Week 12

I know that this is how I start every single email, but dang this week has gone by so fast.

SO this week was Zone Conference and it was such a fun time. We had some way good training and I learned heaps!

It was so much fun to have all the other elders here in Labasa. It was really crowded, but I enjoyed it. Sometimes it can get a little lonely up here in the north because all the areas are so spread out, and so it was way fun. There were 24 elders in our flat for two nights, and we all stayed up pretty late just talking, freestyle rapping, and telling stories haha. It was such a good time. 

Elder Mumford is now AP which is awesome! He was a Zone Leader in Suva when I very first got here, and so he is the one I went out on exchanges with my very first night in Fiji. He is the coolest kid!

Elder Afatasi goes home this week. He is the other AP and so we will be getting another new AP this week! The picture below with me in the middle of 2 guys is a picture with those two. They're seriously the coolest. Such good missionaries.

The language is hard. I am trying really hard but it is still a struggle. There are just so little resources it is really frustrating.

The food is still incredible. Now that we are getting to know the members better we have a ton more dinner appointments throughout the week!

The other night we had a dinner appointment with a member named Joji and we showed up at his house and it turns out that it was his grandfathers birthday party! It was so much fun. Because we are missionaries and visitors they pulled us up to the very front of the ceremony before the food and it was a little uncomfortable because I had no idea what was going on, but was still fun:) It was a MASSIVE feed and was soooo good. The picture below is with all of them after the party.

The missionary work here is hard. Me and elder Tony were told by President Layton to try and focus more in the Indian people and so that is what we have been working on these past couple days. It is really hard because most of them don't have a background of Christianity at all and so it is a much slower process, but it is also a really cool experience to try and help others understand the very basics. Even when you focus on the very basic doctrine like that we have a loving Heavenly Father, it is amazing how strong the spirit can be during the lesson.

We found a couple new investigators this week who are awesome. One woman's name is Anita and her and her two sisters are really open to the message. They are super kind and are really excited for our next appointment tomorrow.

The hardest thing about the work here in Labasa is getting people to church. There are so many people that are having amazing experiences building their testimonies, but it is so hard to get them to church. There always seems to be something getting in the way and it is so frustrating.

I am loving it out here. We have seen so many miracles every day.

Life is good, and I am very grateful to be a missionary.

I love you all. Sorry I had to write this email really fast so sorry it's kinda random!

Have a great week:)

--

Elda Hess

Week 11

Week 11 (I think) and I'm still alive!

I guess I'll start off with an update of the language. So Hindi is coming very slow. It's a really interesting language and it is fun to learn, but it is really hard. I still haven't hit the point that I know as much Hindi as I do Fijian, but that day should be coming soon. The hard thing is that most of the Indians I'm just trying to do my part to make it possible for me to be able to receive the gift of tongues.

Okay the coolest thing happened this week! Seriously the most random thing ever!! So me and Elder Tony were up in the bush of Siberia, which is totally in the middle of nowhere, and we roll up to this Fijian house and call to see if anyone is home. Well this old Fijian man with a walker come out and invites us to go talk to him. So we started talking to this guy and he started speaking English to us, and it was crazy, this guy had FLAWLESS English. I was super surprised and so I asked him where he learned to speak English so well, and right as I said that, he said come in and I'll show you.

Okay so it turns out that this guy is the most interesting man in the world. So he started telling us his life story and it is so crazy!! I'm not going to have time to write everything, but this guy is amazing! So he grew up in a village on the north part of the main island and when he was 21 the British military came to Fiji recruiting people and they picked him up! He moved straight away to England and starting working with the military! He somehow through the military he started working for security for the royal family and working his way up over a few short years. By the time he was 30 he was the driver for the Queen!! Then after that he became head of security for Prince Edward and followed him all around the world for years and years. He showed us heaps of pictures of him with all the royal family!

