July 30, 2017

I'm in Suva! We had transfers this week and I got transferred to Suva! This place is massive! Compared to Labasa this place is NYC and so I'm a little overwhelmed. 

New apartment is flooded. Seriously water everywhere. Pretty crazy. There aren't any mice though so that's a bonus. The new problem is frogs though. We have lots that come inside our flat. ​​​​​​​​

It was really hard to leave Labasa. Probably just as hard as it was to leave home and come on my mission. I really love all of the people there so much. Lots of tears were cried as I had to quickly say my goodbyes and catch a flight back to Viti Levu. 

I GOT A YACA. Which means I had a baby that was named after me! A lady from Nakawakawa had twins and named her son Samuel after me! No joke! How awesome is that! AHAH I love Fiji!  

My new companion is Elder Mounga! He grew up in Utah, but is kai Tonga. He's the man! He has one transfer left on his mission and so I am his very last companion! He's awesome and even though we have only been together for 3 days, we are going to get along great! He's way humble and just is the man.

Our new area covers most of Suva. We overlap with a lot of other missionaries that are all Fijian speaking! It's pretty different but I'm gonna like it here! We have more than one restaurant in our area and so that's going to be a big change! We cover two wards now! Suva 1st and Suva 3rd. It keep us very busy! Yesterday was really, really busy! Starting at 8 with one sacrament and then having to taxi over to another chapel at 11 for the second church service. 

I don't have a lot of time right now because I was on exchanges with Elder Urisi from PNG this morning while our companions were going to self reliance class. Well that probably wasn't a very good idea because we are both new to Suva and got lost trying to find the internet shop! 

I have lots of pictures I want to send, but last time I plugged my sd card into these computers I lost them all, and so I don't really want to risk it! 

All the pictures from Whitney's homecoming are making me wish I was there. I miss you all, but I love it here though and this new area is gonna be awesome!! 

Okay I've got to go! We are having combined qito and so we will have like 50 missionaries there! Gonna be way fun! 

Okay I love you all! Have a great week! 

Pictures:

1. INTRODUCING SAMUEL RUWHIU DUNN MARIKA aka NOQU YACA!!

2. He's huge! 4.95 kgs

3. Picture from last week I had at Zone Conference

4. Hiking ​


(Pictures wouldn't open this week under the format he sent them) 

July 23, 2017 with lots of pictures

Zone Conference this week was great!! 

We started out by having a Zone Qito!! Which means we get to play rugby with the whole zone! We only get to be with the whole zone once every 6 weeks so we all really look forward to that! 

President Higgins is the man!! He honestly is so cool! His trainings in Zone Conference were so eye opening! It was all about finding those people who are prepared! And relying on the spirit to know who they are. It was great! I feel super unlifted about finding new investigators, which is something I definitely needed. Also President Higgins has changed the rule on shoes and so now we can wear open toed shoes!! So awesome! 

Zone Conference is such a spiritual boost and really motivated me to keep working to become the best servant of the Lord that I can be. 

The interview with President was great! Talked about Motorcycles, fishing, snowboarding, surfing, and mission stuff too obviously! He is such a devoted deciple of Jesus Christ and is so smart, and he is going to do so much good for the mission!! He is very serious about the work and the Fiji Suva Mission is blessed to have him! 

Elda Mumford went home this week!! That was so hard to see him go! He was the first one I went out with the first night I got here, then was my first Zone Leader and came up to the north with me, and after that he was AP for 2 1/2 transfers. He's probably the missionary I'm closest with out here and so it was really hard to see him go!! 

We had a great day of work on Friday. We were able to get out early and do lots of finding! Along with a couple great lessons with some of our progressing investigators. We have 6 baptismal dates right now and with their dates coming up there is lots of work to be doing with them! It's so amazing to be a missionary!

This Saturday me and Elda Christensen got so sick. We had some bad fish and so neither of us left our bed all day Saturday unless it was to go to the bathroom to throw up. We are all good now and our immune systems are stronger now because of it:)

The hindi language this week has felt good! I've been trying to speak it as much as I can with Elder Christensen. Sometimes it's easy for me to forget to be thinking about the language throughout the day when I am just with him because we are both from the same place and most people speak in fijian, but as I have been having conversations with him in Hindi it's helped a lot. Especially with my vocab of day to day things and small talk. I feel pretty confident about talking about gospel things, but where I see I could improve would be my day to day conversations! 

