June 6, 2011

This week was moderately awesome. Monday we had a way powerful blessing for an old 99 percent dead grandma; I dunno why but the spirit was way super strong. We also played tennis therefore breaking mission history for me. I thought of mom. Also we totally killed two kids in a pick-up game. Wednesday we had our last  Zone Leader meeting dealy with President Smith. Bummer. My whole district was there except Ferrin. Thursday I taught a bunch of Protestant people how to sing with better accents. What an experience that was. They're singing songs from Glee. Do you guys still what that? Saturday we had our Stake Conference and the coolest thing ever happened. I ran into William. My first ever contact. Since we started the lessons he got baptised and Sunday he was getting the Melchizedek Priesthood. It was legit. He told me that before with the other missionaries he could never accept the lessons but that day it was different. He said and I quote "it was because of you... It was because of the spirit and you." And at that moment I realised, along with my current studies in Preach My Gospel, that that is exactly what we're supposed to do. In fact that is what we do all day everyday. We work according to the spirit. It's both Him and us that make the difference in every investigator's life.

May 30, 2011

Things here continue as normal. Almost every day this week we worked on finding old investigators and contacting people. We had a lot of success especially with our ward mission leader. We've got a lot of following through to do this next week. Also I guess we drove like four times too far last month in all of our business. They probably should have told us that there even was a limit before giving us the keys.. Since we have a huge sector and a zone that covers half the island I guess it was bound to happen. Well now we've got to find a bike for Elder. Where as my bike is looking sweeter than ever before. Otherwise the work moves on. We've got more and more people committed to baptism every week. And we have at least two baptismal dates fixed for June with a third and a fourth possible. Things are looking good before the dreaded month of July. I love seeing so many of our investigators come to an understanding of the gospel and know that it's true. Things are really moving along here. Just to end on a non-spiritual note- The chickens around our house are getting bolder every day. There's this one that keeps flying up on an old fridge right by our front door and every time I walk outside it spazes out and flies away. Well after about the fifth time of me trying to kill it with water bottles and brooms I was angry and disappointed. So this morning after chasing it into the jungle I hit where it sleeps with the broom and splat, I ruined breakfast. Little did I realize it had been laying eggs there. Well next time I'm eating the chicken and the eggs, cause we're going to borrow a blow gun from an Elder in our zone. I'm totally stoked on the idea of eating my problems instead of throwing things at them. Here's my finally goodbye thought for the week. Yesterday was Mothers day and everyone lied in there testimonies cause they said there mom was the best and most beautiful. They hadn't met mine. Seriously though mom, it's only after coming here and cleaning up after a bunch of slobs that I have realized how much you did for me. I will NEVER leave a dirty dish in the sink again. Neither will I put anything anywhere it doesn't belong. Thanks for your days of sacrifice but it's over when I get home. Happy Tahitian Mother's Day and remember that you smoke them all.

May 23, 2011

Ia ora na family. Uhhhh, let me just start by asking- what the crap happened to our ward?! Then I'll move on because I'm actually way super bummed about that. Good job on the marathon. People here are always amazed when I tell them you run those things since like no one here does. Can you also send the way super cool new Joseph Smith movie? And also The Other Side of Heaven. I don't know if I can watch the latter but I know our investigators/ward can. Everyone who has ever seen that movie here finds an instant testimony so i think that would be a major success. That's all. Thanks so much. There are three Zones here on Tahiti and then one huge one that covers all the other islands. There are two districts in each zone. Our zone (Zone 3) covers about half the island. It's just the wild less peopled side. In my sector and the one on the other side there are places only accessible by foot; where you have to cross rivers and stuff. It's pretty cool, actually. I don't talk to president all that often, he's a busy guy since he finishes next week. Then we'll be over-taken by a Chinese guy. I speak a little English with the few people in the ward that know how. Otherwise I talk to the American Elders a little when I see them around. Oh by the way Elder Coulson (the only smart one in our district) is now assistant. Therefore proving all of our assumptions. Well this week was just as any other. We went golfing Monday and I have got some pretty funny videos from it. Also we had a big meeting Wednesday with all the leaders from the whole mission. My whole district was there EXCEPT Elder Frischknecht. Poor guy. He missed the A-46 Boyz Reunion. Also Thursday the only Australian missionary in our whole mission got sent home. It was sad cause we were good buds and then I had to take him away. Having a car can suck too. Yeah so basically the whole first half of our week we did no lessons because of that stuff.Friday Saturday and Yesterday were full of lessons though so it was great. This sector is doing well, we've got a ton of new investigators and a ton of baptisms coming up. Hard work pays off. Also this week I got really lucky and saw a lot of old friends from old sectors. Even the work I did over a year ago is still paying off. Almost everyone I have ever taught has been baptised by the other missionaries and I couldn't be more stoked. Also Our neighbors in Hitia'a are still waiting for us next June. Well that's all for this week. Hang in there family. I'll speak to you guys by phone in 7 months, then I'll come home like right after.. I can't believe It's already been 15 months and soon to be 16. Well anyways I'll seeya

