Blog Description

A collection of letters from our favorite missionary. This blog is compiled by his sister and is made up of pictures and images sent to the fam.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

August 22, 2010 - A New Mountain to Climb

This week was zone conference and it was awesome. Like always, it was a much needed boost and re-motivator. It was announced to us that the church has started a new missionary program. Zone conference will no longer be every six weeks, it will be once a quarter. They have introduced a new eight step program for training missionaries that will work hand in hand with Preach My Gospel. More focus is going to be placed on missionary leaders training the new younger missionaries and the mission president will make special needs training visits to individual areas and missionaries when needed. I am excited for it and think it will really change missionary work and help make better missionaries who can be more effective. It is almost as revolutionary as Preach My Gospel was.

Other than that, we talked a lot in Zone Conference about being fully prepared and using all the tools that we have available to us to do our missionary work. It was really good and I am excited to apply these things to become better.

My interview with President Ostler was pretty crazy as well. He told me about a new assignment that I will be receiving next week. Unfortunately I was sworn to secrecy until it is "official" (whatever that means). So you can all bask in anticipation until next week. He did say that he has been to New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, and all over and none of the places he has been to have the same special feeling that the place I will be going has. I am really excited and nervous at the same time. President Ostler has put a lot of trust and confidence in me to send me there, so I just hope I can do all that he wants and expects of me.

On my mission, I feel like at the start, I was looking up at a huge mountain wondering how I would ever climb to the top, then recently I have felt like I was just about to the peak. Now I feel like I have come over the crest just in time to see another huge mountain I am looking up at. It will be good for me though and give me a new challenge and task to keep me busy and working hard to the very end.

Well other than that, things here in Taveuni are going great. We have two baptisms: Diki and Doli, that are going to happen this Sunday, so that will be a really good close to my stay here in Taveuni. It is going to be really sad to go. Taveuni is a wonderful, beautiful place. I am sure my next area will be as well though.

Another highlight of this week was an awesome baptismal interview that I had; this man will be baptized next week. His name is Nasa and he is awesome. I really enjoyed getting to talk to him and getting to know him. He said that through the lessons and the Book of Mormon, he really got to know the Savior. He thought that he knew him before, but he said when he started taking lessons he learned that he didn't, and that through this church he could really come to know him and feel his power. He bore me a solid testimony and is so ready to join the church. He is a great man and I challenged him to help his wife and family accept the gospel as well as soon as he is baptized. He said his goal is to be sealed to his wife and baby girl in one year's time. He is an awesome man who has truly changed and converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I really enjoyed my interview with him.

This morning for exercise, we went out and did some farming of Casava with some members; it was great. The best news is that I practiced climbing coconut trees and I am getting really close. With a little bit more practice, I think I will finally be able to do it. So I am really excited about that.

Well that about sums up my week. I am praying for you all. Please keep me in your prayers.
Much Love,
Elder Wall

August 16, 2010 - Keep on Keepin On

It was a pretty good week this week. We had some ups and downs, but overall it was good. I went on exchanges with Elder Moala in Somosomo for two days and it was really good. I really enjoyed getting to know him. He is a good Elder who is doing really well and progressing a lot as a missionary and a person. Somosomo area is on fire too. They have a million good investigators and baptisms going on. They are just doing awesome. One village I did some baptismal interviews in, all the people remembered me and we had a great time with them. Very nice people.

We also got to go to Rabi for an afternoon this week. Elder and Sister Kastelar were going over to do some financial auditing, so we hopped in with them for the free ride over. The seas were WAY rough and it was an adventure. I was soaked from head to toe. But we had a great lesson with Iotene and set a baptismal date with him. He is a great kid who has such a strong desire to be baptized. I am excited for him.

Vili was baptized this Saturday, which went really well. Again things happened and we were late starting, so the tide was low and we had to stomp him into the ground to get him to be immersed. It was good though. The beach was very beautiful. He seemed really happy to finally get baptized and had a permagrin all day. I think his brother was very happy to see another member of his family join the church. He is preparing to serve a mission. Great kids.

Doli is also doing very well. She has stopped smoking and after one more week of no smoking, we're going to get her baptized. She is such an awesome lady and we have really good lessons with her all the time. I love teaching her!

