Area 1 Week 21 Nasinu, Fiji 7/28/13

Ni sa bula vinaka na nogu matavuvale,

How is everything going with everyone? I bet you are all having a blast in Nauvoo. It is so cool to say that most of the family will be set apart as a missionary all at the same time. I hope that you are all having a good time there and enjoying yourselves. I remember when I was back home, probably about a year ago, when you made the decision to be part of the pageant. It seems just like a little bit ago, when I was at home, that it seemed so far away.  Man, how does time fly. Like I said last week, I am already a whole quarter the way through my mission. It is going by so fast. And the funny thing is is that I am still in my first area. Maybe I might spend my whole mission here. HAHA.

But everything here is going really good. For the first part of the week, we were stuck at home because my companion was sick with the flu. So the first part of our week was a bit slow.  But I got to spend a lot of time reading about the Fijian language. Man, it is so hard. It seems so easy when you read it but then when it comes to speaking the language, it is way hard. I don't know if I have told you this story yet, but we were teaching a lady that we had house contacted. She said that we could come in and share a message with her. It was me and Elder Nawaqasema that had done this. Then when Elder Moulton came here, we all three went to see her. We told her that Elder Nawaqasema was leaving and that it would just be us two coming back. She told us that she was fine with us coming if we had a Fijian with us. When we told her of Elder Nawaqasema leaving, she told us if we come back we should speak to her in Fijian because we made no sense. But the thing is that all of our other investigators are understanding us well. We are speaking the same Fijian to her as we do with all the other investigators. Well it comes to show that the people that are willing to hear will be taught by the spirit not us. I know that my Fijian isn't great and it might not make sense, but the people that God has prepared are willing to take the time and listen.

Once my companion was feeling good enough to go out, we were still taking it easy because he still did not feel the best. But a really cool thing that has happened to us this week is we picked up a new investigator.  On Tuesday, we went over to Kamineili's house for a baptismal interview. When we got there, both him and his best friend were there. When Kamineili went into the interview, his friend told us that he wanted to take the lessons as well. He told us that he smoked and drinks. But we told him it was alright.  So we taught him a little bit of the first lesson. We scheduled another day to come back and teach him. After we taught him the second time, we asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he said "yes."  So we set up a date for him to be baptized in about a month.  A couple days later, he came to church. He got to witness Kamineli's confirmation. Then right after sacrement meeting, he came up to us and told us that he wanted to move his date up. So now we have his baptismal date scheduled for the 11th of August. He is willing to change and I hope that he will be able to give up these addictions that he has. I can see it in him that he is ready for a change. Maybe with Kamineili being his best friend, he will have a big influence on him and his life. Maybe even a mission for him also.

Our baptism on Saturday with Kaminieli

Well as I think that you all know, we had a baptism on Saturday for Kamineili. It went really good. I had the chance of baptizing him. It was a good experience for me. I've got to admit, I am changed after this baptism.  I remember my first baptism and I was so nervous. This one, I was not as nervous. The coolest thing happened to me after I lifted him out of the water.  I looked at his face and I could tell that something had changed with him. I could tell that he was a new person. He was so happy. After we were done changing, he told me that he was really happy and he cannot wait until his year mark when he can serve his mission. This experience was a big eye opener for me. It comes to show she these ordinances we are doing has an affect in others lives and how it can help them.

This week also, we had a ward party. Man it was so much fun. I have to admit, I think that I like the ward parties better here than the ones that are back home.  Everyone in the ward participated in the party. Every auxillary did something; young men, young women, elders, high priests, relief society, YSA, and even the primary. Every single member got out of their seats and started dancing. Even all the old maramas (old lady's). It was a blast. We did not get to stay the whole time because we had to be in the flat at 9 pm and the party ended at 11 pm. That was a big bumber for us. But I will send you a couple of photos from the party.

We are having a good time here in Nasinu and everything is going fine with me. I know that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing and that every young man should do this as well. I KILA NI DINA NA LOTU OGO.

Au lomani kemudou vakalevu. Send my love to the whole family and tell them I miss them all very much!!!!!

Lomani,

Elder Grotepas

Chubbiest puppy I have ever seen

Me and one of our members, Sister Vilisi.

Me, Neitani, and Manueli. These two are some of our recent converts.  

 

Us with some of the kids in our ward.  Love their shirts!

Dilo and Elder Moulton.  Oh, so cute!

Us with two of our favorite kids. Peni (boy) and Dilo (girl). They are the coolest kids in the ward. 

