HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Shark Bait Launches into 2019/ Coconut Adventure/ Becoming a True Islander

Dearest Family and Friends!!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I just love the feeling of Christmas and the great time it is to reflect on the Savior's birth! As a missionary I feel I really have been able to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas in a special way. This morning I found an amazing scripture in Alma 33:11 This scripture is Alma the Younger's teachings to the Zoramites and he shares the words of Zenos. It talks about how we can always cry unto to Our Father in Heaven. He will help us find great amounts of Joy through His Son even in the midst of affliction. I know this is true! I know that despite any weakness we have, no matter what pain we feel, or the endless amounts of worry which sometime come to our mind; joy may be found in Christ. Healing can be found through the Good Shepherd! We will never be alone as long as come unto Him and partake of the blessings He and Our Father in Heaven want to give to us. I testify the Savior lives! I know He loves me and you. And because He lives we too will live again! We can have the chance to be with our Family for all time and Eternity because of Him. Truly, in all ways, the Savior is the greatest gift given to each one of us.

Can you believe in just a few short hours (Deepening on what Part of the World you are) we will be entering the year 2019?! Where has the time gone? As New Years approaches I have been able to reflect on my missionary service. What a great blessing it has been and continues to be to wear the name of My Savior on my chest and to be his servant here in Vanuatu!

Christmas truly was the best! My favorite part of the Christmas extravaganza here in Vanuatu was being able to speak with my family. LaMont Crew, you bring such joy into my heart! Being able to speak to each one of you made me feel like the most blessed man in all the world. I am so proud of each one of you and what you are doing! I wish I could even come close to explain the feelings of my heart. A million times over, I Love you.

A lot of this week was once again contacting and looking for new people! Although it can be really tiring (especially with some of the Heat Waves which have been hitting us) I find a new wave of energy to testify of the Savior. No doubt these are the angles around us who help us keep going! We took sometime to visit some members who invited us over for meals during the Christmas time. I am amazed by their love! These people do not have much yet they find ways to give in the most loving of ways.

Just today we had an opportunity to help a Mom prepare for a big feast she is having tonight! Right away we went to work scratching coconuts! It was my first time believe it or not! I think I can officially call myself a true Islander/Island Boy now! I have had a hard time with photos today. I promise to get to them to you next week!

I hope you are having a great week and it will finish off amazing! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! WHOOHOO! Here we go into 2019!! I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder LaMont/ Shark Bait/ Your Alekken Ty/ A True Island Boy Now!

The Visit of Elder Nattress/ Christmas Closing In/ The Lord Loves Shark Bait

Dearest Family and Friends! I continue to pray and hope you are enjoying this wonderful time of the year! It is almost Christmas!!! Are you excited?? So am I! This is truly a wonderful time which we can reflect on the Greatest Gift ever given; Our Savior Jesus Christ! 

One of the crowing moments of the week was a visit we had from Elder Nattress of the 70 and His wife. It is amazing how much they brought the spirit through their wonderful testimonies and experiences. Elder Nattress reminded us the great importance of our call. He testified to something my wonderful Dad told me an email a few weeks ago. That as missionaries we all have been called to serve in places we were ordained to before the world was created. It reminded me of how special my call is. My love for the mission and the people here continues to grow! 

This week has been a hard working week for us in the area. We have done a lot of contacting and trying to find new people! It has honestly been very hard! We have talked to many and been able to set some return appointments. We have had many of those return appointments fall through. To be honest I felt a little bit of discouragement but I have found great source of comfort through the Book of Mormon. 

I was reading about Alma the Younger's trip to Ammoniah in Alma Chapter 8. It explains how Alma went with great faith and wrestled with Lord in prayer that he would be able to baptise them and help save them from their wickedness. No one would listen to Him and it says he was weighed down with sorrow. He was cast out of the city. In Alma 8:15 an angel of the Lord comes to him and says: "Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice" The spirit taught me so wonderful things from this verse. I realized that I have so many reasons to rejoice. I am exactly where the Lord needs me about His great and important work. The Atonement of Jesus Christ has provided me a way to continue to be better every day. I have a testimony of the Restored Gospel and have the opportunity to share it everyday! I also have a beautiful family which I can be together with for all time and Eternity. How more blessed could I be? I am so happy the spirit taught me to focus on gratitude. I know the Lord loves me. I know He love you. 

I know when we read the Book of Mormon with the thought of what we want to Learn From Our Father in Heaven that we will truly speak to us.

