Area 4, Week 14 - Naduna, Vanua Levu, Fiji - 8/24/14

Ni sa bula vinaka na noqu matavuvale,

How is everyone doing this week? I hope that everyone has had a good week and that everyone is healthy and strong. It has been a really good week for us and we had lots of fun. I do not have to much time to write this letter today. We are running short on time because today we have to go and pick up President Layton from the airport for our Zone Conference tomorrow. But as for the week, we had a really good and rewarding week.

We were able this week to find four new investigators! We had some really powerful lessons with these individuals and we were able to answer a couple of questions that they had. One lesson that we had with one of these individuals went really well. When we sat down, it started out kind of weird. He sat down and just started rolling up his tobacco in a leaf and then smoked it. It was way awkward at first but then once we told him that we were going to start, he put it down and listened to what we had to share. We went on teaching him about prophets and what their purpose is. The lesson went really good and he accepted the fact that God calls our prophets. He believes in the Hinduism faith but he still understood that God really does and should call prophets. Then, he said something that was pretty interesting. He said "When can I meet the prophet?" We told him that it would be hard but it is possible. He said that he cannot know if the church is true unless he meets him. So we told him that the prophet will be talking to us in a couple of months and we can listen to him at our General Conference. This really seemed to interest him. He said that he would listen to know if he is a true prophet. Both me and Elder Walls bore testimony that we have a true prophet today and that he leads and guides us.

This week we also went down to Nakawakawa. It has been about two months that the elders haven't been able to go down there due to their housing situation. But we took a drive down there to see the members and the investigators that are waiting to be baptized. It has to be one of the coolest experiences that I have had on my mission. The first thing that happened to us when we got there was we got the warmest welcome back. All the people inside of the village came up to us and welcomed us back. Elder Johnson was with us and everyone was saying that they have missed the Elders and they want them back. Elder Johnson served there previous to them leaving the area. But it was the coolest experience. It was also sad because the people that are waiting to be baptized got their hopes up that the Elders were back and that they were going to get baptized soon. But they still have to wait a bit longer. That was the only sad thing about the trip.

But everything is going good with me and my companion. We are getting along and we are really focusing on finding more investigators to teach. We have contacted quite a few houses and we are finding rewards for our efforts.

I am sorry that this letter was not the longest or the most interesting letter ever, but I don't have to much time. I have learned a lot of things this week and I hope that it will continue the rest of the next week.

I want to share with you all that I love you all very much and that I miss you all too. This is that true church of Jesus Christ and we are part of it!

Thank you so much for everything and I wish you all a good week.

Love, 

Elder Grotepas

Area 4, Week 13 - Naduna, Vanua Levu, Fiji - 8/17/14

Ni sa bula vinaka,

How are things going there in Utah? I hope that you all are doing good and everyone is healthy. I know that in the letter that you sent me this week, you were asking me about how my health was. I can assure you that my health is good.  Nothing much has really changed here in Fiji. It is still hot and humid. It is kind of weird because this week, it has not felt as humid as it has been. We went on a hike today to a mountain called the "Three Sisters" and it felt like I was just in Utah. It was way dry and somewhat hot. I don't know if it is just that I am used to the heat and humidity or if it really is changing. But, I am doing good and nothing is really new with me.

This week has been a rather challenging week. We are still trying to work with the Branch and also trying to find investigators that we can teach. I know that if we keep trying and working hard, we will get the work that we need. All we need to do is be patient.

