.... It Pours!

Dear Family,
Hey ! How are you guys doing ? I am doing pretty well here besides the fact that once again there is civil unrest. This week people were on strike because they think the price of living is to high. Rediculous ! I am getting tired of it because everything is closed. I have 7 letters at the Collings, but we have no gas to go and get them. We can’t use the car basically at all because we have no gas, and we have Zone Conference this weekend. I can kinda sympathize with Sister Ison on the opposition thing. The day before Claudel was supposed to be Baptized, he sent us a text saying that he wasn ‘t ready and he would call us when he was.  Since then we haven’t seen hide nor hair of him. Our best investigators at the moment have their own problems. One moves back to Martinique Thursday, but we hope she will be able to continue there, and the other, whose name is Pascal, is only 16, and his Grandparents are kind of opposed to him coming to church. On the bright side, we have had a lot of really cool lessons with the spirit this week, and I have really felt it. I don’t know how far the investigators we are teaching will go, but I know that I was pretty edified.  Its crazy to find out that all this is happening all at once ! I am really glad that Mom and CJ are ok and everything is going well. Tell Dad and Ben to have a really Happy Birthday , And I will try to send them a card ASAP. Its always hard to hear that sort of news about Grandpa, probably because he is such a great guy. I am sorry that this email hasn’t been to happy either.  Hopefully the rest of 09 goes better. I am doing great though. We had a Carribean-wide District Conference Broadcast from Jamaica this week, and i twas really awesome. We heard talks from Elder Johnson, who is the area president, Sylvia Allred,  from the relief society presidency, Neil Anderson, from the Presidency of the 70, David A. Bednar and Henry B. Eyring. That was cool. I wrote the Maxeys a letter but I don’t have stamps, so I will have to wait to send that.  Other than that I am good and love being here on Guadeloupe, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving any time soon, so that is cool. A couple suggestions to add for my package if I may… A memory card full of cool pictures from home, Because I need some new ones for my frame !

Mom : I hope everything is cool with you ! Feel Better !
Dad :HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!  How are you holding up ? Thank you for your awesomeness !
Sister Ison : I have had your letter written for a while, but unfortunatley, I can’t send it. I will send it ASAP !
CJ : I am glad you are doing alright ! Be healthy !
Ben : HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!! I love you !
Nathan : I love you dude !
Grandma and Grandpa : You guys are the best, and always in my prayers ! I love you !!!!!!
Everyone else : BON COURAGE !
I love you guys ! Have a better week this week !
Elder Ison

Happy Chinese New Year!

