January 26, 2016

My last p-day in Nassau

BEACHHH

Me and Sister

 Brown

To be honest I really don't feel to write a letter today, so I will keep it short.

It was cold so I started wearing my scarf as a jacket

Then it turned into this

Friday morning Sister Williams came to Nassau to take my place. I was supposed to leave Friday afternoon, but they let me stay for a few extra days. YAYAYA I was really grateful for that. We were able to finish all the lessons with Marguerite and she was baptized Sunday morning! Everyone invited us over for dinner that night to feed me for the last time.

Marguerite's baptism.

Her dad baptized her.

It was a wonderful couple of days.

Modeling with Ronale

I can't wait to show you the video of the song he sang us.

HILARIOUS

I am going to miss them.

I got transferred to Kingston Jamaica. It is a mixed bag of feelings. As much as I wanted to leave Nassau, it was really hard for me to leave. My new companion is Sister Maenetja. She is from South Africa and she is really, really, really que

it. Oh ya and we are walking..... Quite the adjustment.

You see how hard this is????

More pictures than words.

Jessica and family

The library/museum(there is a reason it was free...lame)

I love you all so much!
Have a wonderful week.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
Love,
Sister Tuttle

January 18, 2016

I have some wonderful news:
Despite all the wickedness and disobedience that seems to be over-running this world, there are still some individuals out there making righteous choices.
Maguerite passed her baptismal interview on Saturday and she will be baptized this Sunday!!! YAYAYAYAYAYA. Maguerite is this really quiet and private person. On the outside she seems a bit indifferent about being baptized. The other day I asked her if she was excited to be baptized on the 24th. She smiled and said yes. Sister Brown and I show all the emotion for her. We were jumping up and down when she came out of her interview.

This is me and Seaga. He is still really cool and he still makes me laugh.

Ronale was deemed a fully active member of the church yesterday! YAYAYAYAYAYAYA I think out of everyone I have worked with while being in Nassau, I am grateful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to see Ronale as an active member. It makes me happy and bubbly inside. Ronale is on fire. He came and cleaned the church Saturday morning (alone... slackness) and now he is even planning to start BYU Pathway. It's pretty much like he is starting a new life. A better, happy and rewarding life. I am beyond happy for him.

It has been raining here all week.  So much rain that we stayed in last P-day. I hate staying in on p-days, but I guess I need to accept the fact that I cannot control everything. We made the best of it though. We watched the Testaments and I painted my nails. Even after 15 months of my mission, I still love painting my nails.

Sister Brown made this nice, nice breakfast the other day. 

The other day we received a referral from church headquarters (sounds official right?). We called her and she told us we could come by Friday night. So Friday night rolls around and we went to her house for our lesson. When we got to her house she tells us that she is leaving and she should come back the next morning. So we call her Saturday morning and she tells us that it would still be okay for us to come. So once again we found ourselves standing on her doorstep. We knocked and rang the doorbell, but no one came to the door. We were starting to walk away and I felt my shoe sticking to the ground. When I lifted it up I realized I had gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I tried scraping it off and I ended up using a stick to pull it off. Sister Brown took my shoe and scraped some off with a rock. When the majority of the gum was removed I put my shoe back on and rubbed it in the dirt so it wouldn't be sticky any more. We left her yard and drove away. About 15 minutes later we get a call from the same lady we were supposed to see. She told Sister Brown that at the time we came she had (conveniently) stepped out to run to the shop. We were thinking she was going to tell us to come back for the lesson. She continues and says that when she got home her neighbors told her we were doing witchcraft on her doorstep. The way she was carrying on and accusing us was making me really upset. I had to remind myself that I am a missionary and there are certain things I should not say to this woman. With all the respect I could muster I let her know that I had stepped in gum on her porch and I had removed it with a stick and we left. I told her that she didn't have to believe us, but we are far from being involved with witchcraft (or anything like it for that matter). You know, it really hurts when someone tells lies on you. Luckily Sister Brown and I got over it quickly and now we are just laughing about it.

And that is about it. All the weeks and days and hours are just mushing together.
I hope you all have a fabulous week! I LOVE YOU!

Love,
Sister Tuttle

Flashback: Here is a picture of me and sister Lynn in the airport. We had just come off the bus from the MTC and we were catching our flight to Jamaica. She hit her ankle on something and I had to go lifeguard on her in the middle of the airport. lol lol lol.

Another with Seaga

January 12, 2016

JUNKANOO!!

Last week was really tough. So tough that I was saying and thinking a lot of mean things about this area that I don't really believe.
In about 2 weeks from now one sister will be coming to take my place. Along with that sister 2 elders will be coming to white wash half of Nassau. So because elders and sisters could not possible stay in the same apartment it has become mine and Sister Brown's duty to find a new apartment. And of course everything is last minute I have spent the last few weeks calling members and realtors. Let me tell you something... I have never been so grown up in my life. My mission has made me learn so much about just life in general. Let me tell you something else... Growing up is stressful. I'd rather stay a kid.

