Hi everyone! I am so happy to be here! I have had so many things happen to me since I have arrived in Fort Lauderdale. I don't even know where to begin. These have been some of the best days of my life. They have been so fun.
The first day, we talked to Moisena Jeudy, who just got baptized yesterday. We met her and taught her and her cousin violet, who lives with her and her nephew Peter. We taught her the ten commandments and about tithing. We also taught her about fasting. I can understand mostly everything that is going on in the appointments that we are setting. Moisna is awesome! She was into Voodoo when she was young, and she promised God that when she moved to America, she would dedicate herself to him and change. The Haitian people are very faithful and have a strong desire to serve God. They are a very spiritual people.
We visited Mona, who is a recent convert and taught her a lesson, and we got a referal to teach her Cousin who is living with her. Then we went across the street to visit a guy named Robinson. He thought it was cool that we spoke Creole. We gave him a restoration pamphlet and we asked him if we when would be a good time to go back. He told us that we could right then. He had a crucifix around his neck. We sat down and taught him the first lesson. He asked us why there were so many different religions. We told him that Joseph Smith had the same question. He read that part in the pamphlet and got so excited. He said, " Se menm kesyon! se menm kesyon!" (It's the same question!) We told him about how Joseph prayed and saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. Then we gave him a book of Mormon and how it can help us receive a testimony of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith being his prophet. We read the end part of the Book which talks about how we can know the truth through the power of the holy Ghost. He read that part over and over and over again out loud. He said that it was a beautiful verse. We extended a baptismal date and he accepted. Just then, two of his friends showed up. One of them is named Kersonn, who we now will meet with on Wednesday. He told us how he liked the LDS missionaries because we preach about Jesus Christ and don't try to force and nag people into joining our church. We help them to gain a testimony of Jesus Christ firstly.
Since there are four Elders in our area, we split the area in half, so Elder Anderson and Elder Chandler are now teaching Robinson. He is so awesome! He likes them a lot. He will text them randomly and ask them how they are doing. Two nights ago, he told them he needed to get money from them. They told him they could only give him the gospel and he said okay to that. It was very random.
The Baptism went very well. In our area Moisena got baptized. In the other area, Mesidor got baptized. They spirit was very strong at the baptismal service.
I got two contacts completely by myself for the first time on Thursday! We were in Pompano and we were going to Charite's house. He is a recent convert. Charite and Elder Bolz were talking outside the apartment, while I was talking with two people who were outside. One of them is named CC. That what she said I could call her. I don't know her real name. She was very nice. She was telling me about how all of these different people from many religions would come to her and start preaching to her. She told me a lot of things. Her sister is a Jehova's witness. I contacted a friend of her family named Sieria. She is 24 with a baby son and a husband. I just set up and appointment with CC a few minutes ago. She is 16 and she goes to a baptist church and she works at Macey's she is busy with work and school, so we were very fortunate to get this appointment. It is interesting. We have contacted a lot of people, but for some reason, CC, Sieria, and Kersonn are firmly in my mind. I lay awake at night thinking about investigators and what I can do to help them and teach them best. I couldn't get to sleep until 2:00 in the morning because of how fixed my mind was on the thoughts of them. I just felt this excitement and I felt the spirit burning inside of me. I feel a strong pull and a love for those three, who I have only talked to for five minutes each. I feel like I have known them for a lot longer than just a few minutes. I haven't felt that way about every contact we have made either. Like long forgotten friends. It is strange. It is cool though. President Hale told me that I would feel that I have known some people for ever. He also told me that people who I will teach will probably see me in a vision. Elder Bolz has had that happen before. He said that a person he contacted once had dreamed about him and him companion the night before.
We also have an investigator named Mirana who I haven't met yet, but we have an appointment with her tonight. She has a baptismal date for the 26th of September. She wants to be baptized, but she can't yet because she has work on Sunday and she can't get work off. Elder Bolz told me that she had a dream in which she had a vision that told her that the Church was true. Because of that she felt that she needed to be baptized. She just needs the money so bad, just like so many Haitians. Many of them are sending money to their children from Haiti. Moisena is doing the same thing.
We are teaching a ton of people. We see potential for people progressing and getting baptized. I hope they do. It is cool to see how people's lives change from gaining a greater testimony of Jesus Christ. It is awesome.