Dear Friends and Family,
I don't know how to start so I'll just start with Monday!  haha.  So last Monday we did our normal shopping at ASDA and you'll never guess who we ran into.  It was Sarah Gould!  It was good to see her, but she's having a really hard time and really overwhelmed with things, but at least we were able to give her our phone number so that she can call us whenever she feels ready.  Then we went to the Toffoletti's for dinner.  It was so good, except for poor Sister Toffoletti is pregnant and feeling so sick!  She couldn't even get out of bed.  So we spent a little time with their daughters, it was good.  To get to and from the Toffoletti's we have to take the 34 bus, and let me tell you, all the crazy people are on that bus, and we had a crazy driver as well.  But the Toffoletti's are moving soon, so hopefully we won't have to take that bus much longer  :-P .
Tuesday was Zone Conference and it was amazing!  I found out that Simon and Nina want to be married in August in the temple  :-D .  Aw man, it's just sooooo great.  It was soooo weird to not have Sister Besso there though.  I think that no one should be allowed to go home  :)   But I got chocolates from Prabha and a book from Sister Besso!  Thank-you so much!  And I got a book from the ward!  Tell them thank-you for me.  Then in the evening we went to see Cecelia at the Donyina's.  She's doing very well, and still wants to be baptized and hopefully she will be able to come to church soon.  :)   I love her!
Wednesday was an interesting day.  We spent the day in Southgate trying to visit people who weren't home  :-P   But we left a lot of notes, and we got to see Tony.  He's decided that he doesn't want to go to our church anymore, which is really sad, but there' nothing more we can do for him.  Then in the evening when we were tracting we met this woman who said that we should be proud to be American's because we have a new President and two contenstants on the British Big Brother (LaToya Jackson, and Coolio).  Haha, it made me and Sister Strunk laugh.  Then in the evening we saw Icilda.  She misses us  :)   It was good to see her.
Thursday morning I had a driving lesson in order to make sure I'm prepared to pass my driving test.  He said that my driving is good.  I'm going to have a couple more lessons this week to practice some different things, so hopefully I will be well prepared.  Then we went to Sister Berry's for lunch.  It was so good to see her, and she said she wants to start coming back to church.   :)   Then in the afternoon we did planning.
Friday in the morning we went and saw Lydia.  She's struggling, but she's hanging in there in true Lydia fashion.  Then we had lunch at Cafe Uno again (I know, a splurge,  :)  ) and it was oh soooo yummy.  Then in the evening we went tracting and met some interesting people.... haha, oh how I love tracting (and that's the truth).   :) 
Saturday was a busy day.  In the morning we went tracting on Sister Stella's street and we met one of her neighbours, Patricia, and she let us in to teach her the first lesson.  She knows Stella so that's already a great start.  Then we went to lunch at the Terceno's and had great food (as always).  Then we went to visit the Sackey-Mensah's and for the first time I got to teach a lesson to them with every single one of them in the room.  It was great!!  I love that family sooo much.  Then to top off the evening we went to see Cecelia, and she told us how it is her dream to have a child who loves going to church.   :)   Did I mention that I love Cecelia?  :) 
That brings us to Sunday.  It rained allllllllll day, but that was okay, because it was a really good day anyways.  When we got to church on Sunday we discovered that our phone has decided to completely quit working!  So we had to spend Sunday School in the Bishop's office making phone calls to figure things out.  It's been quite interesting to be without a phone.  But Lillo, Milena, and Jason came to church.  Also, one of the less actives we work with, Maryam, and her son Arad came to church.  It was so great!  Arad is 6 years old and oh so cute, and he loves church.  Sister Berridge taught Relief Society, and the lesson was on Zion, and she was talking about Babylon, and she said that we live in Babylondon.  It made me and Sister Strunk just start laughing.  It's true though.  Also I saw Jonathan Young and I gave him Mike's message and he said that it totally made his day.  He also wanted Mike to know that he's also engaged.   :)   He and Becky got engaged this week.  Aw, how cute  :-P .  Then after church we went to Stella's for dinner and we were able to teach the Restoration to her niece and nephew.  It was reallllly good.  I always love going to Stella's house anyway, but Bijoux and Sam were an excellent bonus.  I'm especially excited about Bijoux because she seems really interested and she already has been to church once, and she's going to be living with Stella for the next two years.  Then we went to visit Oheneba and Stacey.  We taught them the plan of salvation and Stacey had some questions about Baptisms for the dead.  She's been feeling a lot of pressure from her old church and it's hard for them, but I think that they will make it.  Then we went to the Donyina's house and Hijacked their phone for the evening and made all our necessary phone calls.   Oh how I hope we get a new phone SOON.  It's so hard to be without a phone.
So that's been my week.  I have interviews today, so it turns out that our preparation day is today not tomorrow and we won't be able to go to Trafalgar square as planned, sorry.

Mom-  I'll definitely be praying for your surgery to go well!  I can't believe it's been such an eventful week!  I'm excited about my scrapbook though.  Hehe.  I can't believe about Melissa, tell her congratulations from me!  That's so exciting.

Dad- Thank-you for Zach and Andrew's address.  I was also wondering if you could find out about when registration at BYU-Idaho starts for fall semester for me and what day school starts, because, as strange as it seems, I'll have to start figuring out that now!  Oh my goodness, how time flies. Happy Birthday to you  :) 

Ben-  you are such a good boy.  I knew that you knew how to work hard  :)  Keep it up!  Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

CJ- GET WELL SOON!  Oh man.  I'm glad everything is okay.

Nathan-  Are you a good cook?  I love you!

Elder Ison-  I can't wait to hear you speak French.  My English accent is still horrible so don't expect much there.  :-P 

Sister Besso-  I love you!  Thank-you soooo much for the book!  I hope you are well.

Sister Arnquist and Sister Bower-  Thank-you so much for the post, I'll write back soon.

Everyone else-  I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison

Sis Strunk and I practicing being British Part 2

Sisters Ison and Strunk Practice Being British Part 1

Chicken?!

