PIC overload. For you Momma!

For you Momma! I know yo like to know where your boy sleeps. Let me know if you want more pictures of our new house. Love you.

The Harder The Work, is Hard For A Reason/ Beware of the Dogs/ Exhausted But So Joyful/ It's David Archellieda Fault

Dearest Family and Friends I am so very happy to take some time to email and update you on the wonderful things happening in the mission field in this beautiful part of the world. I am loving missionary work. I know I say this in every email but could there be anything better than helping others receive the blessing we are so blessed to have??? Hard work really is hard but it is is that way for a reason. It has blessed me to learn how to work harder and to learn how to forget more about myself. 

Here are some thoughts from my Personal Study I wanted to share: Two scriptures really touched my heart as I was reading from the Books of Mormon. Okay... We are going to make it three.. Sorry I can't help it!  I love the Book of Mormon with all my heart and I know it is truly the word of God. I love reading from it and reading it with those I teach. I know it testifies of Jesus Christ and teaches the fullness of the Gospel. The first Scripture is  2 Nephi 25: 26 Jesus Christ is the reason which we can be families can be together for all time and Eternity. If we believe on Him, are trying our best, and we live His Gospel we can not fail! All can be made right thorough His Atonement and although we will have trials and sins we can overcome all of it. We will rise again from the dead and will have the opportunity to be clean in the presence of Our God. I love Him and I will try and serve Him and our Father in Heaven all my days. To help those who stand in need of comfort. Serving others and loving others it what brings true happiness! 

Next scripture: Jacob 7;11- 13 This is when Jacob stands strong in his testimony against the wicked Sherem whom preaches that there will not be a Christ. Jacob tells him he is wrong because if we truly understand the scriptures then we will know that it testifies of Christ. He tells Sherem he has gained a testimony of Christ by and through the Holy Ghost. I know each and everyone of us can gain a testimony through the spirit. We can use this testimony to bless and enrich the lives of others. 

Last one! Moroni 10:32-33 All can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. If we are Faithful all will be made right. We never have to loose hope because we can always keep trying because of Christ. 

Halloween is coming up! Are you excited?! I am! Halloween is not a recognized holiday in Vanuatu but regardless I am really excited. How are you celebrating? I have been looking for ways in which to incorporate it. We moved into a new house this last P-Day and there are a lot of spiders there. They have been great decorations around our house. We just don't want any of the decorations in the house! I have learned to love them however because of my hatred of mosquitoes. We will be going to the Solomon Islands this week for the Zone Conference and will be flying on Halloween Day. Solomon Islands can be a pretty spooky day anyway so, I think it will be a perfect place to celebrate Halloween and read a letter I have been very patient about not opening. All in all, it is going to be a great one! I have deiced after much brainstorming; I will be a Missionary for Christmas this year! ;) Haha! Have a safe and awesome Halloween everyone!  

However, because Halloween does not really exist here in Vanuatu I am getting excited for Christmas. I am usually not one who listens to Christmas music before Thanksgiving but David Archuleta has got me listening to them. I usually would fight against all those whom would listen to Christmas music during this time of year... but I have given in! Dang David Archuleta and his talented voice. Who else is excited for Christmas?? 

We have worked so hard in the area this week. President Duquette has really lighted our load in the Office, but we did not take this as an opportunity to slack off. We have been out in the area as much as possible. We have worked with Members, contacted, visited Less active members, looked for ways we could serve, and we are having much success. And it is all thanks to the Lord. We have a good number of people on date for baptism and my soul is filled with joy.  We are doing all we can to help these precious souls come unto Christ. The Adversary is doing their best too. They are so annoying. They always try and through fear and anger into everyone's hearts but I Love how we can extinguish these feelings of the devil through scripture study, love, prayer, Church, and thoughts of our Savior. The Devil will not win, and the work of Salvation goes on! 