We were able to meet one really cool person that I want to tell you all about. So this story is about a lady named Pushba. The way that we met here was really interesting.  So, early in the day, we were looking through our area book and looking at all of the former investigators that were in Naduna that we could pay a visit to. As we were looking, we came across this a name of a man and it looked like one of his daughters was way interested in the Gospel. She even wanted to be baptized. But the thing was  that the father was not even interested one bit. So he was stopping his daughter from taking the lessons and even told the elders that they were not allowed on his property. So we thought to ourselves, "Lets try to go see her. Lets just say that we did not know and kind of talk to the father a little bit." So that is what we did. We went up to his house and talked with him a bit. He shared his feelings about Jesus and what his beliefs were. They were not very nice thoughts so we just invited him to listen and he declined. But as we were talking to him, the daughter that had been interested, came out and asked us for a blessing. She said that she had been praying for this to happen, for the elders to come over and give her a blessing. She was so happy to see us and she was so nice, I just feel bad because the father is kind of holding her back. But to continue on with the story, after we were done talking to the father, he said that he had to take something back to one of his neighbors and we could talk with him on the way there. So when we get to his neighbors home, he give the rebar back to her and says something in Hindi to her and points at us. Then the lady starts to yell at him and he just smirks and walks off. I think that the lady did not want to see us. So out of courtesy, she lets us inside to talk with her. As we were talking, I could tell that she was trying to avoid what we were saying and said "I know no English". But we were able to talk a bit about her family and we did find out that one of her sons had passed away and she was really distraught about his passing. I then asked her "Would you like to see your son again?" She said,  "yes, I would!" We told her that she could and she said "How?" We talked a bit about the Plan of Salvation and told her where he is and he is waiting for her. At this point, she just started to cry. She kept asking us how she could see him again. She was so surprised. She invited us back over to see her this week. So we are going to see her and teach her more.

Two things really stuck out to me in this story. First, it that God really does put people in your paths many different ways. I would have never imagined that we would have found someone this way. I wanted to get back in the truck and go to a different home but I just had a thought that I was to walk with that father. But, look at what turned out of it. We influenced someone and gave her knowledge that can bless her and her family. Second, is that Heavenly Father does answer prayers. Dealing with that girl that was praying for a blessing, God really did answer her prayer by sending us to their home. This story was a really big testimony builder and it was probably the highlight of my week.

But everything else is doing good. The Branch is going good and my companion is way good. We were able to hike up a mountain today and it took us about an hour and a half to get up to the top. We then all had a companionship study all together and got to know each other good. I am loving this District and we are having lots of fun. I think that the Sister Pauga and Trammel are making it way fun. Also Elder Walls, Peritt, Read, Magalogo, Malula, Johnson, and Delfin. Also last week we were able to go to the beach with the Senior Couples, Elder and Sister Walker, and have a good time. We played lots of cool games and had a awesome lunch. I will send you some pictures a bit later because we are at the computer lab that had loads of viruses on them.

But everything went way good this week. I was also able to go on exchange with an Elder named Elder Peritt. It was way fun and I learned a lot from him.

But that is pretty much all the highlights from this week. It was a pretty normal week for us and we had a good time. I do know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. We can live with our Heavenly Father only by living his Gospel and standards. I love you all very much and I hope you all have a good week!

Love, 

Elder Grotepas

Area 4, Week 12 - Naduna, Vanua Nevu, Fiji - 8/10/14

Ni sa bula vinaka na noqu matavuvale,

Well, how is everything going this week for you all? I hope that you all had another really good week and that everything is going good with you all. I know for me, it is the same. Nothing much has changed from the past week. It is still pretty much the same thing.  My health is doing good, my companion is good, the area is going alright, and I am loving it here in Fiji. It has been another really fast week for me.

