Area 5, Week 12 - Burewai, Fiji 1/11/15 (Final week)

It has been a good two years here in Fiji!  I have experienced many things physically, spiritually, and emotionally during my stay in Fiji. I have come to know that all good things will eventually come to an end and now is that time for this part to end. I have had many bittersweet feelings this past week.  I am glad that I finally get to come home and see my family but I am also sad I'm leaving behind my second family here in Fiji. I know what Brother Cheney felt like the time that he had to leave Fiji. After reading the letter that he sent me, I feel the same way. I cannot believe that this time is already here, I thought that it would never come.

I have learned lots on my mission over the past two years. Along with what I told you last week with how we are never alone, I have also learned many things that will bless me throughout the rest of my life. I have learned a good deal of patience and how to deal with other people, how to plan, obedience, listening skills, social skills, how to be a leader, being humble, counting on the Lord, asking for guidance, doctrines of the chruch, and the list goes on and on. It has really made an impact and I now know why they say "These two years are the best two years in a young mans life and every young man needs them to develop the skills that are needed to learn." I can see why they need them, it is preparing us for the rest of our lives. I give a big thanks for the things that I have learned.

I told you last week that I was going to tell you the biggest thing I have learned on my misson. I think that my number one thing is that the Book of Mormon is a true book. Throughout my mission I found out that the reason why I am really here is becasue of that book and the things that we teach from it is truly the word of God. Like what it says "The Book of Mormon is the Keystone of our religion and without it, our church will crumble." We always tell our investigators that we are not here to teach and convert them. We are only the guides and we have given them the tools that will help them know for themselves. Through the Book of Mormon, they will then come to know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. It is all becasue of this book that we know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is truly the Lord's kingdom here upon this earth.

I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know from the bottom of my heart that it is true. God loves us so much and he wants us to find the right way and help each one of us find the way back to him. I finished reading it for the last time on my mission just 2 days ago and I know it is true. Just from the feeling that I felt while reading it and after reading it was just so powerful. I invite you all to do the same thing if you have not already or even if you have recieved a witness that it is true. I invite you to read it and pray about it with a sincere heart, willing to act on the prompting you recieve and this is the way that you can know of a surety.

I am grateful to be here. I thank my Heavenly Father for this opportunity. I know that now I am going to have to start my second mission. It is going to be a lot scarier than this one but I know Heavenly Father will bless me through it.

I learned two things this week from Elder Johansen (Area Seventy) on Sunday that I felt impressed to share with you. 1) The greatest title God has given to mankind is what?????????????? Father. Being given the chance to be called Father is a privledge and we need to use it to the best of our ability, and 2) "We know when we are following the correct path when we are having hard times in our lives." Satan is working hard on those that are trying to follow Christ. He is going to throw everything he has at you when you follow. So when we are having hard times, we are on usually on the right path and we need to preserver. Just like Joseph Smith when he went to pray, something came over him and made it hard for him to pray. It aplies to our lives as well.

I hope that I will continue to follow and endure the rest on my life. I have learned so much. I am glad tha I am going to be seeing you all here in a few days. I think that that is the reason why I am all nervous here in my seat. I really want to see you all.

This is my last email to you all and I want to tell you that it was really the best two years of my life. I would not change it for the world. I have loved each one of my companions and I thank them so much.

So, I guess we will meet here is a few days. :) Can't wait.

Love your son/brother,

Elder Grotepas

Usia, one of our investigators

Me and Joji from Nasinu. He could'nt beleive how much weight I have lost. It was funny.

 

The great Nausori Zone

Levuka

Area 5, Week 11 - Burewai, Fiji 1/4/15

Dear Family,

Ni sa bula vinaka oi kemudou na noqu matavuvale. Sa vakacava tiko? Vacava tiko na uca cevata? The weather is still pretty much the same, little bit of rain or lots of rain every day. The work is moving along really good in our area in Burewai. We were a bit slow this week with our work because of New Years. Lots of people were really busy with that and all the villages that we go to all had meetings and parties that everyone was attending. But we had a really good week even though we encountered all these hard things. We feel that the Lord is very pleased with the work that we were able to accomplish. We saw all of our progressing investigators so that was a plus to our week. 