 All of the people we are teaching who have a date for baptism came to church this week and the members were awesome! Many of the Sisters and brothers in the ward stared talking to those whom we brought and we feel they already have friends. I am touched by how the ward members reached out to help. 

I want to testify that we all can make a difference in the lives of those around us. We don't know whom is silently struggling. We cannot judge another unless we have walked a mile in their shoes. When people come to church for the first time I can not even imagine the amount of fear they must have of entering a new world, but we can help them. So many around us have trials, which are hard to bear. We can help them. Their are so many people whom don't know the light of the Gospel. We can help them. Remember when we are in the service of others we are only in the service of our God. 

I Love you. I have a testimony of this church and the Work of Salvation which we all have an important role to play in. Keep going strong. When you need help go to the Savior. The Captain of Our Salvation will lead us to Victory! 

Love Forever,

Elder LaMont/ Shark Bait/ Your Alekken Ty/ The Boy practicing His Sideways Smile/ Your Fellow Servant in God's Army   

Beware of the Dogs. Haha! They think this can scare us away? I guess no one told them that The Lord has closed the mouths of lions before.  

Beware of the Dogs Sign are a lot scarier than the actual thing. OHH NOO! It is so cute... It is going to cuddle me to death. Haha! These are the guard dogs we were warned about?? 

Puppies and Children. No better combination! 

Haha! Got this Gem to show how hard we have been working. Hard work sure is a blessing, but it does make you tired! 

Was writting some letters and grabbed this beauty. Haha! Poor Elder Gunnell. We have been working so hard sometimes we just fall asleep wherever we sit. 

The nicest road in all of Vanuatu! Stop signs not included! ;) 

Some Halloween Pictures provided by the Spiders at our new house. They are huge! We don't even need decorations.

You know you are a Utah Jazz fan when even your apples show your Basketball pride! 

Oh, Bother! Shark Bait did indeed meat Piglit.... No sign of Christopher Robinson and Winnie the Pooh however... 

Rain Rain Come Again Come Again Another Day/ Elder Musket and Elder Lemons

Halo Bonjour Dearests Family and Friends! How are you doing?! My heart is filled with joy to think of you and write you this email. You are all awesome! I don't know if I will ever be able to express how much I love all the emails, letters, and prayers which are sent my way from you. They give me hope, help me feel of your love, and help me stay strong. I feel your prayers support and lift me during the hard times. I love my mission with all my heart. It gives me so much joy to do this work! I know The Lord loves and supports His missionaries. I know there are angels on our right and on our left protecting us from the dangers of the adversary and  temptation, which are ever lurking. Remember to read the Book of Mormon and pray often. You can do all things through the Lord. 

I would like to share some things, which I have learned from my studies. I have again started reading the Book of Mormon from the start. You can never read this amazing book to many times! I am going through it as slow as I can and seeking for ways I can truly study and feast upon the words of Christ. One of the biggest blessings I feel which have come from my mission is my renewed love for Scripture reading. I did read the scriptures before my mission but I feel I sometimes had a feeling/attitude like it was more of a choir rather than a blessing.

 As I have reflected upon the message which we missionaries share everyday about the Restoration of the Gospel. I have been able to realize more of what we have been blessed with. My mind has reflected upon the all the sacrifices of so many so that this wonderful book could be in our hand. Wither it be Nephi, Nephi's Family, The Sons of Mosiah, Joseph and Emma Smith,Early Latter-Day Saints, The Armies of Helaman, The Anti-Nephi-Lehites, and even my own ancestors and Family who have all given so much so I might serve my mission, and have this great knowledge.  My thoughts have reflected upon the Savior, His ministry, and Atonement. I reflected further on how much Our Father in Heaven has personally given to me and all my family. It was not long before my eyes were full of tears and a heart full of gratitude. I know the Book of Mormon is truly the word and voice of the Lord. Our Father in Heaven hears our prayers and speaks to us through this amazing book. We are so blessed. I owe so much to loving parents, amazing friends, my wonderful siblings, countless Priesthood leaders who have helped me gain my testimony. Thank you thank you.

