Week 64, December 4, 2016

District Conference, Taveuni

So many pictures so little time!!

The District Volleyball stars!!

The District Volleyball stars!!

Literally the cutest little girl I've ever met in my entire life! We became good friends (I gave her a candy). She and her family came and sat next to Dunn and I during District Conference. 

Some fire food after District Conference!

I'm not sure what this was I just that this was way cool.

The boat we took back to Vanualevu. #sketchy

Taveuni, the "Garden Island". 

Elda Rakatia(left) (Naitasiri, Fiji) and Elda Whitworth our Zone Leader (Draper, Utah). We did some splits. I had tons of fun with these two. 

Caught my homie chilling on the beach contemplating the meaning of life.   #lifegoals

Taveuni, the "Garden Island".

Taveuni, the "Garden Island".

Taveuni, the "Garden Island".

Taveuni, the "Garden Island".

Taveuni, the "Garden Island".

Taveuni, the "Garden Island".

Here is all of the Eldas in the Taveuni Zone (Vanua Levu, and Taveuni islands). There were 20 of us (including the APs) in one flat. It was SOOOO FUN!

Here's a way rad picture of a beautiful chapel in our area in a koro called Saulevu.

It's right on the beach too.

SO, we drove up to our flat, all the way from Labasa (2 hours) and forgot our flat keys. Elda Giacalone got creative.

The rest are some pictures of our updated flat.

We got a bunk bed!

#thestruggleisreal

#butitsOURstruggle

#weloveit

So Tagimoucia is a flower that literally only grows in Taveuni. 

We didn't go up, but we saw the road sign. 

Then Elda Amai proceeded to make us all feel like little girls.

A sweet as chapel we found on our way to a supermarket. 

The LDS Chapel in Somosomo.

The Labasa Studs!! They were mixing tons of tang for a kana vata (picnic).

Elda Harris (our AP) (Beaver, Utah) chilling in his birthplace.

He was trained in Somosomo literally almost two years ago. He leaves in three weeks. Qase!!

Elda Vitiarai (Tailevu, Fiji) He is the man. He also came into the mission with Visawaqa.

They were MTC Companions!! 

Caught baby Larsen sleeping during a meeting. Isa Luve i keitou.

A sweet picture of another island like 20 minutes (boat ride) from Taveuni. 

Some of the boys. From Left to right: Elda Willougbhy ( Oasis, Utah), Elda Amai (Hamilton, New Zealand), Elda Whitworth se Elda Witi ( Draper, Utah), and my boy Elda Dunn #vegasboy

Elda Halbert. Our big bad District Leader. He speaks Hindi in Labasa.

He's from Hamilton, new Zealand. He's the man!! 

Two girls from Nakawakawa. They brought us breakfast and then cleaned the chapel. One isn't even a member. 

This is in Taveuni. We went to go get breakfast and someone locked us

inside the apartment building complex. We were also a little late to a meeting. Isa Taveuni. 

Somosomo town.

Somosomo town.

Our sick as DISTRICT!!! Back row left to right: Elda Dunn, Ya boi!, Elda Giacalone (Knoxville,TN), Elda Larsen (Spokane, Washington), Elda Halbert (Hamilton, New Zealand), Elda Green (Brisbane, Australia). Front row: Sister Siale (Brisbane, Australia), Sister Taitai (Kiribati). We are pretty sweet with our kal vata (matching ties and dresses.) 

Elda Dunn being a photographer. 

More of Somosomo town.

Brand new Elda Larsen (Spokane, Washington). Isa luve ikeitou.

He's only three weeks into the field. He's awesome!

A Picture Says 1000 Words

I love this area. I love these people. I LOVE this gospel. I know that it is true. I know there is a living prophet on the earth today. I KNOW that because of our Savior Jesus Christ we can live with our Heavenly Father and our families for eternity. I love you all. Moce toka.

This is me, Valovei and Filo. Filo is the little shaved head one and Valovei is in the green. They are sisters from Nakawakawa. We are pretty much like best friends!

This is our water tank. We use this to shower, cook, drink, flush, paint with water colors, and basically anything else you need water for.

Everyone thought I looked really cute without my glasses. They thought they were even more cute WITH my glasses. 

I'm going to be honest, I don't actually know what is going on in this picture. I'm not nearly as annoyed as I look. 

This is Unaisi Racora (she prefers to go by her full name). She is our latest baptism. Her parents are bothe memebers and are so cool. The Qase family. Qase means like "old" or "elderly", like we have been called Qase instead of Elder before.

They love the camera!

They love the camera!

They love the camera!

This is Ane (pronounced similar to Annie). She is a girl from the Branch. She's told me her plan how she's going to go on a mission, after, go to BYU Provo for school and look for me to marry. She's a sweetheart.