May 16, 2011

Well anyways this week was alright. Tuesday we had to drive all the way up to Papeete to take a couple of elders in for interviews. I guess some members saw them doing some stuff.. So I didn't think it was that big of a deal until the first elder took like two hours with president. I guess they were actually into some pretty bad stuff and he told everything to president. It was good actually, he cleared our whole zone of lap tops, cell phones, and movies. There's definitely plenty of stuff left but it's a lot better now. That day we just drove around and around the island doing transfers and picking up the goods. It sucked though cause we had to cancel three lessons and a baptismal interview. I guess the zone is lookin a little cleaner though. Otherwise it was kind of a hard week. My companion who was involved in some of the problems had a kind of breakdown and decided he couldn't continue his mission as zone leader. He was really down this week. Then he told president and he changed his mind. Friday was great. We went up to Papara for our little district meeting. I taught it. It was cool since I haven't taught a district meeting in like eight months since I was all alone on a desert island. After Our meeting we baptised a kid named Temarii. The elder before me came all the way down here to baptise him so it was sweet. Everything went perfectly. Saturday we had yet another baptism for a girl named Anna. A few of our investigators came so we were stoked. The only problem was that the guy who baptised her messed up seven times before doing it correctly. But finally she got baptised. We decided she must have had lots of sins if she needed to be baptised 8 times. After we celebrated by eating tacos. Maybe that doesn't sound so special to all those missionaries in Mexico and South America but to me it was a big deal. Plus that night I found my future business. I'll do just like Dad and many others have said and I'll export cheap American and Chinese goods to Tahiti. Since things are about three times more expensive here I don't think I can lose. Well that's all for this week. I'm still here working away. Life goes on. I'm bummed I probably won't hear from you today but I'll try again. Otherwise have a nice week. Also tell Liz her scripture was awesome because I was in bonds and I was stoned. Hah, I loved that scripture. Well seeya

May 9, 2011

Hey, everyone. I don't have a ton of time so I'll be brief. So Rurutu is finally behind me. I am glad to be done with that. But I know I learned a lot. You'd think it would be hard to learn anything stuck on an island with two companions from Babylon with some of the ward members working against you but you'd be wrong. I really learned a lot about patience and endurance amidst all the problems. And I really learned a lot about farming weird island plants. But that's all behind me now. I got transferred to Vairao as a zone leader. It's a humbling call but mostly a relief. I can finally feel the spirit when we teach. My companion listens when I teach instead of distracting the investigator. There are no more cell phones or late night movies. Life is good here. We've got some serious problems in the zone but it's much better than my last sector. I'm so excited to go out and work everyday with the spirit. I look forward to the rest of my mission being better than ever.

April 25, 2011

Life on Rurutu never gets any easier. I'm still dealing with two really large rocks tied around my ankles whilst trying to work, although last week and this week we did have a little bit of success in contacting some lost investigators and we did a lot of service projects. Oh and two food miracles have happened recently. I now like taro almost as much as potatoes (even if it is a gross plant). I think the more and more I plant the more and more I respect the beast. Also I did receive a package. It was awesome! Especially the camera. Much better quality. And we downed all the food probably within one or two days. Otherwise despite all of the disappointments we at least have one investigator who I have complete faith in. Unlike the rest he is not in Tahiti, he's not crazy, and he's not eternal. It's Hearii, the kid who had a vision when he prayed about Joseph Smith. He's reading the Book of Mormon and he understands everything. He read Lehi's vision and he said he couldn't stop thinking about it. So I wanted to see how much he had understood before explaining it. He understood EVERYTHING. All the comparisons and weird things. Keep in mind he has no religious background. He's definitely going to be something great. Also this nightmare will finally end. President called me the other day to inform me of my transfer. I'll be going to Vairao as Zone Leader. That's a humbling call. But I couldn't be more stoked. Vairao is the sector that I have always wanted to serve in since I started. But I never thought I would be able to serve there since I've already served twice in that Zone and even twice in that stake. Well I got lucky. Also I will have to go on splits to my first sector! I am really so excited to go there. Just leaving here would be good enough. So I'll be leaving Monday. Please write the emails Sunday so that I can see them in the morning if I have time. Well that's all for today, I hope this long email and the other one make up for last week. Hopefully I'll talk to you next week.

