Elder Grotepas : Area 4, Week 15 - Naduna, Vanua Levu, Fiji 8/31/14

Ni sa bula sia,

How is everyone doing this week? It has been again another really quick week for me and I bet it has also been a really fast week for you all too. Well, as for the week, it went really well. We were privileged to have another Zone Conference with President Layton and he explained to us the new path that we are going to take as missionaries. I think that this is a worldwide thing, not just our mission. As missionaries, we are now going to be working more with the less active members to help them receive the blessings of the temple and have strong testimonies again. We are also going to be working closer to the chapel to make that area a center of strength instead of us working way far out when our branch is not even strong and struggling. So we are having lots of trainings on what we can do to work with better with this new path.

I am hoping that this new program is going to change a lot of the missionary work and help us find more success. I feel that this is going to have a really big impact on missionary work. The best kind of missionary work is the work that you get from the members. It is just common sense, if that is where the best work comes from, then we have to start at the bottom. The bottom is getting the members strong and them doing missionary work. The more people we can get doing this, the more effective we will be. So I feel that this is a really good idea for the church to do. Get to the roots and start there.

I was so excited because the Assistants told us that the Rotuma Elders were coming up to Zone Conference and that they would be staying with us for a couple of days. So, I thought that Elder Fonua was going to be coming up to stay with us. But when they came up, it was still the same ones and Elder Fonua was not there. We still had lots of fun with Elder Nawahine and Po'ana.

This week was to eat one of the coolest things in the world. We went over to an investigators house and inside of his house was hanging a bat. After we were done taking pictures of the thing, they asked us if we want to eat it and we said yes. So Elder Walls volunteered to kill the bat with a huge stick. Then later on, we went over and ate it. It was one of the most interesting tastes ever. It tasted just like it smelt, weird. There was not that meat on it but it was good. Everyone says that bats are one of the cleanest animals because all they eat is fruit and nothing else. They don't go around eating garbage and stuff off of the ground. Just clean fruits. So that was a bit upside of eating it. I will never forget this experience.

As of right now, we are still working on finding more people to teach. We have found a couple that we are teaching right now but they are not to interested. We did not have anyone come to church or is progressing towards a baptismal date. We are working on it. We are planting many seed and we hope one day they will pay of for future missionaries.

We had some really good spiritual lessons this week with a couple of our new investigators about the Restoration of the Gospel. There is just something about that lesson that just invites the spirit so much. The spirit is so strong in the room each time we talk about Joseph Smith and how he bought back the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has got to be on of my favorite lessons to teach simply because the spirit is there an it is true. It is really hard to explain the feeling that comes after and during the lesson but it feels great. We were able to have about 3 of those lessons and each one of them accepted our invitation to pray about what we had to share. So this week, we will find out what happens to them. I have faith that they will have done the things that we have invited them to do.

Me and my companion are getting along really good and as a district we are getting along good. I feel that this is one of my most favorite districts I have been in. We all feel comfortable around each other and we have lots of fun. I am loving it here. I would not mind dying here.

I do have a testimony of this Gospel and I know that it has been restored back to the earth by Joseph Smith. My testimony has been solidified this week about this event and I know that it is true. Millions have testified and I am one of them. I know this Gospel is a blessing me and also blessing to you all in Utah.

I want to tell you all that I love you and miss you all very much. I wish you all a good week and that you all will stay safe and sound.

With much love,

Elder Grotepas