Baptizing in a little river

 Elder Ravutaumada, Elder Hawk and three children in Kavala

This is our flat on the left

Bula

Bula!!

Hey sorry this is late. We didn't get the chance to email yesterday because
our flight got delayed getting off the island because it was bad weather.

We just had zone conference today and it was way awesome. I had to bear my
departing testimony and I cried the WHOLE TIME haha For like the first
minute and a half I didn't even say a word because I was just crying. It was
a great experience though. The spirit was crazy strong and just was
bringing to my memory all the great things that I have learned and
experienced on my mission. Man, I have learned SO much and changed so much
it is crazy. Elder Stock is the man. In his departing testimony in all of
the other zones he gave me a shout out and said that he is glad that he met
his best friend on his mission. I love that guy.

Well this last week in Kadavu was way awesome. I don't know if I have talked
to you guys about Ratu Sela before but he is the man. He has a baptismal
date and his wife has always been really iffy about the church and stuff
and we have always tried to get them all to sit down as a family 2 weeks
ago we had a family home evening with them and it was way good and then
this week we went over and we were teaching some of the kids as well and
she was in the other room and we knew that she was listening but she didn't
really want us to know and I asked the kids in Fijian "what did Joseph
Smith see after he prayed" and then from the room she answered "a vision"
haha it was hilarious. and then Elder Ravu is the man and he changed the
subject to prayer and she came out of the room and then it was on.... it
ended up being a 2 hour spiritual powerhouse of a lesson of her asking us
tons of way awesome questions and us answering them. Then she told us a
story about how when her husband first started taking lessons she got way
mad at him and was talking bad about the church and the BOM and then that
night she could not sleep and she said that she could not feel any peace.
She said it got so bad that she woke her husband up in the middle of the
night and said she was sorry for what she said about the church and the
BOM. He said "don't say sorry to me, say sorry to God, he is the one that is
mad at you for saying bad things about HIS church and HIS book" haha he is
the man. She said she prayed and said sorry though and that after that she
fell right to sleep. After the lesson she just kept saying 'wow, this is
the church of Jesus Christ" it was awesome.

This week we also had our 3 baptisms in Kavala. We did it in this little
tiny stream out in the jungle haha it was awesome. Then we rode the little
fiber boat back and it took 2 hours because it was pretty rough seas. It
was pretty fun though. Then we had some awesome lessons in Vunisea.

Well we are heading back out tonight on the boat. The boat leaves here at
11 pm and then gets to Kadavu in the morning. It is pretty stormy so it
should be a fun boat ride! haha Things are going awesome. I am ready to get
back to Kadavu and sprint to the finish! Au lomani kemudou!!

Loloma, Elder Hawk

Kalavo (Rat)

Bula!

Sorry my e-mail is so late today. The family that we usually e-mail with
broke that webbox thing that we usually use so we have been trying to
find another place to e-mail and finally found a laptop that has
internet.

This week was really good. The zone leaders came down and went on
exchanges with us so that was way fun. Me and Elder Haimin took the
nice long walk to Tavuki. It was way fun though because he is the one
that went to Riverton so we were just talking about all these people
that we both know and stuff haha and just about all the good times on
the mission so far. He is the man. On the way back we tried to take
this cross cut through the jungle that we take when it doesn't rain but
I couldn't find where the trail started so we just went into the jungle
looking for and and we kept crossing this little river looking for it
and we got way lost in the jungle for like thirty minutes and we
finally found our way back to the road and then we walked a little
farther and there I saw the start of the cross cut haha so we took it.
It is a crazy cross cut through the type of jungle that you see on
movies and there is a few way sweet water falls on the way. I will
have to take some pictures of it sometime.

This week we also got our washing machine fixed but that is another
funny story. Bro Lal one of the members here is good at fixing
electronic stuff so he came up to our flat and our washing machine was
in our tiny little shower because that is where it has to drain. But
it was full of water and not working so Elder Ravu and I were in
the tiny little shower room and we had to shut the door to get around
the machine and tip it over so that we could dump it out. We tipped it
up and I felt something run across my foot..... I looked down and it
was a HUGE RAT!!! hahahaha I yelled "KALAVO!!" which is the Fijian
word for Rat and we were jumping up and down in this tiny little
shower room and the rat was running all around underneath our feet.
Finally Elder Ravu landed on it and it died haha it was probably one
of the funniest things that has happened on my mission haha

This week we also had some awesome lessons with Inoke and Kalesi. One
day we were teaching them and we were teaching them again about the
priesthood and I was talking about how we can trace our authority back
to Jesus Christ and then I was talking about how I have that authority
and I can trace it back to Jesus Christ and I felt the spirit way
strong and just felt so blessed to have that in my life and be able to
do the things like baptize and bless and things like that because of
it. I think they will be getting baptized next month, they are so
awesome.