April 11, 2011

Wednesday I feel like we really worked hard. We mowed a lawn, which isn't so simple here.. But we got it done way fast. There we're three of us with giant power weed wackers at the same time. But probably the worst experience of my life happened too. So I was cutting along and I saw some dog crap; so I thought to my self "mmm better not touch that" then the cord lengthened exploding the dog crap into my face and all over my body. I was in shock. It was a new experience for me to have dog crap all over me. Well I was diligent and kept at it for a few hours until I could go take a shower. Nasty man. Also the same day we had a lesson with an inactive family. Well the situation changed so I needed to change the lesson. I asked my companion to do the revision (as we had planned) so that I could quickly find something for the situation. He refused to teach, as he sometimes does, thus leaving me to do everything. Wonderful.. In the end they're all just funny stories. Otherwise this whole week I've been sick and finally Friday I just stayed at branch president's house to try and get better. It kind of didn't work. But I'm almost better now. Finally Sunday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. Everyone liked it but the thing that shocked me the most was Omer. He told me that it was "super" just imagine that in a French accent being told to you by a fat guy. I loved it! It's the nicest thing he's ever said to me. Oh yeah, first off Mike and Mayana got the package and they absolutely loved it. The towel for the baby, the candy for the kids, the CD for Mayana and the hard drive for Mike. They were soooo stoked. They love the CD so it just stays in their car and plays over and over. Tell Marshall he's a hit here in Rurutu and also in Tahiti. One more random thing, I finally saw Nelson and Clark's little video. I loved it! That was sooooo sweet! I saw you as well as other members. I love our ward man. Currently I am happy here just trying to do as much as I can despite the holdbacks and I'm looking towards a brighter future. I did see conference. Not all of it, and not in English but I saw more than anyone else on this island. The second most was Elder Marae who saw a little and slept a little. Then some youth got to see about 45 minutes. Other than that no one saw any of it except for me. I the best! (In Toads gayish voice).

April 5, 2011

Here's a last resort email. We're at an inactive member's house and he's got Internet. I talked to the branch president about it. He said it's good so long as he's here. I guess some missionaries used to come here when he wasn't here and watch porn. Yeah, okay missionaries... Anyways I won't write much, however- I can't believe that piece of crap photo card! Why couldn't they have stolen that one?! It's fine though, I've still got the back ups. That was everything though. I'll work on it next month when I am in Tahiti. Yes, I'm getting transferred in "one month, the end of this month or the beginning of May" but I don't know where. I'm going to get those darn photos to you guys if it's the death of me. Hang in there kids. The moment we all show real patience, which is not just waiting but also not get frustrated, we'll catch our break. That's a kind of a quote from the German in The First Presidency. So basically the moment you don't care about the burden, it gets lifted off you. I just thought I would let you know our president came here on Friday. He wasn't here for too long but it was awesome. We just went around and saw random investigators then our president just threw down the gospel for them. He is a POWERFUL man when he teaches. He mentioned to me that you guys emailed him, cool beans. Well after an awesome day we also contacted a couple of guys on the beach. They were nice; we committed one of them to take the lessons in a couple weeks when he goes to Tahiti for school. Then we said goodbye. Well today we went out to Naa'iroa to ride horses and go one hike. IT was all planned by an inactive member. Well when we showed up it was them. They took us out bareback riding on the beach. We ended up at a sweet cave. Then we left the horses and walked all the way to Avera on the reef. At the end we caught three octopuses. The videos are pretty sweet of him pulling these monsters out of the rocks and slaughtering them with a machete while they ink everywhere. Well there's a long rundown of the week. What four more emails and then phone call? Sotally Toked. Well I'll talk to you next week. Enjoy the snow. It's hot here in the afternoon but I can't imagine it's as hot as Brazil. Good luck with all of life's little tests, they are but a small moment. God said so.. Talk to you next week.

