WEEK 91

MERRY CHRISTMAS and 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

IT WAS GREAT SEEING AND TALKING WITH EVERYONE FOR CHRISTMAS! I WILL BE HOME FOR THE NEXT!! 3 MONTHS :) 

This week was pretty great! Definitely a pretty warm Christmas. After being able to skype the family we went to the President's house and ate dinner, did a white elephant gift exchange and then watched a movie, It's a Wonderful Life! Great day!

One of the most things I like about Christmas is being with my family. Also I really like how it's about giving as we reflect and see how much we are given or see the many blessing, it makes me feel pretty appreciated for the many things He has given unto us.  So the Christmas season is pretty great.

The main things that happen was first the baptism we had.

Justin and Jadan was able to be baptized. It was a great service, we were able to be there for their confirmation as well. That morning the bishop in Sangre Grande called and said it was canceled cuz the font was all locked up. So we drove there and was able to get it unlocked as we climbed through the ceiling haha. Also the mother had already called it off so we had to talk with the mother to set it up again. It was the boys who convinced her. They really wanted to be baptized that day. So even though there were a few trials we were able to have the baptisms so I am pretty grateful for that.

The other thing is.... I'm in Guyana now!!

A missionary broke his arm in Guyana so we had to trade places for three weeks. So I'm excited to be down here. I am in my old area in Diamond so a lot of familiar faces and places so it's pretty great. I have missed Guyana and really wanted to come back so it is a tender mercy for sure. I'm as excited to work with the people down here. I am with Elder Batista. He is from Idaho too, from poky so he is pretty cool!

But those are the main events for the week. I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas holidays.. continue to give even after Christmas. Whether give your time, talents, service, love. Just give cuz it makes a big difference.

love elder bastian

climbing through the ceiling to the font

A WHITE CHRISTMAS ;)

Arima Christmas party

our Christmas tree

OUR CHRISTMAS CARD

SAYING GOODBYE TO ELDER VANCE

ALBERT EINSTEIN TRINI STYLE..haha

WEEK 90

CHRISTMAS WEEK

Merry Christmas!!

 

This week was a pretty interesting week! First we were driving back from district meeting and we got in a car accident. Don't worry we are okay haha, and I wasn't driving either, but we got rear ended pretty bad haha but all is good though. 

This last week we have been trying to find some new less active families to teach, we found some so that is great. We are still trying to find some and the members are helping a ton which is great. It is great to see the members doing missionary work, as they continue to do that Arima branch will defiantly keep growing!

We have been preparing two boys for baptisms in Sangre Grande. Justin (13 yrs old) and Jayden (9), they are awesome! They are getting baptized this Saturday so we are really happy for them! and happy to be apart of that!

we have some great people we are teaching so that is awesome!

We also went to Gran Couva today there are some waterfalls there that we went to so it was great! We had a lot of fun

in church, we taught gospel principles and we taught this man (who isn't baptized yet) in there. He is from Denmark and he was an atheist. He was telling us how he came to know that there is a God and that He loves him. He told us experiences in his life how as he looks back at them he can see someone was really there watching over him. so it was great to hear his testimony of our Heavenly Father. 

Continue to reflect and see the great blessing and love our Heavenly Father gives us. Especially during this time of year as we reflect on Christ and the great sacrifice he did.

have a great Christmas!

Special thanks to Monte and Ann Blanchard for thinking of me here in Trinidad, your support is appreciated! Love where I come from!

love elder bastian

CRAZY DRIVER'S AROUND HERE!

MY MONKEY FRIEND

GRAND COUVA WATERFALLS

WEEK 89

Remember the Reason for the Season

Hey!!

So this week went by so fast! It was a really good week. Christmas time is coming up and being in 90 degrees of heat doesn't make it feel like Christmas a whole lot haha but it is still great though!

So Arima is a great place, I am grateful to be able to be here. The members right now in the branch are getting really excited for missionary work. I guess before they weren't too much but now they want to come find the less actives with us and come teaching with us! so that is really great to see them getting pumped for the work! We have been taking them out teaching and it provides for a great friendship and testimony for those we teach.

We had zone conference this week, it was really good. We talked about working with members and strengthening new and returning members of the church. I learned a lot and really see the importance of members and fellowship. So it was really great!

My comp hit his 1 year mark this week. It's pretty weird to be the second oldest in Trinidad now haha.

This last Saturday we had a Christmas activity with all the wards and branches in Trinidad here in Arima. Since I'm in Arima I was able to go to that. I was able to see a lot of people I know from Couva and Princestown so that was awesome to see them. It was a Christmas around the world so we had food from all over. It was a really fun activity.

So Arima is going great and the work is going great. Able to see a lot of blessings. 

I hope everyone has a great Christmas season!

love elder bastian

a lot of these are from the Christmas activity

 

then our christmas tree and a monkey haha

WEEK 88

Arima Side

Hey everyone!

