I Am An Eating Powerhouse

August 26, 2024

 Hello my lovely people! Like all of the other weeks, this week was a blur and I don't know how I got here again already. But here we are. Another p-day, more stories to tell. Also here's my Google photos link in case you miss my face cause like... why wouldn't you?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xMb8wnNyoj4pxfZcA

          Why do 7th Days hate us?

     Cause we are too cool and haters gonna hate, that's why. I don't really have much to say here, the 7th days just really don't like us and, to be honest, watching them absolutely go off on us brings me just a little bit of joy. I think most of that comes from their lack of teeth and hatred of the shirt and tie. Anyway, moving on. 

          I miss American construction.

     No one likes closed roads because of construction in America. But in Curacao, it's a whole different beast. To get from one side of the island to the other in a straight path, there is 1 road. The other night we come across an insane amount of traffic and see a sign on the main road basically saying "we've closed this road, come back tomorrow." Getting home was a lot of fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But American traffic lights and such just have it down.

          Las Abuelas me aman 

     On Wednesday, we had a lunch appointment and then a dinner appointment 90 minutes later. First up, all the missionaries had lunch with this super sweet Colombian lady. She handed each of us quite literally the biggest plate of food I have ever seen. It was incredible. She saw me absolutely pound the food and, without saying a word, took my plate and completely refilled it. I sounded the second plate and then secretly helped several of the other missionaries eat their food too. All in all, it was a good 4 plates of food. And 90 minutes later the elders went over to a lady who set us up with massive plates of Haitian food. Once again, I pounded all of the food. Everyone who makes us food absolutely loves me cause I eat everything. It's nice to know I'm still an eating powerhouse, and I don't need Spanish because I have a big stomach. 

          The Seals stories

     My trainer, Elder Seals, is a hilarious guy. He reminds me a lot of some friends I have back home, so we get along super well. He's also a goof so it makes for some fun stories!  During our comp study, we heard a buzzing and saw that there was a bee trying to get out of our apartment. In a panic, Seals gets up and runs into the kitchen while yelling, "I GOT THIS! I GOT THIS!" He comes in with a strainer and a lid, yells "MIRA!" And slams his hands together and catches the bee. He runs for the patio and says "Be free my friend!" My other story I'm rather fond of this week comes from when we had the ZLs truck for a few days. We were cruising around with the windows down saying "awo" to all the drunkies and homies. At night people's driving gets significantly more chaotic and Seals frequently would just say "bro are you drunk?" But with the windows closed so that no one could hear him. Funny guy, fun times!

       This has been a good week full of blessings and miracles as well. My Spanish hasn't made any dramatic changes because there haven't been many Spanish people this week. But my Papiamento has progressed so much faster than I ever expected or ever could've asked for. I'm certainly not fluent, but I'm certainly progressing. The other day, we came across a lady who studied at a Bible school for a while and knew what she was talking about. She was throwing questions about the Book of Mormon at me, and where I would usually have to pass it to my companion, I was able to answer all of the questions. It was truly a miracle for me. We also have a baptism coming this week, which is an incredible miracle because our area hasn't had a baptism in almost a year! He's a super cool guy and it's been fun to be able to talk to him more and more each week.

      I love you all dearly. Time flies when you're having fun, and time is flying! I love my area, I love the missionaries on Curacao with me, I love my comp, and I love the people. 

Ayó!

Elder Aldrich

Anyone have any spare teeth?

August 19, 2024

Howdy everybody!

     Honestly this week has been kind of a blur, and I can't believe it's already p-day again. I'll just go ahead and start from the beginning of the week. After writing my email last week, the whole district went out to a dock and went fishing. No fishing rods, just fishing line, hooks, and chicken for bait. Not to brag or anything, but I caught 2 fish. You can applaud, that's okay! But the sunburn I got from that was brutal. It's super crazy, they make this thing called sunscreen, apparently it's helpful, huh.

           Anyone have any spare teeth?