We currently only have one saint with a baptismal date set for Febuary 1st. He is the boy that lives in one of our far areas in Saioko. Then for the other saint that we were going to get baptized last month, we are still helping him. He has been on holiday for the past couple of weeks in Lautoka and we are going to be seeing him today. We are setting his new baptismal date for the  25th of January. I was kind of bumbed that I am not going to be here for it and see him get baptized but I know no matter what that I really helped him out and I helped one soul come unto our Savior Jesus Christ. 

We were privileged to find a few new investigators this week. We recieved a refferal from some other elders in Suva and we were able to contact her. She is really interested in learning about our church and what we believe. So we will be seeing her today after this. She seemed really good and she was really interested. We also contacted another refferal for a man that lives in Natalaira. He was given to us by a member and we will see him next week. So we were able to find some more people for us to teach. 

We also had one of our investigators pass away this past week. We dont quite know for sure what happened to him but he passed away in Suva. He drove taxi's in Suva to support his family in Nasautoka so he was away in Suva when he passed away. It was really sad becasue we were shopping and his brother came up to us and told us that he had passed away. We were working on getting him and his wife married so they could be baptized. They have known that this is the true chruch for a long time but have had a really hard time with their marriage. It really made my heart sink when I heard this because I feel for the family that he left behind, his wife and his kids. Man, I cannot believe how hard it would be on them and especially his wife. The cool thing is about this is that we know where he is and we know that we are going to see him again. Just think, because of this Gospel and it being restored back to this earth, we have that knowledge. We are going to live again and he is going to live with his family again. The branch is doing a lot to help this woman and her family and I feel for her. We tried to see her yesterday but she was busy. 

We had a really good New Years. Just a typical New Years for us. We had the Zone Leaders stay with us that night becasue they had to drop some medication off to Elder 'Ita and they did not have enough km's to return back to their home so they just stayed with us. We stayed up until midnight and then went to bed. Just like a usual New Years Eve.

I have really been trying to finish the Book of Mormon these past couple of months and I am really close to finishing it. I only have about 30 more pages to go. I set a goal of doing this about 3 months ago. I marked every single reference to our Savior Jesus Christ. It is so cool to see how many times it actually references Jesus Christ and all of his names. There have been so many of them. I have really gained a testimony of this book and I know that it is true. I think this is what made my testimony so strong these past 2 years. I love the book and I encourage you all to read it also.

I know that this is my second to last email that I am going to write home. I would like to include in these two letter the things that I have learned the most on my mission. The second most important thing I learned on my mission is that when things get tough in your life, keep your Heavenly Father involved and preserver, keep going. Many people will give up or try something else. An elder said "When life gives you lemons,.............. make lemonade? No, baptize those lemons."  We have to work with what we've got and it will work out for us in the end. 

I encourage you all to do the same thing. When life is hard, just keep pushing along. Like the movie "Finding Nemo," 'just keep swimming.' I know the Lord and Heavenly Father are always there for you because they have been there for me. I know that this is the true chruch of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for this oppertunity to be a missionary and I love it here. I am going to be sad when I have to leave but I am also glad to see you all again. Keep up the good work and we will see soon.

I love you all very much and I wish you all a good week.

Love, 

Elder Grotepas

Our Christmas Tree

Taito making bread. HAHA

Me and Elder I'ta

This is a bamboo cannon. This is what was going off all day on New Years.

This is called a qiqi. This is the hot toy here in Fiji. What do yous think of it?

Does this look fimiliar? This is the Fijian roro.