One experience which was the highlight of the week: We were going from house to house trying to find new people. Many of the people did not seem interested. As we moved into a new area we offered a prayer. We asked the Lord to help us find those who He had prepared for us. Right after our pray we got We walked into a yard of a lady named Eria. Right away she opened up to us and explained how her husband had left her, her financial troubles, and how she was continually praying for God to help her. As I saw fear in her eyes and tears start to come down the spirit filled my heart. I know we had found who God had wanted us to. We told her our message could bless her with the peace and knowledge she needed. We testified of God's love for her and she accepted to meet with us again! I am excited to meet with her! 

I love you all! I hope your weeks are amazing! Know I am doing my best and the Lord is continuing to bless me. 

Much Love,

Elder LaMont/ Your Alekken Ty/ Shark Bait 

P.S. We also had a Ward Christmas Party! I have sent pictures for you to see!

Mama Tebu and I at the Ward Christmas Party! 

Custom Dances which were at the Christmas Party!

Elder Gunnell and I with some adorable Children 

The BEST TIE (tie reads "Rather be pushing sand than snow") in the world which my family sent in a Christmas Package!! Haha it make me laugh so much! It is pretty incredible how well your family knows you! 

Busy Times/ Zone Conferences in the Most Wonderful Time of the Year / Shark Bait Meets The French Agnes

Dearest Family and Friends!!! How are you?! I hope and pray the month of December has continued to be a wonderful adventure full of love and joy as we approach the time of the Savior's Birth. I love to receive your emails

For those of you concerned with all the excitement of the earthquakes and tsunami warnings I wanted to report we are all fine! We have indeed felt the ground shake and there was a warning in New Caledonia for a tsunami. However, the earthquakes have caused no damage and no tsunami hit New Caledonia. The Lord continues to bless and protect us here.  We traveled there on Wednesday and came back this Sunday. I am still kicking and going strong! Thank you so much for your prayers.

This week was quite a busy one! Hope you are up for a recap of a wonderful week packed with adventure and more traveling!

The start of the week we just got back from the Christmas Zone Conference in the Solomon Islands and headed straight for making Zone Conferences in Efate. Each has been filled with wonderful feelings of the spirit. I love this quote from Henry B. Eyring: "The Savior's Birth is the Gift that makes it possible for the Father to give us Peace in this World, and Eternal Life in the World to Come."

Right after we finished the Efate Zone Conferences (Tuesday and Wednesday) we flew straight to New Caledonia. The Zone Conference there was also amazing. Although Elder Gunnell and I could not understand most of it because it was in French we did anything we could to bring positive energy and the spirit into the Conference.

One amazing part of the Zone Conference we had was being able to go out and work with the two Elders who hosted us in NC. Elder Richards and Elder Baker. We had some experiences with them. Despite the lessons being in French, I felt the spirit and we did our best to share our testimonies, even if all we could do sometimes was give the biggest smile we could to share the love of the Savior.

I really felt a love for an adorable member family we taught while in New Caledonia.  I could not speak to them but while we were eating dinner I tried to talk to the little girl in the family. Do you remember Agnes from Despicable Me? She is exactly like her... just the French version. We went back in forth teaching each other. She would teach me a few things in French (such as colors or numbers/ or things around the table) and I would teach her English. She became my best friend!

I am sorry this one is a little short today!  I pray it will help you feel of my love and know the Lord is continuing to bless with me with wonderful experiences. If nothing else, I know This church is Christ's Church upon the Earth. I know Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and came to the world to save us. He lived a perfect life and had provided a perfect Atonement which can succor us and help us to become perfect one day like him. We are sons and Daughters of God who loves us more than we can even imagine. They will lead us back to Our Heavenly Home as we have faith and try our best to follow them.

Much Love Forever,
Elder LaMont/ Your Alekken Ty/ Shark Bait/ Island Boy

Lychee! An incredible fruit which grows in New Caledonia! One of the very best things!  

Our Dinner with members in New Caledonia.  

When it's the most wonderful time of the year and you realize talking to your family is just around the corner!

Right before we left New Caledonia. #Modelstatusacheived

Shark Bait Becomes A Book Worm/ The MOST Wonderful Time of the Year/ What Will You Give

Before I begin...... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEATON!!! The Big 22!! Love you Best Brother. Hope your birthday is magical!!! Miss you my Brother! I hope it is one of the best yet! Your Best Friend is thinking about you! 

