A New Year Is Upon Us!

Christmas in Jamaica was awesome! We baked cookies, gave them out to everyone we saw. I ate a HUGE amount of food. We had 6 meal appointments in 3 days. I never want to eat, ever again. We sang songs, we laughed, we cried. We had a jolly good time. The senior couple the Vance's are great and they made Christmas 10 million times better. We skyped, I loved that. Family, I love you so much. It was so good to see your beautiful faces. 

The best part of Christmas was the closeness I felt with Christ this year. I mean, every year I hear, "Christmas isn't about the presents or decorations, it's about Jesus." But, this year, it really was all about Jesus Christ. On Christmas Eve, the Vance's fed us and then we had a little spiritual devotional. We watched a video of Jesus Christ's life, and it pierced my heart. I felt the spirit so strongly this year, and I just know that Christ came, lived and then died for us. AND now he lives again. I just want to tell everyone this good news. I want everyone to realize that Heavenly Father loves them so much that he sent Jesus Christ as a baby into this world. In Luke 18:10 it says, "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost." We are all lost, and we need saving. I just want to praise Jesus forever because of all he has done for me personally, and everyone, everywhere. 

Well, a new year is upon us. I am quite excited. A new start. Time to be better, work harder, and think more about Christ. Heavenly Father lives. He sent His Son to this world. Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration. The Book of Mormon is true. Amen.

Love,

Sister Pitt

Christmas Eve Feast!

We Love The Vances!

Christmas Treats!

YUMMY!

Jimmy Came!

Christmas In Jamaica!

Hawaiian Haystacks For Christmas Dinner!

Meal #3

Meal #6

Look Mom!
I Made Spanish Rice and Enchiladas!

Cuties!

I Love Them All!

Look At All The Green Onions!

Oral And Rohan Are Awesome!

Our Decorations!

Roasting Marshmallows!

Prettiest Tree and Prettiest Girls!

Santa Made It To Jamaica!

The Cool Way To Get Around Jamaica!

With Their Christmas Toys!

IT'S CHRISTMAS MON!

Christmas in Jamaica: Palm trees, rasta men trying to sell you things, sorrell, rice and gungu peas, fried chicken, reggae Christmas songs blasting from cars, so much traffic, poorly decorated Christmas trees, children who don't believe in Santa, off key 'Silent Night', a few people wearing Santa hats, and so much more. Despite the differences between here and America, I still feel that familiar Christmas spirit in my heart.

This last week was fantastic. First of all we had a missionary Christmas party. It was just with my current Zone, because the mission president decided to separate them this year. So, I gave each companionship a candy lei. (My mission president says, "Thank you Sister Pitt's mom!") Anyways, it was great. I am finally used to Jamaican food, so I loved what they made us. It was ONOLICIOUS. Barbecue fried chicken. We got to eat, get presents, watch a skit and video, and have a testimony meeting.

Oh, yes, so the Jamaica Christmas Devotional... What to say. So they were broadcasting it to all the parishes here in Jamaica as well as the rest of the world, but sadly they have terrible technicians, and it didn't really work. So, I didn't even get to watch it. My companions were in the devotional, so I stayed in Junction on a trade-off with Sister Walker again. I was really bummed I didn't get to watch it. BUT, I was there for the branch Christmas party, and that was fun. We basically just ate food and talked. Not that many people came, but that's okay. Oh speaking of the branch, I LOVE the branch president for Junction. He is about 25 years old, just got back from his mission. He is so funny, and he understands how difficult it is to work with branch leaders. He is extremely blunt and doesn't take peoples crap. I don't know, he just cracks me up. 

A Jamaican Christmas tradition is to paint their houses. Oh, and their rocks. We did service for six hours this last week. We painted peoples rocks in their yard. (Hey Grandpa Pitt, if you want your rocks painted, I'm a professional now). We were laughing about it. We also painted a persons house. It was actually really fun. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is.... painting a persons house, apparently.