Well nothing big really happened this week. We are currently on the search for investigators at this point.  I think that this is the universal problem in missionary work. This is what everyone in the whole world is doing.  As for this week, we had a meeting with our Zone Leaders that is really going to affect our work and how we do it. The church has come out with some changes in missionary work. I dont know if you all know about this already or not. The missionaries are going to be more involved in the recent converts and the less active lessons. During the mission president seminar, the prophet came out with this and what we are going to do to try to keep those that are baptized stay active. I feel that this is really needed. There is no point in doing missionary work if we cannot hold on to the fruits of that effort. I know that during the meeting, one of our Zone Leaders said something that really stuck out to me, "A returning member (less-active) is counted as a saint, a baptism is also counted as a saint." So to the presidency, a less active that becomes active again is that same thing as a baptism. No matter what we are doing, we are saving a soul. No matter who we see, it is not a waste of time. They are a child of God and we need to always remember that. This really made me feel good because this is so true. I kind of thought to myself that the mission is not all about baptisms. It really counts on how many we influenced to become better. Even if it is a non member that we taught about the Word of Wisdom and then he saw the importance of it and followed it, but ended up not getting baptized and continued to follow it. We helped them in some way or another. So this is what my new thought process is.  Invite others to come unto Christ (others = anyone).

So, that is what we tried to do this week. We went around to all the members in the Naduna Branch and asked them about the less actives that are in our Branch.  Come to find out that half our or member list has moved and are no longer staying in our area. So we have about 9 to 10 less actives that we can see and try to bring back to the Gospel.

As for our investigators, it is going alright. We currently have three investigators and all three of them have baptismal dates. They were not able to make it to church this week and we are going to have to push one of them back for a later date. It is really hard to do this but we know that it is more important for the person to be ready. Even back home. We have to wait on people for when it is their time to be baptized. They may seem ready but it is really up to them and God.

Me and my companion are doing really good. Nothing is really new between us. We are still getting to know each other and how we teach together. But we are going good and he is teaching me lots.

Well this is pretty much my week. It was not a very eventful week. It was a bit slow. I would just want to share a little bit from what I learned in my studies this week. Throughout the past month, we have been reading from the Bible as a mission. We are reading the 4 gospels. I cannot believe how much stuff is in there that I did not know. It has really made my testimony so much larger and stronger about our Savior Jesus Christ. One thing that really stuck out to me this week was how all the Priests and all the Pharisees in that time did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. I mean, they did not believe at all! They were always doubting him. All it talks about is how Jesus went around doing miracles and healing the sick and the people thought that he was doing it without any power, or by the devil. All of these people have been saying that there will come One that will do all these things and help them receive eternal life. And then when he does come, they did not what to believe. That was one of my biggest thoughts this week. Why did they not believe?

I think that it all turns to the pride thing. They all wanted the pride for themselves. But this really made me think this week and ponder on this. I know that He was the Son of God and he really did come. All of these things that he did was done by the power of God. This really made my testimony stronger on our Savior Jesus Christ.

Well, that is pretty much it for my week. We are going to be going to a beach today with some of the Senior Couples. So we do not have very much time to write. But I want to let you all know that I love you all very much and that I know that this is the true church and this is the Lord's work.

Thank you so much.

Love, 

Elder Grotepas

Area 4, Week 11 - Naduna, Vanua Nevu Fiji - 8/3/14 New Companion Elder Walls

Ni sa bula vinaka,

Well how is everyone doing this week? It has been another really fast week for me. It was a bit tough leaving another really good companion and welcoming in another really good companion. It was one of the hardest things that I have had to do on my mission. I hate it when I get a really good companion and the time just goes by so fast. Then once you feel that you are the closest and are working really well together, we get transferred and get another new companion. It felt like when Elder Fonua left, everything changed and it is a whole new world.

But my new companion Elder Walls is a really good missionary. He is from California and he has been on his mission for about 10 months but been in Fiji for about 7 months. He started his mission in the same place that I started my mission, Nasinu. He was there about a month longer than I was in there. It is kind of cool because I get to ask him about some of the people that I was able to teach and see what they are up to now. A couple of them have gone a bit less active but they still have to desire to come to church. They just don't have the motivation. Some on the other hand are doing really well and have callings in the church. Also, some of the stories he tells about members are a lot different. Some of the people that he talks about I have not even heard about. It is cool to see how that work is moving along in my first area.

