Savusavu!!

Ba bula re na oku ma'avuvale!! (That is one of the dialects here)

Well... I am here in Savusavu!! It is probably the most beautiful place that I have ever been to in my whole life, and it will be my home for the next while haha The plane ride here was so awesome. It was a way clear day. The plane was really small too so that was cool. I was in the very front seat and the cockpit was pretty much just open so I pretty much felt like it was me flying the plane haha I took a lot of way cool pictures from the air. I will send some more today. Savusavu is a way cool little town. It is known here as "hidden paradise" because it is just a tiny little town but it is so beautiful. Over here there is like a different dialect in like every different village that we go to. Some of the dialects are so insane! As you can see from the greeting on this email haha that is the same thing that I write every week but in Vunivesi dialect. It sounds soooo cool when they speak it. It doesn't even sound like Fijian haha but pretty much everyone knows the Bauan dialect too which is the main one all over Fiji and the one we learn so we just speak that. I am trying to learn some of the other ones too though because it is way cool, and the people just go crazy and think it is so cool when you can speak in their dialect. My companion Elder Moaalii is the man! He is 26 now and he was a special force US marine for 4 years. He has been all over the world and went on some like special missions to Afghanistan. He is Samoan but grew up all in America pretty much. Just a little time in American Samoa. He is WAY funny and relaxed, and we work way good together. He is just in the intake ahead of me and has only been in this area for like a month so I really hope we get to be here together for a long time. Our flat is amazing. It is known as "the purple mansion" and the picture I sent you of it explains why haha That one picture of the bay is the view from off of the porch. Pretty amazing. That is what I get to look at all morning while I study haha How lucky am I?! We also have 2 other Elders that stay with us some nights and one of them is Elder Haimin who I actually went to 7th grade with at South Hills. He went to Riverton and is way good friends with Jordan Hollingsworth. He is the man. Well this week we set 6 baptismal dates!! We went out to this WAY bush part of our area called Vunivesi where there is a unit and there are these 6 people that have been going to church out there for a couple weeks but they aren't members. We set baptismal dates with all of them. That is the place that speaks the dialect that I wrote up top. It is such an insane dialect. It sounds legit though. The work here is going really good. It is going to be hard though because we travel around so much. Me and Elder Moaalii teach super good together though and this week we taught some way awesome lessons. It is way fun to be with a comp that is such a good missionary. That is sweet that you are the YM president dad! That will be way fun to get to work with Rand and Parker all the time. I wish you would have been the YM pres when I was there haha That is cool mom is the sunbeams teacher now too. That is a perfect job for you mom! It is crazy you guys are already back in school again. Time goes by way too fast. Well this week we will be flying back to Suva to go to Zone Leader council meeting. We have it every month. And then the week after that we get to take the boat over to Taveuni. I am way excited. Should be fun. Well I love you all so much. Thank you for always being so supportive to me! I know I wouldn't be here where I am now if it wasn't for all of you guys. Au lomani kemudou!!

Loloma, Elder Hawk