Dearest Family and Friends! I am thrilled to write to you this week! How have your weeks been? I pray you have had wonderful adventures and been able to see the hand of the Lord in your life. I testify like Alma (Alma 30:44) that all things testify of a Living God. He want to be a part of our everyday lives and calm even the smallest of our fears. He loves us and we can feel of His love through the Holy Ghost. I know with all my heart the simple words "I am a Child of God" ring true for you, me, and all you have and ever will live in this world. How could blessed we are! 

This week has gone by pretty fast! Can you believe it is already December?! As popular Christmas music explains, "It is the most wonderful time of the year!" 

The plan for this week was to have our first set of Christmas Zone Conferences. This week we flew into Solomon Islands. Trips to Solomon make the schedule especially busy because of the lack of flights to and from the Solomon Islands. If we fly in one week we won't be able to come back until the next week. Thus we flew in last Wednesday and left today (Monday For us) Arriving back tonight from our flight and spending most of the P-Day made for a busy day. Now we got a chance to email! :) The rest of the week will be an Efate Zone Conference over the next two days and we will fly to New Caledonia until this coming Sunday! Busy times to be alive! 

Before we traveled to Solomons on Wednesday we got in some wonderful lessons with Melia! She continues to progress well and we are confident she will come to church as we are away in the Solomon Islands. She taught us how to make Lap-Lap Banana! Pictures to follow. 

The Zone Conference in Solomons sure was a success and loads of fun! President and Sister Duquette wanted the Zone Conference to be a time we could really reflect on the Savior's Birth and Life/ The Real meaning of Christmas and have the chance to relax a bit!

A powerful theme of our Zone Conference was a question President Duquette asked the entire Zone. The Spirit touched my heart in a very special way as I reflected again and again on it. I know as you reflect on this question and try to apply it into this Wonderful Time of the year, you too will find a great joy which comes from the Spirit of God! The question is: What will I give the Savior this Christmas? Instead of what will I get what can I give?   

I implore you with all my heart to go and do good. Give and lift those in need. You do not need to go far to find those whom need healing. Remember the best place to start is in our homes. I promise as you think of others and of the Savior you will experience great amounts of joy, grow stronger bounds with those you love, find new people to love, and come to know more your Savior Jesus Christ and God The Father. 

As we went to the Solomon Islands we usually are pretty busy helping the Zone Leaders get ready for Zone Conference and after the Zone Conference we have some good opportunity to do some exchanges. However, the day after Zone Conference I got sick with a Fever and pretty bad Headache (Hey Mom! :) Totally back to good health now. Don't be too worried. Love you!)  Those who have been sick on the mission know it is one of the worst things. However the Lord provided me a way to still make good use of the time and strengthen my testimony! 

We had an extra copy of the Book "Saints" in the house, which is (for those of you whom don't know about it yet) a history of the early saints and Joseph Smith written through Journal entries. I read the entire 600-page book during the two days I was sick and it is one of the best books I have ever read! Truly my testimony has been strengthened of this Restored Gospel. I know with all my heart and soul that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. He did through the Power of God bring back the Gospel of Jesus Christ, once lost to this world, that all of God's Children might gain eternal life. I know Jesus Christ lives and directs His work through modern day revelation. Only by and through His Atonement can we become clean from our Sins and become Saints. This book really opened my eyes more to these powerful truths. I implore you if you have time to read it! It is awesome! 

I hope this was a good highlight of a great week for me! I am glad to be back in Vila for a few days and for a goods night rest tonight. I love you! I pray you will find great amounts of joy and will come closer to Our God whom continues to beckon to us to come unto Him and partake of His blessings. 

Much Love, 

Elder LaMont, Your Alekken Ty, Shark Bait, Island Boy 

Shark Bait's Excitement For Christmas Continues/ A Peculiar Happiness/ The Lord Is My Light/ A Little Piece of the Celestial Kingdom

My Dear Family and Friends!! How are you? I hope you know I pray and think of you often. I love the opportunities we get as missionaries to communicate with our loved ones. I love to read your emails and hear of your success! Today has already been amazing! It is our First actual P-Day in which we don't have a Zone Conference or are not traveling. The blessing of having time to clean the house, clean the truck, and do laundry was awesome! I love being super busy and working hard! There is no work greater than being able to serve the Lord as a Missionary. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and ate lots of Food! Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reflect on the many blessing, which we have. My personal Study has caused me to truly reflect more on the greatest blessings we have ever received, The Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Personal Study Thoughts: This week I have continued to read through the Book of Mormon. I can not get enough of this great book! I know it's words are the words of a Living Christ whom desires so greatly for us to return home to Him and our Father in Heaven through His Atonement. I know we will draw nearer to God through reading and applying its Heavenly Messages. Don't stop reading it! If you haven't read it in a while, I plead with you to open in it and find the answers you so desperately need. Keep coming to the Savior! He will Be your light. 