I only have 16 minutes left, so I must be brief. We have an apartment with 4 elders in there. Elder Bolz and I use the car, and the other elders are in the biking areas. We use are bikes too, since we only are allowed to use 1100 miles per month. I am the designated driver, so I have been driving a ton in the last week. I haven't had any accidents or problems yet, which is good. We have been fed so much by the members. I don't think there is a single day were we haven't. Oswald, a new convert who elder Bolz taught, fed us lunch two days in a row and we got 4 member present lessons with him. He is a very good cook. He is so funny. He is a chef. He is wild though. He is always trying to get us to break the mission rules and get us to eat dinner after 5 and watch movies with him. Elder Bolz told me that last week, he was upset because Elder Anderson was going to be transferred to another area (he was Elder Bolz last companion). However, President changed his mind and kept him in our apartment. Oswald used to be the security guard at the mission office. He got contacted for the first time two or three months ago. He called the mission office and got in a half hour conversation with the Assistants to the President. They didn't listen to him. However, President decided for some other reason that he would stay. Oswald thinks that it was because he called. He hates the mission rules. He wasn’t to hang out with us all of the time. He is always telling us how we are working too hard. We told him that Heavenly Father gave us the mission rules to help us. He said, "So God wants to make you miserable?" We laughed about that for a long time. Oswald is so funny. He is a very good teacher. He relates to so many people so well. People are always asking about him. He is giving Moisena a job at the place where he cooks. He cooks for a private school. Oswald is always cooking us stuff and he bought Elder Bolz and I candy bars and paid for my cough medicine, even though we insisted that it was okay and that he didn't have to do that. Our car battery ran low, and he was going to jump start us, but we got someone else. He came over anyway, and he tried to buy us jumper cables. He says that he doesn't need the money and that God will take care of him. He has a month before his catering job starts up again, and he talks about how he has enough faith that money just comes down from heaven to him. He wasn't kidding either. I think he likes creating drama. He is crazy. He is so funny though.
Patrick, a new convert came and gave us food from his panda express job three times.
We have two dinner appointments on Wed.
Mama Julian (sister Julian) she is famous in the mission. Everyone loves her. She cooks for the missionaries every Sunday.
I need to go! Bye love you
Elder Seamons
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Elder Seamons has arrived in Florida!!
Yesterday, we got a phone call at about 6 am from the Salt Lake City Airport. Eric and the other guys had stayed up very late packing their suitcases and had to be at the travel office at 4 am. He called after he had gotten to the airport and gotten through security. He sounded VERY tired and anxious, which is pretty normal for a new missionary who is not sure of what is coming up. He did say he was a little sick, so we hope they checked him out when he got there to be sure he was fine.
Tonight, they posted pictures of the departing and new missionaries on the mission blog. Check it out!!
Click on this picture to make it big.
A few minutes ago, we got a picture from the Mission president and he and his wife with Eric.
Click on this picture to make it big.
A few minutes ago, we got a picture from the Mission president and he and his wife with Eric.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Last MTC posting and Travel Plans for Heading to Florida
Elder Eric Bruce Seamons
Florida, Ft Lauderdale Mission
7951 SW 6th St Ste 110
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33324-3211
E-mail sent Thursday August 19, 2010
Hi Family and Friends!
I have my travel plans [for Tuesday]. I will be at the travel office in the MTC at 4:00 am. I am leaving around seven and I will have a layover in Detroit. I don't need anything to be sent before I leave. I am putting stuff in my box to send home today. I put my weekly Branch president letters that I get back every week after I write them. I tell him what has been going on. I put the French pamphlets, triple combination, and other things that we got at the beginning but didn't need before. Elder Caldwell is the only one who will really need to use those. We got some Ensigns from the branch presidency which I will also be sending home. I am only going to keep the conference editions. I will also send the hangers home that you sent me.
I haven't read the instructions about how to send things home, but I will be sure to do that. I will read the instructions about waterproofing my shoes.
Elder Caldwell got up at 3:30 on Monday and he left in time to get to the travel office at 4:00. I have just been going around with Elder Loder and Elder Terry right now. Not too many things are different, since most of the time is spent in the classroom.
We have been practicing door approaches as well as contacting people the last few days. We practiced with each other. We also practiced getting referrals from people. We asked them if they knew anyone who would like to hear from us.
We did zone teaching on Tuesday. I was taught by some of the new Samoan elders who came in last week. We have had several English missionaries come in and out of our zone as well. We taught Elder Hoffman from the Tongan district. Elder Terry and Elder Loder committed him to baptism, and now we were teaching him some of the commandments this lesson, such as Tithing, the Word of Wisdom, Sabbath day worship, and the law of Chastity, which he said he was having problems with. He was acting as someone he knew who was going into the Marines soon.
Ever since Elder Caldwell has left, I have forgotten to use my planner. It is hard since people get distracted and sometimes forget to do planning before we leave. I will make sure I do better with that as I go into the mission field. I also need to organize my study better.
I have enjoyed going to the temple this week. This will be our last week in two years that we will be able to go to the temple. They aren't finishing the new temple announced in Fort Lauderdale until the end of my time in the mission field. Plus, I don't know if President Hale will let us take time to go to the Orlando temple. Today, we are going to do sealings if we can, though as missionaries, we can only be proxies for children. Elder Rybin, Elder Caldwell, and Elder Major, Elder Smith, and Elder Fenley did that while Elder Loder, Elder Terry, and I went and did another endowment session. It has been a really great spiritual experience.