     Okay, I love the people here. Most of them are just the nicest people ever. But there's one problem, there's a significant amount of the papiamento speakers that just don't have teeth. Just people out here with these thick Jamaican sounding accents speaking Papiamento with no teeth. But it makes life entertaining, and I vow to be able to understand them someday. My Papiamento is getting a lot better; if someone is speaking clearly, then I can catch about 90 percent of what's being said. But most people don't speak clearly so I really catch like 40, but it's way further along than I thought I would be after weeks of speaking this language. My Spanish is not so hot, unfortunately. All of the Spanish speakers have disappeared, so I only practice Spanish a little bit every day. But we are still learning.

          Exchange miracles

     We do 2 exchanges a transfer here, which is just where you swap companions with the other elders for the day. We had one last week, and it was no biggie. I don't speak the languages but the other elder did. I tried speaking anyway, sometimes surprisingly successful. But this week I had an exchange with Elder Haws. Absolute stud of an elder. He spent the last 19 months of his mission in Guyana English speaking, and then on the same transfer as me, the president moved him to the islands. Which is sick because he already knew Spanish, but he knows as much Papiamento as I do. But we start this exchange knowing we have 3 lessons in Papiamento that evening, with slight concern about how in the world we will make this work. Our plan was to "go for it," and that's what we did. There were two miracles here. One was that 2 of the 3 appointments were canceled, so it was just down to finding people in Papiamento, which isn't as hard. But we still had the one lesson with a sweet old lady named Ingrid.  With a month of Papiamento between the 2 of us, we went out and taught this lesson in Papiamento, and it went incredibly well. I understood almost everything and was able to respond to all the questions and teach. We walked out of the lesson completely shocked at what just happened. It was a moment of gift of tongues for sure. 

          I don't have too much from this week other than super random moments. We have game night every Friday and we usually play soccer. I'm alright at soccer, so I just do my best and speak very little cause everyone speaks Spanish. But I've made some absolute homies playing soccer.

     We were able to get ahold of rides for 8 people to come to church this week. It was a huge miracle, and it was a wild experience to be running around saying hello and introducing our friends to the branch members. Our branch is the best and I love them to pieces.

     Saturday, the ward had a beach day, and the Zone Leaders were asked to help with their truck, so all of the missionaries got to go. It was a lot of playing dominoes, talking with people, stumbling through conversations, and longing for the ability to swim, haha. But my Papiamento made a pretty solid jump that day, and I learned how to dance the bachata and merengue from some random old guy in the branch. The branch was really excited to see the Greengo elder who can't speak Papiamento dancing the bachata alongside everyone else. We got home that afternoon and hit the ground running with lessons and contacting, all around solid day.

     I think that's all I've got for the week. I love you all. Don't forget that God sees you, and he knows you perfectly. No one will ever know you like he does, not even yourself. Remember that you can rely on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in all things. It's a lesson I've learned several times over these past 2 months. God wants to hear from you, and he wants to hear how you're doing, so pray often. I love you, I pray for you all often. Shoot me an email If you get bored. 

Ayó!

-Elder Aldrich

Adventure of a Lifetime

August 12, 2024 

Bon Dia Amigunan! Buenos Dias Mis Amigos! Hello my lovely friends!

     Fun fact: In Papiamento, there's not really a word for hello, at least not one that's been invented yet, so everyone says Bon Dia, Bon Tardi, or Bon Nochi. Or if you're in Curacao and you're some drunk guy or a rock (dudes who literally just sit there all day) on the side of the road, it's "AWO!" Which has gotta be my favorite greeting ever! In response, it's usually something like "AaAwoOoO," and I kinda love it, haha. It's a little unfortunate the other islands don't really use it. The language is super funky because sometimes it's pretty similar to Spanish, but usually when it is, they've cut off the last 3 ish letters of the word. But everything there is spelled phonetically and it's incredibly helpful for reading in papiamento. The area I am in is about 60% Papiamento and 40% Spanish. It will vary from area to area, so I'll get them both down. The wildest experience is when you switch from Papiamento to Spanish (or vice versa) mid-conversation. Takes ya boy a second to switch languages. It's certainly a fun adventure!

