February 6, 2012 - Last Post

Hey what's up? Weird, it's my last email ever. I'm sorry but I don't think it's going to be cute and dramatic. That's my current technique here. I just treat every day as any other. For that reason I have not even felt like I was about to go home until probably yesterday. It makes it just feel normal. And the work continues as normal. It's probably better that way. Thursday is when it will be weird. Okay and just to clarify things- I did not get beaten up. That sounds like I was left on the ground dying. I'll try and explain it in person but me getting hit and pushed a little bit did not knock me flat on the ground. Okay anyways, this week was cool. I had a way fun time teaching. I feel like I was bolder than normal. I also felt like people listened to me more seriously. The spirit commanded attention for my last few days. We did a lot of contacting too and it got us no where. Then we went to Raiatea which was way sweet. We did a tour of the island with Nash our zone leader whilst going and seeing old investigators because both the guys there are totally new and they don't know anyone. So we still managed to work and I got to see the whole island. Friday we had our zone conference and I bore my last missionary testimony for the zone. So did the Bomans. It was really cool and I said things that I did not expect to say. Spiritual things that is. It was a really fun couple of days. Saturday was terrible. We went to our five fixed lessons as well as all of our plan B stuff and only one guy was there but we couldn't do the lesson. Lame! Yesterday was cool. We ate a huge meal with a bunch of my favorite members. It was all the classic Tahitian food and I ate a ton. It was way good and I think they were happy to see me eat until I was sick and then eat two more times. It was really nice of them and I was really happy. Otherwise. I'm really stoked to see you guys. It's going to be weird to finish my mission. I will finish strong. I would be happy to live in our basement for a while. Don't worry about it. I am also really excited to hang out with Davey, he is part of the family. I'll hang out with you guys my first P-day. I'll work into normal life little by little. I want to do lots of stuff. It's weird but every day is my last something. I got to bear my last testimony on Sunday in front of the ward and pretty soon here I'll be teaching my last lessons and contacting my last people. My goal is to convert the passengers on the way back by taking the stewardess's microphone and teaching the first lesson. We'll see how that works out. It's been a crazy two years. I've learned things here that I never could have learned anywhere else. I've learned life changing things probably every day (or at least every week). I know I have given it my best and I am going home proud of what I have done and not ashamed. No regrets. The mission is the best thing ever. I'll tell you all about it when I get back. Thanks for all the emails and support and packages and prayers and thoughts etc. See you Saturday.

-Elder (for the last time) Oldroyd

January 30, 2012

Well hey family. Here I am again. With only one time left this is kind of weird. The rest will just be in person. But like the gospel, you could study my mission your whole life and not understand the half of it (I filter). So sounds like things are pretty normal at home. That's funny the Mulford's dad called. He's a great guy. I love Mully; we talk every morning and every night for way longer than is necessary. It'll be weird to see all of those people when I get back. Maybe the Tongan guy will understand some of it. I have done a little thinking about the whole pilot thing as well as a couple others and I have realized I'm just going to have to hit google hard when I get home. Then I can make a justified decision. Maybe I'll do insurance... Also for the skis it's the white and black ones. The boots are dark grey or blackish I guess. I can do it though. They probably don't even need it though do they? I am just so excited to go skiing. That is my real desire. That's what I want to do for my P-days, which will be every day. So this week was cool I guess. After email last week my companion pulled a couple ligaments in his knee so he has been super gimp and we have had to find members to drive us around. It's a new experience. It also gave me time to repair my bike so I'm back in action now. We taught some great lessons this week. We got a few new investigators as well. One of them is the brother of a guy I taught and baptised in Vairao. How random. We contacted him and started the lessons and it's going really well. I like it too cause we're teaching a lot in Tahitian right now and the spirit knows that language man. We also got a third guy with us. He's my replacement so it's kind of like sitting on a lawn chair next to your grave. Elder Saxton. I hope this rising sector will keep on rising is all. I dunno I'll be sure and tell you all about it. I'm still hanging in there and working the best I can with my current circumstances. Also just randomly- today we went shark-feeding with a member. It was a bummer that we couldn't get it but it was way cool anyways. After feeding some sharks and manta rays we went to his boss's private motu and ate sandwiches. It was true paradise. After we did some shopping and I realized that I forgot my pin code for my credit card! please send that to me so I can buy cool stuff. Also as for a cruise I would be totally down. Just don't forget that I have reserved houses for us in Tahiti, Rurutu and here on a motu all for free all with people who are willing to take us on private tours anywhere we want to go. a cruise is kind of unnecessary. It's probably better to save the money for plane or boat tickets. I dunno. Anyways I'll see you next week for reals. I'll send an email Monday and I'll come right behind it. I leave here next Thursday so from then on I am on my way home.

