Area 2, Week 19 - Waila, Fiji 1/12/14

Dear Family,

Ni sa bula vinaka na nogu matavuvale. How is everyting going with all of you? I hope that everything is going great and that all of you are healthy and strong. I know that for me I am doing great but feel a bit under the weather. It is weird to say that I have a cold in here in Fiji, a hot island in the middle of the ocean. You should only get a cold somewhere where it is cold, like Utah!  But other than that I am doing great. 

As for this week, we really focused on finding more people to teach. So for half of the week, we went house contacting sharing the word of God. Many people that we saw this week did not seem very promising. Everyone that we saw said that we could share something with them but that they do not really want to change their religion. They were born a religion and they will die that religion. We were told this from many people this week and it is really discouraging hearing them say this. They do not want to hear about this Gospel and how it can help them out in their life. That is the hardest thing about a mission, seeing people reject our message when we know that it can help them in their lives. They will one day say to themselves, I should have listened to those missionaries.

But, we did meet one lady last week that was really interested in what we had to say about our church. She said that she has been searching for the truth her whole life and she has been in all the churches and has not found it. We were able to see her once this week and we were able to teach her about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. She said that she has had the Book of Mormon before but she never read it. When she was back in Taveuni, she had some sister missionaries come to her and give her the book. So she really had lots of questions about the book and what it was. We went over the introduction with her and that answered all of her questions. It was a really good lesson and I could see a big change in her after the lesson. The spirit did touch her heart. We invited her to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray about it and Joseph Smith. She said that she would do it and I have faith that she will do it and receive an answer to what she asked. I know that everything is possible through prayer and every question that we need is inside of the Book of Mormon.

We were also able to set up a baptismal date for the 26th of January. This is for a girl named Lavenia that we have been working with for the past 3 months. For the past month she has been gone on vacation and we were able to see her for the first time in a month on Saturday. It was really good to see her and still know that she still wants to be baptized. At the end of the lesson she asked us when she could be baptized and she is really excited. All of the lessons that we have had with her are going really great and she really likes the Young Women Program that the church has. She was also the only investigator that we had come to church this week.

I do not have too much longer to write this but I know that the church is true and that Christ lives. I love you all very much and miss you all so much. Thanks for everything you do and are doing.

Love,

Elder Grotepas

Sorry I did not take any pictures this week.

Area 2, Week 18 - Walia, Fiji 1/5/14 New Companion Elder Koroinamua

Ni sa bula vinaka na nogu matavuvale,

How is everyone doing there? I hope that no one is freezing to death there in Utah. I know that for me, I would be enjoying the cold weather that is there instead of this hot humid weather. Well, I hope that everything is going good with you all. As for me, I have had a great week. As you all know that I have lost my last companion Brother Maleli and I now have a new son. He is an Elder that is from the beautiful islands of Tonga. He is half Togan and half Fijian. His mother is a full Tongan and his father is a Fijian. His name is Elder Koroinamua. At the time when he was filling out his mission papers, he was in the Suva 3rd Ward and before that, he was raised in Tonga. So he know Tongan, English and a little bit of Fijian.

That is pretty much all the big new that I have for the week. One bad thing that happened is that we are going to have to push one of our baptisms back until the start of Febuary. The girl that we have been getting ready for baptism is on the longest vacation. She said that she was going to come back after Christmas but now it is not until the 20th of January. So we are really bumbed about that but we know that it is all part of the Lords plan for her and for us.

This week was a little bit of a slow week for us as well. Everyone was too busy with work and also for New Years. Another thing that happened to us is that we had another one of our investigators move. Man I have no clue what is going on here in Waila. It seems like everywhere we turn, it always falls through and does not work out the way we want it. It gets really fustrating at times. It has been a hard past couple of weeks for us and I hope that we will start getting out of it. We have been trying to find more investigators and asking for referals from members. We have been challenged by an Apostle of the Lord the we as a mission are to get 100 baptisms in the month of March. So that is what our goal is going to be, try to find all those people that are ready to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I want to share a really cool experience that I have had this week. As we were going around one day, we had nothing to do and we were out of ideas. We decided that we would just start contacting all the houses that were on Dilkusha Road. As we got to the top of this hill, I had this impression to go to this one house that was on the top. As we went up there, there was a guy that was sitting there sharpening his k-knife. As we walked up, we   told him our names and that we were missionaries from the LDS chruch. He told us that we could come in and talk. When we went in, there was actually a couple people. There was one lady in particular that was so amazing. She comes from the methodist faith and is from an island called Taveuni. As we got to know her a little bit, she says that she has been to many churches and she wants to find the truth. She cannot find what she is searching for in any of the churches that she has attended. We asked her if she has found it in the church that she is in now and she still said that "I am still searching for the truth.". We testified that we had the truth that she was looking for and that we know that it is true. She seemed pretty interested after this point. She invited us to come back over another day and also said that she is free every day. I hope and have faith that Heavenly Father is preparing her and helping her hear the truth that she is looking for in her life. I know that Heavenly Father and His angels are preparing the hearts of lots of people to hear the word of God (Alma 13:24), and it is our duty as missionaries to find them. I know God is helping us out. He is putting us through some tough times to build our faith in Him, and trust in Him more that what we are now.

I know that Heavenly Father has placed this stumbling block in my way for a reason. Everything that has happened in Waila has been tough for me and has been a rough 4 months. I know that I would not be able to do this with out the help of the Lord and his influence. This is not what I expected it to be like here and I was rudely awakened.