          The Netherlands can step off

     We found a family at the start of the week. They are some of the nicest people and they're super interested in the gospel and the message that we had to bring.  But on our second visit with them, they told us that they actually live in Holland and they were just here for summer break staying with the mom's parents, and they would be leaving in the next few days. This was a really big bummer because they are just the best people, but we got them set up with the missionaries in Holland, and we hope for the best. But on the bright side, we taught the grandpa about the Book of Mormon, and when we handed it to him, he looked at it and said, "Esaki ta e palabra di dios" or "This is the word of God" and immediately asked us when we can meet with him again. Miracles everywhere.

          Sofiiaaaaaaa

     Another friend of ours, Sofia, is a 45-year-old lady from Columbia, and her personality is a "joking hate you" kinda personality. When we stop by, she always rolls her eyes and waves us away, walks into the house, then walks out with some Juice, aggressively tells us to sit down, then makes bomb Columbian food and tells us we can't leave until it's gone. She only speaks Spanish, so it's great practice, and she said my Spanish is a ton better than the last 2 missionaries to come through here. She sits there and practices talking with me, and it has helped a ton with the language and confidence in speaking. 

          The only Aldrich's in Curacao

     Okay, I don't actually know if that's true or not, but considering the only people who have ever heard of someone with my name are the branch members, it feels like a pretty fair guess. Anyway, Aldrich had us over for dinner on Wednesday night, and he cooked some Incredible food for us. He is a linguist and a journalist, so he speaks English and has taught it to his kids, too. So for the evening, we all were speaking English, and it was a nice little break from Spanish and Papiamento. He had a million questions for me, and I had a bunch for him. He's been to 60 countries, speaks 7 languages, and translates for the church. He's got stories on stories. But by the time dinner was over, I had eaten my weight in food, and we shared a spiritual thought and went on our way. 

          Exchanges

     There's not too much to say about this one. My zone leader, Elder Larson, was awesome, and it was a really good exchange. My language improved a bunch that day because our friends wanted to talk to me cause I was new just for the day. But an incredible miracle we had was with our friend Rafael. He's a hard-core 7th day, but somehow, the Zone Leaders got him to church. Well, on our exchanges was the follow-up appointment. When we asked him how church was, he said it was one of the most beautiful services he'd been to. He said that the 7th day teaches that "the Mormons" are the sin of Jesus Christ, but that it couldn't possibly be true because the people and the message are so amazing. I had the opportunity to bare my testimony in papiamento to him, and I was shocked that I was able to say so much to him. The gift of tongues is real, and this gospel is incredible.

     Honorable mentions

1. Steve the Donkey: We were having a tough day as far as contacting goes, and after stopping by our favorite (and only) member in Buena Vista, there was a random donkey just chilling by the road. Very friendly, named him Steve. 10/10 interaction with a donkey

2. Papiamento doesn't conjugate, and I love it. It makes it much easier to learn when there's only one form of each word.

3. Curacao collectively had 15 friends come to church on Sunday, so the branch was very lively. Amazing people and amazing experiences all around.

4. I hope I can love dogs again when I get home because right now, it's pretty challenging, haha. Curaclanian dogs are either terrified of you or they want to kill you; it's a good time

5. The gift of tongues is real. I should not be able to speak any Papiamento, let alone understand any, and I've been shocked at how much I have already learned. Even though it's not much, it's much more than it should be. Danki na Dios

     The mission so far has been a blast. It's definitely challenging and sometimes exhausting, but it's some of the most fun and interesting challenges I've had. Learning 2 languages at once has been a lot of fun and incredibly difficult, but with time, it comes. When you go to count your blessings, you realize there are too many to count. There are many more adventures to be had, and I can't wait.

I love you all!

Elder Aldrich

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xMb8wnNyoj4pxfZcA

How many languages are in this language?