My favorite chapter from the Book of Mormon this week was Mosiah Chapter 4. This chapter talks about how King Benjermain makes an end of speaking to His people and they come to a knowledge of their wickedness. They obtain strong Faith and Christ and have an experience with the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which touched my heart. Here are the verses! 

Mosiah 4:1-3

1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.

2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.

3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.

I know we can all have this experience with the Atonement. We never have to fear that our Father in Heaven will turn us away. He has provided His Son that we might experience this wonderful joy which comes from repentance and becoming more like Him! How blessed be are! :) 

Adventures This Week:

This week has been wonderful! We have worked hard and are continually blessed for our efforts. Let's recap some of the Magic, shall we?! ;) 

First one: Despite our travels we have been able to obtain people to teach and have had some awesome success! I know as we give our best we will continue to have success despite the many times we are not able to be in our area. It gets frustrating at times but I am NOT giving up. I love this work and I am giving all I can to be an obedient and faithful disciple of Christ. One person we have been working with is a man named Papa Edwin. I believe I have mentioned him before in an email. I have loved how Papa Edwin has sincerely loved the Book of Mormon. We have had some very powerful moments reading in it, which will stay with me forever. The difficulty now with Papa Edwin is the question about baptism. We really feel he has still not grasped the concept of Priesthood authority. We continue to testify he must pray and come to know for himself. What Papa Edwin needs is to come to church. Every Sunday since we have been teaching him a brand new problem magically appears to keep him from Church. There are so many voices trying to pull him away from the straight and narrow path. I know if he will just come to church the Lord will give him the answer he needs. Please pray for him. I love him and desire so greatly for him to come and partake of the Tree of Life. The fruits of the Gospel truly are the sweetest and will bring us joy, which will never end. 

Second Highlight: We have continued to work with Mama Vanessa after her baptism. Honestly, she is a Piece of the Celestial Kingdom! I love her so much! Her understanding is a lot like a child, so we have to teach slow but she truly loves God and wants to be a good mother for her children. I love working with her. We also got a new person we have been teaching to come to church! Whoohoo! No greater feeling then to see the people you love and our teaching come and experience the blessings of church. 

Third Highlight: Yesterday was a day, which really opened my eyes to something. We had many appointments set up for after church and both Elder Gunnell and I were super excited and ready to work very hard. Every single appointment that day fell through. It was super hot and we were exhausted. However Elder Gunnell and I were neither sad nor discouraged. We were cracking jokes the entire time, enjoying one another's company, and doing our best to talk with everyone we could. Despite the circumstances there is this amazing and peculiar happiness, which comes from doing the Lord's work and serving others. I really have learned this week if we focus on ourselves we will be miserable. But if we focus on others and the Savior instead we will find great amounts of joy! I love being a missionary! :) 

I will continue to pray for you and wish you find great amounts of happiness! This world is full of hard things to bear but we will find comfort and peace through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, The Book of Mormon, and by serving others. To make things even better the Lord gave us Chocolate and Ice Cream:) My Mom always taught me the importance of Ice Cream and Chocolate. 

Much Love, 

Elder LaMont/ Shark Bait/ Your Alekken Ty/ Island Boy 

Health Update For Momma: Momma, doing fantastic health wise! I continue to put on Mosquito repellent, as you have asked. I drink lots of water and I continue to love eating Yogurt. I have changed in many ways but in a lot of the ways I am still the same person and my love for yogurt has never left me. Love you Mom!

That moment when you realize you have not taken a lot of photos this week and you grab a quick selfie for the Momma! 

The beautiful landscape of Tatoonie.... Just kidding.. It's our area! :) 

A drawing we made to help the people we are teaching understand the God Head! I am glad Elder Gunnell drew it and we did not have to go with my stick figures. Aren't they adorable? 

Me with Mama Tebu. I love her! She always helps us with Missionary work and reminds me of my Grandmas! :)

Hope you enjoy this version of Pictures of the Week! 

Happy Thanksgiving! Trouble In Paradise/ We Keep On Pressing Forward/ Time is Flying Away/ Shark Bait's Week of Travel

Dear Family and Friends! I am sorry I did not have the chance to email yesterday. Because of Travel Arrangements back from New Caledonia I did not get a chance to email. However, blessings keep pouring in and President Duquette has gifted us a little bit of time to write our emails today! My heart always is full of joy as I think of each one of my family and friends. I will never be able to express how much your emails, love, support, prayers, and encouragement continue to press me forward. 

