Bahut samay nahi hei

Lots of pictures!! I don't have much time, but some highlights from this week are...

1. The Lord is in control. Last week Sunday we met family of 11 who were all together for a family party and we were able to share a message with them! Since then we have been back to visit 8 of them 4 times this week! The mother and 2 sons, as well as the adopted cousin have already accepted baptismal dates for the 21st and we are so excited for them! Also just yesterday in church we found out that a member who I was really good friends with in Suva 3rd ward moved back to live with her mom in Naulu and has brought her little brother to church who is not yet a member, but he wants to become one! The father is a Muslim, but we are really excited for the boy because he has jumped right into church for the past two weeks and is already really good friends with the other boys that are his same age. He expressed that he wants to get baptized the same day as the other boys and so we are just excited to be able to go to his house tomorrow to meet his parents and get this all figured out! From what Visha the older sister said though is that the mom was a baptized a long time ago and is really supportive of her son joining the church. And the dad is also okay with it so we are really excited for him... Nelson.

2. During transfers on Friday we were at the airport and a we saw a lady with a crowd around her. We found out that she is a famous actress from Japan named Eriko Watanabe, who is here in Fiji to shoot a documentary of sorts. Well to our surprise while the cameras were rolling and she was talking she walked up to us and the cameras turned to us as well! She started speaking japanese to us and we didn't really know what to do so we just smiled and said Konnichiwa(which I learned from my mom), that is until a guy with a headset on from behind says,"She asked you how your day is going." We responded and he translated for her. She then asked us why we were wearing sulus, and we responded how we are missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in fijian culture it is respectful to wear sulus. Right after that she asked us,"And what is it that makes your church different from other churches?" What an amazing question!!! We were then able to share about how Christ has restored His church back to the earth today through a modern day prophet with the same organization that was on the earth when he first established it, including Prophets, Apostles, and especially His Priesthood authority and the Holy Ghost!! She then asked us more about being how many missionaries there are in the world and so forth. It was so cool to share with her that my mom served as a missionary in Japan as well as some of her brothers! She was excited because she had never heard much about the church before. We then pulled out a Book of Mormon, explained about what it is and what it does, and gave it to her before she left. She happily accepted it and in return gave us some handkerchief which had her own face on it!! Haha it was way cool!! Looking back I really should have performed my 'Head, shoulders, knees, and toes' in Japanese. I think she would've liked that haha, but oh well. Next time I meet a japanese actress I'll be sure to remember! The picture below is us holding the handkerchief after.  

3. A bunch of my really close friends went home this week. I put some of the pictures down below. It is crazy how fast time goes. Really sad to see them all go. Sister Kolo is a sister I was in the MTC with us due to some visa problems and am really good friends with her. And the other sisters in my intake go home at the end of this transfer. It is hard saying goodbye to someone that you can't honestly tell yourself you will for sure see them again. But I have faith in Facebook:) And I am excited to see all the good they will do in the world. 

Love you all! Hope you all are dong well. Life is good here in Fiji! God is real. This gospel is His plan for us and our families. Bye have a great week! 

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Elda Hess

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Elda Hess