Week 103 The hardest field to walk off of!

Bonjour à tous This feels a little unreal and I have butterflies in my stomach already trying to type out words to describe how I feel.  I'll fly to Barbados a week from today and will be busy with exit interviews and everything so this will be the last email. My mission will always be the thing closest to my heart.  I have written every single day of it and have a stack of 8 journals to prove it.  But none of those words can begin to describe how I feel about the missionaries around me, the people I love and serve, and my Savior that I have represented. So I will not attempt here now to express myself.  I have kept a note on my desk my whole mission from Mom. It says:  "A little more than 8 months ago, I watched and listened to a young man on the football field whose heart was broken.  The night of your last football game was a hard night to be a parent.  I knew you were so sad and I felt helpless.  All through your high school years you wore the "Be Strong" band.  You were strong.  Not just on the football field - you were strong making good choices.  I knew you had "left it all on the field." I knew what the band meant to you and I couldn't bare to see it left on the field.  I had Garrett go pick it up for me.  I have kept it as a memory of what kind of young man you are - STRONG!  The letters have worn off and it looks like the band will break, but I am sure I will pull it out many times while you are gone and there will be a smile on my face thinking of all the great things you are doing.  Miracle of miracles... Dad had another one!  I am sending it with you on your mission.  Wear it and remember with Heavenly Father's help, you will be strong.  I loved what the Bishop said, "play all 4 quarters!" That's what I want you to do because I have a feeling when it's over, it will be even harder to walk off of this "field."' Due to missionary rules, the bracelet has sat in my pocket or my bag my whole mission but I have held it tight since I left home. Bishop, I played all 4 quarters. Mom, I have been strong.  I can look at my Heavenly Father and tell him, "I have given it my all." And leaving this field is breaking my heart.  I will always be a missionary. Elder Logan Robert Sackley        ActionsMark as UnreadMark as ReadMark as SpamStarClear StarArchiveBandBrockbank FamilyDadGarrettGreenwayHollisterLAX-FootballLoganMadisonMalloryNotesOld ComputerOrdersPhotosProjectsRecipesRunningSchool FileSentimental ThingsStake DancesStake YWTalksTeaching Certificati...Things I Want To Sav...WeddingYouth Conference  Previous Next

Week 102 We're in overtime!

YESSAY

This week was soooo sweet.  We doubled the Standards of Excellence for member lessons and finally we hit the goal of 20 people at church.  When I left Guadeloupe I made it my ultimate goal to get Trintié to 20.  When we started off here, it was around 12 and we climbed all the way up!  This was my last week in Trinité too because the next two will be in FDF.  So it was do or die time and we got it done. It was soooo cool. We were all super excited.

This is just going to be a fast blog letter.

Well, we hit two years last Saturday as well, so we're just going into overtime I guess!

Elder Logan Robert Sackley

Elder Osorio asleep

José made us lunch!

Service project with our new investigator, José 

We built a staircase in his backyard

It was Pierre Joseph's birthday on Saturday and I went over and gave him a tie and we talked for a bit.  He's moving to France this November and is excited to go the temple when it opens.  Weird to think that exactly one year ago, I was with him on his birthday as well. Time has flown by.

Elder Crapo used a hammer too much this past week and got sun burned so he made himself a brace for his wrist... 

and used our freezer to keep his neck cold

Week 101!

July 18, 2016

We in a 4 some with our boi DEKON

Ok super fast!!

Elder Osorio is a stud. I'm loving having him in Trinité here with me and Elder Crapo.  We had a huge week pulling in 8 new investigators! and we tied the attendance record with 18 at church!  I know this is super fast but I have no time today.  We got a new ami named Veronique. She read all the way to 2 Nephi 28 before the first lesson and retained most of it very well! Lots of new people and we're going at 100 mph in a triple. We just do a split where one of us teaches with a member all day while the other two are finding and covering other appointments.  Out of breath and out of time!

Elder Logan Robert Sackley

Week 100!

The extension has begun!

My final transfer call of the mission came yesterday.  It came from the new AP who just so happens to be my mission child Elder Chidester ahaha.  That was pretty weird getting a call from him.  He actually called me on Friday right after he had gotten the call from president, "Elder Sackley, I'm AP. President told me not to tell anyone but i wanted you to know first!" He's a goofball and I'm glad he will be the one to drop me off at the airport.

So my last transfer call i will fight out my days in Trinité with Elder Crapo and Elder Osorio will be joining us! I'm really pumped. He's a really good elder. He came out last September and works hard.  He may be the closest thing i have had to a foreign comp. He was born in the US but lived only three years total there. I think he has lived in Columbia, Belgium and India so I'm counting him as my foreign comp.  