Hey!

This week was awesome. We have been teaching a guy named Claudel lately and he is doing really good. We taught him yesterday with President Nirrilep and set a hard date for this weekend. We also have been trying to keep the escalator effect going and have been teaching alot of people. This week studies I finished Mormon and started Ether. Those are some depressing chapters, but the story of the brother of Jared is really inspiring. Elder Biver and I have been working on our prayers and trying to make them more effective. Elder Biver is doing really good and we are working really hard. We had a fireside yesterday to introduce a new program to the members where we make paper chains to help them see that their missionary efforts are noticed, and they seem pretty pumped up about it. I love being a missionary for the true church of Jesus Christ, and hope that some of the cool investigators we found this week will be baptized! To answer Dad's question, no I am not a Zone Leader. There are 2 cars on Guadeloupe. We have the other one. I was really sad to hear about The Maxeys Baby though. I will try and write them this week. I love you guys. By the way, having a native French companion makes me feel like I am horrible at French. Its actually been really good for me, so that I don't plateau. I have almost finished the entire Book of Mormon in french too. I better send this thing off, but I love you!

Elder Ison

Opposition...

Dear Friends and Family,
Sometimes I wonder why opposition seems to come so thick and fast! Then I just have to remember that Satan is real, and he's working hard to mislead people....ah man....
Monday evening we saw Kingsley. He met us at the chapel because he got in a row with his wife about the church, so he didn't think it would be the best idea to see us at his home. He's still determined to be baptized, so that's good, but he will have to work hard, and we are praying hard that his wife's heart will be softened.
Tuesday was a good day. We had district meeting in the morning, and then in the afternoon we saw Hayley and David. Then we took Christine and Jane out for Hot Chocolate! It was sooo good to see them, because I feel like it's been forever. At first Jane still seemed a little wary of us, but she was opening up by the end. I think it's good to get them out of the house sometimes. In the evening we went to visit Rosa and Valentine. I love to visit them. They are so much fun.
Wednesday we saw Maryam. She's also struggling a bit and looking for a job, but she's hanging in there. She's so cute. Then we went to see Jason. He's such a cute kid. Then in the evening we saw Cecelia. I'm so excited about her! She's decided to be baptized. She knows the Book of Mormon is true, and she said that it's like a message from Jesus just for her! We just have to pray really hard for her, because, as Sister Strunk said, it's bittersweet to give her a baptism date, because as soon as we do, the opposition will come!
Thursday in the morning we tracted a bit and then went to visit Brother Brezzo. He's such a good man. In the afternoon when we were at the bus station we saw an advert on a bus that we hadn't seen before. It said, "Star Wars: The Musical Journey." haha, it's actually an advert for a Star Wars Musical! It made me laugh. The website on the side of the bus was www.theO2.co.uk if you want to check it out. Anyways, then we went to visit with David, then we saw Agnes. She's been coming out to church every week! It's been so good! She's sooo cute! Then we went tracting a bit on this road called Orpington, and we saw the Romanian Mafia. Haha, not really, I'm not even sure if they were actually Romanian, but it seemed like it. Then in the evening we saw Reon. He's stressed out with school, and work. Plus he's moved out of our ward boundaries, so we're in the process of referring him to the North London Elders. Sad day :( Hehe, they better take good care of him :-P Then we had dinner with Sallyann and David Parish in the evening. It was good to just have time to chat with them, and the food was good. She makes very traditionally English food.
Friday we planned in the morning. Then we went to see Art. He is doing well. He was bummed because he had said that he would come to church this Sunday and then he found out that he would have to work. We really needed him to come to church, because he just couldn't progress with out that. Then in the evening we had an AMAZING dinner appointment. We brought Cecelia with us to the Donyina's for dinner. Well, once we got there we found out that Cecelia and Rita Donyina already know each other, because Cecelia used to work at Nettos (A grocery store) and Rita shops there and they used to talk and joke around at the checkout! We taught Cecelia the Word of Wisdom, and she already lives it. :) She did bring up a concern that she's living with her boyfriend, and pregnant with his baby, but they are planning to be married soon. The only problem is that in African culture, you can't be married if you are pregnant, so it's waiting until after the baby's due. But it's not so long, because the baby is due in April. It was so great to have Rita there to resolve Cecelia's concerns. I think that Cecelia will do well, even if it takes her a little longer.
Saturday morning we saw Jason. We talked to him about the signs of Christ's birth and death in the Americas because we want to watch the Testaments with him, so that was good. Then we went to see Charles Micheal, but we can't figure him out, he said that he doesn't want to change, so we'll probably have to drop him. Then we had a teaching appointment and Patryk was coming teaching with us, but the people weren't there, which was lame, but it was good fun because Patryk came tracting with us a bit, and we ran into some Polish Jehovah's Witnesses, and Patryk was talking to them. He's going to be a great missionary. Then he came with us to see Toto. It was kind of a hectic lesson because Toto had a lot of family visiting, but we watched Special Witnesses with her, it was really good. Then in the evening we had correlation with Ola, because Bro. McGary is out of town, and Bro. Toffoletti is a very busy man. :) It was good.
That brings us to Sunday. This new year has brought a lot of changes! There's new Young Men's, Young Women's, and Primary Presidents. We also have a new Ward mission leader! Also, I found out during Ward Council that during the last quarter of 2008 our average sacrament meeting attendance was 75, and that since the new year our attendance has been 85 or greater! I knew that the chapel seemed fuller as of late. I love it! Oh, and guess what, Art was able to make it to church! It was really good! :) He enjoyed it, and said that he felt very comfortable there. We were very excited. Then after church we went to contact a referral, and we walked for a solid 20 minutes before we realized we were on the wrong Firs Lane! So then we were late to our appointment with Oheneba (Prince). But we were able to see him. He's experiencing a lot of opposition. He said that right before we came a huge group of people from his old church came to try and get him, and were telling him crazy things about the church. He knows it's true, but he's really frustrated with everyone telling him that he's been brainwashed, and that he doesn't know what he's doing. I really wish I could just make it stop for him, but I know that he will be able to continue to withstand it, and in the end it will just make him stronger. I just hope that Stacey is going to be okay, because it will be hard on her growing testimony.
So that's my week in a nutshell. Happy Martin Luther King's Day everyone in the States! :)
Mom- Oh, my heart broke when I read about the Maxey's. I can't believe it! Thank-you so much for including their addresses, because all I wanted to do when I read it was write them! Thank-you so much for everyone else's addresses as well. I hope that you can sort out everything with your gall bladder soon!

