Elder Grotepas : Area 4, Week 1 - Naduna, Labasa District, Vanua Levu, Fiji 5/25/14 New Companion Elder Fonua

Ni sa bula vina'a na noqu matavuvale,

Well, where to start?!?

I guess that I will just tell you first that I am doing great! The big news is that I am over here on the other Island of Fiji. It is called Vanua Levu. It is great here in Labasa. I took a 40 minute plane ride to get here. It was sweet seeing Fiji from the air. I have to admit that I think that this is a really cool town! Our actual area is just a little bit away from town about 10 km. The area that me and Elder Fonua serve in is called Naduna.

We only have a branch in Naduna and it is not very big. We only had about 28 people show up to church this week. Four out of those 28 were investigators. It is a lot different being in a Branch than a Ward. We do not even have a church building to hold church services in. Our church is just a couple of poles supporting tin on the top. This is something that I have never seen in my life and it is way cool to see. It is weird to think that this is similar to how the whole church started. It all started in a small shack and now look at how big it is. Cool to think about, eh?

Everything here is going good with me. I am loving it here in Naduna. I am finally driving one of the trucks that I have wanted to drive my whole mission! I have to admit that I kind of forgot how to drive for a bit. It was weird getting behind the wheel again and driving. Just out of my own instinct I want to drive on the other side of the road but I cannot. I did drive on the wrong side of the road for a little bit but it was no big deal. We were driving on a dirt road and nothing else was one it. It is different, but now I am used to it. The truck that we are driving is pretty cool. It is kind of like a Ford Ranger but it is a Toyota Hylux. It is not a gas truck, but a diesel. It is like a dream come true. I am loving it.

I will tell you a little bit about my companion. His name is Elder Fonua. He is a great missionary. He has been out on his mission a little bit over 7 months. He started his mission back in Ba, by Tavua. Then he came up here to Naduna about 4 months ago. He really knows his stuff and he has a great testimony about this church. He is a Tongan but he was born and raised in Australia. He is 19 years old and he is way funny. Their is never a dull moment with him!

The area that we are serving in is really good. They have not had a recent convert in about a year and a half. The cool thing is that we just had a baptism of 2 just this Sunday for a couple kids that lived at the house of the Branch President. It was way cool to witness these baptisms. It was not done in a font or ocean, but it was done in a stream close to the church. It was the coolest experience to see this. No matter where you do this ordinance, as long as it is done correctly, it is accepted.

We have quite a few investigators here in Naduna. The Elder that was before me really changed the area around. I know that you all have heard of this Elder before, Elder Checketts. He and Elder Fonua really changed the area around. There are a lot of good investigators that we have at the moment. The hardest thing for us to do here in this area is get them to church. I think that it is pretty much the same through all of Fiji. There are not a lot of buses on Sundays and the chapels are so far away from their homes. It is the saddest thing to see when someone is so interested but then has a challenge coming because of the distance, or they are hurt. I have a lot of respect for those that walk every week to church from long distances. Back home, I remember us complaining when we had to walk to church and it was only about a 10 minute walk. I look back at that and I laugh. These people here have so much faith. I am so humbled by these people here. I love them so much.

This week also, we had a lot of great lessons. I felt the spirit in pretty much every single lesson that we taught this week. They were great. We met this one boy that is about 16 years old. Elder Fonua said that it was a referral from one of their old investigators. They had only seen him once and they taught him about God and prayer. During the lesson that we had, we taught him the whole lesson on the Restoration. We just had the feeling to teach the whole thing. As we were teaching him, I really felt good and I could tell that he was feeling it. After we finished the lesson, we asked him how he was feeling. He said that he felt happy and proud. I had the impression to ask him to be baptized at this point. Then, right after he had finished talking, Elder Fonua had the same thought and he asked him before I did. When he answered, he kind of thought about it for a second. Then looked up and us and said " I hope that I will be able to." He did not quite give us that answer of "yes" but he said that he is willing to. We invited him to really pray about it. He said that he would. In his closing prayer, he asked God if it was true. We are going to see him this week to see what his thoughst are. I could really feel the spirit in that lesson and I know that the Holy Ghost was helping him. I have faith that he will get that answer.

I could really feel the spirit this past week. That is what made this area so good this week. Every lesson that we had was great and I know that the spirit did testify to our investigators of the truthfulness of this message.

I know that I am doing the Lord's work here. I know that this church is true. Everything about it just makes it so great and the knowledge that we can live together forever just tops it off. It is like the cherry of the ice cream. This is why everyone loves the gospel here. It really does bless us in our lives.

I love you all very much. I am so proud of each and every one of yous. I miss you all and I know that we will meet another day.

Love,

Elder Grotepas