Florida!

(Transcribed by Nancy from a letter)

Che Slade family,

        I’m sorry I’m not writing individual letters, and I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while.  The problem is, there just isn’t enough time.  But I’ll try to do better about writing more often!

        First of all, I love all you guys!  I hope your last two months have been as full and exciting as mine have been.  I didn’t get to celebrate Halloween in any way, but I will be having Thanksgiving celebrations for sure.  We are having “fet de Kodenn” (party of turkey) dinner in a member’s house.  Immediately afterwards, we are going to a Haitian party where we’ll eat more food (Haitian food is delicious, by the way) and basically have a great time.  The day afterwards we’ll have a going away party for Elder Hoole, one of the zone leaders who is dying at the end of this transfer.  It will be a welcome relief.  Missionary work is hard!

        I love seeing pictures of all of you in my emails.  Thanks for sending them. I hope that we still have Evie when I return, it would be sad if I didn’t see her again.  And thanks to all of you for sending letters, I appreciate it.  (But you don’t have to stagger them and send them one at a time, postage is expensive and I wouldn’t mind reading them all at once and then waiting a while for the next letter.)

        Florida is not what I expected it to be.  The driving in Miami is terrifying.  And it feels like summer, it’s so hot.  I am not looking forward to the actual summer months…

        My ward is pretty small, and it’s much more diverse than I am used to.  It is half Haitian Creole and half English speaking, and we share the building with a Spanish ward.  (I lost all of my Spanish long ago, unfortunately).  My first Sunday my companion (Elder Winslow) translated the sacrament meeting for those people who didn’t speak English at all.  Yesterday I helped translate for a single member in priesthood meeting it was terrifying.

        I am not learning the language as fast as I would like to, unfortunately.  But it is still coming much faster than I had any right to hope, and I know that that is because God is helping me.  Paul, when you submit your mission papers, you should hope that you get to learn a new language.  It is much harder, but it is much more rewarding, and it really helps your understanding of the gospel, as well.

        I’m struggling with the rule that we’re only allowed to listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  It’s not the type of music that I normally listen to.  But I’m grateful I’m allowed to listen to it, this mission used to be a no-music mission!

        Haitian Creole areas are mostly driving areas, fortunately for me.  We ride bikes for a couple of miles occasionally, but for the most part the work is mental and spiritual, rather than physical (something I am immensely grateful for)

For all of you the book you should read is the Book of Mormon.  It is the most important book in the world. (There.  Preaching done for a while.)

        Mom and Dad:  Thank you both for everything.  You both mean a lot to me, and I can’t wait to Skype with you for Christmas. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to grow up in the gospel, and to go on a mission.  I love you both very much...

        Anyways, I am having all kinds of fun adventures here, even though I can’t read books.  For example, I’m meeting all kinds of strange people.  Don’t drink Verve...apparently it contains green tea.  And someone called the police on us for the first time a couple days ago! (my companion and I...) That’s always good...

        Can you guys send me some more physical pictures of yourselves/my family?  Not a lot, just something I can look at during the week.  I don’t have any pictures of Nathan or Evie yet, and I only have one of the rest of the family.  Thanks!

        Our investigators change too fast for me to write about them all.  I’ve taught and dropped about 30 gators (Florida lingo for investigators) in the last week and a half.  It’s depressing but President Anderson really puts an emphasis on teaching those who are already completely ready and prepared to be baptized.  It seems wrong, but you can’t argue with the numbers.

        In the MTC, I learned about a funny way of speaking.  It’s called Jargon, and Haitian kids learn it so that they can speak in front of their parents without their parents knowing what they are saying.  Basically you duplicate any vowel sound and insert a ‘g’ in between.  So “yes” becomes “yeges” and “no” becomes “nogo”, and “Merry Christmas” becomes “Megerreegee Chrigistmagas!”  It literally doubles the time it takes to speak, but it is very hard to decipher without practice, especially if you don’t know the keys.

        I’m just about out of time to write.  I love you all!

Thanks for everything, much love,

Elder Brandon Slade

Not Enough Time

Today marks exactly two months of my mission. It's kind of weird to think about, because two months seems like a long time, and two years seems like even longer, but it hasn't felt like two months at all.

