Area 4, Week 1 - Naduna, Labasa District, Vanua Levu, Fiji 5/25/14 New Companion Elder Fonua

Ni sa bula vina'a na noqu matavuvale,

Well, where to start?!?

I guess that I will just tell you first that I am doing great!  The big news is that I am over here on the other Island of Fiji.  It is called Vanua Levu. It is great here in Labasa.  I took a 40 minute plane ride to get here. It was sweet seeing Fiji from the air. I have to admit that I think that this is a really cool town! Our actual area is just a little bit away from town about 10 km. The area that me and Elder Fonua serve in is called Naduna. 

We only have a branch in Naduna and it is not very big. We only had about 28 people show up to church this week. Four out of those 28 were investigators. It is a lot different being in a Branch than a Ward. We do not even have a church building to hold church services in. Our church is just a couple of poles supporting tin on the top.   This is something that I have never seen in my life and it is way cool to see. It is weird to think that this is similar to how the whole church started. It all started in a small shack and now look at how big it is. Cool to think about, eh?

Everything here is going good with me. I am loving it here in Naduna. I am finally driving one of the trucks that I have wanted to drive my whole mission!  I have to admit that I kind of forgot how to drive for a bit. It was weird getting behind the wheel again and driving. Just out of my own instinct I want to drive on the other side of the road but I cannot. I did drive on the wrong side of the road for a little bit but it was no big deal. We were driving on a dirt road and nothing else was one it. It is different, but now I am used to it. The truck that we are driving is pretty cool. It is kind of like a Ford Ranger but it is a Toyota Hylux. It is not a gas truck, but a diesel. It is like a dream come true. I am loving it.

I will tell you a little bit about my companion. His name is Elder Fonua. He is a great missionary. He has been out on his mission a little bit over 7 months. He started his mission back in Ba, by Tavua. Then he came up here to Naduna about 4 months ago.  He really knows his stuff and he has a great testimony about this church.  He is a Tongan but he was born and raised in Australia. He is 19 years old and he is way funny. Their is never a dull moment with him!

The area that we are serving in is really good. They have not had a recent convert in about a year and a half. The cool thing is that we just had a baptism of 2 just this Sunday for a couple kids that lived at the house of the Branch President. It was way cool to witness these baptisms. It was not done in a font or ocean, but it was done in a stream close to the church. It was the coolest experience to see this. No matter where you do this ordinance, as long as it is done correctly, it is accepted.

We have quite a few investigators here in Naduna. The Elder that was before me really changed the area around. I know that you all have heard of this Elder before, Elder Checketts.  He and Elder Fonua really changed the area around. There are a lot of good investigators that we have at the moment. The hardest thing for us to do here in this area is get them to church. I think that it is pretty much the same through all of Fiji. There are not a lot of buses on Sundays and the chapels are so far away from their homes.  It is the saddest thing to see when someone is so interested but then has a challenge coming because of the distance, or they are hurt. I have a lot of respect for those that walk every week to church from long distances. Back home, I remember us complaining when we had to walk to church and it was only about a 10 minute walk. I look back at that and I laugh. These people here have so much faith. I am so humbled by these people here. I love them so much.

This week also, we had a lot of great lessons. I felt the spirit in pretty much every single lesson that we taught this week. They were great. We met this one boy that is about 16 years old. Elder Fonua said that it was a referral from one of their old investigators. They had only seen him once and they taught him about God and prayer. During the lesson that we had, we taught him the whole lesson on the Restoration. We just had the feeling to teach the whole thing.  As we were teaching him, I really felt good and I could tell that he was feeling it. After we finished the lesson, we asked him how he was feeling. He said that he felt happy and proud. I had the impression to ask him to be baptized at this point. Then, right after he had finished talking, Elder Fonua had the same thought and he asked him before I did. When he answered, he kind of thought about it for a second. Then looked up and us and said " I hope that I will be able to." He did not quite give us that answer of "yes" but he said that he is willing to. We invited him to really pray about it. He said that he would. In his closing prayer, he asked God if it was true. We are going to see him this week to see what his thoughst are. I could really feel the spirit in that lesson and I know that the Holy Ghost was helping him. I have faith that he will get that answer.

I could really feel the spirit this past week. That is what made this area so good this week. Every lesson that we had was great and I know that the spirit did testify to our investigators of the truthfulness of this message.

