Turning Corners

We had quite the week. All of a sudden, I have a calling, and we have a car. Say what? You heard correctly. Austin and I bought a car. It was the most impulsive, accidentally on purpose thing we could have done, but it will be a good thing. We really bought the car without meaning to. The whole situation is funny because I am SO stubborn and was pretty adamant against buying a car. It seemed like such a hassle between getting a license, paying the associated fees, figuring out how to drive and where to go here, and the mess of having to get rid of it when we leave, and fixing it's problems while we are here. Problems? Oh yes! Buy a car, buy its problems. "Island cars," as they are known, are old, junky, and do little more than drive. Plus, they have a history of owners. So, how did we get into this mess? Well...We have been toying with the thought of moving, mostly for location sake. Then, Austin came back from an Elder's Quorum meeting last week that lasted 4 hours. FOUR HOURS!! As if that weren't enough, he came home with the assignment to home teach 4 families. Him nor his companion has transportation so the thought of doing so was overwhelming. Can you blame him? Between that and not wanting to deal with the thought of moving and because I am feeling guilty that we depend on others for transportation and can't give much service in return- the thought of getting a car became more serious. 

Our neighbor happens to fix cars and sell them. I called him to see if he couldn't help us look for cars. All of a sudden, he called an hour later and said we had a car for us. Uh.... 

We drove it around the block and before I knew it, we wrote him a check and didn't know what we had done. 

Already, I feel liberated having a car. Knowing that we have the freedom to go to the pool and the store is quite awesome. It was nice not to walk to church this morning and nice to come home. There are plenty of problems with are car. I'm not kidding when I say it only drives (and the radio works, but I wish it didn't); but I feel good about buying from our neighbor because I have the promise that he will fix things and take care of us. Pray for us!

I decided to name our car Michelangelo after the Ninja Turtle because that's what the inside reminds me of. (One of the other moms told me we had to name our car.) I can now say that I have driven on the wrong side of the street rightly. It's a mental game at first, but really isn't so bad. The tricky part is learning how to maneuver the roads as they are so narrow and often so steep. I'd bet a lot of the hills here are 60-70% grade. You think I'm kidding! Really! I don't think we will be driving anywhere at night either. That's tempting death. No lines and horrible glares makes it difficult to see anything. It doesn't help that the people camouflage in the night too.

The other big news is that I am now the second counselor in the Primary presidency.  After being in the Primary for the last 4 years, I guess it wasn't enough. This will be a good place for me: I can stand up more often and avoid getting "bum sore;" the kids are easy to talk to; and I don't worry about Eden being completely silent the whole time.They have it set up so that I can go to RS at least once a month, but being a counselor also means I am a teacher. There are only 15 kids: 2 classes and nursery. 

The Senior Missionary Sister told me that a while back they were praying for good families to come into the branch. A month later, the Kims- who is now our new Branch President- moved to St. Kitts. A month later, a family from Utah arrived. Another week later, we came with the other Utah family. She said, "I guess we just needed good families from Utah (and our Korean president)." So, I know why we are here. It's not because we want to be, but maybe because we need to be. 

We are getting into a more normal routine here. I think we are accustomed to life. At the pool this week, the craziest thing happened. I was sitting on the edge with my feet in the water when I kept feeling little pokeys on my bum. I looked down once thinking I had sat on something, but couldn't see anything. I looked down again, nothing. Finally, I stood up and the other moms started yelling at me to get in the pool. There were- what they said to be- 100-200 ants around my swim bottoms- all different sorts: sugar ants, military ants, fire ants. They were biting me, the little buggers! They didn't have to tell me twice. I quickly handed Eden off and jumped in the pool, stripping my pants as I went. ewww! Ha.... paradise. . 

The New Testament

The story of Christ is beautiful. It is a story that has eternal consequences and influence on you and on me. How fitting it is to start the Book of Matthew with the announcement of a King. The Old Testament prophesies and amasses to one single, triumphant event: the coming of a Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. And so begins the New Testament- a testimony that Christ was born, the only Begotten Son of the Father. To fulfill the law, Christ came. Foreordained, he overcame Satan’s snares, even as a babe. He lived, he atoned, and he died that we might live. And not just that we might live, but that we might live eternally and become like Him, even as He is. 

Fighting Over Marriage

Yesterday was a big day in history. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide. This is one of the most heated topics you will ever see. Posts are flooding Facebook, the news, and gossip is spreading. Even on our small island of St. Kitts, this is big news. It seems that everyone watches the United States, if not as an example, to criticize.