I think the times when I've felt the spirit the most have been during personal study. Apart from that, I've also had some great experiences with different lessons. A couple of days ago we had a lesson with Bernard's wife, (because he wasn't home yet). We were all talking in Creole, so I was doing my best to keep up with the conversation. She kept having questions. Eventually Frè Tony (our member) started sharing his testimony on how he knew that the Book of Mormon was true because he had worked on translating it into Creole. I couldn't catch all of it, that's just what they told me happened after the fact, but I could still feel the spirit a lot and the whole meeting changed tones from there. Also, there have been many instances where I have felt the spirit in other circumstances.

There is never (never) enough time to get everything done throughout the day. It's so frustrating!

I think that one of the main things that I've learned (or at least, am learning) in the Book of Mormon is that the ancient prophets only wrote what they thought was important for us to know. They only write things that are important in an eternal perspective, even though logically back then there would have been just as many or more temporal things to distract them with. They spent a lot of time writing these things for our benefit, even though it was hard to write on plates, because they care about us and want us to learn from their mistakes. In other words, they were doing missionary work, to help us come unto Christ.

Haitians are kind of weird. They have a weird tradition where they talk in the middle of prayers. (Such as "Praise the lord!" "Hallelluja!" and "Yes, Jesus, yes."

We biked for the first time this week. It's terrifying to drive in Miami, let alone to bike next to/in between 6 lanes of traffic.

I have some funny experiences with investigators, but I am almost out of time to write, so I'll try to send them in letters or in next week's email. For now, just pray for Lucy, who is trying to get Sundays off so that she can be baptized on Dec. 1st.

I'm out of time.

Thanks,

Eldè Slade

Transfers

Here is the fate of your most favoritest missionary, Sister Slade:

I found out Thursday that I get to train again! Not only that but... I'm leaving Oak Harbor. So many mixed emotions there. I'm sad to leave these people that I love so so much, but I have been feeling that it's time. I'll be especially sad to leave the Seeley's and Harris'. They have become eternal friends for me. Because I’m training and leaving Oak Harbor that means... me and my comp are either going to be whitewashing an area or starting a new area! Eeeya! So many mixed emotions! I'm excited, but nervous too. I've decided that the definition for a mission is pretty much feeling inadequate and being stretched to your limit 100% of the time. Love-hate relationship. But mostly love :)

I'm sad to leave Jana. When she found out one of us was going to be leaving on Saturday she started to cry. It really surprised me, because I hadn't realized that she cared about us that much. Jana is such a sweetie. She is really struggling with finding an answer to know if she should continue to prepare for baptism, and she also has some extremely difficult changes to make in her life for her to be ready. Please pray for her. She came to church yesterday, and loved it as always. I think that some of the speakers said things that were exactly what she needed to hear. Funny how that happens :)

Steve came to church again yesterday with his two girls! He is solid. He texted us this week saying, "caffeine withdrawals are not fun." apparently he decided that he just needed to give up his coffee now. You know you love somebody when you get a little bit emotional over them giving up coffee. :) Our entire district helped him clean out a trailer that he has been preparing for them to live in, and it really meant a lot to him. I don't think I told you about this trailer, but it is the definition of biohazard. The old woman who used to live there was a major hoarder, and you couldn't even open the door it was packed to the ceiling with stuff that had been sitting there for years. Rat poop and dead mice and spilled food and spiders everywhere. Most disgusting service project of my life.

I'm really hoping I'll be able to find a ride back to Oak Harbor for the baptisms of all these wonderful people.

Well, love ya!

Sister Slade

We used to teach Skye the recent convert lessons, since she was an unbaptized child for a while. Love this family to death!

 The district.

 We still teach Chuck every now and then. Twice in a lesson I have felt inspired to tell Chuck that I know that he knows what we are saying is true, he just won't admit it to himself or to God. Both times he hasn't denied that it's true, he just gets a little bit emotional and avoids eye contact. I LOVE this family!! I'm definitely making my way back to Washington when he decides to be baptized.

 I wish I had a pocket-sized brother Rehaume. Aren't the people of Oak Harbor so wonderful!?

 Sister Cruz is one of my all time favorite people! She doesn't speak English super well, but she is a HUGE help at any of our lessons with people who speak Spanish, and every time we go to their house for dinner- REAL Mexican food! She calls me "Misseses Eslade" (Mrs. Slade) :)

MTC Tricks

Today is my last day in the MTC. In ~11 hours, I am going to be reporting to the travel office; in ~18 hours, I will be on my way to Florida.

