First week

Sunday, March 2, 2008---Guyana
We’ve been here 6 days. It is hot but not too hot. There is a breeze most of the time so we aren’t uncomfortable. Living conditions are way different that anything we’ve ever seen…or experienced. We live in a little town, New Amsterdam, that has 3 main streets, the middle one named Main, and about 15-20 side streets. The little stores line parts of 2 of the Main streets. Shopping is a real crap shoot. Everything offered looks like it came from a Chinese bargain store.

Main Street New Amsterdam, Guyana

We are trying to buy a few things to make our apartment a little more comfortable and it is hard to find anything that won’t fall apart immediately. We did find a Cuisinart hand mixer to buy and I was shocked but in heaven. Our apartment is small but fairly clean and new looking. We have two small bedrooms, one bathroom with a shower that has no sides, a small living room and a kitchen big enough to have a kitchen table in it.


Showering is definitely a very “open” affair. There is no hot water in the apartment so cold showers are the only kind available. A couple of days ago, I was taking a shower and had myself all soaped down, including my hair. When I turned on the water I realized only a little dribble of water came out. I screamed for your dad because I knew there was no way I would be able to rinse off with that tiny dribble of water. Suddenly, I was doused with a lot cold water from behind and as I was, I screamed. Guess who had thrown a big pitcher of cold water on my head…After he asked me in an exasperated tone, “What did you scream for?” And tell me, wouldn’t you have screamed, too?


The animals around here are incredible. Today, as we walked the 4 blocks to church, we had to walk through about 6 cows that were walking down the same street as we were. There are pigs, cows, donkeys, goats, and dogs just wandering all over the streets. They say that their animals are free just like the people are so if you don’t want them in your yard, you keep your gate closed. The animals don’t seem bothered by the people. Yesterday, I saw a calf having her “lunch” with her mama right in the middle of Main street. There are trenches of water alongside all of the streets. One of the couples saw a small alligator in one of them recently.

I'm yelling at cows on our street to look at the camera


We, the elders and 2 senior couples, are the only white people here. The other couple lives upstairs from us and it is really reassuring to have them so close. They have been here 3 months so hopefully they can answer all of our questions.


The streets are dark and scary at 6 pm so we are off the streets by then. It is amazing how dark it can be without any streetlights in town. But, tomorrow night the elders are meeting us at six to walk with us to a FHE. I think we’ll take our flashlights! It’s a good thing we brought 4 of them. The elders said they didn’t have any because they lost theirs.

Yesterday, was a great day. We have 6 branches in our zone. The other senior couple and we are sort of like the mission president over those branches and the 16 missionaries in this zone. We deliver their rent money to whoever their apartments are rented from, advise them when they are sick and look after them. This mission is a difficult mission because it includes 17 different countries, 11 currencies and they speak Dutch, French and English. So, the mission president uses senior couples all over the mission to manage the mission in their area of the mission.





Our first baptism day in Guyana

As I began to say about yesterday, there were about 20 baptisms in our zone yesterday. The zone has a goal of 110 baptisms for the month of March. This zone is the highest baptizing of the whole mission. The elders (there are no young sisters) never knock on doors. They constantly have referrals. The people are very poor and humble. Some cannot read, including the district president’s wife. They are working on a literacy program here to teach them to read. The people are blessed with the ministering of angels through visions and dreams. The elders are sometimes told when they come to a family for the first time, that someone in the family has had a dream that 2 young men in white shirts are going to come to their door. In the Ensign there apparently is an article that says that some of these humble people who live in areas where the church is in its infancy will be ministered by angels through visions and dreams, as in the early days of the church. Then, when the church is stronger in an area, the angels no longer have to do so because the members are to do the ministering to the nonmembers and newly baptized.


We attended two of the baptisms where a total of 5 were baptized. The people are very sweet and humble and are very warm and friendly to us. I know we are going to have a beautiful experience here. All of the baptisms we witnessed yesterday were teenagers. The elders are doing a great job.

Today, I baked a from-scratch chocolate cake. It was divine after eating, tuna and peanut butter sandwiches, cold cereal, grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes, and fried eggs all week. Cooking is definitely a challenge. We can only cook with chicken or canned tuna…no butter and a million other things. There aren’t many fresh veggies in the store. In fact the only fresh veggies are in one of those big open market places. There’s carrots, potatoes, orange squash, tomatoes, onions, and that’s about it. I am going to be dying for some broccoli and Brussels sprouts by the time 23 months pass.


Washing dishes and fruits and veggies is getting a little more routine. …soak everything in bleach/water mixture…then rinse with pure water. The water from the tap isn’t pure so we have to use bottled water to rinse the dishes and to brush our teeth. It was really awkward, the whole soaking and rinsing system but I’m getting better at it. I didn’t even want to cook everything so we bought paper plates, plastic cups, spoons and bowls so we could try to eliminate all that difficult routine.


Today, was our first time at church and we attended New Amsterdam I in the am and New Amsterdam II in the afternoon. The couple we are replacing were there for their last time. They will leave next Wed. They have been showing us around our zone all week. The Sister was asked to teach the Gospel Essentials class just as sacrament meeting ended and the Elder was asked to teach Elder’s Quorum. They ended up teaching the classes in both of the New Amsterdam branches we attended today. I can see that dad and I better be prepared every week with the week’s lesson prepared in advance because they will expect us to be able to do the same. Also, this couple holds a weekly fireside Tues, Wed, and Thurs. nights for 3 of the branches and they are the teachers at the firesides. They teach from the new Joseph Smith manual. So, naturally the members expect us to continue on. I think we will shorten our lessons a bit and add a little choir practice as part of our firesides. They need to learn the hymns. Most are new members.

I am hoping someone will keep me up to date on the results of American Idol. I’m hoping that cute Mormon boy, David Archuleta, wins it…or at least goes far. He is darling and sings fabulous!!! And Simon loves him, too.


Dad is snoring and it is only about 8 pm Sunday night. We’re both so tired so I guess it’s time to finish this off. Somehow the rumor got around with all the other senior missionaries that dad had been a Stake President. He found out about it today and quickly put the rumor to rest. The district president told him he heard he had been a stake president and wants him to counsel him on how to run the district. Poor dad! He was in a bit of a panic over the idea of having to teach lessons on the spur of the moment and now to be expected to know everything that a stake president knows…oh dear!


This mission is going to be a completely different experience from our first mission. We are going to learn so much and be stretched in a lot of ways. We are excited. The people are wonderful and we love them already. Their faces are all dark. Some are definitely of black heritage from Africa and others from East India. The skin color of the two groups is very similar but their features are very different. I’m sure there has been a lot of intermarriage, too, so there is a blend of many of them. They don’t seem to look at us as if we don’t belong. Sometimes we forget we are different because no one stares at us.


Dad and I both bore our testimonies twice today. I can see we will be expected to do so many times each month. I’ll end with what one brother said as he began his testimony. He walked to the pulpit and shouted, “Good morning, Church!” The church is true. It is growing by leaps and bounds here in Guyana. We’re thankful to be part of it.


Love, mom and dad Bullock