A Christmas Thank You from the Mission Home

Sorry- None of the photos came through on this post and I don't know why. 
 I will have to figure it out…      

THE CHURCH OF 

JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Jamaica Kingston Mission

4 Garelli Avenue

Kingston 10

Jamaica

Phone:  1-876-618-1625

Dear missionary parents, ward members and all who contributed to the Jamaica Kingston Mission Christmas,

There are not words to express our gratitude for the generous donations received from you this season.  Every elder and sister serving here at Christmas received packages and mail, and thanks to your assistance, not one was left out, not one was without a gift to make Christmas special for them.

The missionaries celebrated in their zones, first receiving a spiritual training session with Elder Hugo Martinez of the Seventy, and President Brown.  This was followed by a delicious Christmas dinner, and a program of Christmas music, stories and songs provided by the talented young missionaries of our mission.  All were truly fed – spiritually and temporally!

Following those activities, we adjourned to the cultural hall, where President Brown and the assistants donned their Santa hats, and distributed all the packages – neatly wrapped in Christmas paper, thanks to the help of some seminary students and office missionaries.

As names were called out, there were smiles, and looks of surprise, too, from some who thought there would be no gift for them.  The young missionary in the picture here was so shocked that someone would give him a gift that he began to cry.  He was so overcome that he just sat and held his Christmas package for quite a while, saying that this was the first time he had ever had a gift to un-wrap.  That is just one example of how the missionaries were touched by your generosity.

As you can see from the following pictures, it was a happy, touching experience for all.

     



   

All the packages were wrapped and waiting on the stage, for the missionaries to receive, as President Brown joyfully called their names.  Your gifts were thoughtful and appreciated by the missionaries.  Your donations of money went a long way, providing gift items, wrapping paper, treats and more.  This will definitely be a Christmas our missionaries will remember for a long time.  The Jamaican missionaries and others who were assisted by your contributions shared in the joy of Christmas giving with their fellow elders and sisters. 

These photographs are just a glimpse into the sights of the several zone conferences held this December.  We wish you could share in the sounds as well, but rest assured that your contributions were of great value in making each Christmas conference a wonderful event for all our missionaries!

With sincere appreciation,  
        

President Kevin G. Brown

Jamaica Kingston Mission

week #6 -Kingston

Hey Fam!

My week was pretty good.  But first, to catch you up on last week, I will tell you a bit about downtown.  I went on trade off to downtown with Elder Fowkes last Saturday.  Downtown was sweet.  Each scheme was complete with tight winding streets, zinc fences, grimy canals, and burning trash.  It is a totally different world from the uptown.  I had to shift back into Patois mode because people chat raw down there.  It was everything I had hoped for.  I enjoyed having a final debut with Elder Fowkes.  He is home now.

This week has been really good.  We were able to have a lot of good lessons with our members and investigators.  We managed to get quite a few of our members out with us to lessons, and have started to teach some of their friends.  That is the way that missionary work becomes effective.  Missionaries working with members to teach their prepared friends.  We have a few that I think will choose to make the step of baptism sometime in the next month.  I will keep you updated. 

We did some service on Saturday for a lady in Seaview Gardens.  We worked with some members of the ward and some paid workers to mix concrete and lift it bucket by bucket up to the roof of the house.  We casted the roof.  This entailed standing in line passing bucket after bucket of concrete up to the roof.  It was hard work, and we were pretty tired by the time we finished.  It took a lot longer than we anticipated. 

This Sunday was ward conference.  We got to hear from our stake president, President Lieu.  He is an incredible teacher.  Everything he said was easy to understand, and undeniably true.  I want to get to the point where I can teach like that one day. 

Great job on your talk dad!  It sounds like you did a great job.  I am excited to hear it.  

It would be best if you sent it on CD mom. 

I am doing well. I hope everyone is good there too!

I love you.

Elder Pullan

week #5 - Kingston

Hey everyone, 

Sorry!  You are all just going to have to settle for a quick email this week.  But, I will tell you why.  We had a zone p-day today!  We all went out to Fort Rocky? on the way to Port Royal and played capture the flag on it.  IT WAS SO SWEET!  Capture the flag with the zone on an abandoned fort?  YES.  We did a lot of running and climbing and exploring all over the place.  I even threw some flips with a few other elders off a brick building into the sand. You will have to wait to see the videos later.  Needless to say, p-day was great.  It was the best one I have had so far!  However, it has not left me with much email time. 

Remind me to tell you about my trade off to the downtown with Elder Fowkes next week.   I would tell you if I had time. Sorry.   I am going to try to send pix before time is up.

I love you all!

