"HAPPY EASTER" From Jamaica!

Alright. You know it's a good week when you get things for free. We have received three watermelons, two cantaloupes, five mangoes, four heads of lettuce, and spice bun and cheese. Not to mention random meals given to us. You know you're loved in Jamaica when people give you food. Also a guy who we are teaching works at a big sports park, and he is going to let us play tennis for free next week monday. I look at all of these things as blessings. haha

Btw, did anyone know that raspberries grow in Jamaica in the mountains? I didn't but I feasted on those the other day. YUM.

Man, so much has happened this week, it's hard to explain all the good stuff. I guess I'll kinda explain what easter is like in Jamaica. Well, all our investigators went to their own church, you know, because it's easter... Everyone eats spice bun and cheese. It's kinda gross, but we endured it. The cheese isn't like good cheese, it's like processed cheese. And that is about all they do. It's not super special out here or anything, but lots of parties going on, especially on Good Friday. I'm not sure if people are trying to draw nearer to Christ or further from him. But, today is a holiday as well, everything is closed down. 

Easter Sunday was really special to me this year. The whole story starts a few days earlier though. So, we borrowed President Gayles keys to his office, because we had to complete the Preach My Gospel survey on the internet. Sister Llewellyn had his keys and the sister training leaders came down to do splits with us. Sister Llewellyn accidentally left the keys in the sister training leaders truck, and they drove back to Kingston. Anyways, Sunday morning came around, and I asked Sister Llewellyn for the branch presidents keys so that we could go and open up the office for the boys to set up the sacrament. She couldn't find them anywhere. We had a panic attack, thinking that we wouldn't be able to do the sacrament, because we didn't have anything to do it with. Elder and Sister Vance saved the day, and we found sacrament cups. We had the sacrament with a white sheet, white plates and little sacrament cups. It was a great lesson to me, and it was very memorable. At first I felt terrible because I was thinking we wouldn't be able to have the sacrament, especially on such a special day, where we are supposed to be thinking about Christ's sacrifice and resurrection. But, it doesn't matter, as long as you have the priesthood, it can be done. When I took the bread and water, I was filled with the spirit. I wasn't scheduled to speak in sacrament, but I texted President Gayle asking if I could bear my testimony. I don't really know why I asked, but if I had ignored the prompting, I would have felt terrible. I got up at the end, when he announced that I would be bearing my testimony, and I bore testimony of the Savior. I felt really good. I don't know why the spirit prompted me to do that, because it wasn't testimony Sunday, but I acted on the prompting, and I feel so much peace because of it. It was a really special Easter Sunday for me. The spirit was strong, and I know that Jesus is the Christ.

Shakarah came to church! What a blessing. Also a homeless man came, and he was reading a book the entire time. I went to go look at what the book was and it was "Winnie the Pooh." I am still laughing about that. 

I got proposed to, again, this week. Nothing new.

But, all is well in Jamaica. Life is good. I love it here. I took a ton of pictures this week. I had to make up for my lack of photo taking lately.

I LOVE YOU ALL

-Sister Pitt

Long Hair Don't Care!

COMPARISON!

Tucks It Into His Pocket!

LOVING Jamaica!

Sister Barlow And I!

FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF!

Something that many people in Jamaica do like about our message is that we always say, "We want you to find out FOR YOURSELF if this is true." or "We want you to ask God YOURSELF, just like how Joseph Smith did." A lot of missionaries from other churches try to prove everything to these people from the Bible and from their own understanding. Our message is so simple and clear. If you pray, Heavenly Father will manifest the truth unto by the power of the Holy Ghost. Ask and ye shall receive. If you lack wisdom, ask of God. We were telling a guy about the restoration, and we told him all sorts of things, but what really stood out to him was, "Don't believe what we say, find out for yourself." He was so impressed by that, that he desires to learn more. I'm not sure he will go anywhere, but that is why our message is so unique to the world. I just love this Gospel, and I just love sharing it. I have asked, and I have found truth. 

I did have a one year celebration. We bought a large pizza, baked cookies and watched a church movie. Nothing too exciting. But, man, crazy.

This week we watched the Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration movie with Shakarah and Collito. THEY LOVED IT. My goodness, they were like, "That was so good." and "It makes so much sense." We asked them why they think Joseph Smith faced so much trials, and they both talked about how sometimes God gives a person hard times to make them stronger. They also recognized that there are wicked men who were inspired by Satan to do all manner of wickedness towards Joseph Smith. We told them that as they learn about the Gospel, they will face trials, some will be from God, some will be from Satan, but if you have faith, just like Joseph Smith, you can overcome all things. They are doing great. It's a slow process, but miracles are working. Especially because Shakarah's mom has a steady ride each week to Junction, so now they will be able to make it to church! :) I'm just going to continue to pray for them and hopefully teach them with the spirit. 

