Elder Grotepas : Area 2, Week 23 - Waila, Fiji 2/10/14

Dear Dad,

Hey thank you for the letter. I am glad that you are all doing good and I know that everything is going good with me also. Elder Koroinamua did leave today at 1 o'clock to go to his assigned mission. It is hard to leave one of your sons. I know that is is going to do wonders there in his assigned mission of Vanuwatu. That is pretty much the big news for the week.

My health is really good.

Like today, it is so hot. You cannot even walk in the sun for more that 3 minutes and be tired. We walked about 2 hours on Saturday in the blazing hot sun and by the end of the day, we were exhausted. We got in the flat and went to bed. We were pooped.

Well the work is going good here in Waila. We have a total of 2 baptismal dates as of right now and we are planning on giving out 3 more this week. Oh yeah, we are going to be having Elder Neil A. Anderson come down to Fiji on Friday and Saturday. The whole mission is going to be getting together to meet him. It is going to be way sweet. We get to shake the hand of an Apostle of the Lord. Going back, we gave a date out this week to a man named Anarae. His wife is a member and she wants him to take here to the temple. We taught him this week about the story of Joseph Smith and he almost started to cry about it. I could see it starting in his eyes. Then at the end of the lesson, we asked him to be baptized on the 23rd of next month and he accepted. He knows already that the church is true and that it is the true church of Christ. He is really excited to be baptized and he is awesome. We had 2 come to church and he was one of them.

We also have one more named Jobe. I told you last week about him also. We have not given him a baptismal date yet. We feel that we need to teach him about the importance of baptism before we decide a date. He accepted our invitation but said he would try. But this week we taught him about the whole 1st lesson. He really likes it and he read form the Book of Mormon. He is progressing really well and is doing great. We are planning for him on the 9th of March. He has been now 2 times to church.

We also have 2 brothers taking lessons, L___ and K___. I think that they are really good. One of them is going to be hard because he smokes and said that he has been in prison multiple times. The other is great. He does not do anything bad and he is a good kid. He is only 24 years old and is going to college. So we are working with these couple also.

We have a couple more that we are just waiting on. They left their home and we are just waiting for them to come back home. But the work is going good. I know that we need to keep finding though. I know that if we stop this, by the end of March we are going to go back to what we were before and having to find more people to teach.

Know that I am doing really good. Nothing to worry about. I love it here and I do not really want to leave even though I am really missing the food from back home, this week it was donuts. Man I miss those Madbrooks donuts.

I want to let you know that I love you very much. i know that the church is true and that the work of the Lord is hastening. This is the work of the Lord that I am doing. Keep your chin up and remember the advice given in Jacob 6:!8 (or somewhere around there, I forgot the verse) "Oh be wise; what more can I say?"

Au lomani iko tamagu!!

Love,

Elder Grotepas

Dear Mom,

Thank you for your letter this week. I always love to read your letters. They are so eventful and I know what is going on in your life. Mom, I want to let you know that I am doing fine here in Fiji. I love that last thing that you mentioned about the missionaries. I know that there are a lot of members that do not know how much the missionaries need the members help. I know that if it were not for the members help, the work would be so hard. Also I think the all the missionaries would go hungry. Most of the time when Elders and Sisters go out, they have no clue how to cook and even sometimes how to take care of themselves. I am so grateful that you are helping the missionaries. Every time the members help us we feel so relieved and some of the pressure is taken from us. I have to admit that we have lots of pressure on us and the members can really help. I am grateful that you are helping them and I wish that the whole church would understand this also.

The hardest thing is when you ask a member to help you and then they call you 10 minutes before and tell you that they cannot make it or even they do not even show up at all. It is so frustrating because we need their help to move the work of the Lord.

Well just like last week, I have been craving something from America. One day, I forgot to grab the phone when we left and right as we were about to leave I went back in to grab it. As I walked into our flat, I smelt donuts. To be exact, Madbrooks donuts. I told my companions and they just laughed. I could not get those out of my mind. I miss those donut runs almost every Saturday to get some donuts. This ws probably the worst thing that happened to me. I hate it because it makes me want to go home and to get trunky even though I have 11 and a half months. By the way, who's even counting?

Well I will let you read the letter that I wrote today that explains about the work here in Waila the past week. We did have a really good week and we are going to have a busy week this week also. Elder Vimahi had to have a medical check up today for his visa to go to america and then on Thursday, we have to go to the American Embassy to get an interview from the High Comissioner from there. Then on Friday we have a fireside with Neil A. Anderson, and then on Saturday all the missionaries in Fiji are getting together to have a meeting with him. So we get to shake his hand and it is going to be sweet.

I am sorry but I do not have much time today to email today. We had a busy day with Elder Vimahi's medical examination. I just want to let you know that I love you and miss you so much. You and the family are like the world to me. I know that this church is true and that everything we as the missionaries do is the work of the Lord. Just like what you said and was testified to you today.

Keep your chin up and stay strong. STAY FRESH.

Love,

Elder Grotepas

Sorry I cannot write one for the blog. You can take parts from all the letters to make one. Sorry.