Our Ward party.  The High Priests doing a dance.

 

All of the kids watching at the party

Dilo

Area 1, Week 20 - Nasinu, Fiji 7/21/13

Some more really cool looking flowers

Namaste Pariwar (Hello family, in Hindi),

How is everything going? Everything here is going great. It seems like just yesterday I was emailing you. Well in two days it will be my 6 month mark. I cannot believe how fast the time is going by. It is going by too fast. The weird thing is that I have been out for a quarter of my mission and I am still in my first area. So I figure that more than likely I will be leaving this area pretty soon. That is going to be a sad day.

Well this week has been really good. There has been lots of rain. I think that for at least 5 days out of the week, it has rained. It was really hard at the first because we did not have any umbrella's. So we have been walking a lot in the rain.

But I have a couple stories this week that I want to tell you. First of all, we were walking down to a members home for dinner. I think that we had like a half an hour until we were to be there and we were only about 2 minutes away from her house. As we were walking a guy came up to us and started talking to us.  He started talking to us and he expressed to us his feelings about our church. He told us that our church was wrong and that it is a false religion. He told us that the only reason that Fijians join our church is because it is so wealthy and is really useful to them. When they join the church, the church will help for their food and their education. He continued to express to us what he felt. He went on for about maybe about a half and hour. Every time that we would say something, he would turn it back on us or he did not want to hear what we were to say. However, it seems like everything that he said contradicted himself. He told us that there will be no one church up in heaven and there is no need for us to be part of a church. But at the beginning, he told us that he was part of the New Methodist faith. So that made no sense. But it is hard with these kind of people, I know that they don't know the truth yet they wont listen to us. I was surprised at this because I did not think that that many people would do that here in Fiji. I bet it happens all the time in America.

That night I wondered, is this really the true church? How do I know that it is true? But I'm happy to say that I do know for myself that this church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the true church. I wish that he would be able to know the same things that I know. I know that there is much more waiting for him.

But we have one really good/spiritual one.  As you all know, we have been working with one investigator that we picked up a little bit ago. He is going to be baptized this week. We have been moving along with the lessons pretty well. He is really liking them. He cannot wait until his baptism. On Sunday, soyesterday, we were teaching him.   After the lesson, he told us that he really wants to go on a mission. He was wondering about what he could do to prepare himself and how to teach. We told him that he could serve as a ward missionary before his mission. He loved this idea and I think that if he can do it he will do it. But it is a big testimony builder to me to see how this young man really wants to go on a mission and he is not even a member. I think about people who are members and they have no desire to serve. It is so awesome for him for thinking this way and willing to do this.

Well I hope that everything is going good with all you back home. I want to let you all know that I know that this church is true. It is CHRIST'S CHURCH. He leads and guides it through a living prophet today.  No matter what anyone has done, they can be forgiven and will be able to live with him after this life.

I love you all.

Love your son/brother,

Elder Dallin Grotepas

Some of our recent converts' new puppies

 These are "city" flowers.  I can't imagine but I  hear they are even prettier in the "bush"

A picture of a little kid taking our money on a bus. Cutest kid ever.

Me and one of our investigators that is going to be baptized on Saturday, Kamenili. I love this guy so much.

OH YEAH!  Even in Fiji!

Area 1, Week 19 - Nasinu, Fiji 7/14/13

Myself and Elda Moulton after Sunday Fireside

Saying goodbye to Elda Nawaquasema

Elder Moulton

Ni sa bula vinaka na noqu matavuvale!

How has everything been going this week?  Everything here is going great!  Well there is some pretty big news this week. I have gotten another new companion. I think that I may have told you last week but I will tell you again. His name is Elder Moulton. He is from where? What do you think? Well, he is from Draper, Utah!  It is really nice to get a companion that is from my same koro (village/state). Well it was also sad to because I had to leave my companion Elder Nawaqasema. He was a great missionary and I learned so much from him. It was a good thing that he had extended his mission so he could be my companion.  Now he is about ready to go to school. Now he can focus on his schooling.

This week has been a really good week for us. The only bad/weird thing that has happened this week is that I got a cold in Fiji. That is so bizzare. You would think that it is impossible to get one here because it is so hot. Well it just seems weird.

As for our investigators, most of them are doing really good. We picked up a new investigator this week. He is living with one of the members in our ward. 

