WEEK 48

Carnival Week

Hey everyone!

   This week was pretty interesting! So I wasn't able to email a couple days ago cuz it was carnival. For those of you that don't know what carnival is, it is chaos haha usually they have missionaries stay inside for three days, but we were able to go out but be in really early. During the few days there is a lot of drinking involved in the streets, people hardly wearing clothing, people getting hurt. haha so it is pretty dangerous. So we were able to still see some people where it wasn't so crazy. I was able to see some of the more cultural side to it when we drove past the parades and stuff so that part was really cool! 

   We have been contacting in this Muslim village. So you can guess how that's been working out. It is interesting to hear their beliefs. They are pretty nice tho, they invite us in sometimes but they are mostly die hard Islamic people, we have found some interested people tho. With them we have been teaching a lot about the nature of God and the God head, the lessons have been so spiritual. In the lessons you can feel it's the spirit teaching and not us. This women started crying in one, it is truly amazing to see people understanding who our Heavenly Father is. Our Heavenly Father wants everyone to know who he truly is and these lessons, people have been able to understand that and feel the spirit. That's been one of the highlights of the week.

    Not much else, just the same old same old. I want to challenge everyone to have that daily prayer in their lives, prayer is so important and special. It is communication with our heavenly father. As we speak to him, he is going to speak with us and I know for a fact that he always answers our prayers!

    I hope everyone has a great week. one love!

-elder colton bastian

CARNIVAL....I HAVE BETTER PICS, JUST HARD TO FIND ON THE CAMERA

BOUGHT A RASTA HAT HAHA

HOW PRINCESTOWN GOT THE NAME

JUNGLE OF P TOWN

ZOOM IN TO SEE THEM HAVING A PARTY

TRUCK FULL OF SPEAKERS HAHA

WEEK 47

Heyy!!

This week was pretty ordinary, not too much exciting things happened. We went on an exchange this week with Elder Tobierre. So I went to Couva again for the day! It was awesome I got to see a lot of people there. Saw two of my recent converts and they are going strong. One of my recent converts Tia (Justin's girlfriend) they are planning on getting married in the temple one day and go on a senior couple mission haha so that's real awesome to see that!! I enjoyed going back for the day. I think I'm going tomorrow as well so I'm pretty lucky I get to see Couva still. I got there in May last year and I'm still making trips there so its pretty amazing.

We had zone conference as well. We learned about repentance and the atonement. It's amazing to see as we use the atonement in our live , we can truly see the change that we want to see as well what our heavenly father wants us as well. It's a good change and this gospel does bring the happiness in our lives when we rely on our Savior!

We have been working with a lot of new investigators this weeek. They are so prepared, I continue to pray that we will be able to help them towards those waters. This one investigator named Vicky, we saw and had a great lesson with her. The spirit was strong for sure. She said she know understands who God was. Also I asked her when she prays how does she feel after and she said good. And I told her that is the spirit, as soon as I said that she got the happiest look on her face. She said she always wondered what that was. She said she recognizes the spirit in her life now. So that was a great spiritual experience.

I love you all and I hope you can continue to have a great week. Continue to remember how great this gospel is! And as we do those right things in our lives we can always have the holy ghost with us to help us feel the fruits of the spirit, also to give us comfort and confirmation of the truth. Have a wonderful week!

one love!

3 nephi 13:27

-elder bastian

PINEAPPLE FIELDS

HOW THEY MOVE COWS....HAHA

ROAD BY THE OCEAN

CLIMBED A COCONUT TREE AND THEN FELL FROM A COCONUT TREE!

DRY SEASON

IRON MAN/SPIDER MAN

RAINING DRY SEASON

WEEK 46

Valentines day week

hey everyone!

Sounds like back home is pretty interesting! Good job to the girls basketball team! Now they need to take state!!! With all that water you are having you could go boating in the back yard haha! Sad to see the snow go away already, but at least its warming up! 

My week has been good and rough haha. We had to drop (stop teaching) some of our investigators who weren't progressing so that is always hard to see that happening. Also we have no investigator with baptismal dates... they either aren't coming to church or they are way to busy with work so we aren't able to go by and teach them. I sure am praying that we can see them and help them start progressing and work towards those dates. I know they will get baptized it's just a matter when they will.

But with all that going on we have been finding some new cool people. We started teaching them and they are progressing very well so far. They have had some cool experiences too. So we will see how that goes.

Trinidad right now is pretty crazy haha not to scare anyone but there's so much killing here. This past week, three people pretended to be missionaries and went to sell a women a bible. Next thing she knows they gave her passing out gas and robbed the place. So that makes it real difficult cuz people don't trust people as much.  The people that were pretending to be missionaries weren't mormon so hope that helps. And it is pretty common here with the violence but I have God protecting me and I am and will be just fine.