This is one instance that I am ashamed of my country and scared for its future. The signs of the times are most evidently before us. It is a time when 'iniquity is abounding' as prophesied and spoken of in scriptures. Iniquity: immoral behavior, aka. sinfulness, wickedness, and immorality. How obvious to those who are watching that we are becoming again like the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

What strikes me most about this hot topic is the symbolism used to proclaim "pride." Too well recognized, the rainbow signifies support of the LGBT community or what people claim as equality. How ironic, that the rainbow is used to symbolize sin when it is the rainbow that God gave as His symbol to man that He would never again flood the earth. Are we not mocking God? Testing His limits? Pushing His buttons? It is as if we think that because He will not flood the earth again, we can do whatever we well please.

Here continues the battle. It is a never ending fight over marriage and for marriage. While there are those who will fight over what is marriage and what is pleasing to man, the rest of us will be fighting for marriage- marriage as defined by God and set forth from the beginning, with a man and a woman.

This is a battle continued from heaven, before this life. So it was over agency. Do you follow God's plan? or do you choose the latter? Here lies another one of Satan's traps to foil the Eternal Plan. Well, it doesn't work that way. Satan may be rejoicing today, but he will never win. Still, we fight for marriage. We fight for families. We fight for God's plan that allows us to live with Him and our Savior Jesus Christ.

It is ALL about the Plan of Salvation, the Plan of Happiness.

HAPPINESS = FAMILIES = ETERNAL LIFE

To learn more, study The Family is Central to the Plan of Salvation

The Bread of Life

Grandma was part of a longtime morning walking group. At one point in time, a of her friends was unable to participate in the daily walks yet found a way to still contribute to the excitement. She created a new tradition of "Letters from the Mailbox" for the rest of the women. Each morning, she would leave stimulating questions and conversation starters for the ladies to talk about as they walked. 

Grandma shared a few with me to use in my conversing with other girls as I so frequently get the chance. One that struck me was this:

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”  (Matt. 4:4) 
“And Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the bread of life;  he that cometh unto me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”  (John 6:35)  Is John contradicting Matthew?  Explain.  (Think and be careful!)

As I thought on this provoking question, I felt my mind's eye open. Jesus said he is the "bread of life." Taking what he said as truth, Matthew reads like this: "Man shall not live by [Jesus Christ] alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." What does this mean? True, by coming to Christ and believing on His name, we never hunger or thirst. But to live- and live eternally- we cannot just expect Christ to save us. He is the means by which we live, but it takes more than just believing on His name. "...Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" refers to things Christ taught both in person and through the voice of His servants, His apostles and prophets. For we know that by His own voice or by the voice of His servants, it is the same (D&C 1:38). 

That being said, to truly "live" we must follow the prophet. To follow the prophet means we trust in modern day revelation and all that entails. To "live" we must take part in the ordinances and covenants revealed to us in this day. Thus, come together the two halves to make a whole. The one half, being Christ and His grace through the Atonement; and the other, being our obedience through following the prophet and showing our devotion by making and keeping covenants. On this earth, your life will be complete. In the world to come, you will be able to live eternally. And that is how we live.

Love from the island

Good morning! (as they say in St. Kitts)

I am getting fat. Have I said that in my letters yet? Well, it's time to admit it. Ugh. I'm gaining missionary weight. HA! The first month of being here was rough in the health department. We have not been eating like I am used to and it wasn't until this last week that I have really gotten back into exercising full fledged (though it's nothing compared to home). It's interesting getting fat without having a baby to blame :) It's about time I set my goal to do 100 pushups like you. Maybe you should let me in on your little secret as to how to go about that (hint, hint)! 

The crazy thing is,even though I'm gaining weight, I am about 10 pounds less than before I had Eden. So.... not a good thing. Just yesterday, I noticed that I am totally unbalanced because of carrying Eden. My left shoulder is about 4 inches higher than my right when standing normal. Yikes! It's been driving me bonkers since I noticed. 

I say all that because we weighed Eden too. Any guesses? She weighed in at 16 pounds. She's a healthy little thing and doing well! I have no idea how tall she is, but she was blessed with beautiful long appendages. Her long fingers are just like yours- perfect for piano playing. Oh, but to have a piano. That's unheard of here. Can you imagine trying to keep a thing like that in tune with the humidity? Sheesh! It was so humid during a rain storm last night that I almost had trouble breathing because the air was so thick. 

Already, in the month and a half of being here, I have learned a lot about myself. My testimony and grounded faith has become more obvious and proven to me; I have learned that I have patience; I have once again proven how independent and self-sufficient I am; my talents are being improved upon. Austin and I are very frugal and I have found many ways in which to spread the means we have. I discovered that I am very good at coming up with tasty concoctions from scratch and on a whim with minimal ingredients, for one. I get bored having the same thing for dinner, so it is often a new creation out of thin air. 