Area 5, Week 10 - Burewai, Fiji 12/28/14

Dear family,

Well, just a normal week for us. I think that one of the big highlights from this past week for me when I was able to Skype you all and also to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We were able to have a really good Christmas. I don't know if I told you this or not, but we did not have a white Christmas. Nothing close to it. We had a hot, rainy Christmas. I think that the only thing that made it feel like home was our Christmas tree. I will tell you the story here in a minute. We had a big feast at the home of a family named the Vitinavulagi family. We had the typical curry, crab, roro, pork, chicken, dalo, and juice. It was really a cool Christmas. I will never forget it.

Well back to the Christmas tree. On Tuesday when we were driving to one of our areas, Burewai, we drove through a forest-like area full of pine trees. So me and Elder 'Ita had an idea to cut down a few of the saplings and take them home for our Christmas tree. So that is what we did. We scouted out a good full tree that we could use and then we cut it down. I did not know if we could so we just did it quick and put it in the back of the truck and drove off. We cut down one for the Korovou Elders and one for us. It was funny, by time we got home and set it up, it was way to tall for the house. We sharpened the end and stuck it in a knot in the floor and bent the top over about 2 feet to hold it up. Then we decorated the tree with some flowers. It really felt like a real Christmas with an actual tree. It did look kind of funny. I will send you a picture of it. Just a typical missionary Christmas for us here in Fiji.

As for the work, our work is moving along really well. We have had to push a couple baptisms back because we were not able to see them as much as we planned this month so we are going to plan on having them by the middle or end of this month. We have found a few more investigators that seem to be really good investigators. We sat down with a group of men ages 19 to 26 while waiting for the rain to stop and we were able to set up a few return appointments. They seem really excited to receive a Book of Mormon and to learn more about what we have to share. We have rescheduled with them for this Tuesday and we will see what happens. It seems like the Lord is setting this area up for Elder 'Ita and his new trainee here in a few weeks. I am pretty sure that he is going to train when I leave because it has been hinted to him that he will. So right now, it seems like we are finding lots of new people and they will be really good progressing investigators.

It was a bit of a harder week for work-wise because of Christmas and everyone busy with their family and off for vacation but it was a really good week and we can feel the that Lord is helping us out. I feel that if me and my companion feel that we had a good week and that the Lord approves of what we did, then we had a good week no matter what we got. If it was low or high, the Lord approves it.

We did have one investigator come to church this week. The young man in Saioko came and he is progressing really well towards his baptismal date. We are still having his baptism on the 11th of January. So we are still looking forward to that date. He's "the man" and I am glad for him.

Well that is pretty much most of what happened to us. I know that the Lord has really blessed us and that He knows what we are doing. This past week has been a week of reflection on what Christ has done for us. I was able to read from the whole book of 3 Nephi and learn more about Christ. It really strengthened my testimony of Him. I really hope that you all feel the same way and continue to trust and have faith in him.

I want to let you all know that I love you and I was so thankful that I was able to skype you all and finally see you face to face. It has been a short and long 7 months.  I invite you all to continue to work hard and be obedient to our Savior Jesus Christ. That is the best thing we can do to show our love to Him.

Thanks for everything and have a good week.

Love,
Elder Grotepas

12/25/14 MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BUREWAI!

We once again had the privilege of Skyping with our missionary on Christmas Day! It just doesn't get better than this!  The hardest part is deciding who is going to hang up first!!  He is working really hard and wants to return with "no regrets!"  He is finishing his last lap of the race with honor!

Elder Grotepas' contagious smile!  Merry Christmas from Fiji....everyone!

Area 5, Week 9 - Burewai, Fiji 12/21/14

Dear Family,

We have really had a good week. We were able to set up another baptismal date for a young boy named Maikeli that lives in Saioko village. We have had some really good lessons with him and he is coming to church every week. He is excited to be baptized on January 11th. Then as for our other baptismal date that we have, we are going to have to push back a couple weeks because we have had some set backs due to his brother passing away and with him going to Lautoka for Christmas. We are still working hard and we are relying on the Lord to help us in our work and knowing when it is the exact time for them to make this sacred covenant with their Heavenly Father.