I have had to work a lot on changing some of my daily habits and learned to become more organized. It will help me so much in the future if I continue to do that. My disorganization and my stress and anxiety are definitely the things that are holding me back the most from becoming the person that I am meant to become. I also have had trouble with not falling asleep in class. Today, I just rested a lot after I changed my sheets out. I try to avoid sleeping too much, because it is not productive. I sometimes do it even when I am not super tired. I need to learn to continuously put forth effort into always being productive. I am never going to feel completely energized, so I think that I will just try to work through it unless I am so tired that I could fall asleep within a minute or two.
I didn't get a chance to finish writing last week's letter. I will do that and send it. I will not write a written letter for this week, because I have a lot of things to worry about before I leave. There is not much for me to say about the MTC anyway. It is all about the same as you have heard.
I have learned so much at the MTC! I think the biggest thing that I have been continually hearing is that the Lord will carry me through this experience, so I should worry too much. I just need to work my hardest and then just let it go. I love you all. I know that God is there and that he loves all His children. And I know that Jesus Christ is everyone's savior, and that he knows all of our troubles. I need to go, but I will write you later. Bye!
Elder Seamons
Florida, Ft Lauderdale Mission
7951 SW 6th St Ste 110
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33324-3211
E-mail sent Thursday August 19, 2010
Hi Family and Friends!
I have my travel plans [for Tuesday]. I will be at the travel office in the MTC at 4:00 am. I am leaving around seven and I will have a layover in Detroit. I don't need anything to be sent before I leave. I am putting stuff in my box to send home today. I put my weekly Branch president letters that I get back every week after I write them. I tell him what has been going on. I put the French pamphlets, triple combination, and other things that we got at the beginning but didn't need before. Elder Caldwell is the only one who will really need to use those. We got some Ensigns from the branch presidency which I will also be sending home. I am only going to keep the conference editions. I will also send the hangers home that you sent me.
I haven't read the instructions about how to send things home, but I will be sure to do that. I will read the instructions about waterproofing my shoes.
Elder Caldwell got up at 3:30 on Monday and he left in time to get to the travel office at 4:00. I have just been going around with Elder Loder and Elder Terry right now. Not too many things are different, since most of the time is spent in the classroom.
We have been practicing door approaches as well as contacting people the last few days. We practiced with each other. We also practiced getting referrals from people. We asked them if they knew anyone who would like to hear from us.
We did zone teaching on Tuesday. I was taught by some of the new Samoan elders who came in last week. We have had several English missionaries come in and out of our zone as well. We taught Elder Hoffman from the Tongan district. Elder Terry and Elder Loder committed him to baptism, and now we were teaching him some of the commandments this lesson, such as Tithing, the Word of Wisdom, Sabbath day worship, and the law of Chastity, which he said he was having problems with. He was acting as someone he knew who was going into the Marines soon.
Ever since Elder Caldwell has left, I have forgotten to use my planner. It is hard since people get distracted and sometimes forget to do planning before we leave. I will make sure I do better with that as I go into the mission field. I also need to organize my study better.
I have enjoyed going to the temple this week. This will be our last week in two years that we will be able to go to the temple. They aren't finishing the new temple announced in Fort Lauderdale until the end of my time in the mission field. Plus, I don't know if President Hale will let us take time to go to the Orlando temple. Today, we are going to do sealings if we can, though as missionaries, we can only be proxies for children. Elder Rybin, Elder Caldwell, and Elder Major, Elder Smith, and Elder Fenley did that while Elder Loder, Elder Terry, and I went and did another endowment session. It has been a really great spiritual experience.
I have had to work a lot on changing some of my daily habits and learned to become more organized. It will help me so much in the future if I continue to do that. My disorganization and my stress and anxiety are definitely the things that are holding me back the most from becoming the person that I am meant to become. I also have had trouble with not falling asleep in class. Today, I just rested a lot after I changed my sheets out. I try to avoid sleeping too much, because it is not productive. I sometimes do it even when I am not super tired. I need to learn to continuously put forth effort into always being productive. I am never going to feel completely energized, so I think that I will just try to work through it unless I am so tired that I could fall asleep within a minute or two.
I didn't get a chance to finish writing last week's letter. I will do that and send it. I will not write a written letter for this week, because I have a lot of things to worry about before I leave. There is not much for me to say about the MTC anyway. It is all about the same as you have heard.
I have learned so much at the MTC! I think the biggest thing that I have been continually hearing is that the Lord will carry me through this experience, so I should worry too much. I just need to work my hardest and then just let it go. I love you all. I know that God is there and that he loves all His children. And I know that Jesus Christ is everyone's savior, and that he knows all of our troubles. I need to go, but I will write you later. Bye!