I know that I am doing the Lord's work here. I know that this church is true. Everything about it just makes it so great and the knowledge that we can live together forever just tops it off. It is like the cherry of the ice cream. This is why everyone loves the gospel here. It really does bless us in our lives.

I love you all very much. I am so proud of each and every one of yous. I miss you all and I know that we will meet another day.

Love,

Elder Grotepas

Me and Elder Tonumaipe'a

Here is the plane that flys to Labasa, Fiji.

Fiji from the plane to Labasa

Here she is, our truck. This was taken just by our church building in Naduna.

This is where our baptisms take place.    By the way, this is Elder Fonua with a girl named M__

This is the place where we hold our church services at. No chapel, just wood with a tin roof.
How sweet....

Here is a sunset in Savusavu.

Area 3, Week 6 - Tavua, Fiji 5/18/14 Last week

Cola vina'a,

Bula! How is everyone doing this fine and dandy Sunday? I know that I am doing great!   It is all the same for me here, still hot and does not change. Well, we did have quite a big rain storm come in this week and caused lots of flooding. It rained for about one whole day straight.  But other than that the weather was good. I think that it is getting pretty warm back home also, isn't it?

Well I just got news today that I am getting transferred again to a different area. I am going to be going up to the other Island of Fiji, Vanua Levu. I am finally getting the chance to go somewhere else in Fiji besides the main Island of Viti Levu. The area that I am going to be moving to is called Naduna. It is close to a town called Labasa. I am very excited but I am also saddened because I did not really get a chance to meet a lot of people that live here in Tavua. I was only here for a month. Also to make things a little more challenging for me, they have also called me to be a District Leader up there. I think that there is going to be about 11 people in the district. Man, once I got the call on Saturday night, I was so stressed out. I don't know what to do as a district leader. I could hardly sleep that night. I think that me and Elder Tonumaipe'a did not go to sleep until about 12:30 that night. Oh yeah, Elder Tonumaipe'a has been called to be a trainer for an Elder that has just come out of the MTC. He and I were both very stressed out that night. But now, I am feeling a little bit more comfortable. I just hope that I can fulfill all the responsibilities that are going to be placed on me. I have really been studying in the past couple of days about leadership and one of the biggest things that really stuck out to me was charity. If you have not charity, you are nothing. I felt that this was one of the biggest things that I can do and work on. It is going to be a challenge but I think that I can do it.

My week has been really good. We were challenged by the mission to try to drop all of the investigators that we had, and keep all the ones that we think will be baptized in the month of June and try to find more investigators. I guess that as the mission, we are holding on to our investigators too long even if they are not ready. Last month they really pushed us to do this, start moving our investigator pool around so it does not end up like the Great Salt Lake, stinky and full of too many dead things. They want us to really focus on finding those that are ready, and keep finding and don't keep them if they are not ready at that time. Constantly be finding and teaching and teaching when we are finding. So me and Elder Tonumaipe'a are trying to clean up our teaching pool. We feel like we have cleaned it up to about 7 people and we might be going down to about 3 or 4. So we are really going to be focusing on finding. Well Tonumaipe'a and his new son are going to be doing this.

During this week were were able to see one of our investigators that is really good. She is about 15 and she took the lessons in the past. She got all the way through all the lessons but did not feel like she was ready to be baptized. Every time the missionaries asked her to be baptized she said yes but she was too scared to tell them no. So they kept asking her and she ended up being dropped. This week, just as we were challenged to give baptismal dates to all the investigators we have, we asked her if she was ready and she said that she wasn't. She said that she needs to stop some things before she gets baptized to help her out. We did not go to much in to detail about what she feels she is doing wrong but we really went over the Atonement with her. Something really stuck out to me as we were teaching her. We told her that everyone is not perfect, we all make mistakes. That is what the wonderful thing is about baptism and using the Atonement, we can be forgiven of anything and we can always feel clean as long as we have faith in Him. It really seemed to touch her. I feel that she feels that she cannot be forgiven but we can, that is a gift that we all have and we just have to use it. It really touched me and really build my testimony up on this topic. It can help anyone, even her. I think that we are going to keep working with her and helping her to feel ready. She is golden once she know it's true. She is a sister of a Bishop in Lautoka.

We are still working with a couple of investigators that we cannot get to church. We are working really hard and we are going to keep focusing on them. We are going to try to get more members to come and help us teach and fellowship him.

We did not get to meet with the man that we met last week that we thought was golden. He just disappeared and his phone is no longer working. He comes late at night and he leaves early in the morning. I hope that he really does have the desire to change. I know that this will really affect his life for good. He will never regret this.

