Come into the Water...

Stop "monkey"ing around

Don't be "sloth"ful

Don't "kiss" up

Just follow the spirit

Hey guys!

How was your week? Mine was excellent. I can't believe the Miracles we are seeing here in Matoury. This week we baptized Lilia. She is doing really well. Her 2 sons are preparing to be baptized between Conference sessions next week. She told us she hopes they serve missions. They were definitley prepared by the lord long before we found them. Other than that, we worked really hard on our contacts this week, and I called all of mine up to Saturday. We fixed some appointments with some cool people for this week and I know we will be blessed for it. We still haven't found a building yet, but it will come. Elder Taerea is good. He is doing a good job with the branch and there are no major problems. We are working well together and having a good transfer.

Testimony: I don't know where to start. God exists. I am his son. He loves me. He blesses me even though, in the words of King Benjamin, I am an "unprofitable servant." We can't do this work with out his help. The Atonement is real, and over the past month I have seen it work it's amazing healing power in the lives of our convert and her family. I love Jesus Christ and I know that he lives. I love being a missionary and I love my mission. I am grateful for President Robison, and for you, because you have really helped me to recieve a mighty change of heart. My family isn't even going to recognize me when I get home. It has gone by way to fast, and I look forward to seeing miracles throughout the last month of my mission. I am also excited for General conference this weekend and the chance we have to listen to a Prophets voice in our day. I love my family and am grateful for them. Most of all, I love my Father in Heaven.


Anyway, That picture is at the space center in Kourou. I am looking up into the rocket booster. I am going to attach some photos now, but I love you guys!

Your favorite Missionary,

Elder Ison

Come into the water

Elder Taerea

Elder Ison's balancing act

Should I be Standing Here?

What happens if I push this button?

Hey Family!
I am gonna try and send some pictures today, so if the email isn't super long this week, don't get upset! Our week was nuts! Lilia continues to get better and better. We taught the word of wisdom to her and her kids, and her kids brought out all their tea, and we went through it and they got rid of the "bad tea" right away. She keeps every commitment, and is going to institute this week. Her family has been to church activities I didn't even know about and her sons want to be baptized too. I can't even believe the crazy amounts of blessings we are receiving! The kids names are Tyler and Christopher and they are 11 and 9 respectively. They are probably some of the coolest kids ever. After we watched the Restoration DVD and taught the Word of Wisdom, Christopher said "That was a really good lesson Mom."
Needless to say, They are doing well. We have also found some other Cool people that are progressing fairly well, one of which is a Rasta woman. All is well here, except for we still don't have a building. I am glad you had a fun road trip this week, and I hope your week continues to go well.

I love you guys!

Elder Ison

Line up the rickshaws

This week was so good! Holy cow! Matoury is doing great. This week we were able to set a hard date with our investigator that came to church last week. It was one of the most miraculous experiences ever. We talked about Baptism and left her with 2 Nephi 31 to read earlier in the week, and asked her if baptism was something she wanted to do, and she responded 'Absolutely'. We set the date the next day and said: "We would like to set a date for your baptism." And she responded "I think thats a good idea, because I got my answer last night." I was completely blown out of the water. Nobody has ever just told us they received their answer like that. She was so prepared by God, that when we suggested the 26th for her date, she paused, smiled, and said "yes". That was it. It was a true miracle. Her name is Lilia, and she is a single mother, 33 years old, with 4 boys (11,9,5,and 3). She brought her cousin with her to church on Sunday. That was super duper cool. We are still hunting for a Church, and I realized that there has to be something more we could do to find a building, so I am going to fast and pray about that. With the contacts, we have found many cool people and have some really cool investigators. We had our Zone Conference in Suriname this week, which is why the Email is late, and it was incredible, as usual. I am definitely going to miss that. Elder Anderson, one of the Area Presidency was there, and taught one of the most awesomely intense lessons I ever heard. Elder Taerea is doing well. He continues to teach me, and I am learning to be patient. I love him though. 2 weeks ago as we applied the new definition of contacting without asking questions, the Lord stuck right in our path an investigator who was prepared to receive the gospel, that, if it wasn't for the new rule, I might not of contacted. My testimony of the truthfulness of this work continues to increased. I know the Lord blesses obedience abundantly.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Have a good week, Elder Ison

PS: CJ IS THE BEST EVER! What a stud.

