December 28, 2015

Merry Christmas!!

This week started out tough. Everyone that we met gave us return appointments for after the holidays. I am telling you. It was tough. We spent our days knocking on doors and teaching less actives. It was the first time in my life that I was actually looking forward to Christmas being over. It's not that I don't love Christmas, I just wanted to get back to work.

A little dog that followed us the entire time we found in this area. His name is Ben.

Here is a picture of Sister Brown talking to someone through a window while an irritating dog waited to chase her out of the yard.

We found a haunted house while finding

I taught district meeting on service. I kept it really simple. We read some scriptures, shared some experiences and read some Christmas stories about service out of past Liahonas. After the lesson we played a Christmas game. So this district is spread out over 4 islands. Nassau, Freeport, Turks, and Cayman. The Cayman sisters are actually in Jamaica dealing with some paperwork so on Wednesday it was just me and Sister Brown, the Freeport elders and the Turk sisters. I was pretty nervous about how a Christmas game would be played over skype, but it went really well. We played the paper game with the topic of Christmas. We were split into two teams, one person from each island on a team. We played for a good while and we had some good laughs. Trying to describe phrases like "Merry Christmas to our dear friends" and "Oh humbug!" It was pretty great.

Hanging out with Jerimiah and Jue Jue

Friday was Christmas and it was AWESOME!! Since we had opened all our presents before Sister Robinson left we didn't really have any presents to open. A member had given us a pretty box of chocolates so at least our tree wasn't bare. Sister Brown skyped her sisters in the morning. As much fun as it is talking to your own family, it is pretty fun watching other people talk to their own families. Sister Brown has 5 sister s and when she gets off her mission 2 of them will be on their own missions. When Sister Brown was done we stopped by Islande's house to drop a little package off for her kids. We ended up having a little lesson with her. We read the story of Christ's birth and talked about Jesus Christ. Then we visited a less active family. We shared something from the Living Christ and then we played a Christmas game. The mom sent us away with chocolate cake and juice. After that lesson we went back to the church and I skyped my family. It was wonderful! We had so many things to talk about and just not enough time. There is never enough time! Still I am beyond grateful that I was able to talk to them... Even though they troubled me about my missionary voice. lol sorry!

Christmas socks

Puzzles from Grandma Tuttle. Mine is the finished one. Sister Brown has yet to finish hers.

Spending a very merry Christmas on the beach!!

After Skyping we went to eat dinner at a members house. We ate so much food. She packed us some food to take home and we left for Sister Meadows house. We played dominos with Sister Meadows and Rayshawn (some of my favorite people... Am i allowed to say that??) I will have you all know that I may have been the only white person there, but I still won a few rounds for dominos. Sister Meadows sent us with a plate of food and CHEESECAKE!! We went to another member's house, but when we got there she was just about to skype with her son. Her son is in Jamaica. His mission finishes in March and his entire family cannot stop talking about him coming home. We didn't stay for too long, and she sent us with food and chocolate cake. Our last stop was Sister Scott. She was supposed to have a bunch of people over for Christmas dinner, but no one came. She had a whole turkey and a whole ham. We talked with her for a while and then she sent us with plates of food.

Christmas night.

So yes is was a good Christmas!

We went to Clifton Heritage park on Monday.

We were pretty late for emailing today because Sister Brown and I started telling each other about all the books we have read. She told me about some good ones that I am going to have to read when I get home. Also, when we went to the library to email we realized today is Boxing Day. The library was closed to we had to take turns on the church computer.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I wish you all a wonderful new year!!!
I love you!
Love,
Sister Tuttle

December 21, 2015

Atlantis again

What a week.

We went to Atlantis on Monday, It was pretty fun. It was pretty much the same as last time, but I enjoyed showing the other sisters around. I am telling you all.... I am DYING to jump in the water. Sometimes, my mind just wanders to the pool and I just imagine myself jumping in again. I am not going to lie, I am looking forward to that!

Mormon tourists

Sister Robinson left Tuesday morning. I hated it. End of story.

I thought that because I had already been around Sister Brown for 5 weeks I wouldn't really have to adjust, I was wrong. It is taking time to get used to just Sister Brown. I am giving it 2 weeks though.