-Orometua

January 24, 2012

                                         Intercontinental or Thalasso Hotel

Hey mom, sorry this is super late and probably short. I'm so happy it snowed there. Finally. I don't want to keep living in this eternal summer. It's been really really hot here the last couple of days. Today we went and visited a hotel with a couple members. It was everything I ever could have imagined. It's called the Intercontinental or Thalasso. Check her out. This week went as usual. We got some great work done with the members and we are finally finding people to teach. I'm guessing there will be a whole bunch of baptisms in a couple months. Everyone gets really excited when I tell them that someday I'll come here with you guys so I'm sure we'll be accepted somewhere. The health care system here is awful. They don't know anything other than ibuprofen and sleep. I don't want to talk for a long time at my homecoming. I'll just talk about stuff. I'll bear my testimony though. Whatever you chose for food is good but I really would like lasagna or tacos. I go back to Tahiti the day before I come home. I'm sorry this is short. We only have two more after this. Crazy stuff man. I'll talk to you next week.

Elder Oldroyd

January 16, 2012

Yo mom. Happy Birthday! That came up really fast. Since we don't have any calendars in our house and the only ones are those weird Chinese ones I have a hard time knowing where we are in the month. I bought you some stuff last year and I'll be sure to get you some more stuff this year. There is some really cool stuff here. I'll finally get that credit card to use. I can't believe how weak that snow is. I guess I was gone at a good time. For the leaving information I only know what you sent me. I'll call the office couple to get the other details. In Bora there are only two wards and it's in the same building. I never thought it was THAT small.. But most things bigger than a car here seem huge to me. We do Vaitape and the others do Anau. It's pretty much right down the middle. I've done two wards only twice in my first two sectors. After it's just been one or in Rurutu's case less. I've certainly learned and changed my attitude a lot on my mission. The blessing was right. Also speaking of pictures- did I send you guys the ones from when we were on that boat watching surfers in Teahupoo? Because the memory card short-circuits anything I put it in and I don't have the pictures saved on my current USB and the other one with those photos got stollen (I love missiopnaries). Thanks for the doctors appointments, and the Keith one. That way he can interview me phsychologically and I'll be able to ask him some questions of my own. Anyways, this week was amazing. We worked with members every day and got a ton of new investigators. These members are in action and awesome. The go to their friends and just say "when can we come back and teach you?" Simple and direct. We're going to do some great things here in Bora. A lot of which will be before I go home. We have some great investigators now. And normally all of the other ones will be coming back finally from the other islands. We've even had success with the people we have contacted randomly on the road and stuff (that almost never works here). So I am way happy and pushing it until the end. I think that this ward will profit from this work for a very long time. I'm going to miss being a missionary. Also way random. There is a family from here that is coming to America in April and they want us to show there kids a "larger vision" of things. It's kind of a secret though cause they want to surprise their kids. They also don't want to tell them and then not be able to go. I think that would be pretty cool though. Plus everyone says to contact them before we come (for hotels and stuff). I don't know when but it will be pretty sweet. Also I decided what I want to eat when I get home. Home made enchiladas. Possible? I miss Mexican food really bad. Okay I should go; we're going to eat at Bloody Mary's and go see a cannon. Happy Birthday again mom. Talk to you next week.

