Hannah found out she can send and receive emails from everyone. She would love you to email her. For privacy, if you need her email address, please contact me.
Sister Rampersad
The first time a Jamaican braided my hair. let me just say taking it out was awful.
sorry about no caps. it's the computer..... love you!!
wat gwan???
ya that's right I speak jamaican... lol just kidding. to be completely honest i cant understand most of what these people say. patois sounds like a mix of chinese and spanish, but i am trying. i listen closely, watch body language and just pray that at some point i will be able to understand what these lovely people are saying.
well i guess i had better start from when i left the mtc. first of all i forgot to mention that during my last sacrament meeting in the mtc, my name was pulled from that big glass bowl. sister tuttle. yep i had to give a talk. actually all the sisters in the district were called so it wasn't that big of a deal. we all spoke on the book of mormon, but it was funny because we all touched on different aspects.
sister wood left early monday morning so then i had to be in a trio with sister lynn and garrett.
we flew all day on tuesday and it was awful. i cried as we flew out of salt lake. for the past few months whenever i would see an airplane taking off i would think, that will be me in a few months....weeks....days. and then there i was, on the plane heading for the biggest adventure of my life. because i still wasn't 100% better my ears were plugged for most of the day. it was really bad when we were coming into jamaica. my ears were so plugged and they wouldn't adjust to the altitude. it hurt so badly i ALMOST cried. dont worry though i kept strong.
president brown picked us up from the airport. he is so so sweet. and you will never guess....the car ride to his home was exactly like the indiana jones ride at disneyland. i honestly feared for my life at some moments. no worries though, we made it. he took us all to his home and we ate dinner. i had hardly eaten anything all day so i was starving. we ate a casserole made up of rice, cheese, chicken, and broccoli. it was delicious. it tasted like something i would eat at home. the sisters stayed the night at president browns house. i loved staying there. it felt like i was at home. the next day we had transfer meeting. on the drive we ate sack lunches consisting of bologna and mayo sandwiches and raisin cookies. the lord strengthened me and i ate it all. my companions name is sister rampersad and we are serving in an area called may pen.
when i heard may pen i pictured this nice little country side with quite streets and kind people. take what i just said imagine the complete opposite, and that is may pen. after transfer meeting some of the sisters drove us out to our area. we are a walking area thank goodness (please don't let me get fat *praying hands emoji*) . we got into town around 6 and we went out for a few appointments. we visited a recent convert, anna-kay. that woman has a strong testimony. then we visited a few others. on our walk back home i was holding back tears, good thing it was dark. when we got home i just couldn't hold it in any more. i think sister rampersad was scared that she had done something wrong or i wanted to go home. she asked me why i was crying and i honestly couldn't tell her. i didn't know why i was crying. i wasn't really homesick or scared, i was just crying. i think it was just culture shock. you cannot even imagine what these people are living like. our apartment is the nicest place i have been in since we left president browns house. i am a lot better now. it helps that we walk everyday and i am starting to get to know our area. its not as big as it seemed those first few days.
those are Anna-Kay's children...they are adorable
it smells really bad here. there is the normal bad smell occasionally overtaken with an even worse smell. but i finding the beauty in every day. the flowers here are beautiful. i have started picking them and pressing them. i want to bring a lot back home. i think sister rampersad thinks i'm crazy for picking all these flowers, but it keeps me happy.
people in jamaica are..........ummmmm....interesting, loud, HILARIOUS, some of them are crazy, but all of them speak their mind. i have been called big but not fat. one boy told me that my hair was ugly, but everyone else seems to love it. in sacrament meeting yesterday this little boy sat by me and told me my hair was beautiful. i let him touch it and he gave me the biggest hug. i made him a paper crane and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. i don't know if that is allowed, but i'm gwan let it slide.
there is a crazy lady in our area. we have seen her two times and both times she has almost attacked us. it is scary. the first time we were heading home and it was dark and we were alone on the street. she stopped us and apparently she was swearing at us( if she was i didn't understand it) . she was swinging her arms...anyways we just pushed passed her. a car was driving by at the moment and they stopped to ask us if we were okay. we saw her again the other day on our way to the church in broad daylight. this time it was worse. she grabbed me and was yelling at me. probably because i am white.... i cant even remember what happened, but somehow we got away. it was right in the middle of town and after the little fiasco everyone was asking me if i was okay. later in the day this guy told us if we ever saw her again we should punch her... lol people here are so funny. it's so crazy because even though i feel like everyone is staring at me and hating me as we walk through town, the people always care when something happens. it is really comforting to me. it makes me feel like they really are looking out for me even if it doesn't seem like it. i know the lord is watching over me here, i can truly feel his comfort.
sister rampersad told me that may pen is probably the most difficult area sisters in jamaica serve. it's funny because before we received our area i was talking to sister garrett and she was telling me all the places she hopes to serve, and i just kept saying, i will just go where ever the lord needs me. well apparently that meant, lord, put me in the worse place possible. hahaha the Lord is funny. so now i am hoping that the rest of my mission will seem like heaven compared to may pen.
church on sunday was really nice. i bore my testimony during sacrament meeting with the rest of the new missionaries in this area. the members are kind and i am starting to get to know them better. i am trying to be a hugging missionary. i hug all our investigators, less actives, and members (only if they are female... of course!!)
i feel like all the things i heard about jamaica are true
i get called whitey ALL the time. and i mean alllllllllll the time.
also they really do have a problem with getting worthy priesthood holders here. i don't understand why but there just are not a lot of good, and willing men.
i have been proposed to by the same man twice and men ask me to come talk to them all the time. i just say hi and no thank you to all of them. its actually quite flattering. i walk down the streets and i here.... hey beautiful women....its just because i am white. lol.
this truly is an adventure and i am growing to love this place and the people more everyday. sorry if this letter made it sound like i don't love it here, because i do. there were just so many feelings this past week. it is getting better though.
just a note on jamaicans;
their priorities include:
a cell phone (even in their poverty... some are even smart phones)
a tv
a fan
in that order
well this church is true no matter where you are. the lord protects you no matter where you are. he loves you no matter who you are.
i love you all. thank you for the prayers and kind thoughts.
with all the love in jamaica,
sister tuttle
p.s. sister rampersad says i can email friends.............soooooooooooooo everyone write me emails:)
p.p.s
my christmas list
another pair of JBU shoes ( i love them with all my heart)
more 100% deet bug spray ( i love it with all my heart)
I forgot to tell you that my showers are cold....also we haven't had water twice....AND I HAVE ONLY BEEN HERE 5 DAYS!!
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