Elder Pullan

week 3 & 4 -Kingston

January 5, 2015
Hey fam,

This week has been a good one.  I don't really have too much to say for it though.  Elder McGregor and I worked hard.  We tramped around in the hot sun all day every day, and had varying levels of success.  It really just depended on the day.  We didn't do anything for New Years.  Nothing at all.  We were all too tired.  That is the way it goes some days. 

I do have a story from the week.  Elder McGregor and I were standing on a corner, figuring out where to go... When we see it.  An old rasta man holding a cane slowly running (as fast as he could) away from another old guy in red gym shorts.  The guy in the red shorts was waving a machet and running slowly (as fast as he could) after him.  It was the funniest thing to see the old rasta in front looking over his shoulder as he high-tailed it away.  Both of these men had to be something near 60 years old.  Now, some of you might say "Elder Pullan, that is serious, you shouldn't laugh".  That is only because you are not used to these things.  It honestly didn't even phase me when I saw it.  I just chuckled as I watched and thought "what is going on?".  For those of you that are worried about the result, he didn't catch him.  No one got hurt.  He didn't really intend to chop him.  Just rough him up for stealing his money or something.  Hahaha.  It was quite the sight.

We also had a great lesson with Sis. S this sunday. Sis. S is something in her twenties, and we began to teach her last week.  She works out near New Kingston, and lives out there while she is working, so we don't get to see her all that often.  We did get to see her after church on Sunday though.  We had a great lesson about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We also talked a bit about the necessity of temples and temple marriage with her.   She had a lot of questions about why not everyone can go in, and stuff like that. She seems really ready to accept the gospel, so I am excited to see how she takes it. 

I love you all! Happy New Year!

Love, Elder Pullan

PS- I will Pray for you Dad!

PPS- Congratulations on your baptism Nathan! That is a great step you have taken. Make sure you write in your Journal about it! I love you.

*******************************
December 29, 2014

Hey Fam!

Christmas was pretty good for me.  I loved being able to skype you all!  It was great to hear from you.  I had forgotten how much I miss you all until I got to see you! Soon come, I will be back though. Before unu quint mi a be dere. 

My Christmas started with caroling and passing out "He is the Gift" cards on Halfway Tree. I was with most of the Elders in our district. After that, we went to the Medley's and Skyped. After we were done skyping, we went caroling with them to a couple of ward members.  We spent the rest of the evening over at Bobby's house.  Bobby is our ward mission leader.  We ate some really good food, and all took turns saying the things that we are grateful for from the past year.  This Christmas was really nice.  I enjoyed it a lot more than the last one.  Christmas is always a rough time for us missionaries, but I am very excited that it is almost over.  Things will start moving a little faster for us now. 

You guys wanted me to write about the crocodile hunting adventure from last week. You guys know about that one, so I am going to tell you about Elder G and I's adventure in Seaview from 5am this morning. Elder G and I decided to give it another go, as we did not get to see any crocs last time.  We went back into the marsh walking along the bridge over the swamp.  We went and searched in vain... or so we thought.  We went ahead and made a crocodile hunter video while we were back there.  On the way back to our bikes to head home, we saw him. There was a huge croc right under one of the pipe-bridges we were walking on.  This thing was massive.   At least 12 feet long, sitting perfectly still in the water about 15 feet below us.  We threw a rock onto its' back and it snapped at it, then swam silently away underneath the black water.  It disappeared so quickly.  We had no idea where it went  after just a couple of seconds.  It was so cool to see.  I am thoroughly convinced that we would not stand a chance against a croc in the water.  We returned from our hunt successful, with some great videos and pictures!  That was my week for you. 

It was great to hear from you all! I am so glad that you had an awesome Christmas!

Love, Elder Pullan

Good Luck with your Baptism Nathan! I am so proud of you!

The Gator

The Tracks

The Sunrise

week #2 -Kingston

Hey Fam,

This week has been an interesting one.  Mission Christmas happened this week and I would like to thank you all for the presents.  It has made for an awesome Chrismas!  I have been enjoying a plethora of candy and treats ever since Thursday.  So, Thank you all for the treats.  I am enjoying them.  The homemade cookies are wonderful, and I have been rocking my new gym shorts every night since.  Thanks guys.  Merry Christmas!

So, this week...  This week started with a couple of Family nights on Monday night. We shared a message about Jesus Christ and His purpose in coming to the earth. We wrapped up and with me having a draw-off with one of the family members while the teenage son played guitar. He is incredible at guitar, so it was fun to hear. We will be seeing the same family tonight!