Okay here is a little of what I have been feeling lately. I hope you can follow:
Let's say your dog just had a bunch of adorable little puppies. You love them so much and you want the very best care for them. So there comes a time that you have to leave those little, adorable puppies. You don't want to, but that is just how it goes. So you find someone to take care of them. They may like a few of them, but they don't understand each individual puppy like you did. You try to teach them, but they aren't too interested in the nitty gritty. All they want to do is feed the puppies and make sure they are still alive. Now some of the puppies are strong and you don't really worry too much about them, but there are quite a few runts. As the owner you feel like no one else could possibly care or love the little, adorable puppies as much as you do so it is really hard to trust any one else.
Do you get it?? Well, if you don't I will tell you in 4 months.

Christmas dinner from Sister Kemp

Friday was the branch Christmas party. Do you remember my last branch Christmas party in May Pen? Remember how it was supposed to start at 6 but it didn't start until 9?? Ya well, this year was a bit of daja vu. The party was supposed to start at 7, but at that time they were still decorating. They continued decorating (despite the large number of people waiting) until 8:30. Sister Brown and I had to grab our plates and leave. Well, at least the room was decorated nicely.

Joy

This week was filled with preparations for Joy's baptism. We saw her every day in order to finish all the lessons. The day of her baptism was... Well, There are so many words to describe it, awesome, chaotic, funny, embarrassing.

We told everyone to be at the church at 8 o'clock in the morning (we are working with Caribbeans here...) We figured the branch president and Camillot would be at the church by at least 8:30. We needed them to be especially early because Sister Robinson would be skyping in on the President Cherenfants laptop. Knowing the unreliable internet we wanted them to come early so we could set it up.  We got to the church around 8:05 (Mormon standard time) and sure enough we were the 1st ones there. Around 8:15 i called the branch president and he said he wouldn't be there until 8:30. I called Camillot and woke him up! Awesome. Anyways, time was going and Joy and her family showed up around 8:30. A few other people wandered in, but still no branch president. Around 8:50 he finally walks through the door. We set up the laptop and of course it is giving trouble. The internet connection was pretty bad (even though it was directly connected to the box) So the baptism finally started and it was chaotic. Kids running up an down and skype going in and out. A young man in the branch named Jouvance baptized Joy. It was really nice.

For the past month while teaching Joy, Sister Robinson has wanted to sing Joy to the World for Joy at her baptism. Why she thought it would be a good idea for 3 missionaries to sing at a baptism still baffles me. Plus, the 3 said missionaries DO NOT HAVE SINGING VOICES!! Anyways, I was completely against it until I found out Sister Rob was leaving then I decided I would do it for her. Big mistake. Have you ever tried to sing with anyone over skype. Well, it doesn't really work. So it was pretty much one of the most embarrassing/hilarious moments of my mission. lol lol lol. The rest of the program went smoothly. Joy was happy and we even finished on time for church.

Joy to the World

Joy and Jouvie

Another great week has gone by. I get to talk to my family on Christmas. I am only pretending that I am not completely excited to see them.
I love you all and wish you the Merriest Christmas yet!
Love,
Sister Tuttle

December 14, 2015

Merry Christmas from the Nassau sisters!

I am going to start from the end today.  Saturday we received our transfer calls. Can you believe it, another transfer gone by? Time is absolutely flying! This whole transfer I have been making preparations to leave. I mean 5 transfers?? It is time for me to leave. So I got thinking about having to leave right before Christmas. I am not going to lie.... I selfishly wanted to stay. I mean this place is my home away from home. I am so happy here. I love Sister Robinson and Sister Brown and everything is just so great! So I just mentioned in one of my emails to President Brown, I told him that if there was any reason he needed me to stay in Nassau for a few more weeks, I would do it. That same afternoon President Brown called me and told me he is giving me early transfer calls. He told me that he needed me to stay in Nassau for another transfer (There are a few factors that play into this: There are no sisters with work visas for Nassau. They need a driver in this area, Sister Pace left unexpectedly, and on top of all of that there is a shortage of sisters in the mission). When I hung up the phone I told the other sisters. We were jumping up and down in the middle of a grocery store. We all just assumed that the three of us would be staying together for another transfer. Well, we got our transfer calls and it turns out that they are shipping Sister Robinson to May Pen. Sister Brown and I are staying another transfer in Nassau. I just keep thinking back on the call and I realized that I should have been more specific in the email to President Brown. I should have told him that we all need to stay together. This was one of the harder transfer calls.

Christmas nails!

We spent Monday at the mall (yes, Nassau has a mall!) buying each other Christmas presents. Do you know how hard it is to buy a gift for someone that has to be with you 24/7? Well, it is hard. We did it and now all of the gifts are beautifully wrapped under a tiny Christmas tree in our house. I am telling you, It feels like Christmas here. Since Sister Rob is leaving on Tuesday we are planning on opening our presents tonight.