We went over to their house to eat one night for dinner and the member told us that his brother-in-law wanted to take the lessons. After the dinner he told him to come out and meet us. He mentioned to us that he has been coming to church for the past month and really likes it. One of the big reasons that he said he wanted to take the lessons is because he has a desire to serve his Heavenly Father by going on a mission. I was really surprised to hear that because there are people back home that are members that have no desire to serve a mission and this guy is not even a member, has not even taken the lessons, and he wants to go on a mission. I was so happy. I knew that he was going to be a golden investigator. So we went back to his house and the next day and got to know him a little bit more.  Elder Moulton and I continued to teach him.  When we first started to talk to him he was listening so intently to us. Even before we started the first lesson, Elder Moulton asked him if he would be baptized and he said "yes!" He accepted for the 27th of this month.  Man it is so cool to see how the spirit works. We can tell if an investigator is ready even before we start the first lesson. We are so happy for him. He is coming to church and doing eveything that a great investigator does. On Sunday, yesterday, he explained to us that is is so excited for the 27th, he can not wait and also he cannot wait until a year after his baptism so he can go on a mission. So this has got to be one of the biggest highlights of my week. It is going to be sad when I am going to have to leave Nasinu, I am getting to know lots of people and I know they really like me.

We are still waiting on a couple of couples to get married. It is really hard and frustrating at times with this. I know that they really want to be baptized but they cannot do it yet. They have to get married first. We are waiting on two different couples. One of them is going to be baptized around October. I think that she said around October 10th. When she said that I remembered that that is Heidi's birthday. I think that October 10th is also a holiday here. It is called "Fiji Day."  That is really cool. Now Heidi can say that her birthday is on a holiday in Fiji.  But she said that after that date that she will be willing to be baptized.  She knows the church is true. We visited her this week and she shared with us that she had never been to a church in four years. She did not believe in any of them.  She knew none of the pastors were correct, if that makes sense, and that none were   the true church. When we asked her to come to ours she did and she loved it! She has come three times. I thought that it must have been hard for her to change her normal state and go to church. That takes a lot of faith and power. So we are just waiting on her to get married and then we can baptize her. The sad thing is that I will more than likely not be here for that. I do not know how much longer I am going to be here. More than likely I am going to be leaving this next transfer and so I will be training Elder Moulton on the area. That is going to be a sad day.

Our area is moving along pretty good. It seems like we are getting more referals from the members. We have gotten three within the past couple of weeks.  So it seems to be doing better.

With our recent converts, most of them are doing really good. We had 5 recent converts out of the 8 to church yesterday. We are still working on Ana and Neitani. They have not been coming to church for the past couple of weeks. They came the week after they were baptized and then after that they have not been. I think it is because he does not have a plain white shirt. I am thinking that I am going to buy a white shirt for him. We need to keep them active and stay strong members. The members need to help us out with this. It is not just our duty to keep them in. We are eventually going to leave and it is up to them. The members are a big part in missionary work also. Just a question, How is the missionary work moving in our ward?

Well, here's something funny that happened this week. Well there is a couple of things. First of all, I am loving all of the funny stories that Elder Moulton has told me about his mission.  I don't know if I have had such funny things happen on my mission like he has! I bet once you get more into the bush areas like where he has been, you get some interesting things that happen.

The other funny thing that had happened this week took place on the muddy hill again! You probably remember this hill.  Me and my other two companions have had lots of good times on this hill.   We were walking down the hill to go to lunch on Wednesday.  It seemed to be only slightly muddy. Within the first three steps, Elder Moulton slipped and fell down. He got all muddy and dirty. It was so funny because I have done that same thing. Then, with my first step, I fell down and got all muddy. But everything was good and neither of us got hurt. Gotta love that hill!

I am still going strong with our goal of reading of the Book of Mormon. Man, you don't realize what is in this book. I always thought hat is was just hard reading and that it made no sense. But once you get into it and actually read and study it out, it is really interesting. I actually really look forward to studying this book every morning. I am now starting to see the importance of reading this book. It answers any question you will ever have, if you are looking with a yalodina (sincere heart).  Before my mission, I have to admit, I did not read as much as I should have read. I know now that it is so important.  You have to always feed your spiritual hunger as you do  your physical hunger. I think that the main reason for a mission is to help convert yourself. I have to admit, I have learned so much about what I need to do for myself to gain this eternal life.  It's exactly what we are going around sharing will all of our investigators. I encourage everyone that is reading this letter to always to do the simple things, read and pray, and you will know for yourself that these things and this church is the true church.

That is pretty much my week. Thank you for everything that you do. I hope you have a good week and love and miss you all.

