Week 21-February 14, 2016

Bula noqu matavuvale,

Oh man, literally the most insane week of my mission so far....

Answers for you this week:

My new flat is just two Eldas. Just Elda Tera and myself. It's different than my Ba flat. Not better or worse, just different. We have carpet. We do still have rats, but we named these ones. My favorite one is named Harvey. He's a big boy.

There are snakes in Fiji but most of them are totally harmless.

Toga has a lot more Fijian food than Ba. Stuff like Kai and fish and lots of kasava and rourou.

Not so many Indians, but still a lot. Our land lord is Indian. I like them a lot. They have us over for dinner every week.

Toga is remote, not bush. The closest City is Suva, but there is Nausori town and Makoi.  Everything is about 20-30 minutes from our flat driving in a truck or taxi. The towns are similar to Ba.

We haven't received our new bikes or fans yet. Still lots of hot walking.

Our branch is so awesome. It's way bigger than the Ba Ward and most definitely needs to be a Ward. The Branch President is such an awesome guy. He loves us and he relies a lot on us, but in a good way. 

We play lots of Rugby in Toga, but a lot of American football and basketball. The Fijians and Polynesians really want all the valagi Eldas to teach them American sports.

Elda Kumar and Elda Feliuai are both in my zone. It's way fun to see them. We talk about MTC days and stuff.

We get new missionaries every 6 weeks. No Elda Guymon yet.

So, Elda Tera, there isn't much to say. He's Tahitian, he loves surfing probably more than living. He's a way awesome companion. We get a long really well. He's the definition of a skux, ya know? (I didn't know so I looked it up and skux means "playa' or ladies man.")

$20 a bag...to rich for our blood

Okay so about this insane week. So we had ZTM  (Zone Training Meeting) on Tuesday, and we were setting a goal and someone suggested the goal of 30 new converts for the month of February. The FSM (Fiji Suva Mission) record for the most saints in a month was 27 so it was going to be quite an act of faith. Well we all knelt down and prayed and we got a confirmation that 30 should be our goal. 

Upon returning from ZTM we got a call from a member on Vutia. She told us that there were four investigators on Vutia who had attended the temple open house and who had also been going to church for a while and wanted to be baptized...that Saturday! We were way excited so we took a boat out to Lomani Koro and made the hour long hike to Vutia (Lomani Koro and Vutia are on the same island, just opposite sides). We taught each investigator 3 lessons that day. 

We returned on Thursday and finished the lessons and asked if they had any questions or concernse. They all said they were solid so we were pumped. On Friday, we got our District Leader, Elda d'Aquin, to come out and he was able to pass them all on for baptism, meaning that they understood all that they had been taught. 

The next day we had an awesome Baptismal Service for the four and Elder Johansson of the Seventy 

was there!! Yeah that was a surprise! They were all confirmed yesterday by Elder Johansson and the Stake President. Man, Vutia is coming up. I smell a branch coming. We weren't the only ones seeing miracles this week. We, as a Zone, ended this week with a total of 45 SAINTS!!! We had 39 in ONE WEEK! WE BROKE THE MISSION'S MONTHLY TOTAL IN A WEEK!! And the best part, we still all have more saints for this month. The Lord is helping us push his work along like a freight train. This week has just been nuts! 

Elder Johansson

A way other cool thing is that on Sunday, we invited the Head Chief of Vutia to church.  He showed up and loved it. He asked Elda Tera and I to come back and teach him the lessons. The Chief of Vutia is one of our new investigators.  Oh, this past week was insane! 

Now...

Thanks for your advice, Mom. I've made a goal for myself to never be bored. I've started up old hobbies. I've read almost all of Jesus the Christ...that's quite a accomplish for me. I've also started writing stories and screenplays again. I've even started writing music. Like, I didn't even know I could do that, but I guess I can. Also, I've started working out twice a day, morning and night, so I'm about to get shredded!

That's awesome to hear about Nana and Grandma Baker visiting you. Man, just have fun with them. Take them to the Pier and Dana Point and the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center and all that other touristy stuff I hated. I wish I could go with you guys. I hope you really enjoy having that company. Since I've been gone, I've realized how much time I wasted being grumpy about having company over. I spent so much time trying to be away or avoid it, that I wasted precious time. Remember to enjoy them for me. 

It's scary hearing about how Emma is growing up. Tell her I think it's cool that she likes boys, just remind her that I know all that the Strength of Youth says and that Fiji is only a 19 hour flight from home and I know some really scary ways to chop up coconuts, if you catch my drift. 

Well family, I, as a person am doing quite well. Staying healthy and feeling happy. Also if you ever want to try some FSM missionary food, just email me and I'll email you some recipes. I'm sure everyone will just love them.

My cute face in an internet shop

I love you guys and I miss you like tons!  

Elda Dawson

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Peace Be Still

Keep it Real