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 :(

Week 9

Hello again!

Another week has gone flown by here in Labasa! 

Lots happened this week. We have been working really hard and it is exhausting. 

The language is coming good. Well it's coming very slow, but I'm trying hard. It's can be frustrating because we don't have any Hindi books to study from, so I have to learn everything from just asking and listening to how they pronounce it. I've written down lots of flashcard, but I have to guess how everything is spelled because Hindi isn't spelled using the English alphabet. I have gotten down some basic stuff, but it's a looooong road ahead of me. 

We have been out a lot this week going door to door to try and find those people who are ready to hear the gospel. We have gotten to meet a couple really awesome people. We met one lady named Vidia who's son passed away last year. She was really sad when she told us. We told her that we are her sons now and she started crying. She is great. I know this gospel can help her and I am excited for our next lesson with her tomorrow. 

Lots of the areas we proselyte in are very spread out so that can make it hard. We don't have a truck in this area and so we take the bus everywhere we go. The bus is really cheap. Flat rate of 70 cents or 35 American cent wherever you want to go. I'll put a picture below I took of a river from inside the bus. Most of our investigators right now are in a place called Siberia. It is about 30-40 minutes from the city. 

Yesterday we had dinner again at the Vosa's and we had pig with roro and kasava. It was sooooo good. The one thing that is different here is they don't take the meat of the pig off the rest of the body. They just like chop up the whole pig and throw it in the pot. I took a picture of the nose of the pig we were eating, which was on Elder Tony's plate! I'll send it in this email too! Sometimes when you are eating it you taste something that doesn't taste right and is like a super weird texture. That's when you just swallow quick. Other than a couple exceptions though the food here is very, very good!

Oh I ate my first Indian meal with my hands this week. It was a very interesting and messy experience haha. It went alright thought, although I was a little uneasy the whole time because no one washes their hand before eating. I just was thinking of all the germs the entire time. I totally get that from my mom. 

Another random thing is, there are tons of frogs here. Like thousands and thousands. If you're not careful you step on them really easily. I'll send a pic below. Hopefully it's clear enough to see.

I get to go on exchanges tomorrow with Elder Larson and I am wayyyy pumped! He's such a cool kid and I will get to see a new area, Naosori. 

Weight update: Gained 10 lbs in the MTC and in the 3 weeks in Fiji I have already lost all 10. Looks like I'm destined to be skinny. At least so far haha.

Oliva is the ward mission leader in our branch. He's 18 and is really cool. He comes with us to lessons a lot. He has been waiting for his call for a while and he finally got it this week. Guess where he got called? Fiji Suva Mission!! We are so excited! He speaks Hindi, so there is a good chance that he will be called into the Hindi program as well, which means there is a way good change we will be companions! So cool! He's the guy in the picture with me! 

I've heard that lots of you back home have your papers in! That's so exciting! Part of me is sad that I can't be there to experience it all together with you guys, but I am soooo excited to hear where you're all going to go. Make sure to keep me updated asap.

I love you all so much. 

Thank you for all the words of encouragement! 

Thanks for all the love!

Namaste.

--

Elda Hess

pig snout in our dinner

thousands and thousands of frogs here!

Oliva, our ward mission leader who just got called to our FIJI, SUVA mission!!

view from bus

YUM! Pig snout! ;)

Week 8

Dang I can't believe it's already been 2 months. Time goes so much faster on a mission. It's so good to hear from you guys and how you're doing! 

This week has been very good. I have been learning a lot! The culture here is really different in a lot of ways so I'm trying to figure it out.

The work here is either really slow or really fast. There are a lot of very devoted Hindus and so it is really hard to find Indians who want to hear from us at all. On the contrary Fijians are almost too welcoming haha. They want us to come in and hang out for hours! So we are trying to find that balance between them. The hardest part though is figuring out who is really interested and who is just being nice to us because we look tired and thirsty.

Did I mention last week that it's hot here? Well it's HOT HERE. This is the hottest city in all of Fiji and because I just barely came from snow in Utah, it is a bit of an adjustment haha. And you could say that I am definitely still adjusting. Our AC is a little fan that we have in our room. Without it, I don't think I would make it through the night alive. 

A lot of the investigators that were in the area book when we got here are really cool. Some of them are progressing good! Others have lots of things getting in the way. It's got to be one of the most frustrating things on earth when someone knows the gospel is true, but something is getting in the way of them being able to be baptized and there is nothing we can do about it. I have been praying a lot lately for them. If you all could do the same that would be great.

I got to go on exchanges with my Zone Leader, Elder Grimoud, on Thursday and it was AWESOME. We went out OYMing and every single house we went to accepted the baptism invitation. We seriously got like 9+ accepted baptismal invitations in one day. Elder Grimoud is such a good missionary. He knows the gospel so well and can speak flawless Fijian. Towards the end of the day while we were proselyting we both had the feeling we had to go down a certain road and so we did. It lead to a hidden Koro(village) that was beautiful. They welcomed us in and we started talking with them. We weren't able to teach because you have to get permission from the Koro Tagane first, but we were sitting and everyone surrounded us as we introduced ourselves. We told them that we are missionaries and they told us who we had to talk to to get permission to proselyte there. It was such a cool thing to see the true culture of Fiji in a Koro. Once Elder Grimoud and Elder Mumford get permission they will be able to teach lot of new people there. 

The ward here is great! They are all such good people and are very nice. The church is really new here. The branch president himself is a convert of a year and a half. They are all such good people though and are very humble and want to learn more. Me and Elder Tony have been able to teach lots of lessons already on how specific things should be run. 

Yesterday was fast Sunday here and it was a very uplifting day. The testimonies that were shared were powerful and brought the spirit so strong. Although Sunday is the day of rest, as a missionary it is very busy in a lot of ways. After church we went and visited with a couple families. Then we went and had dinner at the Vosa's house. They themselves are very recent converts and were actually first taught about a year and a half ago by one of my MTC teachers while he was on his mission here! The first time I met them they told me I was family and they have treated me like their son since.  

I think there are twice as many children in Fiji than there are adults haha. There seriously are so many kids. They are all so dang cute and help me a lot with the languages. All they ever want to do is climb on you, play games with you, and ask for american candy. I wish I had brought more stuff with me to give to them. I didn't get to bring hardly anything with me that I wish I could have to given away. Once we arrived in Suva the second flight I took to Vanua Levu I was only able to bring 30lbs with me. And if you guys think that sounds like a lot try and fit everything you need to survive in a bag under 30 lbs. And that includes my scriptures and other books which are probably 10-15 lbs by themselves. It's okay though. I was worried when I first had to leave about 75 % of my luggage at the mission home, but now I'm starting to realize that you seriously don't need as much as you think. It's kinda nice to have everything simplified.

I am so thankful to be a missionary. It is a wonderful experience to be able to bear my testimony of the true church all day everyday. I love the people of Fiji so much. I love this gospel with my whole heart. I have been able to study the Book of Mormon a ton lately and I know that it is 100% true. Without a doubt in my mind.

I love you all. 

Keep telling me how your lives are going!

And especially for those of you I haven't heard from, I want to hear how its going. 

NAMASTE

or 

MOCE TOCA

Elda Hess