Dad- I am soooo glad that it's not that cold here!!!! I'm pretty sure I would die! I don't know how the missionaries there manage! I've often thought of it..... they must have some good tips on how to stay warm, because I thought I was cold. The next moves is 11 February, and I will most likely be moving.

Nathan- You have an Ipod! lucky! :) I love you! You are silly.

Sis. Besso- I love you!!!!!!

Everyone Else- I love you soooo much!

Love,
Sister Ison

Way up high in the apple tree, 2 little apples smile down at me

I shook the tree just as hard as I could,
Down came the apples, mmm-mmm they were good!

Sorry you guys! In my rush to do emails last week, I totally forgot to tell you about transfers! I got transfered down to Basse Terre with Elder Biver. Elder Biver is my first Non-American Companion. He hails from France, but speaks really good english. He and I have been out about the same amount of time. Elder Snow stayed in Gosier and, because he is so dignified now, is the first of his group to be a senior Companion. On to this week. This week was really good. The transfers went over OK and I have quickly settled in to Basse Terre. Elder Biver and I have been running all over the place teaching. We also found alot of really cool people this week. We have a couple of investigators nearing baptism, and their names are Alex and Claudel. Alex is a friend of a member named Max, and this week he really got a fire to be baptized. The biggest issue for him is that he smokes. We are really working hard to help him quit and be baptized! Claudel is a young Haitian who is really searching for the church and is progressing really well. He has a soft date for this month and we are trying to keep daily contact. The members here are great and really helpful. I already kinda knew them from when I was in Capesterre, and they are really cool. There is one family, The Pommiers (French for Apple Tree), Who have a kid named Christiano who is Autistic. Sr. Pommier was really excited that I was coming down to Basse Terre. She said that she was talking to one of the members and said that I was going to come down here soon, so I asked if it was inspiration and she told me it was more wishful thinking.  I am really excited for this transfer. In the Book of Mormon I have read 4th Nephi/ Mormon. Those are really sad Chapters, but they help me to realize how not to be. Nathans Email made me laugh, which was kind of awkward because this email shop is really quiet...
Well, I gotta go, because apparently I got mail to go get from the Collings!

