August 31, 2015

Brethren and Sistren,

SOOOOO tempting!!

Are you all sick and tired of hearing about all the excitement that has been happening in the Bahamas?? I hope not because there is still more to hear.

This week the excitement started on Wednesday when our zone leaders (located in Freeport) told us there was a hurricane headed straight for us. Oh. My. Goodness. Let me tell you the instructions we received:
7 days of food (where I am supposed to get money to buy a weeks worth of food during the last few days of the month....seriously?? I am a poor missionary)
15 gallons of water per person (we can't drink the tap water in Nassau (the septic tanks are too close to the water tanks) We only had 15 gallons of water for the whole house, so that was a problem.
An evacuation plan incase our house flooded.
Charged phones (I charged my camera too... you never know when the opportunity to take pictures will arise)
Important documents in Ziploc baggies
48 hour kits. Perferably in 5 gallon buckets for easy transportation.
Full gas tanks
When we received the instructions I kind of felt like one of the foolish virgins. We had absolutely nothing prepared. We spent the next few days frantically running around. While in different shops we would ask people if they were worried about the hurricane. I think we ran into one person who said they were actually preparing for the storm.

28 packs of ramen. I guess they will just sit in our cupboard until a real storm comes

Our zone leaders called us Saturday morning to tell us the hurricane watch started that afternoon. It was hard to take them seriously. I mean, it was sunny and bright as ever! Everyone kept saying it was the warm before the storm. To be honest, I got my hopes up. It's not like I wanted a terrible, destructive hurricane to hit the island. I just wanted some wind and rain that would put the power out for a day or two. I guess the prayers that it wouldn't happen outweighed the prayers that it would happen because we hardly got any storm. Saturday evening we were out walking and finding people to teach and out of no where the rain starts pouring! We ran in the sheets of rain back to our car and drove home for what we thought would be the night. By the time we got home the clouds had passed the sky was clear. We changed our clothes and went back out. We were really blessed though because apparently the storm hit the DR pretty hard. We are praying for them.

Rainy days in the Bahamas

Everyone kept telling us that the storms would last until Monday, but thankfully the sun is ripe as ever. I feel really grateful. I started praying from last week that I would have good weather for my birthday. Speaking of my birthday, I was floured this morning. I set myself up for it though. I walked outside to check the weather and the sisters pounded me with handfuls of powder. I didn't retaliate. I couldn't bother with the cleaning on my birthday.  The other sisters made me breakfast (pancakes... my favorite!!) and we have big plans for the rest of the day! I will send pictures of our adventures next week.

Birthday breakfast

Have any of you seen Freetown. If not, you need to watch it. And then watch it again. Mom and dad, do you remember my senior year when I wrote the essay on Blood Diamonds. Ya well the movie is about the same stuff so I felt a deep connection.

Other than that everything is so completely normal. Well, besides the fact that there are two more hurricanes that could potentially head this way. I am not going to get worked up about it. Every ting good mon.

I hope you all enjoy my day of birth! I love you!!
Love,
Sister Tuttle
nuff love.
Big up yo self.
xoxoxoxo

Last P-day adventures

Companions

The winds were teasing us.

Object lessons with Asheene and CJ

Saturday morning (hurricane???)

Saturday morning, again (hurricane???)

Love these kids!

Caught in the rain

Jue Jue fell asleep during our FHE lesson

Floured

August 24, 2015

Whagwan mi youte??

My new friend I just met in the library. We have been chatting for the past hour

Despite the fact that I am no longer in my country... I mean Jamaica, I am learning more Patois than ever. Sister Robinson is from the bush and she speaks deeeep Patois. She has been giving me daily lessons as we drive to appointments. It's great.

Sister Robison with me in the background

Well, just as you might expect the excitement has continued. I have shifted the blame from me to just the entire island of Nassau. This is just an excitement place.

Prepare yourself for the drama (you may want to take a seat if you are not sitting already).

Sister Medley's flight back to Jamaica left on Monday. She asked me if I would be the one to drop her to the airport. So, Sister Robinson and I hung out with Sister Medley for the day. We took her to say a few goodbyes and then to the airport. While we were driving around she used our phone to make a few calls, and you know what that little girl did?? SHE PUT THE PHONE IN HER BAG!  Yes, yes Sister Medley took our phone through security and almost onto her flight. Sister Robinson and I didn't even notice. We had absolutely no reason to look for our phone or to assume it was missing. It was actually pretty hilarious because Sister Rob and I left the airport and took our sweet time getting home. I mean it was our P-day!!! We drove by this HUGE resort and we stopped at a few different beaches. We even shopped. It wasn't until we got home and saw a note on the door from the other sisters. The note said that Sister Medley had taken our phone and they were on their way to the airport to pick it up. The problem was that in the heat of the moment Sister Medley had left the phone with a worker. She didn't get a name or even the department the person worked. When the other sisters went to the airport they had no idea where to look. They talked to a few people and eventually just left.  We went the next morning, but no luck. We spent the next two days with no phone. Let me tell you, I do not know how missionaries in the past have done work without phones. Respect. Thursday morning we went to the airport and only by the grace of God, we were able to get our phone back! Thank goodness!