Some Thoughts From the Personal Study I have had this week:

So, I read Alma 5: 60-62 and it really touched me. The Good Shepherd has invited all of us to Come Unto Him. We are able to do this further as we embrace the new Come Follow Me Program. I have not had much time to look through it but I know it is from God. We are commanded to not let "Ravenous Wolves" enter or lives. This can be best related to things which our in life that our not in harmony with the Savior's teachings. They will devour us and destroy us. Wickedness will never be happiness! I read in  Come Follow Me that "We progress in our discipleship as we identify what we lack, change, and seek to more Fully Follow Them" (Our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ) 

I testify that if we will open our hearts to the teachings of the Savior and our Servants we will find true joy! 

This last week sure has been a crazy one! I am not sure how well I will be able to summarize all which has happened. But I am giving it my best shot, so hold onto those socks.. Here we go! 

We had not one but two Zone Conferences this week! One in the island of Santo( one of the islands in Vanuatu for those who do not know) and the other on the island of New Caledonia. How many missionaries can say they had two Zone Conferences in two different countries in one week? Travel sure has been a unique and great blessing in my mission! 

Santo Zone Conference Thoughts: The Zone Conference had a good feel and spirit to it. I feel as if the Missionaries there are having a hard time staying positive and getting a little bit discouraged. 

A big struggle of this part of the mission is working with the many branches. Due to the lack of education, leadership skills, and little experience in the church the missionaries must take a big lead in teaching the young branches of the church their how to do things.

 A great blessing, which I saw from the Conference, is how the Spirit poured into our hearts and has encouraged us to keep Pressing Forward! I love how the spirit teaches through the smallest of voices and in the most loving way.

Now to explain the craziness's which occurred with our flight. We arrived in Santo on Monday of last week and were suppose to leave Wednesday Morning. This would help us to leave for New Caledonia on Friday Night and then fly back to Vila yesterday or 19th of November. However, Air Vanuatu canceled our flight due to some problems with their plane and told us the only flight they could get for us would be Friday night or the same time that we were suppose to fly to New Caledonia. It looked like we would miss our flight to NC and the entire Zone Conference! This resulted in us chartering a Flight to get back to Vila so we could make our NC flight. It was a miracle! However, as President Duquette put it, Not a cheap miracle! 

The Charter Flight was one of the coolest planes I have ever been on! I have always dreamed of being on a small plane like that ever since I was little and wanted to be like Indiana Jones! Hope the pictures can show how cool the experience really was! 

New Caledonia Zone Conference Thoughts: This Zone Conference for Elder Gunnell and I was a little bit harder then the one in Santo because we both don't speak French. It was a lot of sitting and not understanding what was being said. But Elder Gunnell and I did the very best we could to bring positive energy, help the missionaries, and make life easier on President. One experience, which really touched me in New Caledonia, was attending a Conference. The entire thing was in French but it did not stop me from learning much! It gave me an eye opener to how people who come to church for the first time must feel. They don't know the language we know as members, don't know people around them, and feel they are in a world they don't know or may even feel a world they don't belong in. We must reach out to help all those we can feel they are at home when they come to church. 

I love you! It has been hard to explain the crazy week we have had but I hope this will do. The Lord is aware of us and loves us. We can do anything as we keep our focus on the Savior and on his teachings. I am praying for you. 

Much Love,

Elder LaMont/ Shark Bait/ Your Alekken Ty

Some of the Missionaries of New Caledonia. I don't know about you but I think we look cool enough to be on a movie Poster. 

Of course Elder Gunnell and I took advantage of the only McDonalds in our Mission found in New Caledonia. Bummm bahh bumm bahh We Are Loving It! ;)  

New Caledonia still in our mission but as close as to the exact opposite of Vanuatu as you can get! Shiny cars, nice apartments, roads without Pot Holes, street signs, and French. All these wonderful places have stolen my heart! I Love it Here! 

Reunited with Old Friends! It was good to see Elder Hable Again!

The Charter Plane in which we flew in. I think it looks a bit like when the "Magic School Bus" turns into a plane don't you?

Quick Selfie Before Hopping into the Plane 

Almost ready for Take off!! 

You are pretty confident you are going yo have a safe flight when your Mission President is the Co-Pilot!

The View From the Charter Flight.

Woah... That is a long way down.. 

Ward Activity!!!

We came up with a wonderful idea to bring the Priesthood closer and help the less actives! A Priesthood Game Night! Yes! We even got a Pool Table! Thought you would enjoy these pictures!