Elder Ison

PS: Dad, The weather is a chilly 70 ish degrees here!  ;) 

PPS: THANK YOU FOR THE TESTIMONIES!

Damage Control...

Dear Friends and Family,
Oh the busy life of a missionary.  :)   It's great though.  I'll just get right started in on this week.
Monday started off the week nice and freezing cold!  It's actually been snowing on and off all week, but nothing that really sticks.  In the evening we went to the Lee's for Family Home Evening.  They are a cute family.  We were an half an hour late thought because the buses decided not to come!  Everyday is an adventure on buses, but Sister Strunk and I are just counting our blessings that we aren't on bikes  :-P 
Tuesday was District meeting.  The first district meeting of the new year! hooray!  Then after district meeting we saw Reon again.  He's doing well.  He's still excited for his baptism, and we're still excited too.  Then we went to visit Jason, and organize final preparations for his baptism.  Everyone was very excited.  Then we went and saw Kingsley with Rose, and again Rose saved the day, and resolved all of Kingsley's concerns with the Word of Wisdom, and he's living it now  :-D .  Then in the evening we went to the chapel with Milena in order to introduce her to mutual. They were cleaning the chapel for the activity, and everyone seemed to have fun doing it.  Sister Strunk and I ate dinner and studied a bit for our driving tests.  Then we found out that Jason's parents were meeting with the bishop, and that they had decided to postpone his baptism for a while.  It was kind of disappointing, and it's created a little bit of a stir, but everything is settling down, and moving foward again.  Jason took the news pretty well, and things are moving forward.
Wednesday was an interesting day, but in the evening we saw Cecelia.  She's doing very well, and she loves the Book of Mormon.  She asks good questions.  Also, before Cecelia we were tracting, I had decided the night before to try a different approach that Elder Stockton mentioned in District Meeting.  He said that instead of thinking what we are going to say before the door opens, to have a prayer in our hearts.  So I was thinking about that, and then I decided that what I wanted to do was use the moments before the door opened to pray, and then when the door opened just to bear testimony of whatever popped into my head.  So that's what I did.  I'm sure it might have seemed weird to some of the people who opened the door, because when the door opened I would just stare at them for a second, and then say something like, "I know for myself that God still speaks to us today...." or whatever I felt like saying, but I had decided that it doesn't matter if it seems awkward, as long as I bear my testimony.  Well, that night we tracted for about 2 and a half hours, and we found 8 new investigators!  That's normally the amount we find in a week.  It's pretty exciting, and it strengthened my testimony of the power of testimony, and how the Holy Ghost bears witness of the truth.  :) 
Thursday we saw Jason again, and talked to him about King Limhi and how he had to wait to be baptised.  He seemed to like the story.  Then we saw Toto.  We aren't sure if we'll be able to teach her much longer, because, although she likes us to come, she doesn't keep her commitments.  I'm sad because her children are so cute!  Jessica, the 5 year old, really wants to come to church.  We'll just have to see what happens in the coming week.
Friday in the morning we went to see Aneta and Artur.  Bruno is crawling now!  He's so adorable, but he's quite a handful!  Artur told us the story of how he found the church.  He said that one day he was at his Aunts house waiting for his cousin, and she had a Book of Mormon on the table.  He'd always been interested in religion, and reading about God, so when he say "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." He decided to read it.  As he was reading it he said he had this special feeling, and he really liked it, then his cousin came, so he put the book down and left.  Throughout the coming days the book kept coming back to his mind, and he wanted to read more, so eventually he went back to his Aunt's house, but he couldn't find the book anywhere.  So he forgot about it, and went on with his life.  But then sometime in the future he was in town walking with his friend, and there were some missionaries trying to contact people.  His friend said, "Oh, look at those mormons."  And Artur said it was like a bell going off in his head, "*ding ding ding* mormon.....Book of Mormon!"  So he went up to the missionaries and asked them how he could get a Book of Mormon.  They said they could get him one, and that they could tell him more about it.  They came and told him about Moroni's promise and how he should ask God if it was a true book..  Artur thought "Why not?"  And he said that when he read and prayed he knew that it was true, and he had no doubt.  When he went to church for the first time it was fast and testimony meeting, and he just had such a good feeling, so he went up to the stand and said, "It's only my first time here, but I know this church is true!"  Isn't that amazing?  Oh Artur.  Hehe, then we went to see Hayley and David (Jason's Parents).  It was good to see them.  We'll be seeing them a lot in the coming weeks to help get everything ready for Jason's baptism, but everything seems to be going well.  Then in the evening we saw Art, and both Sister Strunk and I are feeling much better about him.  We think he's gaining his testimony of the Book of Mormon, so we're going to work with him some more  :) 
Saturday was the coldest day ever!  Okay, maybe not, but it was pretty cold.  In the morning we saw Kingsley, and we taught him about living Prophets and watched part of "Special Witnesses"  Even though I've seen that clip of Special Witnesses several times before, I really felt the spirit this time, and I knew Kingsley had to be feeling it.  Afterwards Kingsley said that the film was very "moving."  :)   He asked if he could borrow it and watch the rest  :)   It was a good lesson.  Then we went to see Jason.  We're going to work with him and having read in 3 Nephi and then watch the Testaments with him afterwards.  I think it will be good.  He's such a cute kid.  When he prayed he said, "Please bless that this will be the best week ever."   :) 
Sunday was good.  Milena, Kingsley, Lillo, and Jason were all at church.  Agnes came as well.  The chapel seemed extra full, and what was even better, it seemed that there were more complete families there.  It was great!  Then after church we met with Kingsley, and had a really good lesson about the 10 commandments. He's leaving to go to Nigeria for 2 weeks this week, so we have to get everything ready for his baptism before he leaves, but I think he'll be okay.  He wants to go to church in Nigeria  :)   We like that idea.  Then we went to see Ohennaba (Prince) and Stacey.  I'm so excited about them!  Stacey joined in the lesson, and stayed with us the whole time!  And she didn't just listen in, she participated and asked questions.  It's pretty amazing.  I love how the gospel blesses families!  Then in the evening we saw Milena and then David & Hayley.  David demonstrated various British and American Accents for us, (actually the only American accent he can do is Forrest Gump)  so that was pretty funny.
So that was my week.  Pretty crazy, but so fantastic!  I love being a missionary!