Elder Seamons
Monday, August 16, 2010
Baptism Fireside
Note from Mom- Eric began writing this letter two Thursdays ago on a pday. He didn't finish it and just sent it last p-day, so the news is a little old. It will be interesting to hear from him this coming Thursday since his companion, who is going to Montreal, Canada, is leaving tomorrow.
August 5, 2010
Hi family and Friends!
Hi family and Friends!
It is p-day again. Time is flying by so fast. The days do seem long sometimes though.
On Friday, we had a large group meeting. The subject was baptism and confirmation. Brother Littlefield, who was teaching, told a story of himself as a missionary. He was in Honduras and they were driving a car, when they saw a little girl crying on the side of the road. She was holding a basket of tortillas over her head and it was almost sundown. She told them that her mom was going to beat her if she didn’t sell all the tortillas by sundown. So they paid 50 cents for all of the tortillas, and she stopped crying and went back home. However, they realized they had done something wrong. They served her and went about doing good, which was great, but they should have also gone to her house and taught their family the gospel, so that they could be baptized. Many missionaries just serve instead of also sharing the gospel with people, because they are afraid that people will think it is a ploy to make our church have the most members. However, this is not so! Baptism performed by God’s authority is the only way to be saved. Through accepting Christ, this is possible. One of the necessary steps of accepting Christ is being baptized. As people do that, they covenant with Christ to serve him and keep his they will receive a multitude of blessings, the greatest of which is eternal life: The wonderful opportunity to live with God and those we love forever in eternal happiness. That is the greatest service you could ever do for anyone. That doesn’t mean that we are aggressive and force people into joining. We invite all people to Jesus Christ. They have the choice whether to accept this invitation.
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Jesus Christ will always invite his brothers and sisters to follow him and to do good and to love others and to follow him through baptism. He wasn’t forceful though.
In the same way, missionaries like me are inviting people to follow Jesus Christ. We don’t intrude; we just invite.
Brother Littlefield realized that if they had truly loved that little girl, they would have told her and her family to baptized. I know that what I am writing is true.
I didn’t leave my family, college, friends, time I could have been doing study abroad, time to learn more Chinese and Spanish just to bring in more church members. I did it because it is true. Heavenly father has done everything for me. He helped me overcome depression, autism, hopelessness, and my sins. He sent Jesus Christ, his son, to help me accomplish all the things I have.
God defines my life. He is my best friend and he has never let me down. If it weren’t for him, I would not be here. Nor do I believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is just another church. It is Jesus Christ’s only church on the earth. This doesn’t mean that other churches are bad; they invite people to righteousness too, and the people in those churches teach goodness, and they understand Christ’s atoning sacrifice. But the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only church to have the full truth about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, as well as God’s authority to be baptized and to receive revelation from God to give to all of his children. This is true, and God bears record of it.
I will give a quick summary of everything that happened this week. On Saturday we mopped the stair wells in building 18M (the building with the health Clinic). In class, Fre’ Jean had a talk with us about MDT and how we could make it more productive. Sunday was fast Sunday this week, so we only had dinner. We also had mission conference, which includes the whole MTC. Sister Clegg, who is the wife of an MTC Presidency member, gave a talk on how to set up a baptismal service and how to do it to make it meaningful, memorable, spiritual experience for everyone, especially the person who is being baptized.
Well it is p-day again and I forgot to finish this letter and I can’t remember what happened the week before last week. I am going to start the next letter by actually telling you what happened.
Bye! I love you! Thank you for being so supportive!
Love, Elder Seamons
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Nearing the End and a Bit of Discouragement about Teaching
Note from Mom- I left out several logistical items. Eric is a bit discouraged about the teaching. I figured he would become harder on himself as he gets closer to going to Florida. Any letters of encouragement would be helpful in this last week and a half. He leaves on August 24th, so he will get letters in the MTC through dearelder.com up until the 23rd.
E-mail from Thursday August 12th
E-mail from Thursday August 12th
Love, Mom
I haven't gotten my travel plans for the day I leave yet. I will tell you when I know. Elder Caldwell did though. It so happens that he leaving a week early, so I will be in a three sum with Elder Loder and Elder Terry for the whole week, and while we are teaching.
The language is going very well. I have been progressing a lot with it.
I don't feel very good about the teaching. I try to teach, but I just stumble on my words, and I am so worried about teaching it right that I feel like I am not putting my heart into it. I don't feel that what I say will make a difference to anyone. I am trying really hard. However, I still have many times when I am trying to study and I get distracted by the things going on around me. I am not very good at managing my time. I seem to be far less focused during my studies here than I was at home. I made a goal to go off into another room, but then I get caught up listening to a conversation that other Elders are carrying on. I also get tired so easily, even though I am going to bed on time. I have been thinking about these things a lot this week, especially since I only have two weeks left. The teachers said that what we do in the MTC will be the foundation that determines how the rest of our time in the mission turns out. I don't like that, especially since I am still having a hard time with focusing and with being organized. I have been doing several good things, but I feel like I could have done so much more. I have been feeling very discouraged because of this.
