Suriname at last

HELLO EVERYONE! WORRY NOT FOR I AM ALIVE! i've had a couple close
calls on my bike already but ive made it thus far! hahah I should
probably start with Trinidad, What a beautiful place, the beaches were
so clear (I didn't go in) and the view from the top of one of the
mountains we climbed up (on the way to meet an investigator) was
breathtaking, hahah despite only spending a few days there I loved it.
I met President and Sister Mehr and they were awesome, they made us
food like 4 times a day and the mission home was beautiful, in
Trinidad it had to be a few million dollar home. President Mehr gave a
really awesome lesson about how he knew our families would be taken
care of while we were gone, it just hit especially hard with me when I
heard how well Grandpa was doing right when I left. That really meant
a lot to me and helped me not be afraid to focus harder on what I'm
doing here. I'll send some pictures of everything in a little but
first let me tell you about our first lesson. Immediately out of the
car someone ran out with a bible to argue with us, I saw a
hummingbird, heard a gunshot, and fed a stray chicken (all during the
first lesson outside their shack) and later that day I saw an iguana!
It was huge! lizards are a common occurence im still getting used to
seeing all the time, hahah and the bugs too are pretty huge. What was
crazy about trinidad was how beautiful and gross it was at the same
time, the landscape and ocean were amazing but there was so much
poverty and trash it made me a little sad to see, my experience there
was still really cool though. The people were so poor yet so kind at
the same time, almost like they had no idea what they were missing,
which was another powerful example to me of how you don't need money
to be happy. Anyways, now for Suriname! Customs took forever but once
I finally made it through the elders were there to greet us at 2 in
the morning! Theyve all been great and theres not a single one i
didn't like. My first companion in particular is awesome, his name is
Elder Dom from Utah, he's been awesome and I think he's a really solid
missionary to learn from. Something funny about him is that in dutch
"Dom" means stupid or dumb, so he had to get his nametag changed to
"Dam" The very next day he had me teach a lesson! I taught a less active
named sister p.... about the Sabbath Day, after he said my dutch was really good!
I can't communicate without making a lot of mistakes but people
understand me and i sort of understand them! hahah he said that for
starting out that was excellent, and i can tell its improving a little
every day. Suriname is beautiful, im in Paramaribo South, although its
still pretty 3rd world here i see some people with some modern stuff
like flat screens and smart phones, whats funny is that they have
those things but live in a shack, its really weird sometimes. But its
just what people here are used to. Some parts are cleaner than others
too, sometimes theres just muck on the side of dirt roads, and we saw
a dead dog on the street the other day (*tear) but people are so mean
to dogs here anyway I don't think it bothers them, there are strays
everywhere and sometimes they're not so nice... (I've ran from like 3
already hahah) But anyways let me tell you about my favorite
experience so far, we were on a bus (SOOO gross we normally bike) and
elder Dom lost the phone! so we had to go allll the way to the store
and then alll the way to the mall to get a new one, and then just our
luck my bike broke. We were there for awhile trying to fix it, and the
day was passing away pretty fast we weren't super happy with the
current situation, but it was just then a little twelve year old boy
came over and started talking to us! And what do you know he said that
his parent's had wanted to have the missionaries over! we gave him our
information and turned him over to the missionaries in that area (we
had to go super far out to get the right kind of phone) We both
immediately said afterwards we knew why we had been put there, I'm
sure it will be the first of many times that happens but I never knew
quite how it would work until now. As the Lord gives us trials, and we
endure them with patience, we'll be blessed, and despite how difficult
things can be here sometimes, I know that when I keep my head up and
keep working experiences like the one there will be plenty. There's so
much more I could say (like the people who yell at us in Srnan Tongo)
((Then we respond and they're super surprised we know it)) but I'll
save it for another time when there's not so much to say like today,
hahah, it's been a crazy adventure here so far but i'm already
beginning to fall in love with it, especially the people. I love you
guys all so much and I want to make that especially sincere because
I'm still not used to riding a bike with no lanes on the road and
people who arent afraid to get REALLYYYYYY close to you, hahah but I
do miss you guys and hope all is well
Love, Elder Carpenter