Wednesday we had zone conference. Usually the mission flies all the off islands into Nassau to have zone conference here. That didn't happen this time, and there is a 90% chance it is my fault. I mean no one is ever going to say that to me, but they are thinking it. If you remember last zone conference excitement you know exactly what I am talking about. So we had to skype into Kingston zone's meeting. I would love to tell you something that I learned, but we spent most of the conference starring at a blurry screen and listening to ublakdklfaioeiijvkea;kkeiiejlfklvae;ljiraiejlakve;liia;oiaejrvkeklv;eka;aei;jlkve;la;iealkfkve.

cool seeds

Thursday we found out that one of our recent converts had been caught by immigration. She will be sent back to Haiti this week. Looking at the big picture I think it will be a blessing for her. She doesn't speak any English so it is hard for her here. She is so lucky to be going to a place where the church is really growing. She will be able to understand all of church and be really involved.

This place is pretty

On the bright side of things, I am really happy here. I am so used to Nassau. I love the people, I know the streets and my companion is great. I am pretty much living what I thought my whole mission would be like. Plus, my birthday is next Monday!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!

kiddies

I love you all!
Bless up.
Have a greeeeeaaat week!
Love,
Sister Tuttle

Baha Mar

Beach

Sea grapes and cherries

This super old Book of Mormon I found in a new investigator's house

August 17, 2015

First things first,
Shout out to my Dad and Grandpa Crockett. Happy Birthday today! I hope it is a wonderful day and that all your birthday wishes come true [visualize a cat card that says something like.... I hope your birthday is PURRRfect]. I love you both.

Family night with the Walkine family

So triple threat (the name of our tripanionship) came to an end on Thursday. To be honest I was grateful to be back in my area, it kind of needs a lot of attention right now. Yes, yes, Sister Robinson came in Thursday afternoon. I love her. She just finished training so she is pretty new on the mission. She is super humble and willing to work. It is so funny how much these circumstances remind me of my companionship with Sister Dill. When I got Sister Dill I had just finished training. I had been out 3 months and Sister Dill was out 10 months. It is just funny how history repeats itself. Now Sister Dill goes home in 5 weeks:(  Anyways, lets just hope that I get more than 6 weeks with Sister Robinson. I am dying to stay in an area for more that 3 transfers.

My bff RJ. This boy can dance!! I tried to get him to dance for the camera, but he wouldn't have it. Maybe next week!

Sister Robinson and I got right to work. We are working hard to build up our teaching pool. Our days are filled with appointments with potential investigators. The majority of our potentials are jokers, but we are finding a few promising people along the way. Plus all the hilarious things that happen to us happen while we are finding. Last Friday we were walking this area and we stumbled upon some men playing dominos (the game is not as popular here as it is in Jamaica, but you still see groups of older men slamming their pieces around the table). We walked up to the group and invited ourselves to play a round.  It was fun and we got a few potentials. I think something that I have learned on my mission is that we don't have to take everything seriously. Finding new investigators can be awkward and frustrating, so why not make it fun?

Sister Medley's birthday party. A member of the branch gave her non alcoholic champaign and we drank it out of these ridiculously fancy cups we have in our house.

So being in Nassau I have met a lot of people with skewed views on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I mean I can't really talk because I don't think I understand even half the depths of the Atonement, but there are some important point that I do understand.
1. The Atonement is for everyone! It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, it only matters where you are going.
2.  To access the Atonement we have to work! 2 Nephi 25:23 say, "We are saved by grace after ALL we can do". A few months ago I watched a man lead a group of young boys in a recited prayer. After a bunch of hub-a-bub he told the boys that their sins were washed away. No work. No effort. Nothing.  We have to work! We have to do our part!
I am grateful for my mission. I am learning everyday.

My new sand dollar earrings

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their last few days of freedom! Eat a summer snow cone for me:)
I love you all!
Love,
Sister Tuttle
xoxoxoxoxoxo

August 10, 2015

Chillin with Drae

When our Word of Wisdom lesson turns into picking plants for bush teas

Going through boxes of clothing at the church. We had some good laughs at a few of the items!

The Okahrobo twins (tryphina and tryphosa...those names are in the bible) attacking Sister Medley

Madda Sick Dred (everyone's favorite expression in the Bahamas),

It has just been one of those weeks. It is so funny because Sister Nelson and I always blamed everything that happened when we were together on our companionship. Excitement companionship?? Oh no. no. no. We were so wrong.... IT IS ALL ME! Seriously, the moment Sister Nelson left this island our area mashed up! 