This week was really really good!  We have been doing big district activites where we go into one area and go finding with all the missionaries for a couple hours.  So this last week it was Trinités turn so we fasted and prayed last week about where we wanted to go, than Friday we fasted again with all the missionaries and the family Lagrand that we might find the elect.  

Mallory talked to me about making this week's focus "The one," so the prayer in my heart was that with all the missionaries we could find "the one(s)" the Lord had prepared.  Frere Lagrand, his daughter, Sr Marcelin, and Sr Delise all came out with us with two other companionships.  We were really grateful. Frere Lagrand was sick but he was determined to work hard with us and refused to stay home.  We got a lot of names and people to see but one companionship fell upon a miracle.

They contacted a house and a lady came out. They started a conversation and told her they were sharing "The Book of Mormon" with everyone in the neighborhood.  She yelped and said she had just received this book from her son who is a Mormon and lives in France and that her other son took it because he wanted to read it and how she was really anxious to get it back and boom elders appear with another for her.  She was estatic and we're going to see her this week!  

I also have decided I'm only going to wear one white shirt for the rest of my mission. It's going to be called "the extension shirt." Hurrah!

Elder Logan Robert Sackley

4th of July!

Elder Sharp on the grill!

Week 99

Bonjour

Happy Independance Day!  We bought a grill and are going to start grilling later today and singing the national anthem at the top of our lungs so America will be celebrated on Martinique as well. Unfortunately no fire works though.  Lets see what is there to tell about the week...

We had 18 again yesterday in Trintié retying the record for most people at church.  Its been a knuckle grinding experience just trying to push the group up the hill but there are some really inspired great members here that are doing a good job.  

I restarted the BOM again with the question "how do i increase my priesthood power" stemming off of President Nelson's general conference talk.  It's hard to describe the why for this subject but i felt very impressed to do so.  Most stories i have for this week aren't really fit for an email or a blog letter, but i thought a lot about what i saw 3 years ago at a Camp Helaman.

It was the parable of the Twinkie, watching as a leader asked each boy if he wanted a Twinkie and after each reply whether yes or no, made a boy on the stage before us do 10 push ups so we could have the Twinkie we did or didn't want.  Watching as this boy crumbled and shook underneath the pushups taught me a lesson that i have never forgotten.  The gift of the atonement is given to all of us.  And the better part of us push it aside.  May we not only accept this gift, but help our friends, family and neighbor do the same.

Elder Logan Robert Sackley

Painting service project

The exotic wildlife of Martinique

This is how you know the Martiniquas are prideful. They are claiming they are now the king of the burger, not America.

Beausejour Trintié ayooo!

Week 98

Bonjour

This week was interesting. 

On Friday i went over to a less actives house named Ricardo.  He actually has been pretty active since i got to Trinité but to be counted as a reactivation he has to have an interview with the branch president.  And since branch president is in FDF it's been hard.  Ricardo drags his feet when we have FDF church but this week he told me he wanted me to come over, cut his hair, and shave his face so he would be ready to go to FDF this weekend for church.  

I don't have much experience with cutting hair and no experience cutting black guy hair so it was interesting.  He's not too picky so he didn't are too much and i didn't do too bad of a job.  Shaving someone else's face though is quite the challenge.  It's actually really weird because i even put the shaving creme on his face and everything so yeah.  The thing is he shaves but he only gets about 85 percent of the hair off and than he just has patches of hair left and he doesn't care and will just go through out the week with random inch long patches of hair on his face.  So i gave him a clean shave and yesterday he had his interview and is officially "reactive"!

We have been trying to work real close with the Family Lagrand and these past two weeks we have fasted with them.  It's really really empowering having them so on board with us and so excited about missionary work.  So we fasted this last week and when we came over to finish the fast Soeur Lagrand had the spiritual thought.  

There's this classic David A Bednar talk where he lays out how missionary work should be done saying "missionaries are full time teachers, members are full time finders." It's the talk every missionary wishes the members would read and understand.  So low and behold after a hard long fast, not seeing too many fruits from the previous fast and the one we had just finished, Soeur Lagrand pulls out this talk.

She says, "I never understood my role as a member till i read this talk," and than continues by talking all about what they as a family want to start doing.  And i was just estatic.  It has been a long two weeks with lots of prayers and fasting and not too much change.  But to see the whole family start discussing on how they can start being better finders, it was an answer to our fast.  Frere Lagrand even pointed it out that the fast had been answered and how they were excited to start finding more people to bring and invite to church.  It was every missionary's dream and it was our answer to a fast. 

Elder Logan Robert Sackley

Evangelists, Adventist, and Jehovah Witnesses.... but LDS missionaries were welcome!

Lunch at Soeur Eyvas!

Cleaning up Ricardo!

So i caught a Gecco that is always chilling by our apartment... turns out Geckos can bite!

Bellevue baptized! The only time we're allowed on beaches now.