 My heart is full of gratitude for all my blessings. I cannot even express how happy I am. I feel my mission has further open my eyes to how much I have and how much I can serve and lift others. The Lord loves you. You have talents and abilities, which can lift and build up others. Our lives can be filled with we joy as we serve others. I often wish I could be better, more loving, quicker to forgive, and ultimately more like the Savior. Sometimes I just have to finish the day on bent knees explaining I tried my best and need strength and help to make it tomorrow. I testify that the Lord does see our efforts and will make our weaknesses into strength. We must continually trust in the Lord!  I have realized more this week the love which our Father in Heaven personally has for each of us. I feel my thoughts can be best explained through what Nephi felt in 2 Nephi 4:15-16. These scriptures truly touched my heart this week! 

Elder Gunnell and I have worked very hard in the area this week. Let's go through some of the highlights! 

The Efate Zone Conference was a success! We have worked hard with President and Sister Duquette to come up with ideas, which can help the missionaries to further bless the lives of those they teach. We had an awesome idea of having role plays and it went so well! So often I feel like our Zone Conferences are not very interactive and some of the missionaries loose interest pretty quick. This is an inspired change and I feel it will have positive results. 

The kids in our area are a blast! I love them so much. They have given both nicknames. The word for "Gun" in Bislama is Musket. So Elder Gunnell's name has become Elda Musket and the kids like to call me Elder Lemons better than LaMont. Whelp, team Lemons and Musket are still going strong! I love those adorable kids! :) 

We had a pretty crazy experience this Sunday. We went to go and see Ianick and Eleeyn, whom is a couple we have found and working with. We told them we would walk with them to church. The rain has been pretty bad here and it looks like we are getting a Tropical Storm. All this means is tons of rain. We were worried that Ianick and Eleeyn would not want to come because of all the rain. However, they got ready and we acted as their guide as we all walked all the way to church. They came the entire way bringing along their 10 month year old little girl Lisa. We only had one umbrella and a rain jacket. I am amazed at the faith they had in coming and the faith all newcomers have when they come to church for the 1st time. We offered them our umbrellas and ended up being soaked. They did not want us to give our umbrellas but we coaxed them into taking it so they could be dry as they arrived in church. 

I had been praying earlier in the day for help in thinking of the Savior as we arrived in church. The spirit taught me something really amazing. I hope I will be able to explain. The Savior has offered all of us Umbrellas (or His Atonement) to keep us dry from the sorrows of sin and guilt, which will leave us miserable and wet. He took on the rain himself so that we wouldn't have to. He acts as our guide leading us back to Our Father in Heaven. No matter how hard the wind blows or how hard the rain comes down we will be safe as we follow him and use the Umbrellas which he so graciously gives to us. The Savior never has and never will leave our side.  How wonderfully blessed we are! Stay on the straight and narrow path. We can do this. 

I love you all so much! I am praying for you and cheering for you all the way across the Ocean. I love to hear of your success!  I miss you and know the Lord will bless you as I work hard and give all I can.  You have got this. I have got this. We can do all things because the Savior will walk us through any storm. 

Love Forever,

Elder LaMont/ Shark Bait/ The Whitest Elder in all of Vanuatu/ The Comeback Kid with the Sideways Smile 

Health Update For Momma: Still staying healthy! I have gotten into a very good routine of working out and I am feeling stronger as the weeks go by! Other than an elbow to the face during Basketball last P-Day I am at 100 % full health! Don't worry about me, you should see the other guy! ;) What doesn't kill you makes you stronger... except for bears... Bears will kill you. 

You are the beast Mom! I mean the best! 

 Hello to you wonderful people! Here are the pictures of the week! Hope you enjoy them! 

The Crazy Family that we are... The Tanna Zone!! 

If you have a camera... chances are other missionaries will want you to take a selfie with them.. 