How far away is that Plane?

We just got home so here is last week's email

Dear Family,
I have never used a keyboard with a space bar that was so freaky outty. If there are bazillions of extra spaces, you will know why. Thank you for your prayers, but it looks like we still need them. Matoury is still doing well. We are seeing many miracles as we try our best to work with the members and get our contacts. We did get to work with ex-President Baksh again this week, which was awesome, but unfortunatley Julio lost his phone, so we were not able to work him. Next week looks good on that front anyways. The super exciting news is we finally had an investigator at church, and she liked it. Her name is Lilia, and she was a lady I contacted a little over a week ago, and she is super legit. She has been searching for the truth, and said she feels close to finding it with our Church. Unfortunatley, we are again on the search for a place to have church due to a problem with the pool.(apparently pools aren't allowed...) As we improve the quality of our contacts, we are blessed. Elder Taerea is good. He is very busy with branch business and missionary work. He is doing a good job with both though. Nothing gets past Dad though. Elder Taerea's culture is a lot different than ours, and he's pretty stuborn, and its kinda a his way or no way sort of deal. He's been out for a year and a half. Its nothing too serious though. The church is true, and the Book of Mormon is the key to conversion. I know that it is true and am trying to use it better. God blesses us when we are obedient. I try not to think about how much time I have left, and usually I don't think about it. Everyone else here is trunky enough for me. "How much time do you have left? Less than 2 months? You are so trunky!" I hear that at least once a week, but according to Elder Jones I am "Significantly less trunky" than he expected. You don't have to worry about that yet. I do have startling realizations from time to time, such as the fact that my "replacement" is most likley already in the MTC. Zone conference was supposed to be this week, but unfortunatley, it was postponed til next weekend. We get to go to Suriname! My passport is looking pretty good! haha. I am glad everyone got home safe and all that jazz, and tell Steph and CJ to take luck to school with them. I gotta let you go, But I LOVE YOU GUYS! Enjoy your little vacation!

LOVE!

Elder Ison

She's Home!!!

She arrived home safely. It was exciting to see her - What an amazing girl!!! (She was ready to go back - the sign of a great missionary).

You're not hardcore, until you live hardcore

Hey guys!

It sounds like you had a good week! I can't believe Steph is finished! Holy Cow! I am alright. Matoury saw many mighty miracles this week as we strove to get our contacts and work towards our goals. We got to finally work with some of our members and have some amazing lessons with them, which in and of itself was a miracle. I also noticed that as we worked on getting good contacts this week, we found lots of people ready to receive us. The last thing I wanted to mention was as we worked our best through our own efforts to find a building for Matoury, we were blessed exceedingly. We found a building that looked pretty good and called the landlord and he reffered us to the agency he was working through who told us the house was stirictly residential, but Elder Taerea was inspired to call the landlord again and he told us that he didn't really care how we used the house as long as we didn't make any unauthorized changes, and we paid the rent. The only problems was that it was a little expensive and a little farther from the main road than we would have liked, but we were happy to at least have a perspective building after 7 months. Later that same day we got a call from President Magny telling us that he got a call from one of the agencies telling him they found a place we could rent to have church. After 7 months of searching we had 2 offers in the same day! The second house was just what we were looking for; A centralized location cheaper, with everything we need to have a branch there. When I asked when it would be available they told us the 1st. My heart sank a little because I thought they meant of October and we would have to wait another month, but as soon as I found out that they meant September, I almost cried. (not really) We finally have a building, and I know that the blessings are going to continue to flow. Several people we have contacted expressed an interest in coming to Church if it was close enough to walk or ride a bike, because many of them don't have transport to get all the way to Cayenne. Elder Taerea and I are doing well together, and I have noticed a great improvement in the unity of our teaching this week. Wow. I don't even know where to start this week. Heavenly Father loves his children thats for sure! I know of a surety that God answers prayers, but also that he tries your faith! His plan is perfect, thanks to his Son, Jesus Christ, and The Atonement, and through these gifts we can lift ourselves out of the filth and grime of the world and be exalted with them. He prepares his children to hear the gospel and if we are faithful, he will lead us to them. I love the Church, I love its members, and I love its creator. I hope your guys' week this week is AMAZING! Give my love to Steph when you see her this week, and Peace out.