I know that I am doing the Lord's work here. He is trying to do miracles here in Fiji. As missionaries we need to listen to him and he will do the work. As I have been trying to improve my studies and to be more focused on the work, I can really feel that the Lord is shaping our area into the area that He has planned. All we have to do is prepare ourselves and the Lord will do the rest. I can feel that I was here in Tavua for a specific reason. I don't really know why but there was a reason I was here for a month. I don't know what I was here for but I have accomplished it already. I am really going to miss this area and especially being with my mate Elder Tonumaipe'a. We had a lot of good times and we really got along great. He is going to be a great father and he is going to do good. I know that this is the Lord's kingdom here on this earth. I am so glad to hear that Trevor is going to be starting his papers. I am so glad. I love you all very much and know that I miss you all very much. I get emotional talking to all of you especially Heidi. I love you all.

Thanks for everything and I wish you all a great week :)

Stay Fresh

Love, 

Elder Grotepas

PS  I will be serving with Elder Fonua from Austraila, Kaisamoa.  I've heard that he is THE MAN!

This is a part of the letter Elder Grotepas sent his brother today, as he graduated Seminary and found out that he will be starting his mission papers.  I thought I would share it because it has such good advice to help everyone, whether they are preparing for a mission or just trying to live the gospel a little better!

Ni sa bula vinaka taciqu,

I am glad to hear that you are going to be staring you papers here pretty soon. What a wonderful thing that is!  Keep up the good work and stay strong.

I just wanted to give you some advice to help you prepare you for your mission. First of all, pray everyday. Try to do it on your knees or kneel on your bed. I know that I always just layed down I half way through my prayers, I fell asleep. This will keep you up and alert. Second, read from the Book of Mormon every day. I wish that I would have done this every day before my mission. If you don't, you cannot see the power in the Book of Mormon and and really gain a testimony on the truthfullness of this gospel. It is the keystone. Study it as much as you can. Third, study Chapter 3 from Preach My Gospel. It is what you will be teaching from for the next two years of your life. If you know it by time you get in the MTC, it will be so much easier. If you are learning a language like I did, all you will have to do is learn the language and not about how to teach. It will make it so much easier for you. Also do anything and everything to have the spirit with you. Teach your friends and be an example to them. Help them out.

Trevor, I know as you do this, it will be so much easier for you when you come out on your mission. Don't get stressed out about it. One thing that really changed my thoughts was something that mom told me when I first came to Fiji, "You only have 2 years on your mission and you have a lifetime back home. So do all you can for those 2 years." These 2 years on my mission are going by too fast. I thought that this day would never come. I find out the actual date that I will be coming home here in about 2 months. It goes too fast. Just soak everything in like a sponge and the Lord will guide you when you need it. So don't get stressed out. It is just part of life and I have faith that you can do it. 

Our audio-visual system to watch conference

                                                    Me and Sister Nisha from Tavua Ward.

Chopping wood for service

Area 3, Week 5 - Tavua, Fiji 5/11/14 Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!

We had the privilege of speaking to Elder Grotepas via Skype for Mother's Day.  We have been looking forward to this day for a long time, well at least since Christmas when we last spoke to him!  It was comforting getting to see him and hear his voice!  We commented on his fun accent that he has acquired, but he doesn't realize he has one!

He is loving the work and loves his companion.  He says they are like two peas in a pod, which is also great news!  The unity in a companionship really is essential to good missionary work.  We were able to briefly speak with his companion also, and we love him!

Elder Grotepas bore his testimony to us in Fijian, which he has done each time we have talked to him and it is truly amazing how the Lord blesses His missionaries with the gift of tongues!  We are always in awe to hear his sweet testimony in the beautiful Fijian language.

We absolutely loved seeing his bright, smiling face!  Now until Christmas before we see him again, just weeks before he comes home!

Matt and Lori Grotepas

Area 3, Week 4 - Tavua, Fiji 5/4/14

Ni sa bula vinaka na noqu matavuvale,

Well I would like to say Hello to you all again this week. I know that this week has been a really fast week for me. I know that these weeks on my mission are going way too fast and is not going slow enough. It seems like I was just sitting at a computer just yesterday but it has been one week. I have really had a good week. We did find quite a bit of success with some of our time cut out because we had a meeting that was in Lautoka, Fiji and we had to stay over there for two days. So we did have a really good week and I hope that you all had a really good week and everything went good and just like you planned.