Okay yeah so I don't have time to write all about him, but he speaks like 6 languages, he has lived in like 7 different countries! He also during the Firemen's strike in England was the temporary Fire Chief!! There is so much more too. He is so cool and it was the most random thing ever to meet him! His name is George. He is so kind and is really interested in the gospel. He has already heard about The Book of Mormon and says that he really admires Joseph Smith and feel like he connects with him a lot. So yeah we are really excited about him and hope for the best.

We have met lots of others this week and are excited. We have one investigator who had a confirmation this week that The Book of Mormon is true and she wants to be baptized so bad now, but her husband is very against it.. So sad, but we will see what happens. Hopefully he softens his heart.

We are working hard and time is starting to go a little faster each day. We have our hard days filled with lots of rejection, but we keep our head up and keep trying. There are people here that are ready to hear the message and I want more than anything to be able to find them. And I feel like we are slowly:)

Because we are out in the hot sun everyday I have gotten some gnarly tan lines from my crocks and my watch that I am really, really proud of hahaha.

Zone Conference starts today and I am super excited! It'll be good to see President Layton again and the APs. It is going to be here in Labasa, and so we will have 22 other elders staying in our flat for the next couple days. So wish us luck. We have already hid all our food and valuables and so hopefully they don't find them!! I'll let you know how it goes next week.

  

Thanks for everything! 

Love you all! 

Sorry this letter is super random and weird haha. ​

Week 10 (with video of flat)

Hello:)

This week has been great!! 

Okay I don't know where to start! 

 

On Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with Elder Larsen to Seqaqa! It is beautiful there! It's only like a 40 minute drive from where we are and is the closest area to Labasa, but it is so different! Everything is so green and just gorgeous. We had an appointment with a guy who lived in a koro pretty far away, so we took a dirt road for what seemed like hours until we got to the coast. It was the most beautiful view ever(picture below)! The people in the village were really nice and it was super cool. That night we fried up some fish for dinner and I'll attach another pic of that!

The other days this week have been busy and productive here in Labasa. 

We are teaching a new investigator named Ricko. He is a pretty rough looking guy and has been through a lot. We saw him on the street and just started talking to him a little and he totally opened up to us about his past and all that he's gone through. We told him we were missionaries and he said that is is a sign from God that he needs to change and move on from his past because he isn't happy the way he is living. We are super excited for him. 

We had a follow up appointment with one man who is lives pretty close to us. He was really excited the first lesson we taught him and so we were pumped to get back and see him again. The lesson was going great and then it took a hard turn for the left. He started telling us how people come to his house and how he heals them with black magic. Also he told us that he has everything he needs in his life. He said that him and his wife have never worked, but whenever they need food it just shows up on the front porch. It was a crazy experience and also pretty frustrating but it's okay:) 

On Saturday last week I was able to perform my first baptism! The girl that was baptized(Adi Meri) has been an investigator for a while, so me and Elder Tony weren't the ones who taught her, but I had the opportunity to baptize her and it was amazing. I felt such a warm spirit. She bore a strong testimony after and it was awesome. Definitely motivated me to try harder to help others have that experience for themselves as they grow closer to the Savior.

We were finally able to listen to conference this Saturday and Sunday. I was being very impatient because I had heard so much about it from back home and still hadn't been able to watch it. It was soooo good! I really, really enjoyed it. I especially liked the priesthood session. I felt as if every single talk was directed towards me. But I'm sure that's how everyone felt! 

Shout out to the one and only Ryan Ward!! Called to the California Oakland/San Francisco mission!

Things are good here. Don't worry about me. I'm just trying my best to work hard and keep exactly obedient. 

The scriptures are incredible. I have found lots of joy in studying them diligently every day. Also for those of you who haven't read the book 'Jesus the Christ' I highly recommend it. Such great deep doctrine.

I love you all and I love this gospel. Keep me updated on all that is happening! 

BYEEE

Elda Hess

Video of flat--may need to watch on computer not cell phone :(