Savusavu‏

Bula Vinaka tale!

Well yet another week that has flown by. It was a good week.

Well that is really awesome that you guys got to go to St. George and go to Justin's farewell. That was really good to give him the support. I think that he will be an awesome missionary. He definitely has the energy to work hard and that is one of the most important things haha. How are Rand's papers going?! Did you hear that Tean Allsup is going to Tampico Mexico! It is crazy that these guys are going to be going on missions! So awesome though!! haha I am way jealous. I would start all over again for sure if I could, the mission is so awesome.

Well at the start of this week we gave a training to all of the brand new missionaries plus their trainers that are serving in the 2 Suva zones and the Nausori zone. There was like 26 missionaries there so it was a big training. We had just decided on our topic for the training like 2 days before the training and we didn't have any time to prepare it so we planned it all out from 9:30-10:30 the night before haha it went really awesome though. It was about OYM (open your mouth) it is a key indicator that we count on how many people you just contact. Me and Elder Stock do it quite a bit so we had some good stories and stuff to share and a lot of the missionaries shared great stories too. It was actually a really awesome training and the spirit was way strong. It was so fun to be with all of those brand new Elders that are just so stoked to be here and be starting out there missions. You could just feel the great energy in the room. It was awesome.

Then on Thursday Apenisa got baptized! I got to baptize him. He is the MAN! After his baptism me and him were in the bathroom and he was saying "It has taken me so long to change but I have done it and now I am clean and I feel so happy! thank you Lord!" we were speaking Fijian but yeah.. that is the just of it haha It was really awesome. He really has changed so much from when I got here and started teaching him. He has been taking the lessons for like 2 years off and on so it is really exciting for him.

This week we also flew up to Savusavu for exchanges. We flew on the tiny little Northern Air plane again haha On the way in to land at Savusavu we were only like 200 feet off the water maybe and we were flying over the reef and I saw a huge sea turtle and then I also saw 2 sharks swimming around. It was way sweet haha then on the flight back out me and Elder Stock both saw little turtles. But while we were in Savusavu I got to go and teach a recent convert lesson to Tupou, the girl that me and Elder Moaalii contacted that just got baptized there a few weeks ago. It was really cool to be able to bear my testimony to her and talk about how I remember the first day that we just contacted her at her house and we taught her on a little bench in the front of their house and how we saw so much potential in her that day and now she has made it and received the gospel and she is doing awesome and is way happy. It was really cool. And we also got to go out to Vunivesi and see some of the people that we baptized there. Vasiti and Semi are doing good and they are already planning on going to the temple this December for them and all of their kids to get sealed. I really wish that I could be here for that but hopefully I can at least get a picture sent to me.

One other cool continuation from last week is that I talked to Elder Palmer, the Elder that I went on exchanges with up into those villages last week and they went back up there this week and that one old guy that I gave the BOM too has read all of first Nephi and looked up like all of the cross references and his BOM is all marked up and stuff already and he bore testimony to them that it is the word of God and he couldn't stop saying how great it is. Way awesome. I usually don't give people the BOM in and into lesson like that but I really felt like I should and I am glad that I did!!

Alright well drive home safe! That is SO exciting that Rand is getting his papers all turned in next week!!! I am excited beyond belief for him!!! He is going to be a great missionary. Did you hear that Nikki Wells got her mission call to Japan!? I got a letter from Chris.. that is pretty sweet. Well Au lomani kemudou!

Loloma, Elder Hawk