So, my flight schedule is split into two flights. The first is from here to Texas, and the second is from Texas to FL-FTL. So I was thinking that in order to make it easier for you guys, I could call from the Texas airport instead, if I can't get any time on the phone in the morning. The problem is that I don't know if they adapt the times to the time zones of the places where you land, so I don't have any idea what time it would be for you. So I'll call in the morning, if there ends up being enough time, or I'll call it from the Texas airport anywhere from 9:00-12:00. Sorry if this doesn't work out, I just realized that there are going to be a lot more missionaries than pay phones tomorrow morning. I'll try my best.

I don't know if they would let us Skype together, or if I'll have the resources to do it, etc. Either way, Paul would be the one to ask, he's the one who actually used Skype.

Eldè Trockel left with the rest of my district last week. It turns out that they have no idea what's wrong with his liver, but he's not gluten intolerant. His liver has grade 1 liver damage, for some unknown reason. The doctor said (nonchalantly) that worst-case scenario, he has to have a liver transplant. No big deal. But for now they're just waiting to see if the problem gets worse.

My last week in the MTC has been chaotic, to say the least. Enough said.

Tonight, my temporary companions are planning to play a trick on one of the new districts in our zone. We bought a new alarm clock, and they are planning to hide it in their room, set to go off ~1:30 AM. (I will be staying up outside of our residence, because if I fell asleep then I would only get ~2 hours of sleep anyway, and then I would be groggy. I can sleep on the plane.) The alarm clock will be hidden behind a vent in the ceiling outside of their room. I'm going to do my best to pretend that I can't hear it, but I don't think I'll be able to keep a straight face.

Thanks for all the pictures! I don't have any for you! Sorry!

Thanks,

Eldè Slade

Great things from the Washington Everett Mission

Lots of great things happening in the WEM!

I hope you all had a great Halloween. Sister Anderson and I got permission to go to our wards trunk or treat, and that was fun! Some less actives and one of our potential investigators surprised us by showing up too, so that was awesome. Sister Anderson and I switched nametags, and we also wore matching sparkly black tights with black skirts and our red sweaters. Lots of fun!

Jana P. is on date to be baptized December 7th! It's not a super solid date, because when we first asked her she said she still needed to read and pray and think about it some more before she decides, but we challenged her to show her faith by preparing for the 7th and being baptized then if she feels ready, and she said yes! We are proud of her for continuing to read and pray, even though the Book of Mormon has been hard for her to understand. She came to church again, and she loves it! Her son Chris, who is in 2nd ward has been joining us for lessons and is really excited. Jana and Sister Anderson seem to relate really well, so that's another testimony to me that the Lord knows exactly where we need to be and at what time!

Transfers are on the 18th... we'll see if the Lord feels I need to be in Oak Harbor longer than 6 months or not! :)

Bennett blessed the sacrament for the first time on Sunday :)

Steve's baptism date will probably be pushed back. He got called into work last Sunday, and he didn't come yesterday either even though he said he was going to make it, so we're not sure yet what happened. He's been super sick all week so we were only able to have one lesson with him, and it looks like he doesn't understand the Book of Mormon as well as we initially thought. :/ He still wants to be baptized and knows that this is the right direction to go with his life, so hopefully with a little bit more time and study he will be prepared!

So funny story! A few days ago Sister Anderson and I contacted this guy who talked to us for about 10 minutes about how he believes his mom became part of the universe after she died, and the way that he knows this is that he was constipated for 13 years, but the day his mom died he wasn't constipated anymore. Well after we had shared about our message and we were saying goodbye, I said, "It was nice meeting you, this was a great con...con...conversation." When we walked away I told Sister Anderson how I had almost told the man "This was a great constipation," and we both couldn't stop laughing. So throughout this week we have been saying things like, "I loved your input during that constipation," or "That constipation was very enlightening to me!" Haha we've met some extremely interesting people here. So funny.

