Elder Grotepas : 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.