Elder Smith's West Indies Adventures: Catch the wave!

What a week! There was so much going on this week and it was just great! I loved it! I hope that I will have enough time to write it all! Well here it goes!

We have been focusing a lot of our finding efforts in a new area and we have seen a ton of success! About a week and a half ago Elder Beck and I set a goal to find some cool families and future Priesthood holders and this area has been an answer to our prayers! We have met a lot of cool people and the Lord has blessed us richly! We just started there so I don't have a ton of stories yet but I will hopefully have some next week!

So this week we had a sweet branch activity down in Vieux Fort and we ended up having the baptism down there! It was really cool! There were a ton of people there and it was a great saturday! We played a lot of games and were able to have some good food and it was just great! However it was super hot! Like it was crazy! And it was the day before fast sunday... So I will let you do the math on that one... Ha so we got home at about 8 and so we ate and drank as much water as we could during that short period of time and then started our fast at about 8:30. Let's just say the next day was miserable! I mean terrible! Church was great! It was really spiritual but it was rough physically! I usually go and help in the primary room and when I got in there the AC wasn't working. Ha so I was sweating a ton and was just dying and then after that we went home and finished studying and I was getting a bad headache but you know, I'm fasting so you just have to handle it! But anyway I kept going and finally 8:30 comes around and I am just dying and so I break my fast, drink some water and take some meds with a kit-kat (it was the only thing i could just grab and eat. Plus I was craving it!) And at about 8:33 I was throwing it all back up! It was like my first scout camp experience all over again! I was thinking of brother Lott the entire time! Ha so then i ate some mac and cheese (our dinner) and I had some more water and I threw that all up a couple minutes later! It was a rough night! Gotta love fasting in the Barbados Mission! Ha i ended up getting better and I am now more hydrated but it was crazy! So yeah that is why I didn't have a picture on the rooftop this week! I was to sick! I am already seeing blessings from that fast though! ;)

Alright it's time to talk about Odellia's baptism! We had it on Saturday and it was so cool! She was so excited! Oh also before I forget! Brittany got her mission call on the same day as the baptism! She is going to New Jersey! So yeah that was cool! But anyway the water was super rough because we did it in the Atlantic ocean and it's crazy! So we are walking out there and the water was really gross because it is just full of seaweed! So as we're walking out Elder Beck is just like, "The water is rough today!" and then said jokingly, "Odellia you know how to swim right?" And she just looks at him with fear in her eyes and tells him that she doesn't. So she was terrified! We got out deep enough to do the baptism and we are getting mashed by waves and we tried to do the baptism but her dress came up! So we get ready to do it again and a HUGE wave comes and nails us! I got taken out and ended up swimming a little! Ha it was crazy! We went to do it again and she still didn't make it but then the third time was the charm! We made it out safely and despite all of the craziness it was still a great experience! Odellia was so happy and she is actually giving a talk on sunday! We are excited for that! She is going to be a great member!

Well I am about out of time but I know that this church is true. This is the Lord's work. He loves us! I know that as we turn to He makes our lives much better than we could make it on our own. I love you all and I hope that you have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith
Here are some pics of the baptism and the activity on Saturday! Also the kid with the dominos is named miguel and he is a boss! Mom you would love to have him in tavaci! Him and his mom are recent converts and are really cool! It was his birthday and so we had a little party with him!