. I just wish I had studied this stuff a little more before I came out here. haha. I feel so inadequate sometimes. O well. I am just struggling with some home sickness this week, but it is what it is and nothing is gonna stop me from progressing this work! HOW'S BAXTER??? [the dog] Tell him I miss him and I'll be home soon. haha.