HandShaKeS AnD HugS

Today marks my final Sunday in St Maarten. 

I don't know where to begin expressing the love I have for the people of this sweet and humble branch. 

They say a picture says a thousand words, and that is just what I am hoping for. 

 .. I am going to miss this cotton candy building and blue skies. 

 

 

I have had the privilege of spending time with these amazing missionaries... in French class, as dinner guests, and as companions during the scary drive home in the floods. Thank you for showing me how to be dedicated to spreading the gospel and the blessings of bringing souls to Christ.

I will never forget your friendships. 

I absolutely LOVE these kiddos and their spunky personalities. 

 

 

 

Some of my favorite sisters

Your testimonies, and examples have strengthened mine in a way I can't express in words. I love you sisters.

 

This 9 year old young man walks to church everyday with is older brother even though his parents aren't members. STUD.

 Idaho homies!

I will DEFINITELY miss my American friends on the island:) 

keep in touch!

St Maarten Branch. May 27th 2012.

You may notice the man in front posing. yes. that is our branch president:) 

He is 5 feet tall, wears rainbow striped socks to church, throws his daughter up in the air during testimony meeting, and will randomly correct a speakers doctrine during a talk, but this man has the heart of a lion. He loves EVERYONE and you can see it in his eyes. 

He pulled me into his office to give me a few words of advice before I left.

"Kenzie, as you go home and start dating. Do not lower your standards for ANY young man. We love you and will miss your sweet spirit."

 

As I stood up to leave I stopped at the door to give him a handshake goodbye when he wrapped me a huge hug. 

 

So this is my goodbye. With handshakes and hugs. 

I love you St Maarten Branch.

AnGuiLLa!

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote.. I WILL DO BETTER. :)

I can't BELIEVE how fast time is flying.. I seriously feel like I'm in some sort of warped time zone.. I've already been here a MONTH!

Anywho.. this weekend Rose and Eero had family visiting the island of Anguilla so they went to go visit and invited me to join!

It's just about a 30 minute ferry ride away from St. Maarten.. the island itself is about 3 miles wide and 18 miles long. So pretty small.. 

We spe the majority of the day going through customs getting a  rental car and finding our hotel..  It was pretty excitign driving around the island..it is a British owned island so everyone drives on the opposite side of the road.. it took everything I had not to scream each time a car passed us..

The resort we visited:)

BABY ELIAA!!! love her.

OH by the way..  our hotel is actually a "bed and breakfast" and it's ADORABLE. They got me my own room and I got camera happy right after i opened the door. Its about 8X8 and has a twin size bed with adorable white ruffle pillows.. 2 bed side tables with cute little lamps, and 2 windows with awesome green curtains and  lace edging. I would rather stay here then a 5 star suite

 ANY DAY.

 

Can't WAIT for tomorrow! going to the resort AND the beaches of Anguilla! WOO WOO 

more pictures to come:)

French:)

SO today we went to Orient Beach on the opposite side of the island from where we live...

And even though the island isn't even a quarter of the size of Rhode Island.. the opposite side seems VERY different:)

not ONLY does everyone speak French andnot where tops with their swimsuits (gross) ... BUT it is a lot more tropical then the dutch side of the island..

So Rose and I and a couple friends.. left around eleven and went to go check it out! on the way we made a pit stop at the Butterfly House.. it was AMAZING. 

Here's a few pictures to better capture the outing:)

Enjoy.

Cocoons:)

Beautiful.

Check out that sunken ship... very cool:)

Thanks for taking us Rose!! What a GREAT day:))

Hello island.

SO i'm going to start off with an apology for taking so long to update my blog... things have been CRAZY here.. so this is going to be a long one:) ..i'll start from the beginning..

BASICALLY I live in paradise.

I arrived on the Island at 1:00 PM on Tuesday the 28th of Feburary.

I was greeted by Rose and precious baby Eliaa:) Driving through the Island on our way back to my new home my eyes were wide with wonder.. it is BEAUTIFUL. I live at "The Cliffs" also known as the palace by other islanders.. It is very well kept.. is RIGHT on the beach.. and has an indoor and outdoor pool.. work out ficilites, sauna, AND a spa. HEAVEN.

We spent the rest of the first day getting to know each other and relaxing because it was a LONG 18 hours of travling:)

Back porch:)

The next day Rose let me sleep in! WOO! we ate breakfast.. got ready for the day and hopped in the car. Rose threw me into the island culture FAST making me the driver:) drivers here are CRAZY. There are no traffic laws.. not ONE stop light.. and people will go over medians.. on sidewalks.. and over small trees to get around someone. Also there are about a thousand speed bumps. ha so the first drive was pretty entertaining. luckily no crashes:)

 After the tour of the pharmacy, hospital, movie theatre, and "Cost U Less"

( A wanna be costco), we went to this cute little French Pastry Shop. It was DELICIOUS. I got this little strawberry tart thing.. yeah amazing. We got home and I went to the beach. My first time in a warm ocean. I don't know why I hadn't gone sooner, it was beautiful! 

I sat and watched the waves as I tried to fathom this new amazing life I had started. I was going into a little bit of a daze until an unexpected tsunami came and I was suddenly on my back under the water with about a gallon of salt water up my nose. awesome. By the looks of the two men walking by they were seriously wondering if they should jump in and save me from drowning in 2 feet of water..

Thursday was loads of fun:) i had more one on one time with Eliaa while rose did stuff around the house in case I had any questions.. and then around 5 was my mixer! Rose threw a little party for me to meet people from the Ward and the Spouses Org. It was great meeting everyone.. they were all very welcoming and kind. 

That night Rose and Eero took me to the French side of the island for dessert:) I was trying to pick up on some french.. ha mostly got a lot of funny looks.. and some sympathetic ones.. hahah..

Friday: I woke up and spend my first day alone with Eliaa! She is such a HAPPY baby. We played with toys... went on a walk.. painted fingernails.. and took naps:) I seriously love my job.

Saturday I watched Eliaa in the morning and then had the chance to go to Phillipsburg! It was great! We looked around in the tourrist shops and had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. yum. Later that night Rose and I went and picked up Michelle and Katie and went to this outdoor concert celebrating the Regatta that was this weekend.. (The Regatta is the largest sailboat race in the world that was here on the island) We went and got dessert after walking around for a bit.. ha something i've learned here on the island is that Pina Coladas are literally 4$ cheaper then water haha...

Today is Sunday:) .. church was AWESOME. The building is a light pink.. with one hallway, a few classrooms on the sides and a small chaple at the end. It was fast and testimony meeting today which i LOVED. The people in the branch truley speak from their heart about what they believe, they have such sincere testimonies... love it.

Basically i'm LOVING this adventure. 

more pictures to come:)))