We also taught Fre' Jean as a progressive investigator. He read the first four chapters of 1st Nephi and stopped because he didn't think that God would tell Nephi to kill Laban. He made the arguement that God loves even wicked people and that he wouldn't ever kill them, or do anything bad like that. It is true that he loves them, but I wanted to show that God still would ask Nephi to do that, So I looked up examples in the Bible of times when God asked the Israelites to kill a whole nation. I told Fre' Jean that I was going to use that for our next lesson, after we had finished the appointment, but he said that I was going about it the wrong way. He said that I wasn't completely understanding the concern of the investigator, and that I should have mentioned to the investigator what happens after death, so that they don't think it is an unmerciful thing that God would kill wicked people, since the will live after this life and since God can then send people in the spirit world to preach the Gospel to the wicked. I felt so horrible after that. I was trying so hard to make it right, but I ended up taking an intelectual approach to it instead of resolving the basis of the concern.
I only have a few seconds. Things are going pretty well despite my discouragement. I must go.
Bye! I love you!
Love,
Elder Seamons
Thursday, August 5, 2010
A letter From Elder Caldwell, Ninja Frisbee, and Shirly the Alarm Clock
Note from Mom- This past week, we recieved a nice letter from Elder Caldwell, Eric's companion. Here are a few things he said about Eric:
My name is Elder Caldwell, and I just wanted to write you a letter expressing my gratitude to you for raising an awesome son! Elder Seamons is such an excellent companion, and I couldn't ask for a better one! He is so brilliant with the language and helps me so much with it! He's an outstanding missionary and is going to be incredible out in the field! I'm going to miss seeing him and having him help correct me with the language, but we're going to try to meet up after our missions, maybe have a district reunion in Haiti!
I think one of my favorite quotes, and one that I have written in the back of my planner, is actually one I heard Elder Seamons say one time. He said, "The only way anything will be easier is to finish it."
-Elder Seamons
Elder Josh Caldwell
Another note from Mom- I asked Eric in my e-mail to him today about how the language is going for him and that guy who was struggling in the district. That is why he goes into such detail on the language.
E-mail sent August 5, 2010
Hi Mom and Dad!
Our district is doing very well. We are able to say a lot more than we were before. The one elder who was struggling in the language before is still having trouble, but he is doing a lot better though. In the prayer he used to say "resmye" or "resmesye" for the very to thank, but now he corrects himself every time he does that and says "remesye." Elder Caldwell is doing very well in the language too! He used to have problems when he was doing possessive. He would always say mwen fanmi instead of fanmi mwen, which is correct. The pronoun goes after the word instead of before the word. Pronouns are always the same. In English, we use me, my, I, and mine, but it is just mwen in Creole. I am still having struggles with the language though. When I am teaching in Creole, I still don't know how to say certain things because I haven't learned them yet. I am also having trouble with teaching. I get so focused on saying everything correctly, that I don't always speak from the bottom of my heart. I also try to explain certain things with such complexity because I am trying so hard to get the person to understand, that I end up confusing them. I never had that problem at home, because I knew that everyone that I was teaching was a member and would understand. I just need to stop worrying and not worry about explaining things perfectly. I need to just bear simple testimony and speak from my heart, and then God's promise will be fulfilled which says that he will carry it unto the hearts of the children of men through the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians 2:4
They are setting up stadium seating with bleachers in the Gym again, so the gym floor isn't being used. We can use the track and the exercise equipment above though. I run with Elder Smith a lot. There was a period of several weeks, when they began putting up the bleachers again, that everyone wanted to go outside, so we didn't run very often, though we did laps around the field for a few days. I have been playing Frisbee so much lately. I have been enjoying it. Sometime this week, we played a game called ninja with a Frisbee. Elder Terry and Elder Loder started it I think. They would do front rolls and do ninja moves as they caught and through the Frisbee. I joined in, but I started getting really itchy because of the grass, which I am a little allergic to, so I won't be doing that anymore. I will catch it, but no more rolling in the grass. It was fun though. Only part of the gym is available for firesides, so they assigned certain branches to different rooms. Luckily, our branch gets to be in the gym. Elder Major is doing auditions again for the devotional musical numbers. The last one they did was really good. I love the musical numbers!
This morning, Elder Terry's alarm clock went off at 6:25. It is this clock that has a rooster that crows and then has a woman's voice that tells the time and the temperature of the room. It is the most annoying thing ever. He named her Shirly. He said that this was his alarm clock throughout high school. I just woke up automatically, so I never needed to use an alarm. I always hated waking up to that, so I would just get up, turn it off, and get ready so I didn't have to hear that sound. Luckily, I am in the shower when Shirly goes off in the morning, because I get up at 6:00 so that I have enough time to get ready.
