Hello from Martinique!

The simplest thing to say is that I don't know how to describe what being here is like, but I'll do my best. :)

The flight out to Martinique from Trinidad was a lot of fun because I got to ride a propeller plane, which I've never done before. It took off at 5:30 and I got to Martinique around 9:45. Elder and Sister Jenkins, the senior couple, picked me up and took me down to Fort-de-France to meet Elder Miyasaki and get moved in. I spent a little while moving in, we had lunch (fried chicken and french fries) and then Elder Miyasaki took me over to Ducos to do some contacting. We went to an appartment complex and knocked on doors for about 3 hours and actually had two lessons just by people being interested and letting us in! I didn't understand a lot of what was said because the people have an accent and speak super fast, but I understood Elder Miyasaki, so I was able to bear my testimony both times and explain a couple things. Most of the people are quite friendly although most of the people who answer the door don't really want to hear our message. 

After contacting we went to dinner with Elders Russel and Sosa, who share our appartment in Fort-de-France, to Soeur Jean-de-Dieu's house (we call her Yva). Yva is an older member who loves the missionaries. She has us over for lunch every Sunday after church and feeds us SO MUCH FOOD!!!! Yesterday I made the mistake of telling her that I wanted to eat everything (meaning that I wanted to TRY everything), and she just kept loading my plate with food throughout the meal. It was really good, but I was full to bursting when we left.

Wednesday night I was actually feeling extremely overwhelmed because I was really tired, I was in a completely new country, and I didn't understand any of the French. That was a really hard evening, but once I'd gotten a good night's rest I felt a lot better. I still don't understand all that much, but I can usually follow along in the lessons by listening to Elder Miyasaki and jumping in when I have a comment. And I'm learning to understand a lot more.

We haven't done as much work this week as we've wanted to because we are in the process of moving into a house down in Trois Rivières because our actual area is the whole southern part of Martinique. If you look at the map of martinique and find Lamentin (it's somewhere below Fort-de-France) and draw a line straight across the map to Le Vauclin, everything below it is our area. We're just living in Fort-de-France right now because we didn't have a house yet. But they just finished up getting a house for us, and we've been buying stuff and moving it down there for the last few days. It's an actual house because we're going to need to be able to hold church there. I don't know how soon we'll be starting meetings, but it'll probably be during this transfer. 

By the way, because we have such a huge area, we actually have a car! I was expecting to be on foot or using the bus, but we have a car to get around. And it's actually a really nice car! There was a weird situation about the rules the church has about the kind of cars we can buy and what fuel they use and the kinds of cars actually for sale here, so we got something called a Yaris. Mostly we drive with the windows down to save gas.
Speaking of windows, our appartment doesn't have ANY air conditioning! Most houses and appartments here don't. It's not too bad really, but you need to appreciate how lucky you are to have air conditioning for the whole house. We are extremely lucky becuase our house in Trois Rivieres has air conditioning just for the bedroom. And we're still not sure if we'll use it or not.

And speaking of what we have or don't have, the members here have incredibly strong faith! Just being to one sacrament meeting where I couldn't understand most of what was said was enough to feel the spirit they invited and the love they have for each other and everyone else.

I'll have to finish this up next week because I'm about out of time.

I have no idea how I'll be able to keep you updated with everything that happens here because it is so incredible to be here.

I hope everybody's happy and well!

I love you!

Elder Johnston

Here we are the first day in Trinadad.  This is the group of arriving missionaries!

Hey Family!

So when we got into Trinidad last night they told us that the place our flight plans said we would be going were not necessarily the places we are going... It had said that Elders Christensen and Drennan are going to Guadaloupe and Elder Wade and I are going to Martinique, but we got our real assignments this morning when we met with President Mehr. As it turns out, I'm still going to Martinique and by the same flight I told you about earlier, but all the other French speaking Elders are going to Guadaloupe. I'm going to be trained by Elder Miyasaki, who is from Hawaii and is beginning his third transfer here. Together we are going to be opening a brand new area! President Mehr told me that we'd be holding Sacrament Meeting in our apartment and no missionaries have ever been in that area of Martinique before. So I'll have my work cut out for me. :) I'll meet Elder Miyasaki tomorrow morning when I fly into Martinique.

The flight from Houston to Trinidad was really great! I got to do some scripture study and found some really great verses including 2 Nephi 10:20, which talks about keeping our heads held high because the Lord has sent us to that land and he will bless us as we work. It also mentioned that it is an isle of the sea, which was very fitting.

I wish I could have gotten a picture, but flying into Trinidad after dark last night was among the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It looked like piles of gems heaped up underneath us reflecting the lights. 

Last night we spent the night in a Bed and Breakfast that was extremely nice. I think we'll be spending the night there again tonight, but after that we'll be in our new areas. I can't wait to send you pictures of this place! It is an amazingly beautiful island.