Well this week was pretty eventful and busy. A lot of the missionaries I have been serving with in the mission just went home so it's crazy to see them going! It's weird being one of the oldest in the mission now haha

But I'm in Arima now. It's a pretty good area, we are working with a lot of less actives in this area. There is a lot too. It use to be a ward but it's a branch now. So we have a lot a work with working with the members. The members are great though, very nice people up here. Elder Hill is an awesome missionary, he has been out like a year and he is a stud. We have been having some good times and working well with each other. We are also teaching a lot of prepared people, we have a few dates set for the 23rd of December. So that's awesome and still working on some more. Also having a lot of spiritual experiences while teaching too. So I am grateful to be up here in Arima.

That is pretty much the update of the week. Christmas time down here sure is different haha no snow or anything. We did buy a tree today so we are going to put that up haha It'll be good. Stefon (the one in Princestown) is still doing awesome, getting closer to his baptism date.

That is pretty much it, continue to be the best you can be and study from the Book of Mormon. You will see a difference in your life as you do so. I've been reading in the war chapters in Alma and as I apply it in my life you can see how you can learn from it. It's been pretty cool to see that.

Wish you the best and stay safe!

love elder bastian

Katelan member in p-town

My district haha

said good bye to plum-b

and to birch

taught at a prison... haha jk these apartments tho

we got pulled over haha I wasn't driving tho

nice spider 

Elder Hill and I in the rain

WEEK 87

tis the season

This week was a pretty interesting week!

So first we had a thanksgiving dinner at a member's house on Monday, her name is Sister Persad. She is great and the food was delicious. Classic american food so it was great.

Also since we are closing Princestown down we had to prepare the area for it. So we were busy with that, seeing everybody and organizing things so the elders in Gasprillo will be able to cover it so busy couple days!

On Thursday for thanksgiving we went up to the mission home at the Egbert's. We had a great thanksgiving there and a little devotional there. We went around saying what we are grateful for and of course I am grateful for my family. We also had pumpkin pie so I was pretty happy about that! Elder Nance, my comp went home a couple days early so he could see his brother for the last few times till he goes on his mission. So for these past couple days I have been with Elder McGee (my old comp) and Elder Peterson. We have been in Gasprillo so I have been showing Elder Peterson around in Princestown so he will know where to go. These past couple days have been pretty fun with these two. Great elders.

Stefon is still going solid. He came to church again yesterday and is really enjoying it. He is studying the Book of Mormon and is loving it. I am happy to see him progressing in the gospel and I can't wait till he is baptized. I know the elders will continue to help him with that.

I am going to Arima Tuesday night and I will be with Elder Hill. He is an awesome missionary so I can't wait to serve with him. That pretty much covers this week. Have a great week everyone and continue to count your many blessing one by one. Always have a thankful heart.

love elder bastian

sis persads thanksgiving an her Ferrari

Betty an awesome recent convert

a flood that covered a lot of roads

BROTHER ICECREAM

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

thanksgiving- camera is weird

saying bye to Elder Nance

Pizza Hut with the elders

The Zoongie family

Me and Stefon

this tunnel in the middle of no where

WEEK 86

Thanksgiving week!

Hey everyone!

So this last week was a really great week! My companion and I have been working and working. We have been able to see the fruits of our labor. We have been finding great people who are prepared for the gospel. We have been teaching them and they are great new investigators. Also we have a lot of solid people progressing towards baptism. They are great... one is Stefon, he is awesome. He started going to seminary this last week and he enjoys it, he loves church. He wasn't able to come yesterday so he said "I'm a little sour about that" haha he really wanted to come. He has been praying about baptism and studying about it. Last night we were teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and he was understanding really well about faith and repentance. We got to baptism and he told us he was meaning to tell us something, he said "I was reading about baptism and I learned so much more about it, I want to be baptized on the 9th of December. I want to come closer to God and have the Holy Ghost in my life." So that was really awesome to see the desire he has. I'm pretty grateful for that and excited for his baptism.

So this week Elder Nance is leaving to go home cuz his mission is up. He is leaving a few days so he can see his brother before he leaves on his mission. So since he's going we got early transfer calls. So with all the success we have been having I am leaving the area... they are closing the area down cuz Trinidad still won't let missionaries in so there wasn't really any choice. Some other elders will be covering their area and ours. But I am pretty sad to be leaving. We were seeing a lot of good things happening. But I know everything will work out. I'll be going to Arima with Elder Hill. He is the youngest in the mission field in Trinidad so that's going to be fun working with him.

This week we are going to the Egbert's for Thanksgiving so that's going to be great! Also today we are going to a member Sister Persad to have thanksgiving dinner there as well.

 

last week we went to pitch lake and it was pretty fun and cool to see!

thanks all for this week. 

alma 49. continue to fortify yourselves against the things of the world

love elder bastian 

pitch lake behind us the lake. It's water and asphalt it just comes from the ground. They take some out the next day it is back again. They make grounds and stuff from it. It's one of the wonders of the world.

we went to the museum as well

some cheesecake our investigator made and lots more than this one