Ohkay, so basically, I'm so excited for Christmas. Mainly to skype home, but also because the AMAZING new senior couple in our apartment complex is having us over for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for food! We are also eating at another persons house, a real Jamaican Christmas meal.  

Now for my little Christmas thought, because I am a missionary.

At the missionary Christmas party, President and Sister Brown dressed up as Joseph and Mary. They were looking for a place to stay and they acted out going to a bunch of inns and no where had a place to stay. At first it was really funny, because the missionaries were the innkeepers, and they were like, "No room! Go away." or "Should have rethought having a baby on a night like this." After a while, I actually started to get really sad, because Sister Brown, who was acting like Mary started to cry, and President Brown who was Joseph looked desperate to find his wife a place to stay. The room got really intense as each innkeeper denied the mother of Christ. This little skit made me really think. How many times in our lives are we like the innkeepers, not making room for Jesus Christ? How many times do we put worldly desires first, instead of the desires of our Savior? We need to make room for Christ. We need to give him every inch of our heart and soul. 

Oh, I love the Christmas season. I love it because of traditions, I love it because of food, but mainly I love it because I get to really ponder the amazing event of the baby born in Bethlehem. I may be over 5,000 miles away from home, but that is okay. I love being here in Jamaica. I love serving others. I love helping people learn more about Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas everyone! 

JOY TO THE WORLD!

-Sister Caressa Ann Pitt

A GREAT Day In Mandeville!

I Got To Teach These Folks! LOVE Them!

A HUGE Papaya!

I NEED A Haircut!

Our District Bought Us CHOCOLATE!

President And Sister Brown With Leis

Thank You!

The Christmas Tree I Made!

The District

The Hudson Boys

The Hudsons!

I Just Love Jamaican Babies!

The Ice Cream Man!

Jamaica Me Crazy!

So this week we went and helped a man pick sorrell. Sorrell is this red fruit thing you boil to make a really yummy juice. It is a Christmas tradition here in Jamiaca, so we have been drinking a lot of it. While we were picking it we were singing Christmas songs. In order to pick sorrell you need clippers or a knife. I got the knife, and since I'm not very skilled with it, it took me a long time to pick the sorrell. Anyways, my companions buckets were loaded with sorrell, and mine was half full by the end. The man comes up to me and says, "Wow, you are a lazy girl." I laughed so hard. Well, family, you are not the only ones in this world who think I'm lazy. There is a man here in Jamaica who would agree with you. 

I feel like so much happened this week, but I don't really know what to say. We have some great investigators. Still can't get them to church, but eh, it will happen. We went and saw the two young guys who told us they don't drink and smoke. It was the most pleasant and hilarious lesson. Rohan's father, Oral, owns a cook shop, so we met in the cook shop to give the lesson. The cook shop happens to be next to a bar, so randomly a man would stick his head in just to stare at the Whiteys. Anyways, these guys are hilarious. There was this really weird guy that joined us for the lesson and he kept asking the dumbest questions like, "Where is Heaven?" I just told him that knowing where heaven is, isn't going to get him to heaven. Doing what is right will. He thought that was the funniest answer and he laughed for so long. Anyways, Oral is a singer, so he sang us some gospel songs. It was great. Demaine and Rohan are really funny. I really hope that they choose to learn more, they are so great. 

Went to Mandeville AGAIN this weekend while my companions went into spanish town for practice for the musical thingy. So yeah, lots of great conversations with funny taxi men. Also, I had to almost basically sit on a mans lap because the taxis load people into them. It was awkward. Well, for me. I'm sure he enjoyed it... haha I ate a burger at Burger King, it's been so long since I've eaten a burger. Nothing exciting. Um. Oh, I saw a bag of Hersheys minature chocolates, and I wanted them sooooo bad, but they were like 10 bucks. (about 900 Jamaican dollars). So no go. But I looked at them and thought of home.