I have taken an approach of wanting to be best friends with Eden while teaching and caring for her. I hear way too often parents yelling or embarrassing their kids. I hope to follow mom and dad's example and never do that. Instead, I have a mind set to teach my children what TO do instead of saying "no, no, no" to everything. Even to Eden, I'll say things like "It's time to be quiet" or "keep that out of your mouth" instead of "no screaming" or "don't eat that." This all may sound silly, but it's really important to me in keeping a positive spirit and good relationship. I'm sure there will be times of discipline, but like dad always said- if someone tells you NOT to eat that candy bar, it's the only thing you'll want to do and the only thing you'll think about until you do it. 

Well, you've heard me ramble enough. Our big adventure was getting to go shopping at the island Costco wannabe called "Cash and Carry." It's a wholesale store where you have to pay cash, but hopefully get a good discount because of it. I wouldn't have called it Costco and definitely not the happiest place on earth (as I often say Costco is), but it may just be one of the happiest places on the island besides the Marriott. A lady in our branch was kind enough to drive us. Three of us moms from the branch went with our kids and the branch president's wife, who drove us. We were quite the spectacle: one pregnant lady with a kid, one red head with a baby and a kid, me with Eden, all of us white, plus an Asian. Yeah. That says it all. 

Our new branch President had his first Sunday leading the congregation today. Oh man! What a difference! It was so very evident that he was called of God. I felt like the branch is going through a real make-over. Already, he is cracking the whip and making a big difference. That was a short testimony builder of how true it is that our leaders are called by revelation. Great things are about to happen in St. Kitts! 

Keep on swimming, keep on swimming

Once again, Sunday came all too quickly. It's amazing, really, how quickly the weeks go by when the days can sometimes drag. Maybe this has something to do with us walking to church? I say that ironically because I loved walking everywhere in the States and here I am getting to walk everywhere and complaining about it. The saying about the grass growing greener on the other side boils down to 2 things, I've decided:

1. The other side is America, in general

2. This side doesn't have to be all that "brown;" it's just an attitude thing. (Well, and the fact that everyone here really IS brown. HA!)

Austin did extremely well on his tests this week. It's as if he were still at BYU. He says it was somewhat magical and must have been a blessing from Heavenly Father. While I will be the first to tell you that we are extremely blessed, I also know that Austin works really hard at school. He got 102% on one test and the others were about as high. He truly is amazing. 

In response to your question, I'm not sure if smoking is a big problem here. I hear that Marijuana is a big problem; I've smelt it on our neighbor and see it on the back of some of the cars and buses, but to tell you the truth, I've only seen one local smoke. We are actually really lucky to not be surrounded by cigarette smoke and swearing like we could many places. I am sheltered from both, I feel, and also feel that the worldly influences are far from us because we don't have access to television, radio, or even advertising here. Where you would normally see garbage, there isn't any. (But trust me, there is lots of literal garbage- litter all over the streets.) Once again, this is ironic: any swearing or smoking that does happen is done by the medical students. You'd think they would know better and be of a higher caliber, but sadly, no. 

Eden is officially 6 months old! We had a small celebration on her half birthday in which we made dessert for us :) It was a good excuse. She has doubled in volume, it seems, in the last few days. She mostly growls. Other sounds consist of sighs, aahs, nannas, laughs, and baby sounds. It's hard to spell out what she sounds like without hearing her. She loves coughing lately. It's not a real cough by any means. She has just figured out how to expel air in such a way that it amuses her. She sticks out her tongue and gives a little cough, cough, as if to say "excuse me!, don't forget about me, I'm here!"

The locals here all think Eden is fat. They think she is so big! Trust me, she's healthy, but she's not fat. I've seen chubby babies. They all think she's fat because many of their babies are undernourished. Interestingly, my nurse friend explained that it's because they don't use pacifiers here, but instead  breast feed their babies at every little peep. Because they nurse for such short times, the baby never gets to the nutritious part of the breast milk and are therefore, undernourished and skinny little things. 

After Austin's testing on Monday, it felt like a weekend because of the freedom. He took the night to go to the beach with us for a little bit and watch 1/2 the Lion King before falling asleep. Quite the contrast to all the other students who celebrated by drinking and partying. The next day at school very few students showed up, and those who did, were mostly hung over. 

We went with friends last night to the Marriott to swim. Still, it's the happiest place on the island. 