Scripture of the week: D&C 123:17. One day this week I was dead dog tired (oh wait... that's every day :)) and having a hard time focusing during personal study, especially since we didn't have any lessons planned for that day, so I decided to study diligence. I found this scripture in D&C that says "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see that salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed." I realized that it's one thing to work really hard and be obedient, and it's an entirely different story to work hard and be obedient cheerfully- every day! That's the power of enduring to the end! In whatever life struggles you're going through, no matter how busy you are, and how tired you feel, always remember that you are a Child of God. He loves you. He has blessed you in so many ways, especially by allowing you to be part of His restored church. Because He loves us, and because He sent His son to die for us, we have every reason in the world to be happy.

Love you all! Please don't miss even one day of reading your scriptures and saying your prayers. Some days a few verses is all you can fit in, but don't even think about hitting the pillow before you get those few verses in and before you've really focused in to talk with your Heavenly Father!

Love, Sister Slade

Picking Pumpkins for Halloween

 At the top of Mt. Erie with the Burminghams

 An Island on a lake on an island.

Introduction to my MTC Teachers

I only have one more week in the MTC. I received my travel plans a couple of days ago. I leave at 2:30 AM next Tuesday, the fifth, and I'm flying to Texas first, then to FL-FTL. When I arrive, I will have to wear my suit jacket for the entire first day. From what I've heard of Florida, this may just be the hardest thing I will ever have to face in my entire mission. But I will bravely... try... to do it.

My entire district has already been sent off to their respective missions, with the exception of a few people who are leaving early tomorrow morning. Actually, my entire zone, except for me, two other elders, and three sisters, will have left by about 8:00 AM tomorrow. The entire zone will consist of two companionships, which collectively span across four different districts. For this reason, the other elders and I have been called to be the zone leaders. I'll be able to return from my mission and be able to say that I was a zone leader. Unfortunately, the entire reason we were chosen for this position was not because we are ready for it - it is because there are literally no other people to choose from.

My two new companions (effective as of ~3:00 AM tomorrow morning, when the last member of my district leaves for Boston) are Elder Soll and Elder Ehlert. They are both learning French, and they have been here for two weeks and four weeks respectively. So, because they are on different levels and I am learning a completely different language, we will go to our classroom building, split up into three different classrooms, we will be taught by three different teachers (one on one student-teacher time) and then we will meet back up when class is over.

As well as getting my teachers to myself, I will also be the only Haitian Creole student in any MTC in the world. Only the Provo MTC teaches Haitian Creole, and there won't be another Creole student until December (and only one then). Just to show you about how many people can speak Creole. It's kind of sad, really. Seven billion people have something that is good or better than good, but only a few million people have the thing that is best.

I decided to go through my Haitian Creole instructors, because I don't think I've done it yet. There are three; all of them went to the Fort Lauderdale, Florida mission.

- Frè Hall (Brother Hall), who returned from his mission most recently. You have to question everything that he tells you, because you can't always trust it. For example, he tried to convince us that you can say "just kidding" like this: "m'ap joure", which means "I'm screaming/cussing". (You're actually supposed to say "m'ap jwe", for the record.) He's a funny guy, but sometimes I think he's trying to get us killed.

- Ti Frè Nelson (Little Brother Nelson), who is very serious, and it is obvious to everybody that he cares about us and about what he is teaching.

- Wo Frè Nelson (Tall Brother Nelson), who is about a foot taller than Ti Frè Nelson, and who enjoys his name much more as well. He's really the only teacher who takes time out for language study any more; the other two expect you to use the dictionary and other forms of study on your own time. He's a nice guy.

By the way, happy late birthday, Mom! M' espere ke ou gen yon bon anivèsè! (I hope I spelled that right.)

Lastly, I wanted to talk about serving a mission. I firmly believe that all young men should live worthily to have the opportunity to serve one. And if they are worthy, then I firmly believe that they should do so. The gospel of Jesus Christ has brought so much good to me and my family, and I know that going out to share it with the rest of the world is exactly the right choice to make. If you have any doubts, then squash them, they're not worth having.

Thanks,

Eldè Slade

P Day Already!

Whew! I can't believe that it's Monday again already! Where does the time go? I keep meaning to write you all back but P-Days are over in the blink of an eye. Our district went to the Glade's beach last Monday to collect sea glass and roast hot dogs and smores- lots of fun! Later today the Burninghams are driving the sisters to this huge pumpkin patch and we're going to carve pumpkins. Thank you so much for the letters that you have been sending, they mean a lot. Keep 'em comin!