-Elder Oldroyd

January 9, 2012

Hello from the coldest wettest place on earth. It has been raining like crazy for the past few days. Like all the banana trees on the whole island have been blown over and there is just mud and water everywhere. I feel so bad for the tourists (who represent like a quarter of the population). I'm so stoked for Liz's wedding and Tally's baby. I feel like finally all the things everyone has been worried about have come to an end. Since I left those have been the primary family concerns. And of course the U. Things here have been pretty interesting. We went to Raiatea for two days and it was all for an interview that lasted five minutes. He asked how I was and if I was worthy like four times. We get along great. I just ignore the past and so does he. Raiatea was really fun though. Everyone was there- us, Tahaa, Huahine, and of coarse Raiatea. We did some shopping and some walking around aimlessly. That night a few of us ate and slept over at a members house. It was funny because president didn't even know we had to spend the night until the very day. Anyways, the work here is hard as normal. Contacting in the rain and trying to get out of the rain and crazy wind. Finally Saturday something great happened. We went out with the ward leadership to reactivate inactive members in the morning and then we went out and looked for new investigators the afternoon. It was really successful. The two guys I went with were total clowns and we had a really fun time. We did some great work, saw some miracles, and even got kind of lost in the jungle looking for a house that we never found. It was sweet. Well there you go for this week. I'm way stoked (and kind of nervous) that President Smith will be there at my homecoming. It's gonna be great when I get home. But that doesn't mean that I won't finish strong.. It's cool, the reality of it hasn't hit me yet and I'm pretty sure it won't until I actually am on the plane. Also, can you fix a doctor and a dentist and maybe a psychologist appointment for me as soon as I get home? I'll probably need them all after this crazy place. Thanks and I'll talk to you next week.

January 2, 2012

I'll warn you now I won't be talking a whole lot about Bora today cause this week was lame. The whole island was totally wasted all day and all night blasting music and partying in the streets. People were making bombs in the neighborhood next door and lighting them off almost every 30 minutes. There were tons of tourists and tons of random house parties everywhere. Plus it rained a ton. New Year's Eve the fireworks woke me up and I was able to watch them from my window. People here are crazy though it was kind of fun to see it all but it was destructive to our already lacking sector. Things should get better though. So here's my news - Wednesday we are flying down to Raiatea (a pretty big island not to far away) for interviews and not coming back until Thursday afternoon. Then we're going back down there February 3rd for a Zone Conference. Cool stuff. I'm excited to see what it's like there. Plus Bell will be there. Also transfers are next week and Frischkneckt is going back to his first sector. Redding is going to Moorea for like four weeks. Anyways, I want Liz's room for sure. I guess we'll just figure everything out when I get back. Should be interesting. I've got a lot of decisions to make when I get back. It'll probably work out in the end. I love being in a house of four. And finally President Smith coming to my homecoming would mean the world to me. How freaking cool would that be. Okay, well I'll talk to you next week then four more times...

-Elder Oldroyd

December 26, 2011

Hey mom, bet you didn't think I'd email today. I didn't think so either because a guy took us out to one of the outer ring islands today and we were there all day. The pictures are really cool. It was just nice and relaxing. I'm sorry this will be real short because my companion is waiting on me. I'm just so happy we got to talk yesterday and I know it will be like ten times better in person. I'll keep you informed for the memory cards and pictures. Just real quick- I don't let this distract me but I am realizing when I get back I have to get some stuff organized. School, job, phone, etc. I don't know how any of that is going to work. I'll probably buy an i-phone and school is March 1st? Where will i work? I dunno, It's crossed my mind a bit. I guess we'll see. K Sorry this is short. Thanks for the call yesterday. I'll talk to you next week. Elder Oldroyd

December 19, 2011

Well here I am. Just hanging out. I think we're going to ride our bikes around the whole island today. I think it's smaller than Rururtu actually. But there are a lot of people here. I think it's the most since my first sector. And yes there are tons of tourists. I've talked to a couple. Have fun with Christmas. We were talking about Christmas traditions the other day and I realized that I really prefer Christmas at home. Whatever. It'll work out. Christmas I'll just call you when I can. Don't wait around too much. I'll for sure be calling in the afternoon here (between like 1:00 or 3:00) so that will be four hours different from your time. Good? We'll see. If I don't get a call I'll just call anyways Christmas and we'll try and figure it out. Anyways, this week wasn't all that interesting. We did a lot of looking and not a lot of finding. People just didn't wanna hear it this week. There was good news though. Finally I got my stuff and a much needed piece for my bike. The whole week rode my bike around with the seat all the way down and it was retarded. The other good thing happened yesterday. After all of our searching two people called us over and asked us about family search. We explained it and why we do it and then asked them to take the lessons. Everyone the whole week had said no but they said yes. So we taught them the first lesson right there on the side of the road and they totally accepted it. So that's about it. This is going to be a tough week for the work but I'm sure we'll be fine. Then once January comes the work should get a lot easier. It's weird to think about but the end is quickly coming. It's going to be a fight till the finish though. Okay see you Sunday! Thanks for everything. Enjoy being home and pray for snow. Also if you guys ever see Davey give him a big German hello for me. Talk to you soon!

