ई हफ़्ता

Sonu got confirmed yesterday! We were nervous we were going to be late because we were coming from Navatuyaba ward and only had a few minutes before Naulu ward started, but we said a prayer and then when we got there we saw Sonu same time getting out of a taxi with the Rakatia family who gave him a ride. He had on a new white shirt he had bought the day prior, and a new tie. It was all perfect timing and we were so happy and thankful. Throughout church Sonu kept taking my namebadge and putting it over the pocket on his shirt and just saying,"This will be me soon." Love him so much!

We were able to be a part of some really good lessons and to be able to really see the hand of the Lord in the work this week! The picture below of us with all the fijian family is right after our lesson on Wednesday night with Josefa and Timoci! They are so humble and prepared and we are really excited for their baptism coming up this next week on the 9th! It has been a long road, but to be able to witness them at this landmark in their life is a really special opportunity! Woohoo! 

We also had MLC this week which was really awesome! We went to the temple together as a group the night before and it was such a big uplift to me personally. I love the temple so much and it's such a blessing when we are able to go inside. It reminded me of the promises shared in the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple from Doctrine and Covenants 109:22-23. 

Me and Elder Lee Chip Sao have been practicing our sanskrit recently! It's really fun to learn with each other. The whiteboard written in sanscrit is from our weekly planning this week. We have started doing it in sanscrit for language practice.

I love you all and am so grateful for the love. I love this work! I know God lives! Have a great week:)

--

Elda Hess

April 23, 2018 Ii haafta saab se achcha ra

Hello! This week has been really good and has really gone by so fast! Probably because we were able to spend the entire week in our area and didn't have to run around doing so much administration like in the past two weeks because of the floods and so forth. Ministering is much more enjoyable than administering. 

Oh one funny/awesome story from this week! So up until now I have been driving on my American driver's license, but I am at the point that I needed to transfer into a full Fijian license. This process requires going to the LTA which is the same as a DMV in America, and taking a written and driving test. This process can take a long time because they almost always fail you a couple of times before you can pass the test! They are very particular at the little things and so it really can take such a long time. For example when I was with Elder Christensen he took the test 5 times and never passed. Even though he has been driving his whole life. Well this past Friday was the day I was set to go take the test in Suva and I show up and see that it is an Indian man who is going to be doing my test. We start out by going to the car and doing the driving test. He was pretty cranky for the first few minutes and I was just speaking English to him. Then he asked a question about missionaries and I took that as my opportunity to start speaking Hindi and to explain to him that we are the Hindi Elders and can speak Hindi. He got such a shock, like most people do, and became super interested and happy! We were planning on driving around the whole tip of Suva all the way to Suva town and so forth, but less than one minute after I started speaking Hindi he told me to take a right turn and then another and then to pull back into the LTA. His whole whole demeanor had changed and he was laughing and smiling and we were having a great time. The driving test only lasted about 10 minutes total!! He called me to the back room and said that I was finished and I was surprised because I still hadn't taken the written test! He filled out all the paperwork and then said,"Well you're all finished Samuel! Go get your license at the front desk!" I was so surprised!! I have heard from other missionaries how it is a nightmare to try and get their license finished but it only took me 15 minutes total!! And then the coolest part is, when I was leaving after I had grabbed my license he called from the back room saying saying loudly,"Samuel, Samuel, Have you already eaten lunch? You should come have lunch with me today." I wish so badly we could've gone with him, but we had to get back to our area for some lessons, and so I explained that to him. The funny thing is that this whole conversation was in Hindi and there were a ton of people sitting in the LTA watching the whole thing, they were all looking way surprised and funny because they'd never seen a white kid speak Hindi before! It was just awesome, because what I thought was going to be a miserable day turned out to be one of the favorite moments of my mission! 

Tomasi and Fatulia both got confirmed this Sunday which was just awesome! Marica was picked up by her uncle the night before to go stay at his house for a celebration going on there and so she wasn't able to be confirmed. But their mother is awesome and we pray everything is going to work out next week:)

The investigators are doing so good right now. Like I said the past two weeks were crazy busy, but this past week was awesome because we got to spend a whole week with our investigators just teaching lessons and being real missionaries. I love this work and am so happy! 

