Two Parrot Fishes and Too Many Nicknames

Aloha family a me friends,

"Come over her...Don't be scured...Go down de road. Up de country...See her hur and how she curs bout it...Mah Sistahs!!!"

For the sake of it, I don't think I'll ever get over Bermudians accents and the people. This place just cracks me up every single day. And "if your phonebook listing inclues your nickname because no one knows your given name, you must be Bermudian", holds so true as we go out and see our friends around the island...Flesh, Country, Grapes, Skins, Bootsie, and Foxdog. Given names? Don't ask me. I got no idear.

But really. Names are so so important. This past Saturday prior to the baptism starting, Sister Pennock and I were cleaning up seaweed from the cove and we hear some noises from the water. We look up and see a giant blue parrot fish right in the cove and super close to the shoreline!! I look at my companion and I'm like "This is a hoailona (or sign in nature). It's gonna be a real good day. I have never seen them so close". Minutes later guess what we see?! Another giant blue parrot fish. Wow. I turn and look at my companion and am like "ok ok hold up. this is really going to be a good day. Heavenly Father must be very proud of Teresa". And I can testify that yes, it was a real good day despite the weather not being so nice. We got five of the people we were teaching to witness the baptism. And I know that Heavenly Father was so proud of Teresa as she took upon herself the name of Christ on Saturday and then on Sunday she was confirmed a member of The Church and her name was taken down.

Teresa was such a champ and
got baptized despite it
being freezing cold outside!

Names are one of the most important things you can remember about a person. Names are noted and numbered on earth and in heaven. But "numbering, however, is not really about numbers; it is about making certain each person feels the love of the Savior through someone who serves for Him. In that way, all can recognize that they are known by a loving Father in Heaven" (Bonnie H. Cordon, Becoming a Shepherd) . Yes, I like numbers but it is important to remember its not about the numbers its about the names. When we serve by the spirit, we will bring people closer to Christ and back to His fold for "when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice" (John 10:4). The sheep of the good shepherd know His voice. He speaks plainly unto us all in a way as unique as we each are. And how cool is it, that as disciples, we get to be His hands here on this beautiful honua (earth) and invite people to open their ears and hear His voice.

Just some food for your thoughts this morning :-)

Randoms:

1) We missed 2 busses this week. Like miss them as we were 10 feet from getting to the bus stop and they just kept driving. First time because my companion wanted to catch a frog and the next time because we were looking at some flowers haha. We then had to wait an hour for the next busses lol.

2) Our deaf member Eugene is teaching us sign language. It's quite entertaining. I finally have a deaf name!

3) Found a less active via facebook ads. He has been here for about 16 years and saw our ads and realized that he should probably start coming back to church! So cool.

4) Love it when our people come to church and already know at least 3 branch members. Perks of living on a tiny little island haha

5) Got some free avocados. Got some fishing line and bait. Got free rides around the island. Got to start meeting with a lot of our people regularly. Got some advice from Bermudians on how to best minister to these people. Got a giant fish sandwich with cole slaw on raisin bread. Gotta say...God is good :)