This week was hard. I got very discouraged because I still have a hard time studying effectively, and I try to teach people about Jesus Christ, but it doesn't turn out the way I feel it should turn out. I realize that I need to focus better during MDT (Missionary Directed Time). I get distracted when people talk intermittently. Some people can concentrate, but I can't I will probably just go into another room, even for personal study. I will just ask Elder Caldwell to come with me. I need to use night time more effectively too. But I think that I am doing pretty well. Fre' Jean said that he is pleased with my progress when he interviewed me last night. He does interview about once a week.
Bye! Time gone!
Love, Elder Seamons
My name is Elder Caldwell, and I just wanted to write you a letter expressing my gratitude to you for raising an awesome son! Elder Seamons is such an excellent companion, and I couldn't ask for a better one! He is so brilliant with the language and helps me so much with it! He's an outstanding missionary and is going to be incredible out in the field! I'm going to miss seeing him and having him help correct me with the language, but we're going to try to meet up after our missions, maybe have a district reunion in Haiti!
I think one of my favorite quotes, and one that I have written in the back of my planner, is actually one I heard Elder Seamons say one time. He said, "The only way anything will be easier is to finish it."
-Elder Seamons
Elder Josh Caldwell
Another note from Mom- I asked Eric in my e-mail to him today about how the language is going for him and that guy who was struggling in the district. That is why he goes into such detail on the language.
E-mail sent August 5, 2010
Hi Mom and Dad!
Our district is doing very well. We are able to say a lot more than we were before. The one elder who was struggling in the language before is still having trouble, but he is doing a lot better though. In the prayer he used to say "resmye" or "resmesye" for the very to thank, but now he corrects himself every time he does that and says "remesye." Elder Caldwell is doing very well in the language too! He used to have problems when he was doing possessive. He would always say mwen fanmi instead of fanmi mwen, which is correct. The pronoun goes after the word instead of before the word. Pronouns are always the same. In English, we use me, my, I, and mine, but it is just mwen in Creole. I am still having struggles with the language though. When I am teaching in Creole, I still don't know how to say certain things because I haven't learned them yet. I am also having trouble with teaching. I get so focused on saying everything correctly, that I don't always speak from the bottom of my heart. I also try to explain certain things with such complexity because I am trying so hard to get the person to understand, that I end up confusing them. I never had that problem at home, because I knew that everyone that I was teaching was a member and would understand. I just need to stop worrying and not worry about explaining things perfectly. I need to just bear simple testimony and speak from my heart, and then God's promise will be fulfilled which says that he will carry it unto the hearts of the children of men through the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians 2:4
They are setting up stadium seating with bleachers in the Gym again, so the gym floor isn't being used. We can use the track and the exercise equipment above though. I run with Elder Smith a lot. There was a period of several weeks, when they began putting up the bleachers again, that everyone wanted to go outside, so we didn't run very often, though we did laps around the field for a few days. I have been playing Frisbee so much lately. I have been enjoying it. Sometime this week, we played a game called ninja with a Frisbee. Elder Terry and Elder Loder started it I think. They would do front rolls and do ninja moves as they caught and through the Frisbee. I joined in, but I started getting really itchy because of the grass, which I am a little allergic to, so I won't be doing that anymore. I will catch it, but no more rolling in the grass. It was fun though. Only part of the gym is available for firesides, so they assigned certain branches to different rooms. Luckily, our branch gets to be in the gym. Elder Major is doing auditions again for the devotional musical numbers. The last one they did was really good. I love the musical numbers!
This morning, Elder Terry's alarm clock went off at 6:25. It is this clock that has a rooster that crows and then has a woman's voice that tells the time and the temperature of the room. It is the most annoying thing ever. He named her Shirly. He said that this was his alarm clock throughout high school. I just woke up automatically, so I never needed to use an alarm. I always hated waking up to that, so I would just get up, turn it off, and get ready so I didn't have to hear that sound. Luckily, I am in the shower when Shirly goes off in the morning, because I get up at 6:00 so that I have enough time to get ready.
This week was hard. I got very discouraged because I still have a hard time studying effectively, and I try to teach people about Jesus Christ, but it doesn't turn out the way I feel it should turn out. I realize that I need to focus better during MDT (Missionary Directed Time). I get distracted when people talk intermittently. Some people can concentrate, but I can't I will probably just go into another room, even for personal study. I will just ask Elder Caldwell to come with me. I need to use night time more effectively too. But I think that I am doing pretty well. Fre' Jean said that he is pleased with my progress when he interviewed me last night. He does interview about once a week.
Bye! Time gone!
Love, Elder Seamons
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Changing the Culture of our Hearts and the Impossible MTC Haircut
Hand written letter received August 4, 2010
Hi family and friends!