Speaking of pictures, this is a picture of all the missionaries who came with us to the West Indies yesterday. Most of them came from the MTC with us, but three of them came from the Dominican Republic MTC and one was returning to the mission after being home for a while. We also met the APs, who are extremely cool! Today we're being taught about a bunch of stuff by the APs, a few senior couples, and President and Sister Mehr.

I'll have to get off now, but I will email again on Monday, which is our P-day!

Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Johnston

This is what my desk looked like as I prepared to teach my first lesson in French.
Here I am with my district.

Bonjour!

So. Tons of stuff has happened this week. I think I'll start with the most exciting thing. A couple weeks ago the four Elders in my district were asked to bless and pass the sacrament to the missionaries during two combined sacrament meetings yesterday. We were having a weird schedule because 173 new mission presidents are at the MTC right now being trained for a week. However, about a week later Elder Wade and I got a notice that our assignment had been changed, but they wouldn't tell us what it was and we had to go to a meeting on this past Wednesday to find out what we were doing. Once we got there, they told us what we'd be doing and impressed that this was totally confidential and we could not tell anyone what we were doing and afterwards. We went back on Friday and Saturday for rehearsals of what we'd be doing (it wasn't singing) and then met again yesterday morning for one final rehearsal and setup. We seriously spent about 5 hours practicing and getting ready for this, which is a ton of time in missionary time. Yesterday, I was part of a group of 48 Elders who blessed and passed the sacrament to all the new mission presidents, every General Authority serving in the US, the entire Quorum of the Twelve minus Elder Hales, and the First Presidency. That was an incredible experience. We were only in the room for about 5 minutes, but even so, it was amazing to be in the same room with them. 

 

While I was passing the sacrament I started thinking about the lyrics to Hark All Ye Nations: "Chosen by God to serve Him below, to every land and people we'll go. Standing for truth with fervent accord, teaching His holy word." It suddenly hit me that I have been chosen by God to serve Him below and I'll be going to different lands and peoples to preach His word to them. That was a very spiritual experience for me.

 

Another exciting thing was singing in the Choir for the broadcast yesterday! Did you watch that? It was really good and extremely interesting! Did you see me when they showed us? I'm in there! :D Since it'd be practically impossible to find me otherwise, I'll tell you to go the recording of the broadcast on lds.org and go to 3:03 (three minutes and three seconds) into the video. It's a shot of a whole bunch of missionaries, but I'm in there. Let me know if you find me. :)

 

That was a wonderful experience as well! I felt the spirit so strongly when I was singing testifying to me that what I was saying was true. That was wonderful!

 

Have you heard of DearElder.com? It's a website where you can go online and write a letter, address it to a missionary like you would a normal letter, and then submit it. They print it off in the MTC and put it in our mailboxes. It's a really cool way to send mail because it's free and doesn't take a few days to get there. So in case you'd be interested in that I wanted to let you know.

 

 

 

Je sais qu'Il nous aime et il veut pour nous à retourner vers lui. Je sais que nous pouvons devenir prôche à lui si nous gardons les commandements, prier, et lire les écritures.

Je vous aime!

Elder Johnston

Saying goodbye and heading into the Missionary Training Center, Provo Utah

Life here at the MTC is just as busy but much more stable. I think I told you about my first investigator, Stephan, who we started teaching on our first Friday. We taught him four lessons and then he had to leave and go back to Montreal, but in just those four lessons we learned so much about how to teach well and had some amazing discussions with him. That being said, as I learn more and more about missionary work, I keep on realizing that we have so much more to learn. Starting Wednesday we will be teaching two lessons or more every single day for the rest of our time here! That's going to be intense! But it will make it easier to be prepared for going out into the field.         

We went to San Francisco on Tuesday, like I said, and that was a really great trip. We slept the entire way there and back (catching up) and then spent about 30 minutes at the French Consulate, so we had 3 hours after that to spend in San Fran. Our driver took us anywhere we wanted to go, so we went down to Pier 39 and walked along the area there.

 

One last thing. Last night we had the chance to watch a talk called The Character of Christ given by Elder Bednar at the MTC for the 2011 Christmas Day devotional. That was the best talk I think I have ever heard. He talked about turning outwards to help and care for others when the natural man would have us turn inwards and be selfish and self-absorbed

 

Je demande de Dieu de vous-beni avec le Saint-Esprit et des bon-heurs!

Je vous aime!

Elder Johnston

 

Hey everybody!
For those who don't know, I have been called to serve as a missionary to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the West Indies Mission. A map of the mission is on the left of this post. I will be serving for two years and speaking mostly in French, which I will learn in the Missionary Training Center. I am scheduled to enter the MTC in 26 days to be trained to be a good missionary for about two weeks before I leave to enter the mission field.
I am so excited for this opportunity to share the gospel with the the people of the West Indies and to learn and grow. I thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoy reading about my mission.
Love,
Daniel Johnston