Christmas in the mall

A huge Christmas tree

Our tiny Christmas tree

These past few days have been CRAZY. And time has not been on our side. We have been travelling the entire island getting people to sign Sister Rob's journal. I am feeling the stress and I am not even leaving.

The Caymen sisters

We are working with Joy who is to be baptized on the 20th of December (not if I curse this, but I think she is going to make it). We had a lesson with her early in the week and she told us she cheated on one of her exams. We talked about the importance of repenting before baptism. When she realized she needed to tell her teacher she was TERRIFIED! Well, a few days later this brave little girl confessed to her teacher. The teacher was really nice about it. She said she wouldn't even take off any points because of Joy's honesty. When we saw Joy later that day, she was dancing and singing all about. The burden of sin was lifted. I just love Joy so much.

Sister Nelson

So yes, Sister Rob is leaving on Tuesday and we are still trying to squeeze as much in as possible. We are going to Atlantis today. Plus, we have a bunch of pictures to take tonight. Even though they are taking Sister Rob away right before Christmas and Joy's baptism, I am so grateful we were able to serve together for so long.

I hope you all have a beautiful week. Enjoy the snow for me!!
I love you so much!
Love,
Sister Tuttle

December 8, 2015

Last P-day Sister Robinson had her hair braided. It took 4 1/2 hours. It was weird because I felt more tired after sitting down for hours then I ever have after a P-day adventure. Anyways, Sister Robs hair looks good!

Primary kids attacking our car

On Tuesday we had a break through with Ronale. I think our last lesson gave him lots to think about. When we saw him on Tuesday he was back to his old self. He told us some of the things he had been feeling towards us and the church for the past few weeks. He related his experience to a relationship. He said "You know when you want to break up with someone, but you don't really know how to do it? I only knew I didn't want to do it over the phone". I am grateful for that. He gave us an opportunity to help him. As we were walking away from the lesson I asked him what changed. Ronale said that sometimes it is a matter of humbling ourselves before God and putting our ego aside. He said he would always have questions, but he couldn't deny the things he already knew to be true. He came to church on Sunday in a suit and tie. It was a Christmas miracle.

I had a slight meltdown Tuesday night concerning District meeting. I have been teaching district meeting for so long and I am not going to lie.... I felt so done. I didn't cry (come on, you know I am stronger than that!). But my frustration was fuming. Instead of planning district meeting I just went to sleep. I woke up the next morning and pulled a few things together and taught district meeting again.

Christmas devotional

Saturday night the Cayman sisters flew in.  Sister Nelson (my last companion) is serving in Cayman right now so she was able to come back to Nassau for a few days. After church on Sunday we split companionships. Sister Robinson, Brown and Thurgood (Sister Nelson's current companion) went together and I went with Sister Nelson. It was just like old times. It was really fun to take Sister Nelson around Nassau again. We were talking and laughing about all our crazy time together. The two Turk sisters were supposed to fly in Sunday afternoon, but I guess they had some visa issues and they weren't allowed on their flight. Bummer. Monday morning was the Christmas devotional. The Freeport elders flew in early that morning and we met them and President Brown and Sister Brown at the church. The devotional was awesome! I have to say it was way better than last year! Maybe it was the fact that there were less missionaries or maybe I am just less home sick.... either way it was good. During the devotional we read the Christmas story from Luke, sang Christmas hymns and watched Christmas videos on Mormon Channel. At the end of the program we were allowed some time to share our thoughts on Christmas and the Savior. Here is something close to what I said:

Every Christmas season there is this specific moment that I always look forward to. On Christmas Eve we go to my grandma's house. On the drive home it is dark and cold outside. Most years the snow is falling and everything seems still. It is just absolutely magical. I am with my family and I am so warm inside. The feeling doesn't come from the gifts or the lights, but the feeling comes from experiencing the true joy of Christmas. Even though it is hard to be away from home again, I would not trade this experience for the whole world. And this Christmas season I am striving to feel that warmth every day through doing the work of the Lord.
I am not going to lie... I got a little choked up, and it was hard to push through my words, but I didn't allow any tears to fall. After the devotional they passed out our Christmas packages. I think that President Brown wanted us to open them, but Sister Brown was there and she wanted us to wait until Christmas morning. They took us to lunch and then we had some time before the Freeport elders flight left. We split again and Me and Sister Nelson and Elder Lewis went finding. It wasn't as awkward and horrible as I thought it would be. It was actually pretty fun and memorable. We were all laughing and talking. I think it is because we are all old on the mission. It is easier to talk to old missionaries. We ended up finding in the rain for a good 30 minutes. We met back at the church soaking wet, but with huge smiles on our faces.