Mom-  This week at church we gave Sister Donyina a thank-you card for cleaning out my ears among other things, and she said that she couldn't stop laughing.  It was pretty good.

Dad-  Illinois was on the news last night for the amount of snow it's been having in some places.  It was pretty cool, haha.

Elder Ison- I'm looking forward to your letter!  Congrats on making the papers!  :) 

Nathan-  I'm glad your rumbly tumbly is feeling better!

Grandma and Grandpa-  I'm sooo glad your surgery went well!  I love you!

I love you all!

Love,
Sister Ison

A Tour of Sis Ison's Flat

Happy New Year!

Dear Friends and Family,
Oh my goodness, where does the time go? I can't believe that it's 2009 already!
Last Sunday was a good day! Wow, that seems so long ago.... We went to Watford for a Stake Sacrament Meeting. It was pretty amazing because there were 3 confirmations in the Stake. 2 in Hayes and 1 in Aylesbury. I loved it! Then we watched a talk by Bruce R. McConkie about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was amazing. Milena came with Sis. Terceno, so that was really good. Then after church we went to the Bueno's for lunch and she made her amazing Chicken Stroganof again just because I liked it so much last time :) I love the Bueno family. Then we went back to the church and met with Reon, and he told us he would like to be baptised! Well, he told Sister Strunk because I still couldn't hear most of what he was saying, but she told me that he said that just before he met us he was on a bus and this woman told him that he needed to get closer to God. Then when he got off the bus I stopped him and told him we had a message about God for him. I thought that was pretty cool. He's scheduled to be baptised on the 7 February. Then we stopped by to see Jane and got to talk to her a little bit. She's experiencing soooo much opposition. I really don't know how we can help her family. It makes me sad. Then we went to see the Terceno's and they fed us dinner. It was really good, as usual and we taught Milena about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love Milena. She's soooo adorable.
Monday morning we saw Jason. We taught him about Tithing and Fasting. He was a little distracted and grumpy because he was tired, but it was still a pretty good lesson. Then in the afternoon we went to see Kingsley. His wife was there, and she seemed a little less opposed to us, and we taught the Plan of Salvation. It was a really good lesson. The more we see Kingsley the better it gets. I love it! Then in the evening we went to the Toffoletti's for family home evening. I love spending time with the Toffoletti's so much. And Meena (Jasmine) opened up more to us, and was playing with us. It was really funny though because at the end of the lesson we asked the Toffoletti's if there was anything we could do for them, and Meena said, "Go home!" It was pretty classic.
Then Tuesday we had District Meeting. Elder Stockton is my District leader again. Haha, it's always weird when the District changes though. We brought loads of chocolate to District Meeting hoping to get rid of some of our Christmas goodies, but we actually came home with more chocolate than we brought! So that plan backfired, haha. Then after district meeting we saw Jason and got him ready for his interview. He did really well, and we gave him a little countdown for his baptism, and he's super excited. It was also soooo precious, because when he said the closing prayer he quoted part of the first baptismal interview question, and said, "Please bless that I can know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God the, the Savior, and Redeember of the world." Then we went to visit Icilda, and she had missed us :) It's nice to feel loves :-P Then we went to see Milena again, and talked to her with the "For the Strength of Youth" about the Prophet and the Word of Wisdom. She has no problem :) Then we went back home and I got a blessing from Brother Parish, Brother Donyina, and Brother Mamuto because my head had really been hurting me since my ears had been all plugged, and it was really nice. Then we spent the evening with the Parish's (who we live with) and learned a bit about the history of the area, so that was actually quite interesting.