Other than that it's been a good week. Still working hard and seeing those blessings that are set before me. But I am grateful for everyone and all they do! Remember that as we put our trust in our Heavenly Father, he will bless us. I know he loves each and every one of us, he really wants the best for us in our lives. As we keep the communication with him through prayer, he will defiantly communicate back with answers and comfort.

have a wonderful week!

love elder bastian

No pics this week....ran out of time

WEEK 45

More weeks than I can count

Hey!! 

This week was pretty interesting but it was good tho! For some reason this week it was really hard seeing people, we weren't able to have as many lessons as we usually do. A lot of our investigators aren't wanting to progress so that kinda is hard. One investigator (Affeza) just got a new job and now it is soooo hard to see her, she is always working. So that's been pretty difficult to work around, she still wants to be baptized but her schedule is crazy. So we are praying real hard for her to be baptized and make it possible. 

We did a lot of service this week! Which was awesome haha we cleaned out a garden with machetes, shovel sand, carried sand, mix concrete the trini way, build up a wall with cinder bricks, and couple of other things. So we were plenty busy with that. But it did help them out a ton, cuz one was an older woman and the other he cut his toe off so he can't move around as good. So it was great helping them out.

I also did some blessings this week. We had to search everywhere in the hospital for this lady who wanted a blessing, we could not find her. It took us more than an hour to find her. But I gave her the blessing and it was amazing I could feel how that blessing gave her comfort as she goes through the time she is going through. 

That same day.... this man cussed us out so bad! He was throwing the f bomb at us and saying this church is false. He was a less active member, so that's pretty sad to see how he just changed like that.  So that was interesting

We went to Mayaro this week. It's like 1 1/2 hours away. It's on the coast of east of Trinidad. So I was able to see the beach over there so it was really cool!! We had some great lessons over there too.!! So it was great!

It's amazing how our heavenly father blesses us in our lives, we just have to look for it and notice the blessings! Continue to look how much He has blessed us with.

love elder bastian

Service Work

The Cleaning tools we have to work with

CRAZY Bug

View from the hospital

My old planner covers

WEEK 44

week.... idk haven't figured it out haha (good thing Mom's keeping track)

Hey!!

That is soooo much snow!! I sure wish I was there right now! I really feel like snowboarding and snowmobiling so much right now haha it just had to snow like this when I left.

But my week was pretty normal. E. Hagood's birthday was pretty fun. We had a member cook (Justin) and then played basketball! It was great! We also had a missionary broadcast this week. So some apostles talked to us about teaching repentance and baptizing converts. It was a good broadcast, I learned plenty from it. Also they changed the schedule a little bit so that's interesting. It's a lot more flexible.

We did a lot of service this week. One was with Sister Boohdan, we cleaned out her garden. But a lot different than back home. We used machetes and chopped up all the vines that grow on the fence and everything. That was pretty fun! Then we did service for our bishop, we cleaned out one of his rooms they haven't cleaned in years. I felt like I was doing storage wars haha finding a bunch of different old stuff.

We had a lot of people fall through but we were able to find other people to teach. We were teaching this guy and his mother wanted us to come see her. She is ill and 99 yrs old! So we went and saw her, and when we were about to leave I said a prayer for her. In my prayer I said that she can be blessed with strength, and I said when we leave the spirit can be here to help her feel peace. We left and about 10 min later the son called and said his mom is still praying and when he asked her what is she doing she said someone is still here praying for me. 

So it's pretty amazing what prayer can do for someone, it is truly powerful. And I know that she could feel the spirit that was there and the peace it was bringing to her.

That's all for this week! Continue to read the Book of Mormon and always remember prayer, as we pray personally he is going to know us personally. He wants that communication with us, we just have to pray.

Have a great week!

Love Elder Bastian

-basketball!

-we found a Little Caesar that just opened!

-when you gotta go you gotta go haha

WEEK 43

Hey!! wat hapin to ya!

This week was pretty normal not too many things happened. We had an exchange this week so Elder Plumb came to my area, he is from Twin Falls so it was pretty fun hanging out with him. Also we are teaching a lot of part member families so that is really nice. There is one family that lives in Rio Claro, which is an 1 hr drive from us and it's headed into the bush or jungle pretty much. But he is a return missionary and his wife isn't a member so we are teaching them. He loves missionaries too, he made pizza and AW root beer and ice cream so he treats us pretty well.

Our investigators Affeza and Onika are doing great. Affeza lost her job tho so now it's hard for her to travel to church so that's pretty tough. So hopefully she will be able to find a job! But they are for sure going to be baptized! 

oh yea we met this pastor guy and he was trying to tell us that we are false and was dissing on us and our religion and it was no good. He eventually just walked off but the spirit was definitely not there haha he was a real piece of work haha but he will have to humble himself one day.

Other than that not too much happened. It's my companions birthday today so that will be fun. We have Justin (member in Couva) cooking and then we will play some ball so it'll be fun.

But I hope everyone has a great week! Remember the church is true, and always put your trust in the Lord cuz when you do you will see how much he blesses us! Also continue to read the Book of Mormon, it's truly a guide in our life that will help us through anything!

one love!

love elder bastian of trinidad

-rio claro

-the trini way.. doorag and hat haha

- carnival costume

WEEK 42

Another week goes by...