Lunch

That night we promptly went home, planned for the next day and opened our packages. DON'T TELL SISTER BROWN!!! lol lol lol. I loved my package. I got some good laughs from it (Thanks dad). I think my mother is always worried that I wont like the things she sends me, but I LOVED IT!! I didn't even cry as I went through the gifts.

Opening presents

Kinda looks like the day after Christmas. Right?

I am telling you. It was a great day.

Look at this little angry kitty

I hope you all enjoy your week. I hope you all feel the Christmas spirit and the warmth of the season in your heart. I love you so much!
Love,
Sister Tuttle

November 30, 2015

Hi! Hi! Hi!

Last Monday I took the sisters on an incredible adventure. It all started after emailing. Every Monday I give Sister Robinson driving lessons (completely against my will... once again, I will NOT be the one teaching my children to drive!). Anyways, we were driving in this neighborhood we had never been before and we practically drove into the sea. Okay, Sister Rob isn't that bad of a driver. lol. lol. lol. After the lesson we parked the car and walked out to the sea. It is this part of the sea where it stays really shallow for a long way out. Sister Brown and I walked out and on our way we saw star fish and coral and baby fish. The water was sooo clear! It was awesome. Later in the day we parked the car near the bridge on Nassau side and walked over the bridge to PI. We pretty much walked across the entire island in search of a new beach. When we found one we stayed until it got dark. On our walk back there were Christmas lights strung up and down the tourist areas. It was so nice.

Starfish

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Dad sent me a few pictures of the parties and celebrations. I see all of these little kids growing up, and some that I don't even recognize!! I guess I just expect every one to stay the same. I have to say.... my Thanksgiving was AWESOME. This is one reason I love Nassau. They celebrate holidays the same way we celebrate holidays back home (even holidays that don't make any sense for their country). The Thanksgiving festivities started Wednesday night. This member named Sammy made us this huge plate of food for dinner. After Sammy's we stopped by the church for the youth Thanksgiving dinner. It was a beautiful sight to see. Turkey, stuffing, salad, peas and rice ( a little Caribbean added) and of course PIE!!!! And in our last appointment for the night Sister Augustin unexpectedly made us fried chicken and plantain (my favorite Caribbean food... how could I turn it down??)

Food...

Sister Brown sleeping in traffic

Thanksgiving morning started with service for Sister Cheryl. Sister Cheryl runs a catering service from her home. Every year the missionaries help her out on Thanksgiving day. It was madness. I have to say that I just quietly folded napkins for the majority of the time.... We walked away with boxes of food. That night another member fed us. She made us tacos (which were absolutely delicious) Our last lesson was with an investigator in the home of the branch president. We came out of that lesson with a box of pizza. We are still eating leftovers.

The Youte family. I love them soo much

He just loves us so much!

This year I am grateful for so many things. Here is a list of things I am grateful for that I wrote in journal Thanksgiving night:
Family and friends that I get to see in 5 months. Members that do missionary work, the sea, those times you laugh so hard that tears fall, Nassau and the extra time I get to spend here. Easy going companions, I am grateful for health and strength, the opportunity to understand and love other cultures. I am grateful for the message that we share as missionaries. I am grateful for cookies and brownies and new clothes. And I am grateful for goodly parents and awesome sisters and a niece that I have never met.

Walking out

So ya I am super blessed.

Jumping for joy!!

Love these Sisters

Do you all remember the story of Ronale?? All happy and good.... Well lately he has been struggling with some questions and concerns about the church. He has turned to youtube and the internet for information. We saw him about 2 weeks ago and we invited him to read and study his scriptures. We also invited him to pray and ask God, the source of all truth, for answers. He told us he was going to continue watching the youtube videos. Awesome.  So this week we brought a really strong member. And once again my testimony of member missionary work was strengthened! The member addressed his concerns, shared personal experiences, and invited Ronale to do the same 3 things we had invited him to do just 2 weeks earlier. At the end of the lesson he said he was going to read and pray and seek answers for himself. It was one of the most notable lessons from my whole mission.

Princess Samoya

I wasn't allowed in this picture because I am not Jamaican...

Taking Samoya to church

 It was a great week! Christmas is coming and all is well! Enjoy the cold weather... ha. ha. ha.

Christmas lights!!!

I love you all!
love,
Sister Tuttle

Has my hair gotten any longer?