I have felt the Spirit lots this week. I really feel the Lord's guidance in the work! 

I am reading right now in 3 Nephi and I have received many answers to questions I've had for a while! 

In a lesson with Lote this week we read Alma 42 where Alma is talking to his son Corianton but instead of where it says "my son" we put her name in there. It was really powerful! She said it helped her a lot! We got this idea from a talk given by Joaquin Costa in the last General Conference. He actually came to the MTC when I was there! 

Okay bye! Love you all!

Also it's Benny's birthday this Wednesday! He's the real stud of the family! Best brother anyone could ask for!

-- 

Elda Hess

Pictures:

1. With Elda Mumford @ the airport right before he left 

2. Me and Presidnet Naan 

3. My fijian mom, aunti, and little sister:)

4. A funeral we went to 

5. Labasa District!! 

6. Little Kali 

7. After chruch yesterday

8. Selfie @ the Three Sisters hike

July 9, 2017

Aaplog Kaise? 

This week started off rough! It's the cold season and everyone has been getting sick, and it hit me hard on Tuesday! We went to the doctor and they gave me some meds to take, but I'm pretty sure it was just vitamins haha. It got so bad we weren't able to leave the flat for 3 days. That was so hard! But I'm alive with a new appreciation of the ability to eat solid foods! 

Last pday we went on a hike that was pretty fun!  It had a way good view at the top! If I have time and these computers let me I'll send some pics of it! 

Oh something way crazy happened this week! We were in a lesson with one of our investigators, and in the middle of the lesson an old white guy called from the front yard and so we invited him and his 2 friends in! Turns out they were Jehovah's Witnesses haha! They almost died when they realized who we were! It was so funny! Long story short we let them share their message. Even though both these guys were well over 50 years old they were so nervous. While they were talking I remember having such a peace come over me. Although they shared a good message about Jesus Christ I know that our message is the full truth. It was a really strange but also amazing and uplifting experience for me. And while sharing what we believe I felt so confident and it was just great :) Then they left and we carried on with our lesson and actually set a baptismal date with our investigator! Definitely a memorable lesson haha! 

We had a way spiritual experience in a lesson with Anya this week. She opened up to us about her desire to prepare to meet God and she accepted to be baptized. As of 3 weeks ago I never thought that would be possible because she comes from a strong Muslim background! I am so excited for her! And I am very grateful for the Spirit to help soften the hearts of people!

This was 2 weeks ago but I forgot to write it! So on the 4th of July we were so excited to celebrate with some sparklers that were left in the flat! We got them out as a district and lit one! It was just smoking though! We were confused until we realized that it wasn't sparklers. It was a stick of incense hindu's use while they pray! That was a huge let down hahaha! 

Zone Conference starts tomorrow and I am really excited! I'll finally be able to meet President and Sister Higgins!

Dang I feel so lame because my emails are super random and weird haha.

I love you all!! Have a great week!

Pictures:

1. Massive bull we had to move out of the trail

2. Soccer Sam

3. This spider was massive

4. Brother Naidu and I have a new connection once I saw this picture

5. This is the bathroom in the doctor's office

6. Pretty pic of Fiji

July 10, 2017

Kaise humaar pariwaar aur saithi logan! Hum applog ke bhout pyar khare he!

I can't believe this transfer is already over half way!! 

Time is going so fast!!

This week was great!! Ulaiyasi got baptized which was amazing! Such a great experience. He is the man and I am so happy for him! We were able to baptize him before church, and then performed his confirmation just 30 minutes later in Sacrament Meeting and so it worked out way good. Sometimes it takes a week or more for them to be confirmed. There is a picture below right before the baptism!

This week was also really hard though. Our investigator George, the one I always talk about in my emails, passed away on Friday. We had been with him just 2 days earlier in a lesson and he seems totally fine, but he ended up having a stroke and died just a couple hours after. I was really close with him and so that's been really hard for me. 

Also, this is crazy, another man who lives in the same house as George died. We weren't teaching him, but he is a young guys who we would say hi to almost everytime we were up there in Siberia. He was part of an accident at the train tracks and was run over! The exact same day George passed away. 