Well sorry this email is going to be way short. We have a lesson soon.
This week we are going to Kavala. We should have 3 baptisms up there,
and hopefully set up for another one or more for when we go next
month. We are riding the boat up there on Thursday and we will ride
the little boat back on Sunday. I am not looking forward to sleeping
in that house with all the rats haha hopefully they don't eat my
feet!!!

We are working really hard. I think I have seriously lost like 15
pounds just in this month. way awesome. Hopefully I keep losing more!
Finishin' strong!!! Sprint to the finish! au lomani kemudou!!

Loloma, Elder Hawk

Mother's Day

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Bula noqu matavuvale!

Well this week was pretty awesome. The work here and the branch is
progressing a lot faster than I expected. We are definitely being
blessed a lot. My English is getting worse I can tell haha awesome.

This last week started off awesome on Monday night. We went and
taught a man named Tomu. It was him, his wife, his cousin, and another
lady that lives at their house in the lesson. It was our first lesson
with him and as we sat down and started to explain ourselves and our
purpose as missionaries and stuff like that we asked him some
questions about himself and he told us that he grew up in the AOG
church but as he got older he never felt any peace about it and so he
left and he went to the new Methodist church and he became a talatala
(preacher) there and he was really involved in that for a while but he
said it came to the point where every time he came home he never felt
any peace about it and so one day he went to preach and he said he
couldn't do it anymore because he knew it wasn't right so he left that.
and he said after that he went over to Nadi and he was having a hard
time and he kept praying that the lord would help him to find the
truth in his life that would bring him the peace that he was always
wanted. and he said that ever since then he goes to the Methodist
church every few weeks but he knows it isn't true and he said to this
day i am still searching for the truth. we were kind of shock and how
prepared he was but the spirit was really strong and we just explained
a few teaching about the church and the BOM and answered some of the
questions that he had and then bore our testimonies. He told us that
every Monday at 7 o clock his house is our house and he will be there
with his family to listen to our message. We left and we could not
stop talking about it all night haha I just wanted to go back there
and teach him everything right then and show him that the Lord is
answering his prayer right now. so we have been excited all week for
tonight to go and teach them again. we have so many awesome
investigators right now and it is great because they are all couples
and families and stuff like that that will really strengthen the
branch a ton if we can help them get baptized.

The branch is doing so much better already. this week there was 26
members at church which is almost all the members on this side of the
island. We have some more less actives that we are working with so
hopefully we can get them coming too. it is just so hard to get around
the island so it is super hard for people to get to church but we have
a lot of good plans to help them out . We had a way powerful testimony
meeting that I know strengthened all of our testimonies about the
church and really lifted all the members spirits. after church all the
members were all super happy and spirits were high so hopefully we can
keep it up. it was definitely a good start. we also had a meeting with
the branch presidency. I am actually the 2nd counselor haha I might
have told you that already. But the meeting was awesome. We are going
to start giving the members callings and getting all of the auxiliaries
and stuff set up with teachers and leaders. I think it will help the
members out a ton to have responsibility like that to help them want
to come to church. We also planned ways to have certain boats go to
some other villages to pick some members and have them pay part of the
cost and the church budget to pay part of it so that should help us
get some more of the less actives to start coming back. We are really
excited about the way things are going.

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This last week we also went up to the other end of the island to the
other unit that is here. it is pretty much just one really strong
family and a few other people around there. We are teaching a family
though that the mom is a member and has started coming back so she has
3 kids that we will baptize next time we go there and hopefully we can
keep working with her husband and help him join as well. they are a
great family.

When we go up there we ride the ferry boat up there on Thursday and
stay at those members house until Sunday and then ride a little fiber
boat back. The ride back in the little fiber boat is like an hour and
a half and it is gorgeous because we get to see like that whole side
of the island. There is a bunch of white sandy beaches along there
that are pretty much untouched.

The members house that we stay at up there in Kavala has LOTS of rats.
If you don't cover your feet at night they come and start chewing on
your feet just like in the other side of heaven and you just here them
running around the tin all night haha the toilet is just a dug out
outhouse with a small tin shelter around it and the shower is just a
pipe outside with a few pieces of tin thrown up as "walls" pretty
awesome. we definitely get to live the real Fijian life while we are
there. cook with firewood and everything. it was cool. the last night
we were there some people that we taught gave us some fish and we took
it back and ate it and I think it was bad because I got pretty sick
and had to run outside to the outhouse a few times in the night haha
after that one day I was all good though.

Well everything is going awesome. We are working really hard and we are
being blessed because of it. The Lord is preparing a lot of people
here to strengthen this branch. I am really sad that I  have such a
short time left and would love to extend my mission but I know that I
will just work as hard as I can with the time that I have left and do
my best to do what the Lord sent me here to do. Au lomani kemudou!!

Loloma, Elder Hawk