August 5, 2024

 Bon Tardi! Buenas tardes! Good afternoon!

     So let me tell yall a little story about this here mission I've got. So, I learned Spanish in the MTC. Which means thay my spanish will be pretty mediocre for the next few months, no biggie we got this it'll be fine. However, I roll into Guyana, and my mission president says, "Oh yeah, by the way, you learn two languages."  Sick, let's go. I am actually so stoked. I love it! But let me tell you a little about Papiamento. Papiamento is a language only spoken by the people out in the ABC Islands. How many languages make up Papiamento? The correct answer is yes. Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, African indigenous languages, etc. It's one of the wildest looking languages I've seen. So I get to learn two languages and I couldn't be more excited!

     The last week or so has been somewhat of an adventure. I left the MTC Tuesday evening and arrived in Guyana Wednesday evening. Once In the mission home, the President told us to relax for about 15 minutes, and then we would go out and teach. So the APs came and took us to a few different places and taught the gospel a little bit. It wasn't what I expected at all, but it was a blast. The circumstances are not ideal, but the people are happy and love to talk to you. 

           Agriculla

     On Thursday, we had training and all that fun jazz until 1:30 ish. After that, the APs came with some other missionaries and divided up the 3 of us elders into trios. The APs wanted me, so I went with them. As we were driving, they told me that we were going to a town called Agriculla and it was the worst place in their area. They wanted the full baptism-by-fire Guyana experience. So we start talking to people, inviting them to church, setting up appointments, just crushing life. The sun is starting to set, so we are getting to the point where we need to go. I look over to my right and see a man getting out of a car with a balaclava, a machete, and a purpose. Let me tell you, we did not stick around to find that purpose, the APs and I left as quick as we could. 

          Curacao

     On Friday, I hopped on another plane and flew to Curacao to my first area. No more Guyana and no more machete moments. We are in an area called Buena Vista which sits in the middle of the island with no beach view. Bummer. But the people here are incredible. They have so much love and joy. Half the time I don't know what they're saying because it's either papiamento or thickly accented spanish. But you can just feel their love radiating. My trainer is a stud, and his name is Elder Seals. We get along super well, and he's super patient while I learn the languages. We've gotten to teach lessons in all 3 languages: one in English, a few in Spanish, and a few in Papiamento. 

          The man called Aldrich

     Since I got to Guyana, I heard stories about this man named Aldrich on Curacao. Well, I got to meet him on Sunday, and I understand why everyone was so excited for me to meet him. He laughed when he saw my name and then gave me the biggest hug any stranger had ever given me. He is one of like 3 people in our branch who know English, and the other two are his children. But he and I hit it off right away and the whole branch loves me simply because I share a name with this legend. He speaks 7 languages, has been to over 60 countries, and has the wildest stories. Curacao has 4 elders and 4 sisters on the island, and we all share the same branch. You can drive the whole island in 20 ish minutes, so the 8 of us spend the p-day mornings together. 

     The ABC Islands portion of the mission is really small—there are 18 missionaries total—so you get really close with everyone really quickly. So far, everyone I've met is the coolest person, and I'm stoked to fly to Aruba for the zone conference in 2 1/2 weeks! 

     So far, I have loved my mission experience. The people are incredible, and the opportunity to serve is an experience of a lifetime. I have only been in my area for a few days, but I have already seen the gospel change lives.

     Mi sa ku E Buki Di Mormon ta berdat. Jesucristo ta nos salbador. Mi sa ku esaki ta e Iglesia berdadero. Dios ta nos amoroso Tata celestial. Mi sa ku ora bo da lese E Buki Di Mormon, e lo trese bo paz. Mi ta bisa tur asaki den e nomber di Jesucristo, amen. 

     I know that the Book of Mormon is true. Jesus Christ is our savior. I know that this is the true church. God is our loving heavenly father. I know that when you read the Book of Mormon, you will feel peace. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

I love you all, I love the gospel, and I love being a missionary. 

Ayó!

Elder Aldrich