Vale ni bula!

Bula Vinaka noqu matavuvale!

Well this week has been pretty hectic. I didn't write in my journal at all this whole week because we were so busy just running around doing stuff and getting home late so I will probably just be printing off this email and gluing it into my journal haha that is what I did on the week that we had all of the Christmas stuff too.

Well the week started off pretty crazy last Monday after we went and played sports at the LDS Tech we were driving some Elders and sisters home and there was a group of kids surrounding a kid on the ground and we drove up and the kids leg was gashed open really bad. They were playing touch rugby in the street and he was chasing the ball and slipped and a pointed rock just cut his leg right open. So we got him in the van with one of his friends and the sisters were still in the van so they were kind of freaking out but they are from Tonga and Samoa so they were tough about it haha so we quickly dropped the sisters off and then ran him to the hospital. There are 2 hospitals here in Fiji and we couldn't take him to the nice one because they would probably make him pay and stuff so we ran him to CWM hospital and it is a SKETCHY hospital haha so we get him in there and there are just tons of sick people in hospital beds like all through the hallways because they don't have enough rooms. And then we get him there and it is like a bunch of FNU (Fiji National University) students and they were like all arguing over who got to put an iv in him and who was going to give him the shots and clean the cut haha it was pretty scary because they were just saying things like "well I haven't got to do it yet so let me do it" and things like that haha most of the doctors and stuff weren't Fijians so we were just talking with the boys in Fijian the whole time and making fun of the doctors and laughing haha it was pretty crazy. So we ended up being at the hospital with him for 2 hours helping him out. It was way fun though because the boys were way cool and we were just having a lot of fun talking stories and stuff with them. We gave them as a referral to the Elders in their area because we talked a lot just about being missionaries and stuff and they really wanted us to come over. His leg is the picture I am sending haha

This week we also had to move flats. We got kicked out of our way nice one because there is a new senior couple that came in and the only other flat we could find that was close around here wasn't as nice and so they didn't want to put the senior couple in it. So we found the time in our crazy week to pack up and clean the other flat and then move all of our stuff into the new flat. The new flat isn't nearly as nice but we will probably only be in it for about 2 months and then go back into the other one we were in haha

This week we also had a specialized training for all of the district leaders in the mission. So all of the district leaders and zone leaders came in. There were some really awesome trainings that were given. My favorite one was the Nausori ZLs one about recognizing the spirit. It was really cool for me to just think about all of the cool experiences that I have had on my mission with being led by the spirit and really motivated me to do what I need to do to have more of those great experiences. That is what I am here to do, the will of the Lord, no matter what it is, and the only way that I can know what it is is through the spirit. We gave a pretty good training as well about giving commitments and things to our districts. We talked about climbing a mountain together and being able to have "mountain top" experiences. At the end of it I was bearing my testimony and I said "I am committed, I am roped it" because we talked about being all roped in together climbing up the mountain. When I said that I felt the spirit really strong and I almost started to cry because I just feel so blessed to be able to give myself to such a great cause as this and all of the blessings that I have received because of it. I want that feeling of being committed to the Lord and His will and His work to continue on with me for the rest of my life.

Our baptism fell through this week which was a big bummer. He had passed the interview last week but had some temptations this week that came up and us along with him felt like it would be better to hold off. It was hard but it was so cool to be able to feel such a great love for him. I really felt the love that the Lord has for him and knowledge that he will make it. He actually moved back to Taveuni, a different island, so we will give him to the Elders there. He is the man though. Love the guy.

This next week is going to be pretty insane. We have our zone leaders council and then we have an intake of 9 coming in which is a lot of work and the transfer is really huge and then we also have one Elder that is finishing his mission and going home so we have to do all of that stuff too. We do get to go to the temple twice this week though, once with the new intake and then with the Elder going home so that will be awesome. We actually got to go this last week too. I have been a ton since I have been here which I love!

O yeah, one last kind of crazy story that you guys will think is cool. So we have an island in our mission called Rotuma. It is pretty far north of Fiji but it is also under the Fiji government. They speak Rotuman there though which is probably the hardest language in the South Pacific. But if you get sent there you just have to go and learn it. It is a tiny island and there is no electricity except for little solar panels and the few that have generators. I would love to go serve there haha what an adventure. But the one of the Elders has been out there for like 8 months and so he is getting transferred and there is a plane that flies there once a week but it didn't work out to where we could get them on that so they had to ride the boat... which is a 3 day boat ride.. haha so when we picked them up they were pretty haggard and sea sick haha way awesome though.

Well I am glad that everything is going so great back home! That is so cool that Rand and Parker are getting opportunities like that to do missionary work. You will have to let me know how that goes. Keep looking for great opportunities like that. Nothing will prepare you better for a mission than doing missionary work! Au lomani kemudou!!

loloma levu, Elder Hawk

 Ouch!

Big Gecko they found in their new flat.