Wednesday we saw the Brezzo's. I love the Brezzo's. They are a cute family. And in the evening we went to the Donyina's and Sister Donyina cleaned my ears. It was miraculous! She had this way awesome machine that just pumped water into my ears in little jets, and the ear wax came out. It was like a high tech version of what mom does for me :) . Then we had some food and a little gathering with the Donyina's, Valentine, Ebow, and Felix, and some of Sister Donyina's Cousins. Then Sister Strunk and I went home and went to bed like normal at 10:30, but then we woke up and 11:55 to see in the new year, watched a few fireworks out the window, and then went back to bed (because I was exhausted, haha).
Thursday in the morning we studied a bit for Sister Strunk's driving test which is coming up. Then we went to visit Lydia. Then we went to visit Milena, and had a really nice New Year's dinner. We had Pork as well :) Then in the evening we visited Halyey, Agnes, and the Matenda's. It was good.
Friday morning Jason had his baptism interview. He was so cute, he came out of the interview jumping up and down saying, "I passed the test!" He's so excited for his baptism. We spent the rest of the day finding and planning.
Saturday in the morning we saw Reon with Ola. He told us that he's very excited for his Baptism. We taught him the Word of Wisdom, and he told us the only thing he likes is his tea, but that he can give that up :) . I'm excited about him. Then we saw Charles Micheal, and he promised to read and pray, so that was a good lesson. Then we had the most amazing lesson at Kingsley's house with Rose. Teaching Kingsley with Rose is a prime example of why we bring members to lessons. We taught Kingsley the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and every concern Rose was able to resolve. Kinglsey and Rose are from the same tribe in Nigeria, and like Kingsley, before Rose joined the church she spent her time going from pentacostal church to pentacostal church only to be disappointed in the end. When we asked Kingsley to be baptised he said that he and his family had already been baptized. Then Rose jumped in and started to talk about all those Pentacostal churches, and how they have false doctrine, and false pastors, preachers, and prophets. She talked about how they have no authority and how it didn't matter if he had been baptised 100 times, unless it was by the right authority. She said it with more force than Sister Strunk and I could have ever said, because we have never experienced what it is like to go from church to church and find out they were false. It was pretty awesome, and it got even better, because after Rose had finished, Kingsley looked at her and said, "I understand what you are saying." Then he turned and looked at us, and said, "And to your question...yes." It was pretty spectacular. So now Kingsley is also scheduled to be baptised on the 7 February. Then in the evening we got to finally see Cecelia! She has moved into a new house, and she seems much happier there. She really liked everything we taught about the plan of salvation and she likes the Book of Mormon. She wants to invited some of her friends to be taught by us. It was a good lesson.
Sunday was amazing! Jason, Milena, Lillo!, and a guy named Patrick (who called us and asked if he could come to church!) all came to church. Also, Kingsley came and he brought his 9 year old son! And to put a cherry on top of our already amazing sacrament meeting attendence, Prince's wife, Stacey, and their two children came to church for the very first time. It was amazing. The program was fantastic, and Felix and Henrietta blessed their little baby Chenelle (sp?), and Lisa (their other little daughter) was sooo excited. Testimony meeting was amazing. It was the first time that Kingsley had come to sacrament meeting, and he told us that he LOVED it! It was a really good day. Then afterwards we went to Felix and Henrietta's for lunch, and met some of their friends from Haye's ward, so that was cool. Then we went for dinner at Prince's house, and both he and Stacey actually sat and ate with us (usually we eat on our own). It was super awesome, and the food was amazing as usual. We also found out that Prince in his language is named Ohennaba (sp?), which means the Chief's child (Ohenna- cheif ba- child) (aka the Prince, hence his name being Prince in English). He's respected in Ghana as a Prince as well. It's pretty cool. Then in the evening we went to see Milena again. She's doing really well, and she really likes church :) .
So that was my week! I'm running out of time so I have to be quick.