We had a really good week this week. Everyone that is in my intake that is in the Nausori Zone cannot believe that we are almost at the half way mark of our missions. Today we were ready some scriptures about time and what it is. One scripture said that time is so short, and I can testify to that scripture. I cannot believe that I am already almost half-way through my mission. I still think that I was in the MTC the other week and learning the ways of a missionary. It is going by so fast and I cannot think how fast this next year is going to go by.

Hey, I want to let you know that I love you all very much and that you guys awesome. Thanks for everything you have done and are doing for me. I send my love from Fiji and hope that you all have a great week this week.

A big VINAKA VAKALEVU VEI KEMUDOU. AU NUITAKA KEMUDOU A DUA NA MACAWA TOTOKA.

AU LOMANI KEMUDOU VAKALEVU.

Lomani,

Elder Grotepas

Look at these three big lemons!

Our hike today

Fiji.....BEAUTIFUL!

A pool of water

Area 2, Week 17 - Waila, Fiji 12/29/13

Ni sa bula vinaka na nogu matavuvale!!!!,

How is everyone doing today? How has everyone's week been the past week? I know for me, it was a great week!  I have got to admit that it was great being able to talk to you all via skype and see and hear all of your voices again. It was a great day for me and a great Christmas present. I have to admit that it did not really feel like Christmas here. When I think of Christmas, I usually think of snow, cold, trees, and Christmas music everywhere. It was not really like that here. Far from that.

Well for me and Brother Maleli this week, we had a really good week. Nothing really too big happened.  We were able to find a couple more people for us to teach this week. We had a couple of our members give us a couple of referrals that we were able to see,  and they accepted another date for us to come back and teach them more about the Church. We were also able to set up a date to go see a girl that is a friend of a member. She has been coming to church ever sense the last General Conference on and off. She really likes the church but her parents are from a really strong Catholic family. We set up a date to go and see her about 2 and a half months ago and right before we were about to see her, she cancelled with us and said that her parents got mad and does not want us to come over. But on Sunday, she came up to us and asked us if we could come over on Thursday this week. She said that we can go over there now and see her. So we are going to be taking one of her friends that is a member with us to the lesson. She is really interested in the Church and wants to learn more. 

I know that the past couple of weeks have been hard with finding investigators and I know that this week, Heavenly Father did help us find a couple interested investigators that are ready and willing to hear the Gospel.

Also this week we had some really good news. First of all, on Saturday night, we got a text message that said that I am going to be training another elder that is coming to Fiji while he is waiting for his visa to go somewhere else. So I am now going to have another son! Man my family is just a growing!  I am having lots of kids and then they leave. I don't know how long I will be with him but we are going to have a great time here in Waila finding, teaching, and baptizing. Also the other good news that we found out earlier today is that Brother Maleli is going to be serving in the Ogden City Utah mission. He is going to be leaving on April 15th and is going to serve in my home town. The first thing I thought of when he got is call there is wow, that is where I am from. He gets to go to where I am from and I get to be where he is from. I am going to miss him when he leaves, he has taught me so much in these past couple of weeks. I know that he is going to be a great missionary in Utah. It is going to be cool seeing him around when I get home. We will speak Fijian and no one will know what we are saying. Pretty sweet.

This week for us was also a little bit tough. We did not really get many lessons this week. We were able to get 6 lessons and most of them were less active members. This time of the year is a little bit hard to get lessons and new investigators. Everyone wants to be with their family and want to relax because it is a holiday for them. So it is going to be a little bit tough these next couple weeks. I still am going back to that story with the crawdads, Patience, patience is where the the treasure lies. I know that if I follow this rule, I will be blessed. I know that everything is in the Lord's timing and that it happens on His time. All we have to do is be obedient and trust in Him. Do everything we can to have to spirit with us and then once we have shown that faith/diligence to him, He will then in turn give us his children that are ready to hear about the gospel and better their lives.

This week also, I learned a big lesson. We were walking through a village the other day and then it started to rain really hard. As we were waling down the road, we passed some workers that were working on the road. Also on the other side of the road was a lady that was siting on her porch watching the workers. When we passed them, it was raining really hard and the lady on the porch said to come up and sit on the porch out of the rain. We thought that she was talking to us so we looked up at her. Once our eyes met her eyes, she said to us, "not you guys, them." Even though it was raining really hard, she did not want to be kind and let us wait until it stopped. This taught me that not everyone in Fiji is as nice as I thought they are. This was a hard thing for me to see. Even though there are people like this, we still need to love all.  They are all our brothers and sisters and we need to love them all, no matter what they do and who they are. After that experience, I learned that I need to love everyone. I know that I can work on that and it is one hard thing to work on. But It is important to do.

Well everything is going good with me here in Fiji. I was so glad that I got to talk with you all. You all need to stop getting older and changing, mainly the boys. I know that the church is true and that I am doing the Lord's work. I love you all very much and I miss you all.

Have a great week and Happy New Years and also tell Holly Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary.

Love, 

Elder Grotepas

Our Christmas night treat. Betty Crockers cake!!!!

                                          Moji Maiwiriwiri and Brother Maleli peeling Dalo.

Brother Maleli holding a passion fruit

    The Bir family and the Hindi Elders

Our dinner last night!  No we just caught the little fella and hung him from a tree. :)

Area 2, Week 16 - Walia, Fiji Christmas Day!

Skype session, Christmas Day 2013

We had the honor and priviledge to talk to our son via Skype on Christmas Day!  He is doing great!  Some wonderful members in Waila are doing such an amazing job of creating a home away from home for him and made it possible for him to Skype via their ipads!  You know who you are and we thank you so much!  It was wonderful to have met them also!  Elder Grotepas is happy and healthy and enjoying his holidays with these wonderful people!  Although his image was very pixilated, we know it is him!  His voice sounds so much different because he has developed an accent!  What a wonderful day!