Love you all!

Pictures: 

1-7: At Navua beach yesterday as a zone! It was so much fun! The one doing the splits is my companion Elder Ishibashi! He is such a good guy and we have so much fun together. HAHA that one is such a quality picture lol! 

8: This is Violet our recent convert. She is super cute and really smart. She reminds me a lot of Sadie! 

9-12: Found this beetle at our house haha! It was HUGE! 

Fiji is so cool December 3, 2017

This week was really good! A couple cool things that happened are...

We got to go down to Suva town and be a part of the Light the World initiative! It was really cool! There was a function and a choir and stuff like that! We as missionaries got to talk to so many people! Elder Johansson of the area presidency was there and spoke! It was so cool. We stayed there all day and it was awesome. As missionaries 6 of us gave out 2000 pass along cards, 600 light the world calendars, and over 150 Book of Mormons! It was a great day!

This week we also met a guy named Rafa! He is Brazilian which is way random in Fiji, but from back home I have a couple connections to Brazil, so it was cool! He is a fire guys and will stay here for a long time! He is really interested! 

We also had a super sad thing happen though... Shiel is moving:( She was really excited with her newly set baptismal date, but she is leaving next week to the west! But the other elders will finish the lessons for her and I am also praying I get send out there next transfer!

We also had a huge blessing this week!! Learning Fiji Hindi there is only one book in existence that is actually in Fiji Hindi! It is the New Testament translated by the Bible Society of the South Pacific! The thing is there are almost none of them in existence. I've only seen one in the whole year we've been here! Well me and Elder Shin thought it would be a good day to stop by the Bible Society headquarters and we walk in and the main man over the whole bible distributions of Fiji is there and lets up know that in a couple hours the 2nd EVER shipment of the hindi bibles was coming in!! He said that he could get us 20 of them!!! We called President Higgins right away and let him know! It was the best day ever! It was not a coincidence! God put us right in the path so that we could receive more resources as missionaries of Him. 

Life is really good! The church is true. Christ lives! Have a good Christmas season! Love you all!

Pictures:

1. Light the world sign right in Suva!

2. Selfie with the most hindi bibles in one place at one time! 

3. Light the World with Elder Johansson speaking

4. Had the light the world video playing all day in the middle of the shopping mall!

5. Passing out Book of Mormons in Hindi, Fijian, and English:)

8 Months!! October 8, 2017

This week has been fantastic!

I have enjoyed so many things, but probably the best part was conference! I loved general conference! I feel so uplifted because of the words of the prophets! I really wish I had appreciated it more fully my entire life up to this point! It is amazing how true the church is. Like wow it is so true it's crazy! 

I loved what my grandpa shared with me:

One of my favorite scriptures is "Look unto me in every thought doubt not fear not.” That is a commandment which may take a lifetime to  achieve but I think me meant what he said.  D&C 6:36   In verse 34 He said, therefore fear not, little flock; do good;  let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. The great question we need to ask ourselves when confronted with decisions in life is, "what would Jesus do.”

I love this what my grandpa sent me because Christ is the way. It is so special to know of his true church on the earth today! I also really loved Elder Holland's talk. It gives us hope that we are not expected to be perfect. We are in a fallen state right now, but that is what the atonement of Jesus Christ is for. It makes it possible for us to overcome that spiritual death that comes from our sins. I know that it is not easy but because of Jesus Christ we have hope. Don't get discouraged just keep working. It will all be worth it!  

We are leaving soon to do a hike as a zone which is going to be really fun! 

Love you all! Sorry not many details! 

-- 

Elda Hess

September 10, 2017

This week has been really good! It was transfer week and so I got a new companion!! His name is Elder Hariprasad and he's the man. We are really excited! This is his last 6 weeks on his mission and so it's pretty exciting. 

Elder Mounga went home last week which was crazy. I was really sad to see him go because we became really good friends in just a short 6 weeks! 

Yesterday in church Kumari was able to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost! It was such a special experience! He was there to church 40 minutes early and sitting on the front row. We showed up and felt such a warm spirit as we greeted him. He had a big smile and said,"Aaj hum sakta Pavitra Aatma mille, na?" or "I am going to be able to receive the Holy Ghost today, right?" And then after the ordinance he was really happy and said,"Abhi hum Bagvan ke pyar lage hei" or "I feel God's love right now". I am so grateful to be a part of this work here in Fiji. I just want to give my all to the Lord and this cause! 