Mom- You are amazing. Sounds like a really good week. I'm glad you got the package. I'm excited about Andrew and Zach as well. I was wondering if you would send me (maybe by post?) their addresses, as well as the addresses of everyone who wrote a Christmas testimony for me. Thanks!

Dad- I can't believe CJ is filling out University applications! Madness! They have to stop growing up soon!

Ben- I loved my presents! I hope you like yours! I'll need a copy of your talk. I still need copies of mom and dad's talks too!

Nathan- Happy New Year! I'm sorry about your computer. Be happy!

Elder Ison- It sounds like your Christmas was pretty Legit.

Mike- Congratulations!!!!! I'll give Jonathan your message as well.

Everyone Else- Happy New Year! I love you all!

Love,
Sister Ison

Newspaper Article - Far Right

To all:
I won't translate the entire article, but the relevant part relating to Zach and the other missionaries says as follows:

"One of the powerful moments of the evening was the message of peace and love presented by the Mormons through choreography which was much applauded by those who watched."

Sounds like our missionaries are doing a great job in spreading the message of the Gospel. Love to all (even those of you who don't know me),

Jeff Dahl (Jolene's big brother).

...And a Hippo New Year!

Dear Family,

HEY! How are you? I hope School is going ok. HAPPY NEW YEARS! It is now 2009. Woah. I officially spent the entire year of 2008 in Guadeloupe. Crazy! I am doing good here.This week was pretty good. We did finding alot and it was kind of difficult because everyone is still on vacation. We looked at the funnel and realized that our New investigators chiffre was looking kinda low. My studies have been great, and I am almost finished with 3 Nephi. I was really touched this time through by the Saviors ministry to the Nephites. It was really great. I am really excited to go to Basse Terre with Elder Biver.Elder Snow is doing great. I am grateful for the chance I had to serve with him.  This week was kind of Crazy, and there were alot of tourists all around. We even talked to an American family from Tenesee! It was really weird to hear the American accent here! haha. Anyways, I hope you all set some crazy awesome New years resolutions this year! I sure did! I am excited to be in shape this year! hahaha. anywho... This week we went to a homeless shelter type place and performed and stuff, and we were in the paper! it was really cool. It is so weird that Micheal is engaged!Holy cow man! That could be me soon! Scary. Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I am going to write them a letter to thank them for their great hearts. This New years we went over to Madame Amarias' to pay the rent, and she let us in on some good New years Traditions. I was disappointed by the lack of Nathans Email this week but I will survive! I am glad you had a good new years. I saw the poster for that Adam Sandler movie today! Haha Sorry this email is so sparatic. I am planning on writing alot of letters this week to fill you in on the details.

By the way, I am planning on writing you, Sister Ison too, because I got a letter from you today! Be on the lookout in the coming weeks.

I am glad Zach and Andrew had a good time and enjoyed their Presents. They are on my planner this transfer!

I love you guys!

Peace and love,

Elder Ison