Today was branch conference for us. The mission president and his wife flew in for the meeting today. As I introduced myself, it was quickly made known that Grandpa and Grandma Jack live in their home ward and that Dad used to be President Boucher's doctor before he left for one of his deployments. When I mentioned that David Jack was my dad, President gave me a big hug and said how our family is some of his favorite people. He insisted on a picture. What a small world! and how easy it is to be small because of the church and having celebrities for parents and grandparents. We have such a good family. The goodness of our parents and grandparents continues to manifest itself through people they've served. 

While President was here, we quickly got interviewed for new temple recommends. Austin went first and then I followed. As I walked into the room, the President asked me if Austin was going to be set apart. Quite confused, I said I didn't think so? President quickly pulled Austin back in and said only this: "President Foreman has asked if you would serve as his counselor in the Elder's Quorum. Would you be willing to accept that calling?" Austin wouldn't have time to say no if he wanted to, but of course he would say yes to anything. So, minutes later, he was set apart in Priesthood. From what Austin told me, they almost, accidentally, ordained Austin to the office of an Elder instead of setting him apart. He's that righteous :)

So it goes: Austin is now the second counselor in the EQ. I have yet to get a calling. Unless they "fire" someone, Primary is about the only place left for me, but we shall see.

Another week on a dot on the map

Austin and I were reading scriptures together this week and a certain verse stuck out to me: "Wo ye islands of the sea..." Wo is right! That's totally us!

I figured out the trick to becoming local. In fact, I'm on my way there. All you have to do is spend a few hours in the sun to become uber black and then not shave. Ever. You could go as far as to knock out a couple teeth too, but I'll avoid that at all costs.

Eden and I have spent a lot of time outdoors between walking to church, walking to the grocery store, doing laundry, and out Friday outings at the pool. There is a mommy group that gets together each week at a pool. We tend to spend all day there since we have to travel to get there. That has resulted in me transforming into a reptile. I'm now in the shedding my skin phase. Eden has surpassed Austin in how tan she is, but I try really hard not to let her get sun burnt. So far we have been pretty successful. 

Oy! This child of mine is getting big! I look at her and think she must be almost twice the size as when she was born. I know for a fact she weighs more than twice that. She's a smart girl: almost sitting up by herself and loving food. She knows where her mouth is and figured out how to use a straw. Her hair is now long enough for me to put it in a little side pony tail, the latest fashion for keeping her hair out of her eyes. Oh, and did I tell you that she is a talkative little thing?

We had an interesting experience yesterday. I keep hearing people talk about the Kittitians as being harsh and bossy, rude, and unpleasant. Quite honestly, we have had just the opposite experience in our interactions with them. For the first time, I could see what people meant. I met a farmer that farms in a ditch/gully by campus. He came to sell us produce that he had grown. At the same time that he got to our house, our caretaker also arrived. It came out that he sold us 3 frozen tomatoes, 1/2 onion, and a cut open yam. In my defense, I didn't want to offend him and assumed this was common place. Our caretaker saw what he was doing and ran him out of there like a dog chasing a cat. He ran off cussing and she spent the next hour educating us on how to not get taken advantage of, telling us that if she ever found out that we bought any more frozen tomatoes she would have to beat us up. Lesson learned. So... if anyone has any ideas for frozen tomatoes besides pasta sauce, I'm all ears. We were sold a soursap fruit, which is quite delicious and an amuzing thing. It looks like a puffer fish and is white on the inside with black seeds interspersed throughout the fleshy fruit. If I can bring some back, I will. It tastes like candy. We also got green bananas, which are in fact eaten green, but will turn yellow if picked at the right time. Green bananas, I'm learning, are a staple here. They surprisingly taste like potatoes in their green state. Usually, you mash them and eat them with salt. You can also fry them and turn them into banana chips, but you'd think you were eating Lays. 

If I haven't mentioned it yet, the locals here like to tell you how to raise your kids. I witnessed more of that attitude and the typical Kittitian attitudes in church today. During the RS lesson, one sister explained how she was proud of her daughter for confessing that she lied to her teacher. Another sister went on to say that it was good that she knew that she lied, but that the mom should then have taught her to repent. As you can imagine, the mom took offense, rolled her eyes, and said, "she's only 7!" I have my own thoughts on this, but the two continued to bicker for a while afterwards. On the other hand, testimony meting was great. There was a phenomenal spirit evident because people bore such strong, straight to the point testimonies- something that has been lost in stories and "gratimonies"in Utah. 

Austin's first block tests are tomorrow. He feels much better and more confident thanks to everyone's prayers. He is now in a good grove of studying and seems to be managing very well. Med school definitely isn't easy, but it's been awesome to see how quickly Austin has been able to grasp the immense load of information. He already is starting to sound like a real doctor. It's also really funny watching him study because he will randomly spazz out. At first, I thought it was a muscle twitching, then I realized he was practicing his muscle actions and whatever he was studying. 