On Tuesday, the Mo-Bay (Montego Bay elders) were in Kingston for some meetings, so they spent the morning going around with us.  Elder McGregor and I went on splits with them. We walked around, talking to people for most of the time, so it was good.  We have been doing a lot of that lately because we are whitewashing (trying to find investigators). 

Wednesday, Elder McGregor caught a ride with one of the Kingston Zone Leaders to go to his uncle's funeral.  I spent half the day with the other Kingston Zone Leader, Elder Adams. We had no solid appointments that day, so we walked around and talked to people. It gets rough sometimes. 

Thursday was Zone Conference and mission Christmas. Elder Martinez of the Seventy was there. We got to hear from him. He is an amazing teacher. He teaches with such simplicity. We talked a lot about setting goals for the new year, enjoying the present and doing better in the future, and helping others come into the gospel so that they can feel included and welcome. After Zone Conference ended, we had a wonderful Christmas program. A lot of the Elders and Sisters in our the Kingston and Spanish Town zones (the zones in attendance) played instruments and sang songs. The talent displayed was incredible. I don't know how we got such great talent in such a small mission. We then went to another room and had a Christmas meal of rice and peas, chicken, ham, macaroni salad, and dessert of ice cream and cake. The meal was prepared by a few of the members. After that, we cleared up, and President Brown put on his Christmas hat and began to hand out presents. The office couple had wrapped every single package that came in, so we all enjoyed unwrapping our gifts and reading letters. When things wrapped up, us elders from Boulevard rode to the Bishop's house and had a meeting with him discussing the ward. 

Friday was a long day. We super-planned for the week in the morning, and then headed out in the afternoon.  We had solid appointments planned for every hour, and EVERY SINGLE ONE FELL THROUGH.  So it was another day of riding around and talking to people. 

The ward had its Christmas party on Saturday, and we were invited to attend.  We elders played soccer in the falling rain in our proselyting clothes (suit and tie) with some Jamaicans for over an hour.  It was a lot of fun, but I wrecked my pair of shoes… Don't worry, it is one of the older ones. I think I will make it through the rest of my mission. 

Sunday was good. We were actually able to see some people. That was a relief. 

Last night, we pulled all of the mattresses into the same room of the house and had a sleep over. Our house consists of me, Elder McGregor, Elder Guereirro, and Elder Davidsen. Elder G and I had a great time telling stories while the other two passed out.  Haha.  It was great.

I am hoping that this week is a little more productive than the last, but things are improving. I can't complain. The only thing I can do is work hard and be patient. Things are going to take off soon. 

I am glad that you enjoyed the Christmas carols.  I thought you would. 

The things that we put on our Who is Jesus Christ Wall in Linstead was anything related to Him.  Nothing too picky.  We had everything from His purpose, to deep doctrine of how the atonement works, to the origins of His Name-Titles, to instances that show his character. We had it all organized around a lot of different pictures of Him, each one relating to a different topic, like; the atonement, the priesthood, His miracles, His character, etc. 

Anything you can find about Jesus Christ that isnt common knowledge that really doesnt deserve to be stated went on the wall. 

I would make a nice statement for you on Christlike attributes, but I fear that time is running short. Just remember Matt. 5:48, and John 14:8-10 ( If you have seen me you have seen the Father. I think that is the right reference.) Christ shows us and provides for us the way back to the Father. He is the only way. Our goal should be to become as He and our Father is. Perfect. 

I love you all. I hope that you are having a great Christmas season! Please, take some time to focus on the past year and pick out what you are going to do better in the next. Focus on Christ. He is our Heavenly Father's greatest gift to us. In Him lies eternal life. He is the Gift.  I know this to be true. 

Love, Elder Pullan

Elder Packer- I love this guy!

Kingston

Missionary Christmas!

Me & Elder McGregor with our new haircuts

week #1 - Kingston

Hello everyone!

Kingston.  There is so much to say and so little time.  Oh well.  I will do my best. 

So, Kingston.  Kingston is divided into two sections.  There is the Uptown and the Downtown.  The Downtown is the on the south side of the island. That is where the hardest ghettos are.  I don't know if you have heard the names, but places like Trench Town and Tivoli Gardens are all in downtown.  They are not in my area (unfortunately), but I will get to go on trade offs there!  I live in the uptown.  The further north you go in Kingston, the nicer things get.  Most of the nice places here, you probably would not recognize as nice if you went around with me.  It takes a couple of months here in JA in order to see things the way we see them.  That is why I don't try to explain things too hard to understand to you all.  You can't understand.  It can't be explained.  Only experienced.  I live a little ways off Dunrobin Blvd in upper Kingston.  My area covers places like Pembroke Hall, Maverly (pronouced Marvely), 3 oaks, and Glendale.  I have a lot of decent residential and a little bit of ghetto in my area. 

