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
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