Jamaica Week 2

March 25, 2013

 

Hey!! :) Life is going good here. I miss you guys. There is hot water in my apartment but it's the only one in the mission with hot water. It's really hot here still, I feel basically wet all the time and other elders say that you just don't get used to it. There are some stores that are pretty nice, reminds me of a store kind of like Mike's. You can get most things that you can get in America there. Other stores are just little tiny dark grocery stores, but we are going to try and not hit those ones up anymore. I sent a little letter home last week like on Wed you'll have to tell me when you receive it. I got a letter in pouch mail today from Gma E and it was dated March 8 so it takes a little while to get here. We are planning on having some people get baptized on April 6. We had Pday today at Port Royal, look it up. It's like an old army fort or something. There were like 3 zones there and we played capture the flag. Yesterday I got to witness something pretty cool. So Bro B., the next mission president lives in my branch and he got ordained to a high priest by Pres H. He is the first person from the western Carribean to be a high priest. Since there are not stakes here, there has been no need for high priests, until now they are providing their own mission president. The branch got to sustain him too since there is no high council here to do that, Pres H. had to get special permission from the area presidency to do that. Well that's my week I guess. I'm glad to hear everything is going good. I'm nice and safe here and everything is safe to eat and drink here and stuff. I've eaten turkey neck and chicken back, not super good, but edible I guess. They eat a lot of weird stuff here, and rice and peas (beans) with every meal. I've only eaten at one members house and had two meals from members that they just bring to us. Any like restaurant that you go to gives you rice and peas as well. Well it was good hearing from you guys, keep writing me, everyone is saying that basically every package will get to me, I shouldn't have a problem with that. I am going to have to send home my flash drives with pictures every once in a while to get pictures to you guys. By the way I wash laundry by hand here too, crazy huh!! :) Well keep me in the loop, sends pics of prom and stuff. Love you guys!!!

Elder Colton Harris

First Week in Jamaica

Monday, March 18, 2013

Hey everything is going good here. It's so good to hear from home. I miss all of you guys so much, I am going to try and send a letter home this week that might go into more details. It's very hot and humid here, the people here are great. I am serving in Spanish Town, google it if you want I guess. There are 2 branches here and 8 missionaries. This is definitely a third world country, many people are so poor and are living in poverty, People living in what they call zink, or that wavy aluminum, but they all have tv and cell phones, even the kids. Priorities. My companion is named Elder Wright, He is from Kingston. He is a really good guy, strong in the faith, exactly obedient, he is a good trainer. Jerk Chicken is good, I have had it twice now. Last night the zone leaders that we are living with brought extra dinner from their appointment home with them.  It was turkey neck, chicken feet, and beans. Glad I didn't hit that meal up last night. I tried it and honestly it wasn't too bad, it was very bad!!! Ha we don't eat with members at all. Sometimes maybe once a week if you’re lucky they say.

We got a lot more missionaries than they are used to so they are dividing areas AND where everyone sleeps…new missionaries came from the MTC and in Miami we met up with 3 other missionaries whose visas got delayed, so 12 altogether, the most this mission has ever received.

I haven't seen the ocean from Jamaica yet, it was too dark when we flew in and I've been inland ever since. I had a baptism yesterday, my first one, it was really neat :) well I hope everything is going good at home. I miss you guys a lot, the work out here is hard, I am on a bike all day everyday.  It is a piece, but for Jamaican standards it is really good, people always come up and want to trade bikes with us. A lot of kids yell 'white man, white man' when we ride by. I can barely understand people when they talk, but I am getting more used to it. Well time is short, gonna try to send home some pics, love you, send me pics of my room and stuff. Bye.

Love Elder Colton Harris

Elder Romney and Elder Harris in Jamaica
(Elder Cody Ebmeyer, Colton's cousin, is serving in Washington State in Elder Romney's home ward.)


Elder Harris and Elder Wright, his trainer

Elder Harris

 

Elder Wright and Elder Harris with the first woman who Colton taught a lesson to in Jamaica!

 

He arrived safely!

