Area 1, Week 5- Nasinu, Fiji 4/7/13

Me drinking a coconut.  Alma likes to go on splits with us.
He is a native and is going on his mission here in a
couple of weeks to Washington. 

A member's home.  A lot different than back home.

Bula,

Everything is going really good here in Fiji. The past couple of days and nights have been really crazy. The other day we had heavy rain. That night it was thundering and lightening all night long. I swear one of the thunder bolts were right next to our flat. It was so loud it shook the house and shut the power out for a couple minutes.  Then the next day it rained consistently all day. Then that night, it was the same, thunder and lightening all night. We were in a lesson and every 3 minutes or so, there was this very bright light, then instantly there was this huge noise of thunder. I think that it hit just right down the street. One of the bolts actually cut the power for like ten minutes. It was so crazy.

(This is his reply to his mother's questions about his health).  My health is good. Nothing is really wrong. I have lost 15 pounds, so that is good. But other than that everything is great. We eat everyday. We have enough food and they feed us really good. We still eat alot of curry and top ramen.

My district.  Myself, Elder Sa'u, Elder Ishibashi, Elder Olson

This week has gone pretty good. On Friday, we went on splits with the District Leader. I went will Elder Olsen and Elder Ishibashi went with Elder Sa'u. It went pretty good. On Friday, we went to a baptismal interview with Eta. She was really nervous and worried about the interview. She thought that it was going to be like a test so she was going over all the lessons and studying them really good. After the interview, she said that it was not that bad. Elder Olsen is a good Elder and is really funny. Being with Elder Olsen, I was actually the one in the lead.  We went over to a investigators house, his name is Leba. We taught about the Ten Commandments. I asked him how we were going to do the lesson, he said that I was in charge. So the whole lesson I was in the lead.  I did not even know how to teach that lesson and of course I don't even know Fijian that good. I am so frustrated that I am not getting the language down. It is really hard. 

After that we had 2 lessons fall through and we went back the the flat. The next day we were also on exchanges. On Saturday, we were going to have another interview but that one fell through again. We still cannot get in with Eva. She says that she wants to be baptized and she says she knows that the church is true, but we cannot get her to commit and be baptized. It is really frustrating. The rest of the day we had a couple lessons fall through. So we OYM'ed (open your mouth). Elder Olsen told me to go OYM a gentleman we saw. I was so nervous but I did it anyway. I did not know how to start. But once I got there it went really good. He told us to come back and talk to him and his family. He said that he understands what we believe and he thinks that what he hears is really good.  

That night we got back to our flat, we had cake and ice cream for the birthday of the church. Man it was so good!  There is nothing like cake here. It had so much flavor. Like I said, everything else here has no flavor. It is all plain. None of us could finish the cake because we we're not used to it. It was so hard to eat. Back home, we could eat the cake like it was nothing. Here you dont eat it that much and our stomachs are not used to it. I really miss all of the sweets we used to have. I really miss having my milk and cookies. The milk here is so gross. It does not even taste like it. So when I get back that is going to be the first thing I am going to do is get a cold glass of milk. Man I really miss it!

Moheni and Samson

This is Moheni and her son Samson. Elder Ishibashi and Elder Lauti, OYM'ed her about 2 months ago. About 2 weeks ago she saw us and asked us to come back. So we set up a date and went to see her. The first time we went she was not there. The second time we went they said that she had moved houses and showed us were it was. We taught her two times in that home. She was a Hindi and I think she is now Methodist. She says that she really appreciates everything that God has given her and she really notices her blessings.  The next time we went to see her she had moved again. We were getting fustrated that she keeps moving and we aren't be able to find her. But this little kid we saw said that he knew where she lived so he showed us and we found her. She said that she needed to find a house where her and her son could live. She still has tons of questions.  

We are planning on having two baptisms on the 21st of this month!  I think that I am going to get to be able to baptize one of them.  The teaching is going really good. We have some good investigators. the only hard thing is getting them to come to church and keep commitments. We had a goal of having 10 investigators come to church and we only had 2 come. It is really hard to get them to come. I guess we are going to have to teach them more about the importance of coming to church.  We dont really have that many new investigators but we have a lot that are on the 2nd lesson.

That is really cool you got to go to conference. I miss going to it. Back then we all hated to watch conference because it was so boring, but now I think it's so cool. I cannot wait to come back to go to Priesthood session with dad and the boys. I really miss that. 

It is really exciting to hear about all the calls that people have been getting. How is everyone doing? How is Elder Talbot? Is he out of the MTC yet? He is going to have a good time on his mission. He is not going to have to go through having to learn a new language but I'm sure he will have other challenges. It is way cool to hear about all of the people starting to put their papers in.  I heard that Jay has also got his call. That is really good and will be good for him. Tell him congratulations for me.  It is really cool to hear that my cousins are also making the choice to go on a mission. It will help their lives a lot. Also tell Josh and Jessie that they are making the right decision. Oh, and one more question, when are Cindy and Tom coming to Fiji?

Well it is really good to write you and hope you have a good week. I know that I will have a good week. I look forward to talking to you every week. I want to let you know that I love you and that I know that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do. I love you all.

Love, 
Elda Grotepas