Rochelle is doing good. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she was extremely interested. I really love her, I don't know why she keeps saying she is coming to church, but doesn't come. I hate that. I guess we just got to keep teaching her, and hope she will do something with what she learns. Sigh. Missionary work is hard! But it is so amazingly awesome at the same time. 

Side Note: Teaching a guy who's nick name is 'Peewee.' I always laugh when I say it, and start doing the Peewee Herman tequila dance. 

As for spiritual stuff... Everyday I am still learning something new. Everyday I am being enlightened. But, in Zone Meeting, we were comparing the betrayal of Judas to the denial of Peter. The thing that stood out to me, is that they both did something wrong, but one ended up killing himself, and the other ended up becoming one of the most powerful men. When Peter would walk around, people would try to get into his shadow to be healed. One had more of an understanding of the atonement than the other. Another thing about Peter that I really love is that he started out very weak, but he still had a strong belief in Christ. Through his expiriences, he became so strong. Sometimes I feel like Peter. I look at how I overcame certain weaknesses, and how I am still working on them. But the amount of spiritual strength I have now, compared to a year ago is insane. Anyways, hopefully someday I can be as faithful and strong as Peter. 

Peace and Blessings,

Sister Pitt

Aww! So Cute!

Cool Hairdo! All The Rage!

I Will Go And Do!

Jamaica Me Crazy!

Kiddos!

Lewis, Me and Delano

Sister Walker and I in Mandeville

Being A Missionary Is Fantastic!

"Eh whitey, beg ya sum juice. Whitey, me like ya shape."

Translation: Hello white woman. Will you buy me some juice? White woman, I like the shape of your body.

So apparently, the Elder that threw the pebble at our car window, his mom follows my blog, so she found out about it. So, shout out to Elder Creager's mama! (Somehow I feel like I indirectly tattled on him).

This week was fantastic. The highlight was how we found some new investigators. I'll start from the beginning...

We had just finished seeing an investigator in a place called New Building. We were driving and saw a random guy walking with a candle. I thought it was quite strange. All of a sudden we got stuck behind a parade of cars and people holding candles. My first thought was, roll up the windows and lock the doors. Then, I heard gospel music playing and saw children walking up and down. I figured we were safe. I rolled down the window to ask a group of young men what was going on. One of the guys said that it was called a candle light walk. When someone dies they parade around then end up at the persons house to pay tribute. Anyways, we started talking to two of the guys, and they are awesome. It was one of the funniest conversations. The both openly admitted that they do not drink and smoke because it kills your brain. Wait... What? Jamaican men that don't drink and smoke? I just hope they are not 7th Day. haha They are about 19 and 20, so we are going to go start teaching them on Tuesday. I'm excited. 

Speaking of new investigators, we HAVE SO MANY. Junction is great. We have been finding like crazy. We have been working with the members and talking to EVERYONE. It is so fun. I finally feel like I'm doing everything I'm supposed to. The sad part is, despite inviting so many people to church, no one showed up. Ah well, so it goes. Just gotta pray harder, I suppose.

Update on Brother Walker, the less active from Linstead. Since I've left, he has been to church each Sunday. This last Sunday he received the priesthood! He is in the office of a priest! I'm so excited for him. I worked with that man for about 6 months, and he doesn't even consistently go to church until after I leave! Ah, I love that old guy. 

 Oh, and a frequent thing that happens as a missionary is when you go to teach a less active or investigator, they are sometimes drunk or high. This is how the conversation went... (Name changed in the story, just in case).

Me: Brother Burke... Are you drunk? We told you to keep the word of wisdom.

Brother Burke: I'm not (long dramatic pause) drunk. Only a little bit...