So this week has been hard for us in a lot of ways also, but I am just so glad that we have the knowledge of The Plan of Salvation.  

We gave Pria a blessing this week after one of our lessons and she told us how she felt healed right as we started praying. I love the priesthood power. It really strengthened her testimony. 

In a lesson this week in hindi we were mentioning how we are both Janam(young), but instead of saying "young" we said we are both Jaram which means "bad"! So that was funny!

We went on exchanges again this week with the Seqaqa Elders, and I stayed here in Labasa with Elder Fui. He just barely arrived here in Fiji 3 weeks ago! Most the lessons were in all hindi and so it was way good practice for me with the language. It felt good. 

Oh random side note, our flat is haunted. We hear the light switch on and off during the middle of the night and the freezer door opens and closes. Pretty scary! 

Okay we are going on a hike right now as a district and so I've got to go! So sorry there are hardly any details!

I love being a missionary! Like so, so much. It is such a blessing to be able to wear the name of Jesus Christ on my shirt every day! I'm so thankful for the knowledge we have of the true gospel! 

I love you all. 

Sorry if I didn't have time to reply to you if you emailed me! 

Thanks for all the love and support! 

Have a great week!

-- 

Elda Hess

Pictures:

1. The river we showered in last week

2. Enia 

3. Burning sugar cane and so we couldn't see while driving for like 300 yards

4&5. Ulaiyasi's baptism

5 months July 2, 2017

Hello!

5 months mark is this week! It's crazy how fast time flies out here! 

The power has been shut down for a couple hours here in Labasa bc one of the power lines broke, but there is still one internet shop that has power thankfully! 

The start of this week we went on exchanges down to Nakawakawa. This is down at the very bottom of Vanua Levu, and is in the middle of nowhere. To get there you have to take a  hour bus ride on a dirt road and it's pretty miserable to be honest, but once you are there it is beautiful. The elders that stay there sleep in the chapel. There are a couple of koros surrounding it and so the work is pretty good. We went into a couple of the koros and I was able to practice my Fijian. Most of the people down there are strong methodists, and so the work can be hard. One of the guys we were talking to opened up to us about his life and it was such a special experience to share Matthew 16:19 and talk about the priesthood power and how it can seal families together forever. We ended up finding 6 new investigators in total in just 3 hours. After that we headed down the the river to shower! It was a way fun experience! The next morning me and Elder Kris woke up at 3:45 am and caught the 7 hour bus ride back to Labasa! If the power turns back on I'll be able to send pictures of all of this back at the chapel.

Oh random, but on the ride back a crazy guy came onto the bus. I don't know what had happened to him but he was all bloody and was bleeding all over the place. He was yelling and it was a little scary, but everything turned out okay! 

Once we got back in Labasa we went straight to work! We have been doing lots these past few weeks to help the work and it is getting better!! We have some Baptisms coming up soon and we are excited! Uliasi is getting baptized next Sunday and that'll be so good to see. He's a Fijian boy from a koro down in Bua, but he lives here in Labasa now with his grandparents! He's the man! Really excited for next Sunday!

Also Parpa's date is coming up soon! She has been in Suva for the past week and a half because of a death in the family, but she comes back tomorrow and so it'll be good to see her again. Her husband passed away this year and so as she has strengthened her testimony in the Plan of Salvation we have been able to see that hope come back into her life and it's so special to watch! 

While we were 'OYM'ing this week I think 90 % of the people we met were hindu priests. So that was hard. Most of them were pretty nice, but some weren't. That's a hard situation, but we just always make sure we bear our testimonies of Jesus Christ. And when we do that it always turns out okay:) 

Dang to be honest I don't know much more to write about! This week has been good! Me and Elder Kris are having tons of fun! He's the man! I love Fiji so much. I love all of you and miss you tons!

Pictures: 

1. Me and Elda "Amoni" 

2. Flat in Nakawakawa @ also the chapel

3. Down in Nakawakawa

4. Climbing a coconut tree is way harder than you'd think

5. Random pic of a "bulamakau" and a famer burning his sugar cane

6. That's a dog and a baby pig lol ONLY in Fiji