Rob sent these pictures, courtesy of Elder Jones - whose camera still works. Their friend and investigator Omari took them on a hike this week, from Vermont to Layou (see map below). Here are his notes from St. Vincent: "Things are going pretty well! Just hanging in there, ya know? Transfers are coming up here fairly soon, so that'll be cool. I've never stayed in an area more than three transfers, so I'm assuming I'll be shipped off. But I guess you never know! Sometimes I wonder about transfers, but then I remember there is no 'oops' with God, and if you're put somewhere, no matter where it is, there is a reason for it. This week Omari took us on a 14-mile hike! It was great. I may or may not have accepted a baby turtle as a gift from Omari. Named him Michelangelo. Not exactly sure how I'm going to smuggle that to the states. Lol. And Casley is so awesome! We actually got a chance to teach him and his family (like 8 people) about the restoration of the gospel. We'll have another opportunity to share it with them tomorrow as well. I'm thinking since the kids are young that we could watch the restoration video with them this time. Maybe even the Dad will sit in this time. We'll see. Thanks for the encouragement! I really do appreciate it. I hope time will fly. I feel like every returned missionary says they 'miss the mission.' I wonder if that'll be the same for me. Sometimes I really doubt it. But then again, I never thought I'd see myself saying 'I miss the gym,' which I do on a regular basis. So who knows? Lately I've been having this attitude of like, 'man, God's just gonna do whatever it is He wants to do, so I'm just gonna sit back and let it happen.' I did however get kind of a reality check on Sunday when I got invited to help teach the youth. The teacher was talking about the Brother of Jared building the barges, and she emphasized how much the Brother of Jared tried his all before asking and relying on the Lord. I found it interesting because, according to my previous theory, if we were just to 'leave it all to God' and not try to change anything, then what really would be our purpose of living on earth? I know it seems kinda simple, but the moral of the story is: we have to try our best, there are no shortcuts or in other words, we can't be mocking God. Anyways, that's what's been on my mind lately. Lol. Seems kinda simple and dumb, but I learned something from it! Also, thinking about the Holy Ghost: that is the only thing that is important, whether it's teaching, talks, lessons, anything and everything relies on the Holy Ghost being present. As far as college, Utah State sounds like they have a good program, and Nate recommended it to me. I still feel terrible about the camera! We have an electrical engineer in the branch who I'm actually pretty cool with, and I gave it to him to see if he could repair it. He said that when I gave it to him it still had a lot of water in it and a few burn marks (probably from the short) but he'll get it back to me next time I see him. Hopefully it's in working condition, but I still don't know yet. Getting close to four months left. Pretty exciting! I'm really excited for Mexican food. Carne asada fries... I've been missing that a lot! I'm trying to stay focused on the work, that's really the only thing that speeds up the time, you know? I hope all is well back home. Miss you guys! Love you!"
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| Map of St. Vincent Island. Kingstown is the capital. Rob is serving in Campden Park, marked with a black X. This week's hike is marked with a red circle. Last week's adventure at the volcano is marked by a black arrow. |
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