We were able to have a really spiritual lesson with one of our investigators named Vuniyani. Last week when we saw him, he asked us if we could explain to him what the purpose of the temple is. So me and Elder 'Ita prepared a lesson about the temples and it went really well. I think the thing that got him the most interested in this is we told him that he could be married to his wife for time and all eternity. When we told him this, it looked like his soul jumped for joy. He said he loved his wife and would really like this blessing. He said that he knows he will go into this temple one day. He even said that he would get baptized. He still wants to finish the Book of Mormon all the way before he makes his final decision. He is about half way done so we are praying for him. This really strengthened my testimony on temples and how they can bring people closer to God. Literally, it is the the House of the Lord. 

To many missionaries, this week would have been counted as one of a difficult, tiresome, and discouraging weeks. But for me and my companion Elder 'Ita, it has been one of learning and relaying on our Savior Jesus Christ and asking for His help and direction. We really focused this week on planning out really well what we are going to do and have a back up plan for for every single thing if our plans fell through. It was really frustrating for me and my companion because that's what happened. Everything fell through. Even though we had all these hard times, it seems like we found enough to do. We went through a lot of our former investigators and found out that lots of them have moved and no longer live there. But we stayed strong and did find some work.

I feel that something is telling me to slow down and to get discouraged with this area. I don't know if it is because I am almost finished and Satan does not want me to finish strong. He is throwing these obstacles on us. I remember something that President Layton told me during an interview last week. "No one remembers what you did during the first 3 laps of a race. They don't remember the start or middle, but they do remember the ending. Expecially the last quarter mile. You are now in the quarter mile and you need to finish with a bang." I feel that this is what I need to do, finish with a bang. Someone does not want me to but I know that I have to. I need to keep my head up and give it my all. Me and Elder 'Ita talked about this for quite some time the other day and what we can to do make it, so we work hard.

But we had a really good week, lots of fall-throughs and almost all of the villages we went to were busy with village parties and everyone was gone, But we feel that we had a really good week. We feel that the Lord was pleased with what we did and that is all that counts. 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I hope that you will always remember the true meaning of Christmas. Because of Jesus Christ, we are here. If not for him, there would be nothing. Enough said. Always remember Him and keep him center to your life.

Thank you so much for everything and have a good week.

Love, 
Elder Grotepas

"Christ is the Center of our Home"

Oqo, Elder 'Ita controlling the the bamboo raft (bilibili)

Area 5, Week 8 - Burewai, Fiji 12/14/14

Dear Family,

I don't really know where to start.... It was just a normal week for us this week. We did lots of missionary work this week.  

I hope that you all are doing good and that you are all bulabula vinaka tiko (healthy) and strong. I heard that it has not snowed there in Utah for a long time. What is happening to Utah? It seems to get worse and worse every year. In 10 years we won't ever have snow if it keeps going at this rate.

We had a couple of trials this week that were kind of sad.  One of our investigators brothers passed away from drowning. It was really sad becasue he was only 21 and he was a good person. So we were not able to see V___ or his family this week becasue they have been really busy with the funeral and getting everything ready for it. In the Fijian culture, it is a really big thing to them and their whole family will get together and eat. Also after 50 nights, they will have another big feed and after 100 they will have another big feed and then to finish it all off, they will have another at one year. I feel really bad but I know he is in a better place. Missionaries are administering to him in the Spirit World.

We did have a miracle happen to us this week. We had a feeling that we were to go and meet with this couple named Tawake and Di. They have been investigators for about 3 years and they really want to be baptized. The only thing is that they are not yet married legally. So we have not seen them in a while because they said that they were really busy with things and they were not able to get married this year because of some things. So we kind of put them on the back burner for a little bit. But we had a feeling that we were to go and see them and see how they were doing. When we got there, they were so happy to tell us that they are planning on getting married this week and that they can get baptized. They were so happy and we were also happy at the same time. The Lord showed us that we needed to go and see them and look at what happened. We are going to give them a date next week when we go over to see them.