Love,

Elder Ison

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig...

Dear Family,
Oh mixed feelings..... I think I'll just write about this week  :) 
Monday was so much fun.  We went bowling as a district, that was so fun.  In the evening, we went with Sister N'jie to see a man named Jeff.  He's super nice, although he didn't have time to talk much, we got another appointment, so that's good.  Then we went to the MacKenzies and had dinner and I got a hair cut.  I love it  :)   So that's good.
Tuesday was also a great day!  In the morning we went to visit Klaudia Hondrado.  She's so great!  She does a lot of missionary work!  Then in the evening we had Amy N'Jie with us again, and we tried to stop by and see Debbie Stanbridge one last time and she was in!  It was such a blessing, because Amy used to work with her, so that is so cool!  Then we had to most amazing appointment with a man named Steve.  He's so prepared.  He never used to believe in God, but so many things have happened to make him believe, but he's still not sure, and there are so many churches and he's confused.  After we taught the lesson he said, "I've listened to a lot of people about religion, but something about your message is different.  It doesn't sound like a sales pitch."  So cool!
Wednesday was great.  I had my last District Meeting.  Then we went to see Carol and finalized things for her baptism.  She's so cute!  She asked Brother Barratt to baptize her.  She's super excited.  |Then we went to the Hughes' for dinner.  What a fun family!
Thursday we did planning and had lunch with Fiona Smith!  She is so cool  :)   Then Sister Jensen and I did a workover!  I came into South Kensington with Sister Garcia, and Sister Carnioletta went with Sister Jensen.  It was so good!  That evening we went to dinner at a Portuguese family's home.  I had no idea what was going on  :)   But it was fun.  The family had invited over their friends to dinner and then after dinner the family asked their friends if they would like to meet with the missionaries and they said yes!  It was so cool.
Friday was crazy!  But I realized something!  I'm allergic to London!  I have horrible allergies all the time when I am here!  Anyways in the morning we saw this super cute less active named Katty and her friend.  It was an amazing appointment and we just got to talk about God, and who he is, and why we sometimes suffer, and Katty's friend wanted to learn more!  Haha, then we taught a man named Alberto who speaks only Spanish, so Sister Garcia taught the whole lesson.  Fun  :)   Then we switched back and Sister Jensen and I went to the Sui's for dinner.   Sister Jensen got to practice Violin for Sister Shooter's baptism, and I got to look at Alaister's mission pictures.  It was fun because I knew quite a few of the people, because he served in Birmingham.  :) 
Saturday was crazy because in the morning I got a call from President Patch telling me I was moving to London on Sunday until the end of my mission!  Madness!  Then we went to help the Martin's move into their new house.  Then after that we did some finding and had an appointment with a really nice kid named James.  Then we went home and I packed.  and packed.  and threw out stuff.  Haha, I got rid of so much stuff!
So Sunday was crazy!  Sister Jensen and I were teaching both Sunday School and Primary, and then when I got there Brother Perry asked me to speak in Sacrament Meeting (ah!).  Then afterwards we had a munch and mingle, and  the ward gave me a really cute card.  It was so great.  Then at 5:00 pm Sister Clemente came and they took me away.  Oh my goodness.  Then I got with Sister Umurshadyan.  It was fun.
Monday morning we OYM'd around Hyde Park.  So cool!  OH my goodness!  We also OYM'd by Harrod's.  Let me tell you, it's really distracting to try and OYM in London!  Haha.  Then Sister Feller and Sister Kuoppala came and we taught a man named Fredrico.  He's so golden.  Then Sister Feller and I went OYM around Hyde park for 3 1/2 hours.  It was so cool!  Haha.  It's so crazy.  Because Sister Feller is training, so she's my companion until the new Sister comes, and Sister Kuoppala and Sister Umurshadyan actually belong to Brittania Ward.
So now I'm here in the office e-mailing, and EVERYONE is here.  Crazy! and I want to go see them, so I'm going to run.  But I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!  I'll see you on Thursday!

Hugs hugs hugs and kisses,
Sister Ison!