March 28, 2011

Brazilian vacation, how are you? It sounds like Brazil is fun. I would love to visit other missions sometime. Maybe we can go see the Johanson's or someone sometime. I've recently gotten the desire to explore the world, random huh? By the way I got the earlier mentioned packages and I have thoroughly enjoyed all the contents. Thank you so much. Tell the Sunday School thanks, too. Loved it! As for the other two I expect them within a couple weeks. Also I sent an 8gig memory card home last week which should arrive next week or maybe the week after. And yes, it's full. Here we've had some interesting changes. We got our new companion, he's actually in the same district as Elders Marae (my current companion) and the one before (Alvarez). His name is Elder Penehata and I love the guy. The reason he is here is cause apparently he punched an investigator in the face? I don't know what all that's about. It makes life interesting though.. This week was more of the same. I realize I'll never understand God's will until after. But I had two lifesavers this week. First off an inactive member made us tacos. I can't even express in words my love for tacos. And the second happened yesterday. After church we went to a lesson with a somewhat new investigator. He's twelve years old and very interested. Well we taught him about the Book of Mormon and he seemed kind of out of it.. Well at the end of the lesson I asked him if he had prayed about Joseph Smith. That was it. He immediately began telling us of the night he had asked. I won't go into too much detail now but basically he had a vision of his search amongst all the false churches until only one remained. That's my thought but it was coded with trees and stuff. Nuts though huh? I may or may not have taught a soon to be prophet. Anyways that's about all. I'm just going to press forward and hope for a brighter future. But for the meantime little experiences like that let me know why I'm here. Hopefully you'll get to see me soon via memory card. That way I won't turn into some kind of imagined being only recognized as words on a Blackberry screen.

March 21, 2011

Well I'll cut right to the chase- I'm not leaving this crazy place. We're actually receiving a third elder here. He should be getting here this week or next and we have no idea who he is. Although we both think it's a new guy. Then after "a few weeks" I'll be leaving. I'm stoked actually; maybe that's what this sector needs in order to really get going. Looking back though this sector has really improved since when I first got here. Despite the MANY obstacles we've pulled it off until now. Wednesday we went up to the main island. What a difference. I went with a couple other missionaries to teach some lessons and stuff and I thought I was going to die for sure. I was just waiting to get knifed by someone at the houses. Then on the road we just cruised in between cars through red lights over curbs through sketchy metal poles just wide enough for a bike and many other things. It was way fun though. Then our conference was killer as ever. I'm pretty sure the elders in that zone are like the highest baptising in the world.They had done a hundred this year alone. Also we went to the French wanna be Costco and finally bought all the things we need. And finally the best part was I was able to go to McDonald's with Elder Redding from my district. I nearly died. Then we got to teach together and finally we all slept at there house. He's a Zone leader; that makes three of the six from my district who are currently zone leaders. Nuts huh? The next morning we almost missed our flight. When we got there, they escorted us to the fronts of all the lines. Then we went out to the airplane and a friend of ours was the guy waiting to close the door. He put us to shame. But we made it in, sat down, and not but thirty seconds after we took of. We were soooooooo close. Then we got a way sweet contact with a guy who was at an investigator's house. The investigator wasn't there so we just started chatting with him. Then both at the same moment we felt the need to ask him to take the lessons. Nailed it! He totally became interested. Later that night we had and activity at the ward and I was making sweet progress with a non-member who was there until a fight broke out right next to us between the two former branch presidents. Uhhhh...Okay. Lost that one. Fortunately the got stopped before they actually hit each other. The final news is a very good one- We challenged an investigator named Mahao to get baptised April 16th. I really hope that it will go through on the said date. If it works out I'll have at least one baptism while here in Rurutu. Hope and pray with me. We'll see what happens. Oh and one very last thought, we officially know what day we will come home. An elder from our district asked the office couple. Well, I'll see you guys March 1st I guess. Two years just isn't enough for us. Gotta love it baby.