To start this week out, we had a meeting as a Lautoka Zone in Lautoka. It was a really good experience to feel of the spirit and the things that the mission needs to work on. It was good also because I got to see some of my intake, mainly Elder Tukia. I served with him when I was in the Waila area. He is a great Elder and I love to see him.

During the meeting, we talked a lot about what we have to do to accomplish the goal that the mission has set for the next 2 months until President Klingler goes home. He has challenged us to get 220 baptisms in for the whole second quarter. For the first month, it was not going too good, we were not really on track with our goal. We had a lot of baptismal dates set for the month of June but we only ended up getting two in that whole month as a zone. So they really talked and emphasized what we needed to do to get those investigators baptized.

One of the things that they talked about was daily contacting. I know that this is a really good way to help those that are investigating to about the church. I know that that is one of the things that we are trying to work on here. We have a couple investigators where it will be easy to check on them and see how they are doing on our commitments. Another thing that they really emphasized was getting the ward involved and getting those effective member presents. During the meeting, these were the two things that the spirit told me for us to work on. I feel that if we build that relationship with the members, they will feel more included and loved and that they are needed. So we are really going to focus on this and see if it makes a difference.

But other than the meeting, we did find one really good investigator this week. She was an old investigator from about a year ago. We both thought that she was a member because the first time we went over there, she was not there but her brother was. When we were talking to him, he said that she was already a member. So we thought that she was a member to start off with. But once we sat down with her, we found out that she was not a member. She considered herself a member because her brother is a bishop in a different ward and she always went with him to church. But she said that at the time when the elders in the past were visiting her, she did not feel ready to be baptized. She took all the lessons but was not ready at that time. But when we sat down with her, she said that she thinks she is ready. We are going to give her a little bit of time to pray about it so it does not feel like we are pushing her. We invited her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We read some scriptures with her and she understands what she needs to do.

We had a big fast as a mission this Sunday and she was one of the ones that I fasted for. I know that she is going to come around and see the need for this and be baptized. I have faith that the Lord will soften her heart and bless her with everything that she needs at this time. All we have to do is have faith in Heavenly Father that He will do the rest. He knows everything that we need even before we ask him. All we need to do is have faith and show it to him.

We were also able to sit down with our Ward Mission Leader this week for the first time. He was just set apart yesterday. He has been a WML in another ward in Suva so he knows what he is doing. He really has some good ideas that we can use to change the attitude of the ward. Start a fire underneath them and get this ward going again. I know that we set some things up that might help the ward out get closer together. We are going to try to move this area and change it around.

As of right now, we have one baptismal date that we are working with. We have a couple other that we want to challenge but we are waiting to see if they come to church. We are still focusing on them but we are doing good. With the one baptism that we have, it is scheduled for the end of June. She is doing really great. We have just finished up with the second lesson. The hard thing is is that she does not really know the Bau'en dialect of Fijian, and that is all I know. She can only understand her dialect and English a bit. So we have to have one of her friends in there translating what we say so she understands. But she is doing great. She lives with a member that is really strong and is helping her out tons.

But, our work is going good. I am doing great. I am really focusing on my studies and making them better. I can feel that as I have really tried to learn in my studies, it has made a difference. I feel that I know more about what I am teaching and that I can back it up. I encourage you all who is reading this to do the same. Study with a purpose. This would have helped me throughout my whole mission. Don't just read to read, read to understand and grasp.

I know with my whole heart that this is the true church. I know that this work that we missionaries are doing is really the Lords work and he is controlling it. If we listen to the small voice, we will be directed for good. I want to let you all know that I love you all very much. I cannot wait until next week when I get to skype you all and see you all face to face. I have been waiting for this day since Christmas.

Know that you all are in my prayers and that I love you all very much.

Thanks for everything you do and are doing at this moment.

Love, 

Elder Grotepas

District lunch

Elder Tonumaipe'a and I doing service

Zone P-Day. We had to dress up like Mexico.

A flash flood.

We were sitting in a lesson. Upon finishing, we were talking to the investigators aunt and all of a sudden the kids yell out out that the flood is coming. All of a sudden, all this water comes into the yard and floods it. It took about 2 minutes for all that water to fill in. Only in Fiji!

Guess what these are? What are they made out of?

I think that this picture will help you to know what those flip flops are made out of. Only in Fiji can you see this.