Stories:

The Tuesday after Sister Nelson left I called Seaga so we could have a lesson with him, no answer. We usually see Seaga about 4 times a week, and he pretty much always answers. Well, I never got a hold of him that day. Wednesday morning rolls around and Sister Lynn calls him for me and he answers. She asks if we would be able to see him later and he tells her probably the worst news I have ever received thus far on my mission (okay maybe I am over exaggerating this, but you will see...). He told Sister Lynn that he was moving back to Abacco the next day. Abacco is a family island. It is actually pretty big, but there is no organized church there, plus there are no missionaries. I cannot even describe how sad I felt. It is just not something I can explain over email. I just remember before I came out on my mission dad was talking to me. He said that on your mission your heart will be broken. I can tell you, my heart has broken a few times on my mission, but not like this. Seaga is just so great. He has such a desire to learn and he learns so quickly!  He is hilarious and I always walk out of his lessons learning something profound. I have countless Seaga quotes in my planners. We were able to stop by his house for a few minutes Wednesday afternoon. I encouraged him to continue reading and praying daily. I told him to continue searching for his answers and never give up, and that I knew Heavenly Father would answer his prayers. I didn't say much though because I could feel the tears coming. I asked him if he would say a prayer and we left. As I walked away the tears were steady streams. Even now typing this I feel a lump in my throat and tears stinging my eyes. At first, it felt unfair. How could Heavenly Father allow such a prepared person move to a place where the church is pretty much non-existent? As I drove on I just felt that Heavenly Father does have a plan for him. Seaga will be a member of this church one day. 

Later that day we stopped by our investigator Islande's house. Her best friend Yvonne who is also an investigator was there. Yvonne almost made it to baptism. She was literally days away and then she kind of disappeared. We talked with her for a while and she told us that just a few days earlier she was forced to leave her home. She was in a situation where she just had to grab her children and run. She couldn't even grab any clothing for her or her two kids. She was able to find somewhere to stay and we were able to find a bunch of clothes for her and her kids in the church. I was really grateful we were able to help her. 

The next day we saw Domonique. Domonique has twins and she just found out that she will be having another baby (possibly more than one...). And the next day she was evicted. Domonique's neighbour is a member of the church and she told us that the landlord was trying to help her, but she was trying to dodge him. She just will not allow anyone to help her or her children.  

Plus, I have been in a tripanionship for the past week because Sister Nelson left early. The three of us are covering the entire island. The coolest part is that I have never seen Heavenly Father work so meticulously in an area. Just the way a lesson will fall through so we are able to see someone else is just awesome. It is all working out.   Well anyways, we got transfer calls on Saturday. My new companions name is Sister Robinson. She just finished training. This will be my first companion that is not older than me on the mission. She gets here in a few days so I can make it! 

I am excited for the future. Sister Robinson and I will be doing A LOT of finding! We will make it work. 

I hope you all have a fabulous week. Enjoy your last few weeks of summer and remember it is almost my birthday. 

I love you!

Love,

Sister Tuttle

xoxoxo

August 4, 2015

Evening,

This week has been crazy. Just plain crazy. Honestly, I can't tell you what Sister Nelson and I expected. You would think that at some point after spending months together we would get used to the excitement. Guess again.

DRAE! 

Last Monday was Sister Nelson's birthday. She wanted to spend the day getting her hair rope twisted. So Sister Nelson sat in the middle and Sister Medley, Sister Lynn and I all worked on her hair (yes, yes I have never spend so much time doing hair before my mission). Anyways, we were chatting and rope twisting when all of a sudden the AP's were calling. I answered the phone and they asked if I was near Sister Nelson. They told us they had an early transfer call for Sister Nelson. They said that she would need to come into Kingston a week early to do some paper work (most likely because she will be going to another island, although we would joke that she would be signing marriage papers...lol maybe you had to be there). I kept asking them if it was a joke because sometimes missionaries call and give fake transfer calls just to be funny. It is not funny. It was just so unexpected. We all knew that Sister Nelson was leaving this transfer, but no one knew she would be leaving early.

BYEE Sister Nelson!

Despite the fact that she would have to leave early, we were really grateful for the heads up they gave us. I remember when I was leaving Ocho Rios to come to Nassau the AP's called me Sunday morning and told me that I would have to meet them early the next morning so they could get me to the airport. I hardly had anytime to say goodbye to people. Sister Nelson was lucky because they gave her an entire weeks head notice. It was really nice.

Later that same Monday night Augustin called us. Well, first let me give you a little back ground on last Sunday afternoon. After church the branch president was the one to let Augustin know that he needed to be re-baptized. They had a little chat about it and Augustin felt like he need to pray and think about it. So, Sister Nelson and I visited him later that night praying for Augustin to have his heart softened. So we show up and start talking about the situation. I felt prompted to ask if we could have a kneeling prayer. We all knelt down and I offered the prayer. Back to Monday night, Sister Nelson talked to him on the phone. He said that before we came by that night he felt confused, but after we left he felt much better.

3 cheers for Augustin's rebaptism!!

Augustin was re-baptized Saturday night!

Sister Nelson left on Monday and my new companion comes next week.... which I still don't know who it is.

So yes, crazy things happening in Nassau as usual.

Matching with Camillot... Focus on the outfits and try to ignore my tired face. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week.
Love,
Sister Tuttle