It is p-day again. (Jou preparasyon) I am sitting in the waitroom of the barber shop. Elder Caldwell just wanted to get his hair cut. I am glad that my hair is short again! My hair gets so bushy and curly when it grows longer. Elder Caldwell laughed when I said that it was out of control, but it was longer than it should have been. Getting haircuts at the MTC is nearly impossible. They put the sign-up sheet-up at 8 am. The sign-up sheet for any for any given day goes up four days in advance. There are three sheets, one for each employee. By 8:00, the line is at least 20 people. The sheet fills up in 15 minutes or less. So we were lucky that we could get appointments, especially appointments on our preparation day that were right next to each other.
I just talked to an Elder named Elder Eagers who is going to England, Mandarin Chinese speaking. He has been in the MTC for 7 weeks. He is here only for 10 weeks instead of 11, because the transfer schedule is different. Some people in his district are going to Scotland which is the largest amount of Mandarin speakers in the United Kingdom. I enjoyed talking to Elder Eagers a lot.
There was a really good fireside on Sunday. He talked about changing the culture of our hearts. There are several things that can define the culture of your heart, such as gratitude, murmuring, kindness, etc. You need to see the imperfection in the culture of your heart. You need to change not just because of other people’s opinions, but also because you want to be a healthier, happier person. The speaker was Stephen B Allen, who is the managing director of the missionary department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He told us about a campaign that the church has done to help people change the culture of people’s hearts. They do commercials called “Home Front”. They are family oriented. One of the commercials shows a boy in band who is having a hard time reading his music because he doesn’t have his glasses on. His teacher makes him put them on and everyone gives weird looks. At the end of the commercial, a voice says, “It’s not who you aren’t, it’s who you are, and being who you are is great.” For this one, Brother Allen told us not to be ashamed of who we are and to be ourselves. God called me as a missionary. I was called to this particular mission. I am here because Heavenly Father needs my unique personality to influence different people. No one else can do it quite like I can. Don’t be ashamed of your weaknesses and short comings. Just try your best. That is all that Jesus Christ expects of you and me. Your best is not the same as other persons. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. That is Satan’s tactic. Comparison is an element of pride and insecurity. Pride, competition, and jealousy are like three inseparable brothers, or like three sides of a triangle. If one of them goes, the other two will go as well. C.S. Lewis has a quote on this. Someone from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles gave a talk about this in General Conference. He said that the main component of pride is competition and that if competition is gone, pride is gone. It was along those lines. I don’t know the exact quote.
I have a problem comparing myself to other people, especially with the language. Whenever I understand concepts better than the other missionaries, I feel prideful. If I don’t do as well at something, I feel bad and I make excuses to myself for why I didn’t do as well. My Goal for this week’s Christ-like attribute is humility. Every week, we write the branch presidency and we each have to choose a Christ-like attribute out of Preach My gospel (the missionary handbook that has the doctrine that we teach). I am going to pray for humility, and for the help to not compare myself to other people.
We all have gifts from God, so we have no reason to be jealous of other people’s talents and abilities. We each have a mission that Heavenly Father wants us to complete. In Jeremiah 1:5 Jesus tells the prophet Jeremiah that he knew him before he was even born, and that he was called and ordained to be a prophet before his lifetime. Both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knew you personally before we were even born. You talked with them. They knew you personally: They know your desires, dreams, fears, weaknesses, strengths, likes, and dislikes. They took you aside individually and gave you callings and an assignment to complete. There are people who you are supposed to help, gifts you are supposed to share, and people that you are meant to become. I know that Jesus knows us personally, not just because he knew us before, but also because he felt our pains, temptations, sorrow, sicknesses, and afflictions. He knows you perfectly. I have felt the comfort of this knowledge in my life. And I have received the perfect help for my problems, since Jesus Christ knows my problems so well, so he knew who could help comfort me.
I have been called by Jesus Christ to teach people about the Gospel. I have undertaken a great work. It isn’t easy, but it is worth it. I know that this is the Savior’s work. Even though I am not perfect, and get distracted during study sessions, and get tired, and discouraged, if I obey the rules of the mission and study as hard as I know how, I will be blessed. Most importantly, he suffered and died because he loved you and me. If you go to him with all your heart, and leave all other distractions behind, he will bless you.
The days just blend together here. I can’t think of anything interesting that you haven’t heard already, plus I am tired, so I will write to you all soon.
Thanks Grandma, Sara, and Aunt Laurie for sending those packages. I loved them and thank you Mom for sending me the paper and the card. I am really grateful for the support. I will write more soon!
Love,
Elder Seamons
Hi family and friends!
It is p-day again. (Jou preparasyon) I am sitting in the waitroom of the barber shop. Elder Caldwell just wanted to get his hair cut. I am glad that my hair is short again! My hair gets so bushy and curly when it grows longer. Elder Caldwell laughed when I said that it was out of control, but it was longer than it should have been. Getting haircuts at the MTC is nearly impossible. They put the sign-up sheet-up at 8 am. The sign-up sheet for any for any given day goes up four days in advance. There are three sheets, one for each employee. By 8:00, the line is at least 20 people. The sheet fills up in 15 minutes or less. So we were lucky that we could get appointments, especially appointments on our preparation day that were right next to each other.