I know ya'll(people say that here...I'm telling you they have no culture for themselves) are in the snow. Sorry lol lol

Anyways, One morning we were to meet a realtor at his office so he could show us an apartment.
When we got to his office we realized that he wanted to come in our car (which is completely against mission rules). We tried to explain the rule to him, but he didn't want to hear any of it .We quietly listened to him tell us off for about 5 minutes. Then we just apologized and walked away. The next morning I was surprised to see him calling us. When I answered the phone number of the landlord. I was grateful for the kindness.

We saw this funny little crab on the beach

On top of getting ready for this next transfer the missionary work is struggling. It's the same sob story as usual. No investigators, members flaking and pure jokers all around. Our progressing inv

estigator Maguerite even got a job this week. She works every week day from early in the morning to late at night. we are pretty much restricted to teaching her on Saturdays and Sundays. It is going to be a push, but we are still working towards January 24th.

I finally decided to help Sister Brown with her puzzle. We still never finished...

On the bright side Sister Brown and I went bowling on Monday. It was one of the most memorable P-days I have ever had. Sister Brown had never been bowling before so it was just hilarious. I really wanted to hit 100, but it just didn't happen.

Christmas at the bowling alley

Bowling

We both broke our fingernails when bowling. lol lol

Yesterday was a random holiday. Majority Rules Day. No one can tell me what the holiday is for. People here just love any excuse to stay home from work and school.

My new dog friend

I was pretty much in a daze of stress last week (poor Sister Brown) but I am over it now and things seem to be working out.

My BFF Ronale that never ceases to give me stress.

I was reading Elder Utchdorf's talk from the last woman's meeting. It's the talk where he tells the story of Eva and Great-Aunt Rose. At the beginning of the story he talks about how all Eva had to do was endure. Then he says, "And oh how Eva hated enduring". I have to say sometimes I feel just like Eva. Enduring is so hard. Especially when you feel alone. But in the end it turns out for the better. There are so many wonderful things about life. I love my mission, but it is probably not the kind of love you are thinking. There are things I cannot stand to deal with, but I am learning things I would never learn at home. I am just so grateful to Heavenly Father.

Do you remember when I was in May pen and this man did a portrait of me and sister Rampersad. Ya well, now I am here in Nassau and this next guy wanted to do a portrait of me and Sister Brown. I was a bit hesitant seeing how the last one turned out, but in the end I really love this one!

Well, I wish you all a wonderful week.
I love you so much and miss you too!
Love,
Sister Tuttle

January 4, 2016

My time in Nassau is winding down. Sometimes it just hits me that I only have 3 weeks left. It is going to feel weird leaving this place. I have to be honest. Sometimes I feel so excited to get out of this place (those feelings usually come while sitting in traffic or when members flake on us). But, then again I have spent so long here and I love it. As much as I will miss the beaches, I think I will miss the people more. I have started taking my journal around to allow people to sign it. I don't want to be rushed so I am starting early. I want everyone I love here to take time and wirte in my journal for me.

This week was much better in terms of the work. Now that the holidays are over people are a little more willing to hear us out. Even still the excuse has shifted from "I am busy because of Christmas and Junkanoo" to "I am going back to work this week and I will be really busy".

The other day we were knocking on doors in this little neighborhood. One of the last doors we knocked on was a 20 something year old named Pat. She was friendly ans she told us to come back the next morning because she would be leaving the country soon. We talked with her for just a few moments and left her with a Restoration pamphlet and Book of Mormon. We came back the next morning and when we knocked on the door, her mother answered. When we asked if Pat was there the mother starts telling us that Pat is busy and will not be able to meet with us (not going to lie she didn't say it in the kindest way possible). She tells us to hold on and she goes back inside. When she came back she had the pamphlet and the Book of Mormon in her hand. She gave them back to us and closed the door. In all my time of being a missionary NO ONE has ever given a Book of Mormon back to me. It weighed on my mind for the rest of the day. I don't think it would have been so sad if Pat herself had given us the Book, but just the fact that it was her mother. I just kept thinking that her mother was keeping her from finding the truth for herself. I hope that Pat researches the church on her own.

I had a super profound moment on Sunday. There is this young man that works at the grocery store we shop at every Monday. Every Monday when I see him I invite him to come to church. This has been going on for about 2 months and he has never come. Well, he actually came to church this past Sunday. I sat by him and told him a little about what was going on. When people started going up to bare their testimonies I told him about Fast and testimony Sunday. He looked at me and asked "do you have a testimony?" I said "yes." Then he asked me again "You have a real testimony??" I told him yes again. Then he said, "Then go and share it". And I just though Woah. He is so right! If I have a real testimony I should share it. So I went up there and bore my testimony.

Well, I hope that you all have a beautiful week!
I love you all so much!
Love,
Sister Tuttle