But as for the week, we had a really good week. I was privileged to welcome 2 new missionaries from the MTC into our district. One of them is from Draper Utah and the other one is from Guam. It is really funny to see what it like for them because I was there in their shoes about a year and a half ago. It was really funny, the second night that they were in Labasa, we went to go get some BBQ at a little shack that is right out of town. To us, this BBQ is the best in the world. It is nothing like the BBQ back at home. It has a lamb chop, lamb sausage, onions, and kasava. We were so excited to get it because to us, it is the best. The elder that came from Draper got it and tasted it and said that it was the worst thing in the world. He will never eat it again. We all laughed because we said the same thing. I guess that the food here just grows on you slowly. When I get home, I am going to have a rude awakening on what I had been missing out and how much different it all is.

But those 2 elders are doing really good. They are loving it in Seaqaqa and they will do good. One of them actually is going to be going out to Nakawakawa. That is the area that is really bush and is way out there in the middle of the no where. So he is really going to get used to the Fijian food in a couple of weeks.

But this week was really good for us. I think that one of the things that we really focused on this week was our Recent Converts. We saw each one of them (6) to keep them going strong and keeping the fire burning with them. It was really good because we need to keep them strong and coming to church and not going less active. 

As for right now, we do not have to many investigators. We have had to drop quite a bit of them because they are no longer progressing. We are still blessed to have 3 baptismal dates that we are working on and also in the mean time when we are not seeing them, we are trying to find more people to teach. 

We set up 2 of those baptismal dates this week with the couple that had the dream the other week and is ready to be baptized. A really cool thing that happened this week was that they finally finalized their decision on what they were going to do. When me and Elder Malula (from Draper) went and saw him, the first thing that he said is that they have been talking and praying and they are finally for sure on what they want to do. That is they will get baptized. Then after that, he said "We want Elder Hyde to be at the baptism." Elder Hyde was the first elder that they came in contact with. Currently, he is our AP and he will be down here on the 26th for a Zone Conference and we are going to hold there baptism on that day. They were so glad that they are able to have Elder Hyde come down and baptize them. I am so excited for them and their decision to do this. It will benefit them for the rest of their lives. 

We were blessed to have the husband and the 2 kids come to church this week. The wife was not able to make it because she was back home with there month old baby. The weather was a bit bad that they did not want to risk the baby getting sick. But they are doing really good.

The other baptismal date that we have is doing really good. We are still working with him and getting him to come to church. One of the members is really helping us and really helping him out also.

This week, we moved into a different house. We moved back into the old house that the elder used to live in for 12 years. I don't quite know for sure why we moved out but we are back in it. It is one of the biggest houses that I have seen on my whole mission. It is like 3 times the size of our last flat and it is empty. It is weird because there is a lot of empty space. They are going to plan on putting 2 other elders in the same flat as us in the future. So we are just waiting for them to come.

But, we did have a really good week this week. It was very rewarding and we had lots of fun. It is not the same with out Elder Fonua but we are moving the work along here in Naduna.  That is pretty much our week this week.  I know that I am here doing the Lords work. One thing that I learned today in my personal study is that every thing that we do and go through is given to us for a reason. Most of the time, it might be hard but there is a reason for it. Another thing is that God might tell us no to some answers. We might be wanting something is our life really bad a we know that it is a good decision for us, but it might not be part of Gods plan at that moment. We need to follow the prompting that are given to us from God and then act on them. Eventually, it will all work out in the end and we will be guided on the right path.

I want you all to know that I have a testimony that this is the only true church on this earth and the correct power to lead His church is with us. I know that this is the Lords work. I love you all very much and miss you all. 

I thank you so much for everything that you have given me and are are doing for me. Always remember to pray and read your scriptures every day and it will bless you tremendously.  "Trust in the Lord with all you heart, might, mind, and strength" every day.

Love,

Elder Grotepas

The Fiji sign.  