He's in Jamaica!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

To family,

Hey I tried emailing you guys today, but it was a super big pain.  The computers I was using were in the laundry room and there were a million people in there and the church has these computers so regulated, everything is blocked, the security setting are super high.  They were just a huge pain.  My P-day here in Tuesday so this is my only P-day here.  We’re gonna try and do laundry on Monday so I will probably be able to email that day, just not 100% sure.  I tried to send 7 pictures through email, if you didn’t get them, tell me.  There are 10 flying to Jamaica next week (yesterday now since I didn’t get this posted sooner)  6 elders and 4 sisters, I think.  As I said in the email, I am a zone leader, it’s pretty cool but it just takes up a lot of extra time and time is not one thing we have a lot of extra here.  We are kept SO busy, it’s exhausting.  I still am not getting used to it.  The food is okay.  Sunday for dinner they had steak, basically roast beef, and popcorn shrimp.  I ate almost all of the shrimp on my first plate and even some on my 2^nd plate.  It started getting pretty gross by the end tho.  (His Dad and I are way impressed since he didn’t like shrimp before…of course, batter most anything and fry it up and it will be tasty!)  I see Cody (Harris, his cousin) and Adam (Kia, his friend) quite a bit and even sat by Adam at mission conference on Sunday.  He left this morning at 4:00 am tho.  Well, everything is going good here.  I’m about ready to go to the temple right now.  Tell Brock and Korie Congratulations.  I did my own laundry today.  (I am impressed!)  Well, hopefully that’s all I had that I wanted to say.  Love you guys.  Have fun.  

Elder Colton Harris

"MTC schedule is SOOO BRUTAL!"

They are so cute tho.  (In response to the picture we emailed him of his newest cousins, twin girls Harper and Scout, born to Uncle Brock and Aunt Korie on February 28, 2013.)  Thanks for all the letters, everything is going good tho, I have seen Adam quite a bit! It's awesome to see him.  The schedule here is SOOO BRUTAL!!  Everyone that has been here longer than us just tell us to get used to it because it only gets worse :( I'm gonna try and send some pictures home, hopefully it works.  Me and my companion are zone leaders so we are in charge of like 60 kids the whole week minus a couple hours when our branch president is here.  It's been good tho.. You learn so much here so fast it's incredible.  Mom do you think you can look up a collar extender on amazon or something and ship it to me please?  My collars are just a little tight.  I don't have much time so I will also write a hand written letter.  Love you all. Bye

Elder Harris and Elder Kia, 2 of the 4 Beaver "Brohas"

Elder Harris and his companion, Elder England

Elder Harris' First Letter!

February 27, 2013

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family,

Today was quite the day.  Saying goodbye to everyone is definitely one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I love you guys all so much.  I am going to miss you guys, but everything is going good here so far.  I'll run through what I did to check in after I walked away from the car.  We went into a big room and there were different stations.  We had to go to all of them.  The stations were where we got our name badges, meal cards, different handouts and pamphlets, room key, and reviewed if all of our information was correct.  Then we were shown our rooms and called beds.  I got a bottom!  There are three bunk beds in here, but only four elders, so its not too crowded.  Then we went and met our district and had a testimony meeting, then had a meeting with all of the new missionaries to meet the MTC Presidents, then dinner, zone meeting, and now just down time.  My P-Day is Tuesday so I'm not sure if Tuesday, the 12th I'll get to email home or not.  Well, it is all going good.  I'm pretty sure that my branch president in Brother Gubler, my institute teacher at UVU!  I haven't seen him yet, but I do know that his name is Brother Gubler, he's bald, and so that adds up to be him:-)  He's awesome!  The spirit is so strong here!  It's really cool.  Oh and in the schedule above there was a time where there were mock interviews with investigators that the rest of the group got to help out with.  My companion is really great.  His name is Elder England.  We actually have the same first name.  We have a lot of the same interests.  He grew up on a farm in Price (Utah).  He played football and did track in high school.  He's a really good guy.  We did not get a chance to go to the post office today so I'm sorry, Taggart, I did not get your letter.  Hopefully I can get it tomorrow.  Well just know that everything is going good here.  There are sooo many missionaries here.  The said it is one of the largest groups ever to come into any MTC. (Brad's brother's neighbor volunteers at the MTC on Wednesdays checking in the new missionaries.  She said there were 751 enter the MTC that day!)  I love you all.  Have fun.

Elder Colton Harris

Oh, P.S. I made my own bed from start to finish for the first time today.  Be proud, Mom!!:-) (I am!)

February 28, 2013

P.P.S.  My comp loves Duck Dynasty!  We stayed up 'til midnight quoting it last night, which was a bad idea, let me tell you, cuz I'm tired now.  Oh and I forgot to watch the last episode of The District, I just realized.  NBD (No big deal) tho.  Love ya.