As for our work, we doing really well. We had 3 investigators attend church this week and we have about 5 progressing investigators at this time. Currently we only have 1 baptismal date but we are looking to have at least 2 or 3 by the end of next week. I am trying to teach Elder 'Ita on the importance of working with the members. Like what I have always said, this is where the work is. So we are hoping that by this, we will get more people to teach.

I learned a really big lesson this week about the Sacrament. I learned that that is what Sunday worship is really about. It is a covenant we make with God and everytime that we partake of it, we are making a new covenant with God that we HAVE to follow. I know the Sacrament is so important for us and I want to invite you to remember the importance of it and study about it in your spare time.

I love you all very much and wish you all a good week. Always remember to pause and remember the covenants you have made with God and it will bless you in you life.

Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Grotepas

Nausori, Suva and Suva North Zone Conference 12/9/14 

Here is the baptismal font in Saioko. We are going to plan one for the January 11th.

Here'e me on P-day with a group of kids. We showed them some magic tricks and they were amazed.

Me and Elder 'Ita

Me, Elder 'Ita, and Taito.

Area 5, Week 7 - Burewai, Fiji 12/7/14 New Companion Elder 'Ita

Top of the mornin' to ya,

Howdy ya'll. How are you all doing this fine and dandy Sunday evening? I hope that you all are doing really well and are all healthy. As for us here in Fiji, it is all the same. The weather has really changed from what it was last week. For the past 3 days, it has been raining non stop. Right now it isn't but it has rained so much. The first day it rained, it just poured. It rained so much that it raised the river we were by by 12 feet or more. Some or the roads were flooded and even Korovou town was flooded with 2 feet of water. This lasted for like 4 hours then went down. It was a pretty bad storm. Let's hope there is not a hurricane coming in.

I don't think that I told you last week but my companion, Elder Bogaert, has been transferred to Navatuyaba and I have  a new companion!  He is from Nevada. His name is Elder 'Ita. He is 18 years old and he has only been on his mission for about 4 months. I am his second companion in Fiji so I am his follow-up trainer. I have another daughter to call my own.

As for the week, we did not have too much happen. We were really busy with transfers and we were out of our area for about half the week. I was able to go on splits with a couple of elders from my intake and we cannot believe how fast our missions have gone by. It seems just like the other day we were in the MTC learning Fijian and now we know it pretty good and are all about to return home. It is so weird to think about.

We were able to have 3 people attend church this week. We are still working with a couple people to get baptismal dates but the one we have set is doing really good. We found out something this week that he is going to have to do before he gets baptized. He and his wife need to get married. So we are going to find a way this week to get this moving along so he can be baptized on his planed date for December 28th. But this week we were able to see him 3 times and teach him a few lessons. We have had some really good lessons with him. He seems that he already knows most of the stuff but we just need to testify to him the importance of following it. But he is progressing really well and cannot wait until his baptism.

We are hoping by the end of this week that we will have at most 5 baptismal dates and hoping to have at least 3. I really want to go out in a bang to help me stay focused on my mission.

We have really tried to focus on the members this week also. By my own feelings, missionary work is just so much easier when we work with the members. We have asked every member that we see if they know anyone that we could see. By doing so, we were able to get 3 referrals that we are going to see this next coming week. I know that working with the members is the way to go and it just makes everything so much easier. I give thanks to all the members that we have worked around and all the help that they have given us. I am so grateful for them.

We also tried through our own efforts to talk to as many people as we could. It was fun because we were able to meet lots of different people but it did not turn out to be the most effective.

Well, I don't really have too many stories this week, but It has been really good. That's pretty much all I can think of. It was just a typical week here in Fiji.

I know that the Lord is really blessing us in our work here in Burewai. I can really feel him helping and guiding us in our work. 

But I know that this church is the true church of Jesus Christ. This mission has really helped me to know more about my Savior Jesus Christ and come closer unto him. I love this time that I have to be here. The only reason that I am out here is because of this. Au kila mai na boto ni yaloqu e sa dina na lotu oqo.  I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ.

I love you all and wish you all a good week.

Love, 
Elder Grotepas