She loved trying on my glasses!

Our Primary Program in Nakawakawa.

This is Atu, a member here. I swear he is a nice guy. 

Some of my little homies from Bua. I gave the kids my camera and they went a little crazy. 

#selfiegame #keepitalive #neverstopbeingbeautiful

The shore in Saolo. It's funny when I introduce myself because I can say "Oh, the place that I'm from is next to the ocean, like this one." And everyone just freaks out.

Our financial situation. We keep it real up in Nakawakawa. I wouldn't trade it for anything though.

Elder Dunn. This was the fanciest place I've eaten in a very long time. It's a hotel in Labasa called Grand Eastern. We had some very expensive, very sub-par pizza for Josh's last day with us. Josh is a ward missionary who is leaving for the Australia, Brisbane mission today. 

This was when we tried to get back to our area after some rain. We had to take the long way which added a whole 2 extra hours to our journey back into the veikau.

This is my, "what's up future Mrs. Dawson" picture. #needahaircut #veikauprobs

A New town Hall was opening in a koro near us called Saolo. It was such a big deal the hype killed all the work for the day in like a 15 km radius. 

Clouds rolling over the Bua mountains. Bua is such a beautiful place.

These are some of the young men from the Nakawakawa Branch. They are crack up.

Week 61, November 13, 2016

Isa,

So just to start out with some answers for you...

President reviewed my blog and just told me to be careful is all, in fact he said for me to keep doing it, just to be cautious.  It seems that my description of my bathing situation and my teaching of local kids American slang upset someone.  I apologize if it was anyone reading my blog right now.  I had no intention of being disrespectful.

 I guess because I'm so loved by my fans, I'll continue, but I have a way cool idea for doing it, at least for a while. I'll just send pictures with little descriptions of everything and then a sweet little testimony at the end.  We will see how that works out.

No, I personally did not feel New Zealand's earthquake. 

Dude, Elda Dunn is the FREAKING MAN!!! I've loved this past transfer. He's just such a funny guy. I've learned some about dirt bikes and racing and stuff. He's been an awesome companion. 

So school is just ending so all of our students went home, but most of them are within driving range. 

We will hopefully open up a new koro soon called Sawani and then another one called Nadua. 

We don't fish for food...often.

We do lots of service; building houses, working in farms, building and delivering water tanks.

Yes, I want lots of Warheads!!! It's great to see the kids here eat them!

So, package ideas....WARHEADS and TACO BELL SAUCE!!! Also, I know this is going to freak you out, Mom, but if you guys could send me like a hoodie or something like that it would be cool. (Like an XL or a L. 2XL or 3XL would be to baggy.) Honestly, if you could just send money for shirts. I'm down to 5 and they are pretty gnarly and they have good shirts here that aren't to expensive. Micro SD Cards. Maybe like a family picture album, I mean I have my brag book, but more would be cool, especially current pictures. Stickers. Honestly I've been missing my guns and airsoft lately, so send some photos of that stuff to me kerekere.. Other fun little things, I don't know, I would say be creative. Things that would blow Fijians minds. Isa. I love you guys. Get ready for some pictures. I love you guys tale. Moce mada.

Elda Dawson

P.S. I found a place in FIJI called Dawson Bay. Sadly it's in an area, I'll probably never go to. 

--

Peace Be Still

Keep it Real

Week 60, November 6, 2016

Isa noqu itubutubu,

Man, I feel like it's been a while since I've actually talked to you. I'm doing good. Like pretty good, kinda bummed.

So President Layton told me that someone complained about my blog.   It makes me sad because I feel like I am just being myself and people like it.  He's reviewing it.  I'm pretty sure he will let me continue but for the next little bit I am going to just send lots of pictures.

Anyways, my week was pretty good. It wasn't anything to special. To answer a few of your questions:

Our secondary class...so we teach in Fijian and English, like we speak in Fijian and then if someone doesn't understand we switch to English. 

Yes, Mom, there is a girl in the class, Maraia. She is so awesome. Man, she is so cute too. I mean, I still know the rules, and I understand that it's important for me to stay focused, so no need to worry. She's just my special friend here.

As for the rest of the girls, yes, it's very apparent, and they flirt on purpose. They say things like "I want to go to America" or  "I want to marry a white guy" all while just staring me in the eyes hard. The vibes are always thrown at me bro. It's pretty funny actually.  If I weren't a missionary I would be a hot commodity!  Isa noqu lewa.

I love it here. It's such a great place. I'm not looking forward to any chance of me being transferred, but we'll see I guess. 

I love you guys. I hope you are all doing well. I miss you. 

Elda Dawson

--

Peace Be Still

Keep it Real

Yes, that's a picture of my big brother.