Elder Ficklin and I! What a stud! 

More Zone Conference Pictures! 

The Squad!!! I love these kids so much! Because they can not remember "LaMont" so all that comes out is Elda or Elda Lemons! 

Sister Tucker our Mission Nurse will be going home soon! So grateful for how she has helped me through my challenges of illness on the mission. We make a good team! Dengue, Bed Bugs, and Edema did not even stand a chance! ;) We are unbeatable!  

Do You Like Fruit Smoothies..? No. I Like to Fight!/ Power of General Conference/ The Lord's Lost Sheep/ A Tear of Gratitude/ MANGO Season On the Way

Dearest Family and Friends!!! Again the time had come for another email home. I am not sure I will be able to explain all the amazing things, which have occurred this week! All I know is my heart is full of Gratitude For A Loving Father in Heaven, Whom does hear and listen to every one of His Child's prayers. I am so grateful for my mission. I feel I have changed so much! Still not perfect, yet I have gained a further testimony of the Restored Gospel. I am so grateful for my Testimony, it is the most valuable thing I have and I want to hold on to it and nourish it all my existence. 

As I have been among the Ni-vanuatu (or the people of Vanuatu) my heart has been filled with an out pouring love, and gratitude has filled my heart and soul. At times these people have absolutely nothing, yet they give and they give. I love these people. I love those whom I serve with. I love my family and friends whom pray for me. I love my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. It truly reminds of some of the words in which Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in his talk about King Solomon. All we need to do is allow a Loving Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ to be apart of our lives.They want to be in our lives. The Savior's Gospel can encompass and improve every aspect of our every day and as we serve others/Live the Gospel with those three key words: Love, Believe, and Do we will find a peculiar happiness. A happiness, which never fades and helps us prepare for the hard times as Neil L. Anderson instructed. As you can probably tell, I LOVED LOVED LOVED General Conference! 

As my Mother explained in a beautiful email to me this morning, it really is a Sea of Change for me. As I have tried to help Elder Gunnell learn the ropes of being an Assistant I have been continually humbled by the Lord. Elder Gunnell has brought many new ideas and it has been a great help. We have tried to make sure we are even more obedient and are trying new things to help those in our area. President has even relived us of some Office Responsibilities so that we can spend more time in the area! We love it so much! We have been spending as much time as we can working with Less Active Members, Members, and working with our Bishop. We have also been searching through and cleaning out the Area Book. Of course, we are still planning Training for Zone Conference with President, Mission Leadership Council, and working with the Zone Leaders. Although we have worked so hard and although I am exhausted I am so happy! And to be able to Open my emails and see how well my Family doing has brought me tears of joy! The Lord does hear our Prayers and I know He blesses my family for my efforts and blesses those I am praying for. I Love you all. Please know I am praying for you. 

A really great blessing for this week including a funny story. As were looking through the Area Book and trying to translate the Elder's Hieroglyphics... I mean handwriting :) (Haha! Sorry. I think I am pretty funny. My Momma taught me to have a good sense of humor! :) ) We found a lady in the area book, which said she did not want to keep commitments. By spending more time with the members we realized that she is an older sister to a young lady in the ward. We set up a time to meet with her and went in praying to know her concerns and needs. As we taught we found out she can not read and she also feels like she does not know how to pray. This is why she could not keep the commitments the past Elders had given her. As she admitted to us she could not read tears streamed from her eyes. The spirit filled my heart with love for her and I felt impressed to share something my Dad has always showed me through word and action: the truth which comes from Ether 12:27. The Lord will take our Weaknesses and make them into strengthens if we will but come unto Him. He does give us weaknesses that we might be made humble and then eventually made strong, through him. We taught this truth to her and told her we would work with her so she could come to know the true message we want to share with her. She wiped her face and I know the spirit had comforted her through what we taught from that wonderful scripture. 