Me: Brother Burke. When you are sober, we will come back and teach you. (Awkward laugh)

Brother Burke: It's not funny! Stop laughing... (Then he starts talking to himself)

So this weekend was insane. Saturday, my comps had to go to Spanish Town to practice for the musical devotional. I spent Saturday in Mandeville, and also Sunday. I went back Saturday night. Sunday night, my comps got stuck in Kingston, so I had to spend the night in Mandeville. AND I DIDNT EVEN HAVE A TOOTHBRUSH. Ergh the annoyance. I'm still in Mandeville right now, we went to a place called MegaMart, which is a little place I like to call AMERICA. It's like Walmart, but not as good. But, they have refried beans. So basically, my life is complete. Me and my comps have determined that this month is Mexican food month. We've been making tortillas. Well, I've been making tortillas... Anyways. I'm excited to skype home in two weeks! 

Well, I'm just loving everything right now. It actually makes me nervous. Things are too happy, I'm afraid something bad will happen... I'm just working on maintaining my positive attitude. It's working! Heavenly Father has been blessing me with love, charity, and patience. I know I can't do this all on my own. I also feel like I'm getting more bold and less nervous to talk to strangers. Not like I really was nervous, but it is completely going away now. Being a missionary is fantastic. I recommend it to everyone!

Blessings, 

Sister Pitt

A Jamaican Thanksgiving!

Awkward moment when some elders playfully toss a pebble into the car, but it hits the window and then the window completely shatters... 

Went to a resturant called Jack Sprat today. It's at Treasure Beach. I'm sure if you looked it up, you could find pictures. It's a tourist spot. I ate some Jamaican jerk sausage pizza. It was fantastic. This is also the place were the pebble shattered our window. 

So yeah. Anyways, this week was great! Being in a tripanionship proves to be like a sleepover every single night. Oh boy, I've laughed so much this last week. My sickness is pretty much gone. I am still bit gargly (is that a word?). Anyways, Junction is amazing. Sister Tominey reminds me so much of Gabby. So, we are always cracking up laughing, and Sister Collier is more of the sophisticated, sensible one. The members here are AmAzInGGGG. I love them. I love Jamaicans more and more every single day. 

A little miracle we had this last week was when we went to go visit a less active. She is a great girl, but just doesn't come to church for some reason. Anyways, her best friend was at the house, and we taught them about the Atonement and Gods love. The spirit was so amazingly strong in this lesson. At the very end, we invited Rochelle (the less actives friend) to meet with us again, and she didn't even hesitate, "Um, YES I would like to learn more!" Hopefully that goes somewhere. And another kid named Kevoy we met through a member is great. He is around 16-17 and seems so interested and intelligent. The work is going well. I enjoy it so much. 

Oh speaking of miracles. CHRISTINA GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOO! PARTY DANCING TIME. I'm sad I wasn't there, but hallelujahhhhh! I wanted to shout and cry for happiness. I got permission to call her (because I'm not in Linstead anymore), and she sounded so excited. Oh man, I'm still so giddy from it. 

Another great part of this week was Thanksgiving! We made green bean casserole, instant mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and we bought a chicken. It was so wonderful and delicious. I ate so much. (Refer to attached pictures). I wasn't really homesick. There is no other place on earth I'd rather be this holiday season than serving the Lord here in Jamaica. There is so much to be thankful for. 

Anyways, it is the Christmas season, and it makes me reflect on the real meaning behind it all. I have been contemplating the gift I will give Jesus Christ this year. I am thinking a more consecrated heart. I really want to be better each day. 

Family, I really do miss you. I miss Moms delicious food. I miss the hugs. I miss relaxing... haha

Respect,

Sister Pitt

P.S. In the last month, I've been asked if I'm Jamaican three times. HA.

Sweet Girls!

Abby Is Being Eaten Alive

Abby The Rastaman

Damar Is A Hairstylist

Flowers!

Fred Is Our Pet

Feast Your Eyes!

Thank Heavens For Food!

Gained Five Thousand Pounds

Lots Of Laughs

Me Hungry, Me Want To Eat

Post Thanksgiving

Jack Sprat

My Kind Of Corner Minus Obama

Part Of Our Area

Right BeforeThe Window Shattered

Ugly Mural

Treasure Beach!