Me and Elder Johnson

Only in Fiji

The Priesthood in Naduna

Area 4, Week 10 - Naduna, Vanua Nevu, Fiji- 7/27/14

Ni sa bula vinaka,

How is everyone doing this week? I hope that you all had a really good week and that you all are doing really good. This has been another really fast week for me and we have had many things happen to us. To start it all off, I am going to be losing Elder Fonua and am going to be getting a new companion named Elder Walls. It was kind of sad on Saturday night when we got the call and heard that Elder Fonua is going to be going to an island called Rotuma and that I am going to get a new companion. I was kind of hurt because me and Elder Fonua got along so good and we worked really good together. It is going to be like losing a brother. The place that he will be going to is just a small sinking island. There are only two missionaries out there and he and his companion are the Branch presidency. How sweet is that. They don't even have email and they only come in once every 3 months or so to have Zone Conference and email. They also have to learn a whole new language. So that is the only hard thing about it.

We were able to accomplish many things and see many different people. We did have another really big miracle happen to us this week that I thought was way cool and want to share with you all. So we have this member named Brother Colata. I think that this man literally shares the gospel with everyone he meets. He is constantly telling us about people he shares the gospel with. This week he has been talking with one of his nephews that is going through a hard time in his life right now. He was kind of talking about our church a little bit and he was just too scared to ask him if he wanted to take lessons. So when we were over at his house this week, he called us outside to talk with him. He told us what had happened and that this man was in his house and he wanted to ask Lai if he wanted to take lessons. So as we were outside, Brother Colata called Lai over to talk to us and when Lai came over to us, Brother Colata just walked off and left it all to us. He was just too scared to ask him. So we told him that he wanted to share the gospel with him and help him out. So we asked if we could teach him and right of the bat, he said yes! So we scheduled the very next day to see him and I have to admit that he is ready. He accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 17th of August.

Concerning him also, Brother Colata asked us if we could go to Lai's father and ask him if it was alright to teach his son. So we took Brother Colata to see his father (Brother Colata's older brother) down in a village called Seweni. We brought down some biscuits and some sugar for tea (lemon leaf) to show the proper respect when asking for permission for something. When we were down there, we had the coolest thing happen to us. All of us were sitting in a big room, me, Elder Fonua, Brother Colata, Lai's mother and father. We started in a prayer then began to talk. About 10 minutes into talking, Bother Colata told us to ask his father for the permission and tell him what we are going to be teaching his son. As we were asking, the mother just started to cry and was so happy that we are helping his son at this time. She has wanted this her whole life. She said that he has always rejected the church stuff and does not really participate in it. She said her heart jumped for joy when she heard this. She went on crying for like 10 minutes because she was so happy.

This really strengthened my testimony this week. It showed me that this Gospel really can change peoples lives once they know that it is right. They might not like church things, but once they hear the truth, they want to change. Also is showed me on how much mothers' really do care for their children. His mother said that she has been waiting for like 10 years for this moment to happen. I thought about mom and how much she cares for us and I know that she would do the same thing that this mother did if it was us in their shoes. We really did feel the spirit in there and we are praying that this fire will continue with them young man.

We were also able to see the people this week that had the dream about this church. They were not able to make it this Sunday but it was weird, one of the sons was there at church. We are still working on them and we are planning on inviting them to be baptized in the middle of next month. They are doing really good and are prepared.

We also had a really big feast this week with our Branch President for his birthday. We had pork, goat, chicken and kasava. It was way good. I have not had that in a while. I am really going to miss this when I go home. Just sitting and eating lots of good food.

We also got some steaks this week from Savusavu. It was so good. I have not had a steak in like a year and a half. I miss that so much.

But we did have a really good week this week. Those were the highlights from my week. I know that I am doing the Lords work and that this is the true church. I thank you so much for everything that you are doing and I thank you so much for helping me. Also I thank you so much Grandma for helping me out here on my mission. I know that the Lord is blessing you also.

I hope you all have a really good week this week and that you all stay safe.

Always remember to follow the still small voice of the spirit! ;)

Love, 

Elder Grotepas