This woman's name is Vanessa. We have worked with Vanessa a lot this week and she even walked to church so she could see General Conference. Despite all of her young children she came and we were able to walk with her. One of the neighbor's kids wanted to come too and his Mom asked if he could come with Vanessa's Family. Of course, this would never happen in the US but Vanessa was just fine with it and added him to all of her kids like it was nothing. It is a very Family Community feel in Vanuatu which I actually love. He is about five years old and as were walking with them to the church Elder Gunnell was recapping an old memory about how he likes Fruit Smoothies. I turned to this adorable 5 year old and asked him (of course this was all in Bislama but I provided the translation for you!) "Do you like Fruit Smoothies?"

His response, “No! I like to fight!"

It made me laugh so much! I don't know why it did maybe it was just because he is just this little guy yet he said this. Maybe it was just one of those moments where you have to be there for it to be funny. Hopefully it made you smile! 

The most amazing experience this week was quite a spiritual one for me. We organized a time with the Elders Quorum and the Bishop to go out as a quorum and go and see Less Activities and ward members struggling. We had many wonderful experiences but none were like going to see Sister Mahit. She is an older lady in the ward who suffered a stroke. She cannot walk, or talk, and her husband has to do everything for her. Many in our ward describe her before her terrible stroke as one who was very positive and would love to talk with others. As we entered her house it did at first feel weird as we talked to her and she could not respond back. But then I remembered what was said during conference about the Savior's conversation with Peter. "Peter do you love me? Lord thou knowest all things. Thou knowest I love thee. Then feed my Sheep."

I realized feeding the Lord's Sheep in this time meant helping Sister Mahit feel loved by the ward, us missionaries, and to help her feel the love of the Savior and of Our Father in Heaven. We felt impressed to say a prayer with her and the sweetest feeling of the spirit entered in. After the prayer I took her frail hand and we all expressed love for her and reminded her of the Love the Father and the Son have for her. She could not say a word but I saw a tear stream down her face and her smile engraved an image in my head and feeling in my heart I will never forget. This is what Ministering is all about. This is what the Savior did. This is what we need to do. The Spirit entered my heart again as we left and I will never forget this amazing experience. I know God lives. I know Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son. I am one of his missionaries. As I am faithful to His commandments I know He will lead the way for you and for me. Minister to those you have been entrusted with. I know it is of God and will bless you in more ways than you can possibly imagine. Like Elder Holland said, "Just Jump in!!" 

I love you! I pray for you and your success. I am so thankful I know each one of you. Have an amazing Week.

Love Always,

Elder LaMont/Shark Bait/ Your Alekken Ty/ The Whitest Elder in Vanuatu/ A Very Happy Missionary/ The Island Boy practicing that Sideways Smile 

Health Update For Momma: I am doing so well Mom! I work out every morning, feel like I am eating healthy, and feel stronger everyday. I am so blessed to have a healthy body. The Lord is so good to us! Love you.

Hello Family and Friends! Here are the Pictures of the week... Sorry. Battries not included ;) 

Hope you are safe and Happy. Enjoy the pictures! I love you!

Love Forever,

Elder LaMont/ Shark Bait 

Mango Season is upon us!!! I am thinking about you Claire! :) Wish you were here so I could give you a giant Vanuatu Mango. You would love it! 

More Mangos! Sorry Claire. Wish I could send you one! 

The Nice view of both Vanuatu and yours truly ;) 

Audrey! Elder Hable and Elder Piol's Recent Convert!! Elder Hable, Audrey says Hi! she came to General Conference and she says she misses you! 

You Leave us no choice.... Here comes the Smolder ;) Extra points for naming that movie! 

We were at a Family Home Evening and I think the kids really were interested by the lesson XD

The English translation room for General Conference and Elder Holland looking really good in those glasses... What a stud! 

Our ward watching General Conference in Bislama!! 

Jennie.... being Jennie.... She likes to make faces during pictures. This is the Relief Society President's Daughter... She is a ball of energy. I love her!