Kinston has a very different feel to it from the rest of the island.  It has a city feel to it.  It is almost like America.  Sort of.  People here work during the days, and when they come in at night, they lock themselves away in their houses.  Life here feels a little faster moving than other areas of JA.  People have things to do, and a result, less time to talk.  This makes missionary work hard.  People don't talk as much here.  We have been working hard though.  We have to put a lot of focus on our members and the things we already have in order to expand.  We are taking over the area from the sisters that used to serve here.  They were able to show us around a bit and help us to get a feel for the area on Wednesday and Thursday.  I really love Kingston.  I don't know what it is, but I feel a special connection with the city.  I feel like I already know some of the people I have met here… 

I have a couple experiences to share from the week.  One was one of those "how did I ever end up here?" moments.  Sometimes, on the mission, you stop to take in your surroundings, and it hits you.  How did I ever end up here?  I had one of those moments while in Maverly the other day.  The people in the commmunity were having an urban soccer competition.  There were huge tower speakers set up, a dj, and a lot of people out to watch.  There I stood.  I am sure one of the only Americans to witness something like that in years.  Haha.  I love those moments where you realize you could really have this experience no other way.  It is such a great opportunity to be here. 

I had another great experience on Sunday . I think it is the best thing I have ever done...

So a member family in my area recently had a baby.  The baby was born three months premature.  He lived only four days.  He passed away yesterday.  Saturday night, right at the end of the night, we had gone over to help the family move into a new house.  We went back after church on Sunday (once we heard about the death). We saw upon our arrival that there were a lot of other ward members already there.  We were able to share a thought from the scriptures, then we were asked to administer a blessing by the priesthood authority.   The Priesthood is the power of God, manifest through man.  He allows men in the church to hold the authority to use his power to help others.  The power is not ours.     It is all Gods.  I was voice for the blessing of the mother.  I have never been so strongly lead by the spirit.  The words simply came to me as I talked.  I was able to say exactly what the Lord wanted me to say.  Some things I remember from the blessing is that the passing of her child is God's will, and I also gave a blessing of strength so that this trial can bring their family closer together rather than tear them apart.  The spirit was so strong.  I am grateful that I was able to be an instrument in God's hands to bless His children . That is what  is all about.  That is what makes this whole mission thing worth it. It was amazing.  It just builds my testimony of the fact that this is true. 

My companion, Elder McGregor, is great. I don't have my camera cord, so pictures are going to have to wait. Sorry. Next week. 

I love you all. Take care of yourselves!

Love, Elder Pullan

week #29 - Linstead (and a transfer!)

Hey fam!

Happy Thanksgiving!  My week has been really good. It is weird to be on my last week in Linstead.  I have been here to for so long and made so many good friends.  I am going to miss them.  I am getting transferred to Boulevard, Kingston.  I will be opening up a new area there with Elder McGregor.  I am really excited to get started.  It is such a privilege to be able to open up a new area.  Not many missionaries get that opportunity.  Elder McGregor is Jamaican, so I am going to be the ONLY white guy.  That will be a little different.  I am really looking forward to it.  I have not yet had the opportunity to serve with a Jamaican companion.  I have heard he is really cool.  He was serving with Elder Biddulph in Negril for the past few transfers. 

Transfers will be on Wednesday.  I am excited to go and get on to something new.  It should be interesting. 

I had the opportunity to teach in Zone Meeting last week.  My lesson went really well.  The whole thing was lead by the spirit, so it was really powerful.  Everyone was able to learn a lot.  I started off by calling up three missionaries and asking them about the "Standards of Excellence".  I asked them if they were keeping them.  The answer was "no" in every case. (The Standards of Excellence are mission goals we all want to achieve, but they are pretty lofty).  I then asked them if they were doing their best.  The answer was "yes".  I then had Elder Jernigan walk over and slap a "NOT ENOUGH" sign on their chest and announced to everyone that "their best was not enough."  I slapped one on my own chest and let everyone know that our best is not enough.  Then we moved into talking about the enabling power of the atonement, and how we can be enough.  I was able to teach well.  The spirit was strong. It went really well.  I am grateful that we were all able to learn from it.

I got the Thanksgiving package!  Thanks mom.  We really enjoyed it.
For Thanksgiving, we made our own dinner of fried chicken, instant potatoes and stuffing, and cake.  It was really good.  I made the fried chicken myself.  It was a success.  I was happy.  We all wore our thanksgiving hats you sent.  I am running out of time, but I will send pix next week.

I hope you are all well. Enjoy the snow for me. I am jealous. 

I love you all!

Love, E. Pullan