Transfer Calls

Bula

It was a superb week. Elder Hibbert got transferred, so I get Elder Reese! We are in the same intake so that is awesome!

We had a pretty normal week workwise, got a full week which was a relief.

Got to go with Elder Haderlie before he heads off to America.

We have been working with a few less actives that are showing a lot of progression! One of them says she will come to church next week and drag her husband if she has to! That really gets us excited here!

Sorry for the shorter email but it was a pretty normal week!

Loloma Yani

Elda Gwilliam

 Derrick and Nadia drinking some coolshakes

 Me and Elder Haderlie with Isaia (For some reason Fijians are always smiling until the camera comes out.)

 Isaia's house, where it all started

 Elder Hibbert with some of the boys. When we mentioned taking a picture, 2 of the 3 boys went and brought out new shirts and the others started to wash their faces haha

Parataisi Vuni

Another awesome week here in Hidden Paradise! Started off with exchanges in Taveuni! I got to go with Elder Ramos and we had a great time! Taveuni exchanges are a little bit different than a normal exchange so I'll diagram it out a bit
Monday:
7:00 Leave the flat
8:45 Arrive at Natuvu Wharf and hop on boat
11:00 Arrive in Taveuni and P-Day with the Elders there
Tuesday
District Council and proselyting time
Wednesday
6:30 Leave flat and walk towards wharf. (and hope a taxi comes by in the morning)
7:30 Boat Leaves back for Natuvu
9:30 Arrive in Natuvu
11:00 Arrive back to Savusavu

So that's how that goes. The boat ride back was a little interesting. Very Rough seas and the boat was rocking. Randomly mid ride the boat stopped and a Fijian man pulled this 4-5 foot massive green fish out of the ocean. (They had 2 fishing lines attached to the back of the boat.) And proceeds to club it to death with a rod. Then one lady lost her breakfast, and an Indian Auntie sitting across from me proceeds to throw her body towards the railing and almost loses hers as well. Eventful ride for sure.

Then we had some nice proselyting time in our area. Still no contact from Sherran. We saw her and waved but no progress with her husband yet.

The Rugby world cup is starting on another note! Toso Viti Toso!!

Elda Gwilliam

View from Vinesh's House!

Salt Lake Road

Comp pic from The Salt Lake

Pot of Gold

White Leper Bears Stirring Testimony of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Fijian!! [not clickbait]

It was a good week. We were able to spend a day in the Nabua area. It has been closed for a bit now so we went to go check up on it. We stayed overnight and it was fun!

While we were there we were just kind of visiting some of the other villages in the area because it was pretty much a one day whitewash and we taught a few people outside on some benches. We shared a scripture and halfway through my portion I realized that one of the people there was videoing. We were joking about what they would title it if it went on YouTube hence the subject line. Leper because I had a massive cold sore on my chin.

We also got to go to Tukavesi for a bit and had exchanges with the Labasa Elders. And right now we are back on Taveuni. Seems like yesterday we were here but here we are again.

Sorry for the shorter email but the next one should have even more pictures!

Loloma Yani

Elda Gwilliam

Us with former Elder Kalougata. Just finished his mission a few months ago

 'aubale mata mai na sawana

Looks like we're fasting today Elder

Beach

The Nabua Flat

The Nabua church building with sign

We don't worship Joseph Smith

It was a good week this week, also had some struggles with some false ideas about the church, hence the subject line.

Sherran's husband is under the impression we worship joseph smith and that we do cult activities at the temple, so we currently aren't allowed to visit her. It was really sad to see and she was very dissapointed when she had to give her Book of Mormon back to us. She said that her husband would burn it if she didn't and that it was better that someone else gets the chance to read it than it gets wasted.

We also met an interesting woman on the side of the road that wanted us to meet with her and she ended up coming to church which was cool! She promised us she would come and she did! But then she went to the Pentecostal church right after.....

Have a good week everyone!

Elda Gwilliam

 Exchanges with Elder John from Papua New Guinea. Was able to have some conversations with him in PIdgin English.

View From Minal's home

Boats and the Bay

TOYOTA HILUX FIJIAN EDITION (Grog drying in the foreground)

True Vine

The week started off with a little bit of a crazy P-Day proselyting night. The man Soni we have been teaching for a little bit lives in a village and just a few days earlier we tried to visit him and this man told us that we weren't allowed to proselyte there.All the members tell us that those rules are more of just recommendations. The police can't kick us out of the village if we go in. He said that only the Methodist and Catholic churches were allowed in. We were pretty cut because of how much he has been progressing so we just decided to send it at night.

We went when it was dark and hoped to make it to his house. It was pretty nervewracking just walking through this village in the pitch black meanwhile the village lali (Church drum) was banging so it added a little suspense. When we got to his house we told him the situation and told him sorry we weren't possible able to visit with him anymore, but he told us, "Oqo na Noqu vale, lako ga mai." (this is my house, just come in) Then we got to put him on date for the end of this Month. It's awesome to see his dedication, some people definitely would just say shucks too bad because they don't want the koro gossip to hurt them but he didn't care.

We also reset Sherran's baptismal date. She wasn't able to attend church but she told us that now she was going to set a habit of church weekly. Her date is also the 29th of September.

We've also seen some cool experiences with referrals. I'm usually pretty bad at asking for referrals, and when we do try it seems like it's the same ole, "Not yet." But this week we felt like asking 2 people for referrals and both of them had one for us! It was awesome to see people eager to share the gospel with friends and family. If you want to help the missionaries wherever you stay, give them referrals.

President Higgins has also asked us to memorize 5 scriptures from the New Testament as well as 5 from the Book of Mormon that strengthen our Faith in Jesus Christ. One I chose was John 15:5 as we hook ourselves into Jesus Christ or the true vine we can do all things, if we don't however... Nothing happens. This fits into all aspects of life. Remember him and he will help you out in everything you go through!

Sunset near Urata

Elder DeBruce sets up the famous "DeBruce Timed Shot"

Elder Wilson's 21st Birthday. The Key is a Fijian Tradition for the 21st Birthday.