December 13, 2011

                                                         The Bora Bora Airport Runway

Hello from yesterday. Today president told us we could have a kind of half P-day since yesterday we were on Tahiti. I'll try and be brief. I got here Wednesday with no problems at all. A french lady sat next to e and I guess her job is to go stay at different hotels around the world. That is so cool! I don't think she felt the same way about the gospel.. I was absolutely shocked when I got off the plane. It was quite a site. I saw the other guy off whilst my companion and the other two guys were waiting for me. We took the boat to the main island and it was so beautiful with the sun setting and everything. We got to work the next day and I really like the sector. There's not a whole ton of investigators because it just got split. But we have been handling it pretty well. Me and my companion get along great. He's not crazy like his brother at all. We're pretty tight. The other two guys are Elders Neimela and Mulford. We live in the same house between our sectors and it's pretty cool. Except for every one's sick with the cold I'm getting over. Otherwise, we went back down to Tahiti Sunday morning in order to sing that night. I've never seen more people in my life. The thing was too full and members had to give up their seats for investigators that came because there were so many. We absolutely killed it singing too. People were in tears. The spirit was rockin it there. We all ate and slept by the temple together that night. The next day we had our big P-day all together then ate Turkey. How random, turkey. Later on at the airport I saw my companions parents. They were totally cool and kind of apologized for their son's behavior. I told them it was totally cool. I feel like that whole thing is finally over now since I now know his family.. Anyways, now we're back and I'm excited to go out and work. Wish me luck. I'll talk to you next week and then on Christmas. I'll try and tell you guys when I'll call. Time is going by so fast I can't believe it. See you next week.

December 5, 2011

Family, I am being transferred tomorrow to Bora Bora. That's about as cool as it gets for the last two months. I take the plane tomorrow afternoon. Mo is transferred too. He'll go to Tiperui. So our poor sector will have two new guys - Elder Coulson and the Elder he'll be training. It's the same deal at Taravo. Both Elder Bell and his companion are being transferred. Bell's going to Tahaa. It's a weird transfer but I won't fight it. I'm just so stoked to no longer be with my companion and to go somewhere where I can just work normally and have fun on P-days. It's kinda weird though because I'm going to serve with the brother of that guy who freaked out and hit me. He seems like a nice and not crazy version of his brother. Plus two other missionaries are coming with us. It'll be a riot. This week was like any other. It was really hard to get out and work. As usual our companions just did their thing. Then Hamula came and we all slept in the motel next to the temple. It was sweet. Saturday we had two meeting with him and they were both a lot like the others. Just these life changing, question answering spiritual bombs. Yesterday I got to go and see a bunch of people to say goodbye. I certainly couldn't see them all but I was really happy to see those who I did see. We also had a miracle happen. We were low on gas and because my companion refused to stay in the sector and see people, he wanted to go to Taravo. Okay, whatever. Anyways, while we were going I realized we were almost out of gas but it was Sunday... So my companion gave me a whole speech with a somewhat loud and angry voice about why I should go fill up the car. He told me I was really stupid for thinking it was a bad idea to go on a Sunday. I ignored him and prayed that we wouldn't even get on reserve. Afterwords me and Bell went out to see some people and the very first family we saw (the Tehaavi's) offered us gas.. We took it! They filled us up quite a bit saying that they were the answer to my prayer. I dunno.. Little random miracle. I was so happy. Also we did a baptism for that old grandpa on Saturday. My companion didn't want to come. But it got done anyways. He was really super old and slow moving. I baptised him and despite all the difficulties it worked out. He was so stoked to get baptised. Well that's about it for this week. Finally the nightmare is over. Elder Mo is gone. I'm just going to go kill it out there in Bora. There's lots of work to be done. I'll tell you all how it goes next week. I'll be here on Tahiti actually because we are doing our big singing project. So I'm going, coming back, and going again. Cool stuff. Wish me luck. Also I did get all three packages. Now I just need to stuff them all in my suitcases and send them to Bora. Thanks for everything.