I just love Sister Barlow. Man, she is awesome. She is so easy to get along with, I really admire her. She is two years younger than me, but I told her, I couldn't even tell, she seems like she was born to be a missionary. She is adjusting so well to everything. 

Oh the best news is... JAMAICA IS GETTING ITS FIRST STAKE IN JUNE! It will be in Kingston or Spanish Town or something. I'm so excited and happy about this! It is not just a rumor, it is legit happening! I love that the work of the Lord is progressing, even here in Babylon... EHEM Jamaica :) 

Family, I thought about you a ton this week. I really miss you and I really think of you all the time. I wish I could explain my weeks better, but it is so hard to put a whole week of things in an email. I just really love it out here. I really love Jamaica. I really love being a missionary. It's amazing!

One Love JAH Rastafari,
Sister Pitt

Sister Barlow And I

Bulgarian Book of Mormon In Jamaica!

Guess Who Made My Planner!

MANGO SEASON'1

My ONE YEAR Pizza Celebration!

Yummy Jamaican Red Pea Soup

"Let It Go, And Let God"

Conference weekend was amazing. Can you say V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N? Crazy to think that a year ago I was in Salt Lake, set apart, anticipating going to the MTC. That feels like it was just yesterday. I know I probably always talk about how fast time is going, but it's so crazy. 

There is a saying here in Jamaica that I absolutely love. It doesn't make much sense, grammatically, but it sounds nice, "Let go, and let God." So that is what I have been doing. I am letting go of self doubts, worries, and just letting God do His thing. I can't control people, everyone has agency, so I will at least control how I look at each situation. I can control my learning, my thoughts, my actions. I know as a missionary I am not supposed to be selfish, but each of us have a huge responsibility for our own eternal progression. Nobody will get us a free ticket into heaven. We determine our destiny, individually. I am just doing my best to be a mouthpiece for the Lord. I am not the teacher, the spirit is. I am not here to convince anyone, the spirit will do that. I am simply a vessel. If I am worthy and obedient, the spirit will manifest itself to our investigators. 

This last week I had an amazing spiritual experience while teaching the restoration of the gospel to two young people. One is Shakarah, and the others name is Collito. They are both amazingly intelligent. I love them so much. Anyways, while we were teaching, they just understood everything. It all made sense to them. The highlight of the lesson was when we talked about modern day prophets, and the Book of Mormon. Shakarah was so excited that we have a prophet on the earth today. She wanted to know everything about him and the kind of things he teaches, we told her about conference. Collito was especially impressed by the Book of Mormon. When we had him read the introduction, he said with a smile on his face, "That makes so much sense. Of course God would do something like this. Of course he would have another testimony of Christ, so that on judgement day nobody can say that they didn't hear about him." When he said that, I started to cry. It was really embarrassing... I just was so happy that he understood. Nobody understands. Nobody actually cares, and finally someone comes along and it just makes so much sense to him. I really hope and pray that he reads and prays about this. It might make sense to him, but if he doesn't ask God if it's true, he will never know for himself. 

After the lesson Shakarah and Collito (who both attend the anglican church), said to us, "You know, we go to our church and we don't really learn anything, but when you guys come we can't stop thinking about the lesson." Wow. That was awesome. We committed them to baptism. They said if God told them to do it they would. I know God will tell them to do that, if they are sincerely seeking truth. 

There were many talks that touched my heart this conference. I especially loved Elder Eyrings talk this year. It made me really want to develop a legacy of hope and faith. I don't need to make a big mark on the world, I don't need money or fame, I just want people to remember me by my faithfulness and my diligence in following after my Savior.

I also loved Elder Hollands talk, and Elder Utchdorf, and Elder Steveson, ALL OF THEM. They were all so good. If you didn't watch them all, go back and watch them! It will fill you spiritually. 

Here are some statements made that really stood out to me:

"In His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."

"Wrong is never right."

"I would have never asked for this trial, but I would never ask for it to be taken away."

"You can become like God, if you follow Him." (Notice how conditional that statement is).

"Do you sense the urgency?"

"There may not be second chances to be kind."

I feel spiritually filled and happy. All is well.

Love always,

Sister Pitt

Peekaboo!

Beautiful!

New Study Area!

Sisters!

Where We Watched Conference

Street View

Evening Sky

What A View

MORE Sisters!