I just talked to an Elder named Elder Eagers who is going to England, Mandarin Chinese speaking. He has been in the MTC for 7 weeks. He is here only for 10 weeks instead of 11, because the transfer schedule is different. Some people in his district are going to Scotland which is the largest amount of Mandarin speakers in the United Kingdom. I enjoyed talking to Elder Eagers a lot.
There was a really good fireside on Sunday. He talked about changing the culture of our hearts. There are several things that can define the culture of your heart, such as gratitude, murmuring, kindness, etc. You need to see the imperfection in the culture of your heart. You need to change not just because of other people’s opinions, but also because you want to be a healthier, happier person. The speaker was Stephen B Allen, who is the managing director of the missionary department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He told us about a campaign that the church has done to help people change the culture of people’s hearts. They do commercials called “Home Front”. They are family oriented. One of the commercials shows a boy in band who is having a hard time reading his music because he doesn’t have his glasses on. His teacher makes him put them on and everyone gives weird looks. At the end of the commercial, a voice says, “It’s not who you aren’t, it’s who you are, and being who you are is great.” For this one, Brother Allen told us not to be ashamed of who we are and to be ourselves. God called me as a missionary. I was called to this particular mission. I am here because Heavenly Father needs my unique personality to influence different people. No one else can do it quite like I can. Don’t be ashamed of your weaknesses and short comings. Just try your best. That is all that Jesus Christ expects of you and me. Your best is not the same as other persons. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. That is Satan’s tactic. Comparison is an element of pride and insecurity. Pride, competition, and jealousy are like three inseparable brothers, or like three sides of a triangle. If one of them goes, the other two will go as well. C.S. Lewis has a quote on this. Someone from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles gave a talk about this in General Conference. He said that the main component of pride is competition and that if competition is gone, pride is gone. It was along those lines. I don’t know the exact quote.
I have a problem comparing myself to other people, especially with the language. Whenever I understand concepts better than the other missionaries, I feel prideful. If I don’t do as well at something, I feel bad and I make excuses to myself for why I didn’t do as well. My Goal for this week’s Christ-like attribute is humility. Every week, we write the branch presidency and we each have to choose a Christ-like attribute out of Preach My gospel (the missionary handbook that has the doctrine that we teach). I am going to pray for humility, and for the help to not compare myself to other people.
We all have gifts from God, so we have no reason to be jealous of other people’s talents and abilities. We each have a mission that Heavenly Father wants us to complete. In Jeremiah 1:5 Jesus tells the prophet Jeremiah that he knew him before he was even born, and that he was called and ordained to be a prophet before his lifetime. Both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knew you personally before we were even born. You talked with them. They knew you personally: They know your desires, dreams, fears, weaknesses, strengths, likes, and dislikes. They took you aside individually and gave you callings and an assignment to complete. There are people who you are supposed to help, gifts you are supposed to share, and people that you are meant to become. I know that Jesus knows us personally, not just because he knew us before, but also because he felt our pains, temptations, sorrow, sicknesses, and afflictions. He knows you perfectly. I have felt the comfort of this knowledge in my life. And I have received the perfect help for my problems, since Jesus Christ knows my problems so well, so he knew who could help comfort me.
I have been called by Jesus Christ to teach people about the Gospel. I have undertaken a great work. It isn’t easy, but it is worth it. I know that this is the Savior’s work. Even though I am not perfect, and get distracted during study sessions, and get tired, and discouraged, if I obey the rules of the mission and study as hard as I know how, I will be blessed. Most importantly, he suffered and died because he loved you and me. If you go to him with all your heart, and leave all other distractions behind, he will bless you.
The days just blend together here. I can’t think of anything interesting that you haven’t heard already, plus I am tired, so I will write to you all soon.
Thanks Grandma, Sara, and Aunt Laurie for sending those packages. I loved them and thank you Mom for sending me the paper and the card. I am really grateful for the support. I will write more soon!
Love,
Elder Seamons
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Photos- Elder Seamons and friends, living quarters, and Elder Terry drawings
Elder Seamons in front of MTC sign
Elder Seamons' companion, Elder Caldwell, with Eric in front of MTC sign
Elder Seamons with his very good friend, Elder Tanner Spear,
before Tanner left for New York, New York
Bottom bunk
Elder Seamons' desk
Lunch
In front of the Provo Temple
Elder Caldwell, Elder Iosusa, from the Samoan district and Elder Seamons
Elder Seamons with Elder Reedus, from the Samoan District
One of Elder Terry's many pictures- The Plan of Salvation
Elder Terry funny picture of aligator after eating an Elder
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