Hey everyone!

This week has been pretty normal, all that happened this week is that we have been working with a lot of less actives / part members families so that's pretty good! Our goal is trying to get them back to church and also get the non members baptized! Also this week we had zone conference which was good! We talked a lot about using our time wisely and teaching the lessons so we will be able to help them understand more and feel the spirit. It was pretty good! Defiantly want to use my time wisely out here. I've been around a lot of missionaries that have been going home cuz their time is up, so it makes me want to  keep working hard!

Our investigators Affeza and Onika came to church!!! Which is really good, we are trying to prepare to baptize them on the 4th of February! It's been hard to see them but not too long ago Affeza lost her job so that's really bad but we are able to see her more tho so we are trying to help her the best we can. But they are progressing very well tho so I'm excited for the next couple weeks.

We had a less active member that's been coming back to church. He came this last Sunday again so that's really great too see. We really have gain a close friendship now!

Also today we climbed sando hill which was really fun it's a great site up there! I think mom already got the pics so that's cool!

Well have a great week and always remember to trust in God cuz as we put that trust in him, we shouldn't doubt! He is going to help us through anything as we do this!!

take care!

one love!

-trini mini

-sando hill from far

-my comp haha

-cocoa bean

-Sando Hill

-Sunset

-Hakuna Matata

What a handsome man!!!!!

WEEK 41

2017!!

Hey everyone!!

This week has been pretty nice! nice warm weather, sun everyday, 90 degrees, nice Caribbean breeze haha! definitely not Idaho right now, don't freeze everyone!!

This week was good tho! I said my goodbye once again in Couva and in Princestown now with my new comp, his name is Elder Hagood. He's pretty cool, he's into wake boarding and hunting so that's real cool. We've been working hard here trying to see everyone again since its been a time away. But I saw Affeza and Onika (with baptismal dates) and it was a good lesson. I shared alma 40:12 , talking about the spirit world and paradise and after she started crying so it was pretty nice to see that scripture touch her heart like that! They are a great mom and daughter investigators, they are for sure going to be baptized. 

We found this one young guy, on the streets and he is pretty poor, he suffered from a coma and head injury. But he was really humble. I was talking with him and he asked me this question, "how is it being a missionary" and I kinda thought about that and I responded "you know it's great, I love being a missionary and helping those around me." and  that is so true, being a missionary is wonderful. You really get to see how people really live there lives and to see and hear what people go through in life. It's a real humbling experience to witness this. And it makes me really grateful for what I have and how I get to know about this gospel. and even more glad I get to share about the gospel, how families can be together forever and share about the happiness it brings!

I'm grateful for everyone back home and for all you do and the difference you make in random peoples each and every life! love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Elder Colton Bastian

WEEK 40

Hey Everyone! Happy New Year!!

It's so weird being 2017 now, it doesn't even feel like it! Well at least I get to say I'll be home next year now haha. But we didn't do anything really for the new year, only thing is watch some fireworks cuz they woke us up in the middle of the night haha. But this last week was pretty good! I'm still in Couva saying goodbye to everyone once again haha but I was able to see a lot of my recent converts and investigators progress within these two weeks so that was really great to see!

I'm heading back to Princestown finally tomorrow. I'm excited to go back cuz I have some great investigators with  baptismal dates there so I'll be able to go and see how they are doing and help them towards their day! And my comp will be elder Haggood, he's from Oklahoma. From the sounds of it he is a really cool guy!

Nothing too extremely exciting happened this week, but I have realized even more how this church is true! It's amazing how much happiness is brought by living the gospel of Jesus Christ! and how we can learn more about that is reading the Book of Mormon!! As we read it brings the spirit into our lives more and helps us truly understand the importance of everything! Not just this life but the life to come! cuz this life is just the start and helps us prepare what's to come! So I challenge everyone to read the Book of Mormon for this year! STARTING RIGHT NOW!

I miss and love all ya and I hope you have a great start to the new year!!

one love!

service time, e. plumb from Idaho

I have more videos then photos this time haha ill send the videos next week!

WEEK 39

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

This last week was super great! Skyping was wonderful! I updated everyone about my weeks during then so ask my mom about it haha. But Christmas was really great this year. I was able to go to a rich members house and had a big dinner so that was really great. She has a big sky view looking over the ocean and a library that's 3 floors so she is pretty wealthy, big house and big heart.

Being the KING!

We had another baptism for Couva. Her name is Mya! I started teaching her and was able to help her be baptized.

I'm in Couva again for a bit until I get my new companion. The total time I would have stayed in Couva now is 200 days haha like 7 months so it's like my Trini home now.

Mya's baptism

Saying goodbye to Elder Steed

The signs they have here.....oh boy

But I love all ya and I hope your Christmas was great! Don't have too much time today!

one love!