The Branch is improving slowly. We have a couple of members who have now found motivation to do things. We had a good PEC meeting and I chastised them a little bit for doing nothing we talked about in the last meeting. They took it really well though. After the meeting, we went home teaching and it was really good to have some members helping us with the work. Our attendance is awesome and we had to bring more chairs from another building cause we didn't have enough. The building was PACKED! Hopefully they will build us a small chapel soon. So things are going well there.

Bad news is I am clean shaven. The fungus is almost completely gone and I can shave again. But I got some sweet pictures. I was kind of hoping to make history and be the elder who had interviews with President in a full beard. I missed out by one week though.

This week is zone conference and interviews. We got a new investigator this week who I am kind of excited about. A young Indian girl asked us if we could go visit her. I was kind of worried cause I thought she was more interested in the Elders than the lessons. But we ended up having an awesome lesson with her and things were really good. I am excited to go back again.

This week will be good we're going to Labasa for Zone Conference so that will be fun. That about sums up my week I hope all is well back home. You are in my prayers.

Much Love,
Elder Wall

Monday, August 16, 2010

August 8, 2010 - Bearded and Loving it!

Well this week was really good. It was busy though. The Zone Leaders Elder Munton and Elder Allen came down for a visit. It was really good. I like them both; they are great. We had two baptismal interviews for Vili and Diki. They both passed, so I was really happy about that.

Best news though, is I have a full on beard and I LOVE it. I got a fungal infection on my neck that gets really bad if I shave. So this entire week I didn't have to shave once. I am loving it. How many people can say they grew a beard on their mission? I can. Ha ha. It is almost gone though, so if I keep on the pills and cream I should be shaving in a couple more days. Too bad. But I guess that is what is gonna happen.

We also have an awesome investigator Doli, who will be baptized next week. She is golden and asks the best questions ever! She just really applies and thinks about all that we teach her. I have really connected with her and really feel like I always know her concerns and know exactly what to say and how to answer her questions. It is awesome! I love the lessons we have with her. She is doing so good. She is going to be baptized on the 21st. Then on the 24th, she is going with the branch to Suva for a temple trip to do baptisms for the dead. She is going to love it. I am so stoked for her!

Vili will be baptized this Saturday and he is excited and ready. He was really shy and didn't talk much during his interview, so he barely passed. But he is great with me and not afraid to talk. Really good kid. His brother is preparing his mission papers and is so excited to see another member of his family join the church.

The attendance in Matei is really great and the Branch is progressing, we just have a few more issues to work out with members and their relationships, but we are definitely progressing.

We have been really busy in Qeleni and haven't spent much time there. We don't know the investigators there either, so it is hard. Hopefully we can spend some time there and get some work done on that side of the island. The Branch President there does an awesome job and is really keeping things together, so that is really cool to see.
This week, we're going to go spend a day in Rabi. It will be awesome! The auditor will be going over to audit the branch's financials, so we will go with him and teach while he does the audit, then come back. I am really excited!

We will be finishing the last lesson with Iotene so next time we go he can be interviewed and be baptized. He is a great kid. I really like him! So this week should be good.

Well all is well here and I am having a good time and working hard, so I can't ask for too much more. I hope all is going well back home and I miss you all. You are always in my prayers. Have a great week. I will do the same.


Love,
Elder Wall

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

August 1, 2010 - Magic healing leaves?

Well this week was interesting. It actually was pretty good. It was really really slow throughout the entire week but then on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, things went great. The definite highlight of the week was a lesson we had with Iotene from Rabi. They had a big YSA activity on Friday for the whole district of Taveuni, so a boat of people from Rabi came over. We used this oppurtunity to get some extra teaching time with our investigators there. Iotene is awesome! He really wants to be baptized and his father said that ever since our visit, he has really changed and has been very motivated to go to church, read, pray and learn more. We had an incredible lesson with him on the gospel of Jesus Christ. While teaching repentance, I watched his eyes well up with tears. I could see and feel his deep desire to repent of his sins, receive forgiveness, and feel of the peace we were telling him about. It was incredible and the spirit was so strong. He has such a desire to know more and join the church. I really hope we can get him baptized within the next month or so. It is just so hard with transport over to Rabi. It is lessons like this one with Iotene, that make being a missionary worth it. The long walks, soaking wet in the rain and mud, waking up early, everything that is hard to do seems like a small sacrifice compared to the huge change, peace and happiness people recieve when they accept the gospel. Lessons like that motivate me to continue on even when the area is struggling and I didn't really feel like what were doing was making a difference. I loved it and hope we can get him baptized quickly.