Love your son/brother,

Elder Grotepas

Area 1, Week 18 - Nasinu, Fiji 7/7/13

Elder Nawaqasema with Rosi. One of our investigators' new baby daughter.

Ni sa bula vinaka na noqu matavuvale,

Sa vacava tiko? Vacava na nomudaru macava sa oti?

Hello there back in Utah. I hope that everything is going good. Here in Fiji it is going great. I have some pretty big news this week. Elder Nawaqasema is finishing his service this week.  I believe on Thursday. So, I am going to be getting a new companion this week. His name is Elder Moulton. I don't know really much about him yet!  l do know is that he is from the intake just before me, so he has served for one to two more months than me. My district leader Elder Ohlsen, said that he is a really cool guy. He is really funny and has a good personality. So that is good news!

Well this week has been a really good week. Elder Nawaqasema and I have had a very full week with a total of 19 lessons. I think that that is pretty good. The standard is 15 each week. So we have gone well over that!  Elder Nawaqasema is finishing strong!   

First of all, I want to tell you some stories that have happened to us this week. 

Okay, starting with Monday, after we were done emailing our families, we went to qito (play sports) and there was this lady at one of our chapels that we qito at. She would not leave us alone!  She was trying to hit us and take all of our stuff. Me and Elder Nawaqasema were changing into our qito clothes and she walks around the corner and she would not leave us alone.  So we patiently waited for her to leave. We thought she was finally gone, but then noticed she had come back again! She started banging on the nearby car windows then came up to the church and started to bang on the windows there.  We finally had to fake that we were calling the cops to get her to leave. She finally left and everything was back to normal. There are lots of people like that here in Suva. We see them frequently just walking down the street acting in this manner. It is really sad.

Another thing is that happened this week is I got complimented on my Fijian! We contacted a lady and she said that my Fijian was pretty good. I told here that I have been out for 4 months and she was amazed at how fast I have learned it. Maybe it's just me thinking that my Fijian is not that good and I think that people cannot understand what I am trying to say. But, it must be moving along pretty good. I also have to remember that I have not been out that long. So I guess that my Fijian is better than I think that it is. So this is a plus!

Also remember the woman named Joana that is from Kadavu? Do you remember her? Well Elder Nawaqasema and I went to see Violet this week. We asked her about how Joana was doing. She said that she had just called a couple of days ago. Violet asked her if the missionaries have made it to her island yet and Joana said no, they hadn't. She told Violet that there were some other ministers from a different church that had been there. Joana refused them because she said that she is waiting for her missionaries (the LDS missionaries) to come to her and baptize her. When she was down here in Nasinu, she attended a baptismal service and she liked the service/baptism very much. She really wants to be a member of the church. I am going to see this week if the Elders will be able to go there. Man if they can, they might be able to get the whole island because even the chief wants them to come!  Man that is going to be so cool if they do get to go because me and Ishibashi will get to say that we started an island!

E dua tale, something that was funny this week, we were riding the bus home in the evening. The bus was packed. I was walking to the back of the bus. When the bus driver started to go, I was still in the middle of the bus. We were going up a hill and he had to switch gears. When he did he did a crappy switch. It lugged so much that I fell backwards onto another woman passenger.  I fell right into her lap!  Another lady that was in front of me grabbed my hand and was helping to hold me up. After I got back up, everyone was laughing and staring at me and I was so embarrassed.  Man I hated that and felt like a weirdo after that. But now I look back to it and think that it was actually funny. So that is a pretty funny thing that has happened to me this week.

We also had a ward baptism this week. It was for a 8 year old little boy named Andrew Starkey Vunidakua. They had Elder Nawaqasema do the baptism because it was going to be his last Sunday and they wanted him to do it.  Man this kid is awesome. He is so cool. Every time he sees us, he yells "Elders" or he comes up to hug us. He is so cool and a nice kid. The baptism went great.

We have also got a couple new invesitgators. One of them wants to go on a mission. We have only met him once but I think he is going to be great. I will tell you more next week. Another one is from Kadavu also. The couple are going back to Kadavu this week. We met with them twice and on the last visit at the end of the lesson, she expressed to us how grateful she was for us coming. She said that this was the reason that she had come to Suva for. She said she did not know before, but now she knows why she came here. I thought that that was pretty cool. I hope that the Elders there are going to be able to see her also.

This week I have been reading in the Book of Mormon. We as a mission are reading the Book of Mormon in 10 weeks. This week we read in the book of 2 Nephi. Man, there is so much to learn in this book.  I particularly like the last six chapters. It talks a lot about the importance of baptism, enduring to the end, and all about the Book of Mormon. Man it is so great. I know that this book is true. Everything in it is the word of God and we should all apply everything that is in it. I know this church is true and Jesus is our Savior.