New Outlook

I'm afraid I may have come across as depressed and pessimistic or maybe in need of pitying because of the scanty conditions that I have portrayed. At least, that's the feeling I get judging by the response of your letters. 

Though I am just painting an accurate depiction of life here, I probably haven't been highlighting the silver lining as much as I should. It's much easier than camping (Grandpa Cutler). There really are good things about island life. In fact, one of my friends here had a shirt that reads, "We live where you vacation." True dat. 

The wonderful things about living in St. Kitts:

- My gum is EXTREMELY soft. What I brought from Utah has been re-hydrated and tastes fresh off the shelf.

- None of us need lotion here because of the humidity. I'm postponing wrinkles!

- I am already 5 shades tanner than when we came. I could care less, but Austin likes it. 

- Eden will probably learn how to swim younger than most

- I am developing the gift of tongues, not to speak another language, but to decipher those speaking "English." (I guess that would be called the interpretation of tongues. 

- The island schedule means no schedule which means I have all the time in the world to spend with Eden and do whatever we please... within walking distance and our budget

- We get to walk everywhere! Even though it can be difficult here, I do love walking and get plenty of that. 

- No TV! Yes, that is a blessing. The spirit is much stronger without it in the home and we have better priorities as a result. 

- I can leave things out on the counter to defrost and it's thawed in an hour. 

- It's okay if we forget our towel when showering because it's so warm when you get out.

In all honesty, we are very blessed in being here. I feel like the the woman in the Widow's Mite where the last bites of food were prolonged. One of the blessings we enjoy is prolonged and preserved food storage. Don't get me wrong, we have to go shopping, but I feel like Heavenly Father is blessing what we have to last twice as long. 

Living here makes me very grateful for what we are spoiled to have in America, both because of living in the States and because of our parents. Out of all things, most of the moms miss Walmart the most. Our branch had a movie night on Friday in which they showed Meet the Mormons.I was surprised by just how good that documentary was and would recommend it to anyone. The last story told is about a mom sending her son on a mission; the family the story is about lives in Draper. The movie shows their house, inside and out. You should have heard it. Our branch was quiet for the entire movie with the exception of a gasp and awing at the house. To them, it was a mansion. I doubt anyone had seen a neighborhood so pristine, clean, and fit for royalty. Yep, that's where we live.  Well, that's where we lived. We are so lucky. 

The other reason I am utterly grateful to be here is because I am learning how to be a missionary. It is driving me crazy and frustrating as could be, but I love it. I have a new passion for the gospel because of a new perspective that has been given through talking to people of other faiths. I have had new reason to study the scriptures with purpose. I appreciate the gospel for the simple truths that are so foreign to others. And I am SO CONFUSED why it's so hard for others to believe. That's why I'm frustrated. I spend half the day having conversations with myself, practicing what I'm going to say then never get the chance to. The other half of the day is spent wanting to yell from the roof tops and wanting to grab my friend and shake her violently until she gets her head on straight. I now understand Elder Bednar and his story about band-aids. 

It's now 12:30 am and Eden is still up. This is now her favorite almost bedtime. She is completely wired. I must be feeding her some strong milk! She learned how to roll over this week... just one way and she doesn't know what to do once she gets there. 

Oh, we (Eden and I) went to the beach this week and had lots of fun. She loves the water and kicking and staying cool. Silly mom that I am, quickly learned that I have to be careful with what I let Eden do. Thinking she would like to play in the sand, I let her put her feet in the sand. Then... you guessed it, her feet went straight to her mouth. We weren't there long before she had a mouthful of sand. Oops. 

The beach that is closest to our house is called SeaGlass Beach. Appropriately named, it's called that because the shore is full of colorful rocks, or "sea glass." This sea glass covers the black sand and makes for a fun rainbow beach. Rumor is that the sea glass is there because there used to be a bar on the shore and people would throw broken bottles into the ocean. God has an amazing way of beautifying and cleaning his earth. Instead of shards of glass, the bottles have turned into these pretty, soft, and polished rocks. It's really cool. 

There are lots of wonderful things happening in our families. Too much. almost, to keep track of. Brandon got home from his mission this week and looks great. It doesn't seem like we are too far from home when we can skype whenever. 

To Grandpa's and Grandma's: thank you for including me on your emails and for writing back! I love staying connected and we LOVE you!

To everyone: Be safe, be healthy, and love life. We are so blessed. (Now I understand more fully why Grandma Jack always says that.)