Area 1, Week 8 - Nasinu, Fiji 4/28/13

Bula,

How is everything going? This week has been really good. I think this week has been the fastest one yet.  It’s been very hot and rainy. We have had a lot of rain the past two days. Of course when we woke up it was raining and then when we studied it stopped. Then when we were coming here to the Internet Cafe, it was just pouring rain. Fiji weather is so unpredictable!

This week we had another baptism. It was for Marika, one of our investigators.  He was baptized by his dad.  We taught him from the beginning.  Also, yesterday, I got to baptize a little girl name Kalera.  She is from a family that is less active and she comes to church every week. She just turned eight and one of the members said that she wanted the elders to baptize her. We were at a member’s house for dinner, the Vesikula’s, and they asked if it would be all right if we could baptize her with the baptism that we were going to have.  So, I baptized Kalera.  It was a really great experience for all of us.  I did much better on this one!

Elder Ishibashi: Another pretty awesome thing that happened was a baptism that we had yesterday! It was Marika's and a little girl, Kelera, who just turned 8. I'm not sure if I've written about Marika yet, but Marika comes from a family with a few members of the church in it. Elder Grotepas and I had the amazing opportunity to teach Marika everything that he needed to know about the gospel, talk at his baptism, and watch as Brother Nayagodamu, his father, baptize his son. Tears fell and smiles ran across the room. They were followed by Elder Grotepas baptizing little Kelera. As the baptism finished, Marika came up to me, hugged me, and told me "Thank you. I am very happy." It was such an awesome feeling! Elder Grotepas and I will definitely continue to keep these guys strong in the faith!

This week we got a referral from one of the other companionship's (I’m thinking it was the Zone Leaders), and so we went to see them. The first time we went over and saw them we just had a get-to-know lesson, to see if they are ready for the gospel.  Of course, they are ready!  They next time we went to see them, we taught about the first lesson. They really liked it and wanted to learn more. We asked them if they would prepare themselves to be baptized, they both accepted!  We told them that we will be holding a baptism on the 19 of May and asked if they would be baptized then. It may seem odd to ask a person to be baptized at the first lesson, but the leaders have challenged us to do this.  I cannot believe that it really worked!   They have told us that they like it when we come over. We have been over there three times already and they want us to come over every day. They really like us, but what they like is the spirit they are feeling.  Elder Ishibashi's words:

Another pretty awesome thing was meeting with a small family in a little Fijian koro down in Visako. I'm not entirely sure what their surname is yet, but we've just started teaching the parents. Melani, the mother, is a Fijian and has family who are members up in Suva. Junior is an Indian who knows Fijian, and his family are staunch Hindus. They're a wonderful family who are diligently and sincerely searching for the truth. As Elder Grotepas and I thought about what to teach them, we had the impression to invite them to be baptized. We've never invited anyone to be baptized on the first lesson before, but we thought it'd be a good idea to put that counsel found in Preach My Gospel a try. Sure enough, as we extended the invitation, they accepted! We even invited them to come to church the following day at 10 in the morning (which is apparently pretty hard to do here) and they came! We followed up with them later that evening at their home and they said that they loved it. We taught them an awesome lesson about the Restoration, and as we were closing, Junior expressed how he really loved the feeling that we brought into his home, and he asked if we could come back often so that they enjoy that feeling of peace often. Elder Grotepas and I gratefully adhered to his desire, and we will be seeing them again very soon. Their baptism date is set for the 19th of May. 

Yesterday we had the May dinner list put up. Within 30 minutes it was completely full!  We are going to be feed Sister Diloi twelve times this month. They fight over who and how many times they are going to feed us.  They think that it is a privilege to feed us. They always let us eat first by ourselves and then when we leave they eat whatever is left.  Everyone here is so humble and kind. More people need to be like the Fijian people.  And yes, Mom, I will make sure to thank them for you too!  This is from Elder Ishibashi's words last month:  

Another pretty awesome thing that happened just Yesterday (Our Sunday) was having the dinner list filled! I'm not too sure how our ward does with Missionary Feeding lists, but Elder Grotepas and I are so blessed! As soon as the calendar paper went up on the bulletin board, people were fighting to get in a day! It was actually way funny seeing Sister Diloi carrying the blank calendar over to the board with a bunch of people waiting next to it. She slowly pushed through the crowd and then as soon as she pinned it up, she pulled out a pen and signed like 4 days in a row, and the members were all like "Soooo!" which is kind of like "Awwwh, don't do that!". So the calendar for the whole month of April was full in a matter of minutes, and members have already been asking us if they could feed us in May. We're so blessed!

 Dad, we haven't heard anything about the new transfers yet.  They come out this Saturday night.  A new intake of 16 missionaries are coming to Fiji. None of the missionaries know what will happen.  They are going to open many new areas. I think that they are going to open some more islands now. Elder Ishibashi thinks that I am going to be one of those missionaries that are going to be traveling from island to island. I think that it will be cool if I were.  Luckily,  I think that me and Elder Ishibashi will be together for at least one more transfer.  And no Dad, we are not really pulling any pranks on each other.   I just taught Elder Ishibashi how to solve a Rubik’s Cube and he is really into that now. By the time we get back to the flat at night, we are extremely tired and fall right to sleep.

Another thing that was cool this week was we got to see Elder Rasband. We were able to take a group photo with him and then shake his hand. When he spoke to us, he said that we are only one handshake away form the prophet. He talked a lot about family and how important they are. The family is the most important aspect in the church and that we need to have strong families. Then after that we went over to a Culture Night. It was very cool to see all of the different cultures here. Of course I forgot my camera that day, so I did not get any pictures.  After that they had Elder Rasband speak. He talked about the same things he spoke to us about and also about culture. Culture is important to pass from generation to generation. He is such a good speaker and is very moving. The Fijian people gave him a whales tooth in thanks for him coming.

 I know that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing and the church is true.

Thanks for everything that you have done and are doing for me.  I love you all very much and wish you all a good week.

Love,

Elder Grotepas

 Some Fijian kids we met on the street. They were staring at us and I asked if I could get a picture of them. They were scared, probably because I am white.

Most of the kids here speak English to us. Then when we speak back to them in Fijian, they turn into this look of "WHAT?!?!" ....like these kids!