Sister Anderson and I are planning on switching nametags on halloween. That's about as crazy as missionary halloween costumes get. We got permission from pres to go to our ward trunk or treat on halloween night though! :)

So now for the exciting news! Our ward baptism goal is 6 and we've only have 4 so far, so Sister Anderson and I have been praying to find someone to be baptized in November and someone to be baptized in December. A few days after we began really praying for this we had another lesson with our investigator Steve. We weren't planning on inviting him to be baptized, but during the lesson the spirit suddenly told me that it was time, so I did, and he surprised us all by saying yes! Steve had been emotional talking about how he feels that God has blessed him by giving him his two little girls and by protecting him and giving him so many chances even though he feels that he's made some very unwise choices in his past. During the lesson he said, "I've experienced so much happiness from my two little girls, but I've always felt like there was something extra missing." I told Steve that I knew that the message we are sharing with him is that "extra" thing he has been missing, and he said that he thought I was right, although he was reluctant to admit it at first. I asked him why he had been reluctant, and he said, "Well that's the hard way, isn't it?" We all laughed and I was so grateful for Steve's honesty! Steve really feels like this is a commitment that he needs to prepare for and we are very excited for November 17th! Steve also hadn't prayed up to this point, his fear being that "It's like going to your dad after you've just wrecked the car." but after a spirit-filled lesson where he had talked a lot about the changes he has made in the last few years, he said the first prayer he's said in years! He's so humble! Those that have been tried and challenged in life truly are the prepared. He also has the most hilarious laugh I have ever heard. I wish I could record it somehow so you could hear!

Steve has come to church a few times now, and yesterday our investigators Brandon, Jana, Kimberly, and Emmanuel all came! I don't think I've told you about Brandon- he's a 12 year old boy we've been teaching for a while now who is very involved in our ward scout troop. He wants to be baptized, but his mom wants him to wait until he's 16. Brandon faithfully comes to church almost every Sunday, and he has been bringing his 7 year old brother with him. I would love to come back to Washington for his baptism when he is 16!

Jana is a sweetie. She is a little 4'9'' woman with size 41/2 feet who made Sister Anderson and I both a set of earrings. Her special needs son is in 2nd ward and he is in charge of all the technology when we have broadcasts. She has agreed to a soft commit for baptism but needs to continue reading and praying before she decides.

Kimberly was a referral from the 2nd ward sisters, who are teaching Kimberly's sister who is on date to be baptized in November. Kimberly is the epitome of humility. Her husband says she can take the discussions from us, but he refuses to have us in their home, so we have been teaching Kimberly at her sisters home. Kimberly brought her daughter Gwen to church as well. We've been trying to have Gwen join the lessons, so hopefully that happens soon. :)

Emmanuel... is a southern baptist that is trying to convert us. He's trouble. He won't even open the Book of Mormon and all he wants to do is argue so we haven't been teaching him anymore, but he keeps showing up at church. I'm like... what? he says we don't know the spirit because we haven't been speaking in tongues or shouting praises when we pray. Oh the interesting people you meet on the mission :)

Oh! We went on exchanges on Saturday and our STL's are Spanish sisters. Sister Anderson stayed here and I was thrilled to spend a day away in Lake Stevens listening to Hermana Andersen teach lessons in Spanish. Way cool experience! Except for when we were talking with a woman as she walked her dog and the dog pooped as we were walking and Hermana Andersen stepped in it....that's unfortunate. Good times!

This letter wouldn't be a true Sister Slade update without news on the wonderful Bennett and Verna. They have been called to join the ranks of outstanding Oak Harbor Ward Missionaries! So now we have the Seeley's and the Harris' and Brother Bullock and that's pretty much a powerhouse team! Watch out, Oak Harbor! I must say, it's pretty hilarious to be in ward council and use the progress record (which by the way sister Anderson and I have actually named the "Report of Progress" because it sounds more official :)) to give updates on people who are sitting right there. :)

Plus on top of all of the other studying Bennett has been doing, he has now read Preach My Gospel and watched all of The District. What recent convert does that!? Bennett H. does, that's who. :)

Love you all! Don't forget your DAILY prayers and scripture study! Even if it's only a few verses a day, don't let that important gift to your Heavenly Father pass you by. I hope to hear more from you all soon!

Lots of love, Sister Slade