This week we found out that a family named the Lata's are finally going to be able to be baptized. They have been being taught by the missionaries here for 3+ years, but just yesterday they let us know that everything is all goods! We are really excited!! 

It is my mom's birthday today!! So shoutout to her for being the best mom out there. Thank you for always being there for me! Especially these past 7 months:) LOVE YOU!

Okay love you all have a great week!

-- 

Elda Hess

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) 

3 month (Week 12)

Today is my 3 month mark! Fastest 3 months of my life! I love it out here. This week has been really awesome.

So this week was transfer week which means halfway through we had a bunch of Elders who are transferring come and stay with us for a night or two before their flights back to Viti Levu. It was way fun to have them here! One of those Elders was Elder Faamoe who was up in Somosomo. He was AP for a while and is a way cool guy. He left home on Saturday and we got to spend all of Thursday with him. I learned heaps. 

This week we have been doing lots of finding. It can be pretty discouraging sometimes, because lots of the hindu people here don't want anything to do with Christianity, but it is all worth it when we meet that one person who is just so open and ready for the message. And This week we were definitely led to some amazing new investigators.

I have made lots of progress in the language this week. I feel a lot more confident in getting involved in the lessons that are in all Hindi. It is such a good feeling to be able to say something and they actually understand what I am saying ahah! I still can't understand very much because they talk really fast, but at least I have felt a little improvement.

So we had a couple really cool things happen this week. 

So yesterday we got a call that someone needed us in the hospital and so we caught a taxi and went there. We had no idea who is was we just new that the name was William Brown. We got there and asked where he was staying and they led us to the very back corner of the hospital in the children's wing. They were staying in a room with 6 beds which were all full of really sick kids:( It turns out that it was a mom and her boy and who were members from Savusavu and the little boy had been running with a sucker in his mouth and he fell and it went down his throat. He is stable and is doing fine, but they still haven't been able to find the stick in his stomach so they are a little scared. We were able to give him a blessing and it was such an amazing experience. He is doing good and should be okay and be able to go home soon.

FINALLY killed the mouse that has been living in our kitchen. We threw a piece of wood across the counter and got him. Just a little guy, but dang he was hard to get. Lots of failed attempts.

The other day me and Elder Tony were out proselyting and we came to this one house way out in the middle of a sugar cane field. Well we got up to it and called to see if anyone was home an uncle came out and happily invited us in. As soon as we got up there we started to introduce ourselves a little in Hindi and he immediately started questioning us! He said he knew who the missionaries were and he was really mad that we thought we needed to share with him a message. He was really mad that we thought to even come his Indian community and yeah he just started going off. He said he had studied Christianity for 14 years and that he knows everything about it and he was telling us that we should go teach the people in the prison because that's where all the Christians are. He also was saying how we are wrong because we have  New Testament. He was like what is wrong with the old one. It was pretty ridiculous. Once he let me speak I explained to him a little bit of what our purpose was for coming. I explained to him what the the New and Old Testament really are also bore my testimony. It ended up turning out alright, but it was really frustrating too. We have this type of experience happen pretty often and it can be pretty discouraging. But we just keep on keeping on and everything turns out good in the end:)

So I get the opportunity to play soccer actually quite a bit here and it's so much fun to play with the kids in the streets. The other day I was playing with a couple kids and while I was playing I was asking them questions about themselves. They said that they are staying with their grandma during the holiday break and they showed me her house. I told them to go ask their grandma if she wanted to hear a message about Jesus Christ and they ran in and when they came back out they said that she is busy right now,but wantsyou to come back Tuesday at 6 o'clock and they told me that the only reason she wants us to come back is because we were playing with her grandkids:) BINGO ah it felt so good to hear that! I guess soccer did pay off!! haha:)

Okay this email was full of a couple pretty random stories but I'm a pretty random person so it makes sense. 

I love you all and I am thankful for all of your support. 

I love it here in Viti am thankful for this opportunity to serve the Lord.

Have a great week!

-- 

Elda Hess