We also had good lessons with four other investigators from Rabi. One man we saw while in Rabi is a less active from Toga who married a woman from Rabi and now lives in Rabi. He had some unfortunate things happen in the church and became bitter and fell away. He is now back and his seven children and wife have been coming to church and want to take lessons. It is awesome! The church is really going well in Rabi.

Things here in Matei picked up a bit this week. We had a good Branch Counsel and now if people will do all the things we talked about, we are going be in good shape. We also have one investigator who will be baptized either this week or next.

Vili, the one I made do push ups, has really opened up to us and has been reading and praying and recieved an answer to his prayer and now knows for himself that the church is true. He is excited to be baptized. Another woman Doli,is a relative of a recent convert family. She has been coming to church and has started taking lessons. She told us this week that she wants to be baptized and bore an awesome testimony in fast and testimony meeting yesterday. We set her date for the 21st. She is great!

We also had a cool experience with priesthood blessings this week. Sis NauRosa, a recent convert, had a huge puss-filled growth on the back of her head that smelt like rotten death. It is quite serious because people actually die from infections like these fairly often here. We gave her a blessing, then went to go get some leaf that the Fijians believe helps it (whether or not it does I don't know, but I am gonna guess no). By the time we found this special leaf, then got back, the boil had already popped and leaked death puss all over the place. It was cool to see blessings for the faithfull be fullfilled so quickly. Hopefully she can now recover and be back to everyday life.

Well that about covers my week. This week the Zone Leaders are coming over from Labasa and we will be on splits with them. I will be with Elder Munton this week in Qeleni, so that should be fun. In Qeleni we have to pump our own water so I will either come back really stinky and dirty or with huge arms, I hope the second. Ha ha.

Love you all and hope all is well. I am praying extra hard. Dad- if your leg doesn't get better I will bring you home one of the special leaves.

Love,
Elder Wall

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

July 23, 2010 - Problematic Caterpillars

Well this week was interesting. I heard the word Katapila about a million times. So in Taveuni right now, there is a wierd looking sea slug thing that looks like a big catapiller. Apparently it is a Chinese delacacy, because they come buy it from the Fijians to import to China and make tons of money selling them. So EVERYONE is out gathering, cooking, and drying caterpillars to sell for anywhere from 30-100 dollars a Kg. So this week we walked and walked and walked. But did not get a lot of teaching done. It was a little bit depressing, but I am sure things will improve when these stupid catapillars go back to wherever it is they came from. One ward missionary, after lots of walking and no teaching, suggested we go back to the chapel and have a group prayer for Heavenly Father to take away the caterpillars. I was greatly tempted but decided the people needed the money and it was actually a great blessing to them since so many members are using it for their money to go to the temple. So we decided against that.

However one great thing that happened this week was with a boy named Vili. His brother and family are all members of the church and he has been coming to church and activities and taking lessons for a long long time, but has never really progressed much. He is always very very quiet and shy to talk to us and ask questions. Then last week, I made a deal with him that if I came to see him and he hadn't read his chapter from the Book of Mormon, then he had to do push-ups. After three visits of me making fun of him and calling him a girl while doing push ups, he decided he'd better start reading. He has begun reading and has really opened up a lot through asking questions; We are having great lessons! We scheduled August 6th for his baptism. He is a really good kid who just wasn't really sure what it was that he was feeling during church and lessons and wasn't sure how to explain it. He has definitely felt the spirit and said that it is something he has never felt before. I am excited for him! He is doing great.

We also have a girl Diki, who is boarding at a school close to us. She has had lots of baptismal dates in the past but gets cold feet. Diki has had a VERY tough life and rough past with almost no family to support her. But she is doing really well and we have talked with her about being baptized during the two week school break that is coming up. She was embarrassed not to have any family to come pick up her report card at Parents' Day, so we went and got her report card and met with her teachers. It was good and she was very appreciative. Hopefully she will stay confident through her baptism.

Well hopefully this next week involves less walking and more teaching. We are going to be covering the Qeleni area as well this week, so that doubles our amount of people to teach. So hopefully we can stay really busy. Two people from Rabi are going to come over this week so we can finish the lessons and they can be baptized sooner. So that will be fun.

I hope all is well back home. I am praying for you all. I will pray extra hard that Dad can have his surgery and start the path to getting better. Im great just trying to do my best.

Much Love,
Elder Wall