I want to tell you all that I love you all and miss you lots. Have a good week.

Your son/brother,

Elder Grotepas 

Elder Grotepas, Elder Nawaqasema (Top Center), Elder Ohlsen (Top Right), Elder Rainsdan (Bottom Left), Sister Jonathan (Center), Sister Su'a (Bottom Left).  Elder Rainsdan's Birthday.

Some pretty cool looking clouds

Our dinner list for the month!  Awesome Fijian members!

Area 1, Week 17 - Nasinu, Fiji 6/30/13

Bula Vinaka na noqu matavuvale,

How are thing going back home? I bet that everything is going really good back home. I bet that Dad has probably gone up to the property this week to get this water system done. Heidi said in her letter that you are going to be going up there for the Fourth of July weekend. I bet that dad it going to be working on that for the whole time up there. I know that he loves that kind of stuff and wants to make the property a good and fun place for everyone. I love that place so much!  I will be back up there by time you know it. In a couple of weeks, it is going to be my 6 month mark.  Man my mission is going my so fast. After the 6 month mark it is the year mark, then after the year mark, it is all down hill from there. My mission is just flying by so fast. Time flys when you are serving the Lord and doing his work.

Look up in the tree!

I have a couple of stories from this week. This week on Tuesday, we were walking over to District Meeting. When we were walking, I saw a guy sitting up in the coconut tree. This guy was probably at least 60 feet up there. It was crazy, I thought that he was going to fall down. We stopped because we were waiting for the sisters. I took a picture and a video. I wish that I could send videos but I can't. I took a video of him climbing down the tree. I was so amazed at how he did it. After he got down to the ground and collected all the coconuts, he took out his machete and cut the tops off of two coconuts. Then he picked them up and started walking towards us with them. He came up to us and said "Elders" and gave us the coconuts. He was a member from a different ward. Then after that he went back. Then when the sisters came to us, we had to walk by the guy to get to the church. As we walked by, he cut 2 more coconuts and gave them to the sisters. So when we arrived at the district meeting we were all drinking coconuts! Man, Fiji is so nice and Fijians are so nice also.

Also this week, we went to go get my license with the Zone Leaders. I did not get it because we needed a passport sized photo that we did not have. We are going to go back to get it this week. We had to fill out some paper work and it took about an hour and a half.  The Zone Leaders had to go to the mission office, so they left us at the LTA just to tell us that we did need a photo after all.

Another thing that happened was one night when we were walking back to our apartment, we decided to take a muddy hill to make our walking shorter.  When we were at the bottom of the hill, I knew that it was a bad idea. That hill was so muddy. We were slipping and slidding everywhere. I have already fallen down on that hill and I did not want to do it again. We made it up safe anyway. It was not as bad as I thought. But when I was walking up this hill, I saw a centipede that was at least 9 to 10 inches long and about as wide as Dad's finger. It was HUGE! I thought that those were only in the village. But no, they are here in the city. I hope that I do not get bit by one of those things. That was one of the weirdest things that I have seen so far on my mission.

Well onto more spiritual matters.  We have started reading the Book of Mormon as a whole mission. We are going to read it in 10 weeks. I have learned a lot from this. I have never really read the book with a purpose. I have just read it to say that I have read the book before. It is a really good book. I am learning so much from it. Also our lessons are going good. We have picked up a couple new investigators and we are have dropped a couple of investigators that have not been progressing. With one of our recent converts, she asks lots of question. Most of the question that she asks, I do not really know the answer to them. But, I am able to answer her questions. The Holy Ghost is truly helping me. You need to have to Holy Ghost with you to teach. It is so important. We always teach and then commit them to do something.

My health is really good. It is just the same as when I left only 20 pounds lighter. Every thing is going great. I love my mission here in Fiji! Thanks for everything you are doing for me and have done. I want to let you know that I know the church is true. I am doing what I am supposed to be doing here on my mission. Jesus is the Savior.

I love you all very much. You are always in my prayers. I will talk to you next week.

Love your son/brother,

Luvemuni,

Elder Grotepas

Luvemuni = your son

Luvegu = my son

E dua na flower

Molani and Junior's baby

Sister Buinimasi's little child Tomasi

Our church

Look how dirty the water is here. This is after 2 months. Don't worry, it is clean before we drink it!

Us at Alisi's baptism