The first week here in Taveuni has been so crazy busy! We had a few service projects this week, which included helping clean the chairs at the chapel, and also helping an investigator start setting up a library at the school where she taught for a few years! It was pretty cool, we helped label all the books by their authors so that they could start putting them on shelves and things, and it was great because we got to get to know our investigator, Elena, a little bit better, so that was fun!
We have had lots of teaching opportunities this week, with lots of investigators as well as some less active members. We have been really lucky to have a few Return Missionaries visiting their families these past few weeks so they have been able to help us reactivate some members and also help us teach some of our investigators. Two of the kids in our branch are waiting to get their mission calls, one should be coming this week and the next one should come in a month or so. And there is one sister heading off to New Zealand, and another Elder going to Ghana within the next month!
Taveuni is still beautiful. We had a pretty crazy week with the weather, it's been SUPER windy the past few days. I almost thought one night that it was going to blow our roof off! But then the next day it was back to normal. One day, it was sunny outside, but still raining, and the wind was blowing so hard, all at the same time! It was pretty crazy haha! My Fijian is still pretty much what it was in the MTC…I'm convinced that the dogs and roosters here in Taveuni speak better Fijian than I do! OH YEAH I forgot to mention, there are roosters and chickens EVERYWHERE out here! And, if you ever thought that a rooster was beautiful, you haven't seen anything until you see these bad boys out here! And I never thought I'd say that a rooster was beautiful…but I'm saying it now!!! One night we were walking through the villiage, and these two boys were holding a rooster. Of course I went over to them to pet the little guy, and then they threw him over to this other rooster and they started fighting!!!! And the one that lost...well that was their dinner for the night...haha
Our investigators are doing well! We have one baptism coming up this Sunday for a boy named Vuki, and then within the next few weeks we have 4 more baptisms. It's been such a sweet experience to be able to teach these people about the restored gospel, and watch them as they come unto Christ! Which is basically the purpose of a missionary, to invite people to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel. And so as their testimony grows of Christ, it's such a beautiful thing to watch as they follow His footsteps and want to live the gospel. We actually taught one boy yesterday, Paul, who from the very beginning of the lesson told us that he wanted to go on a mission, and he isn't even a member yet! Dang, that lesson was so powerful, and he was so ready, he's getting baptized August 31!!! Woohoo!!
Anyways, I wish I could send home pictures, but the internet here is not great and if you try to send pictures you get a virus and lose all your pictures, so I'll send my memory card home when it gets full. I'm still really white, and my Teevas are great. Everytime I walk down the street, I hear a kid yelling "Kai palagi, kai palagi!" which is saying like white person...so then I yell back "WHERE?!?!?" and look around all shocked...it gives them a laugh.
I hope everything is going well at home. Shout out to Grandma Great for turning the big 95! Happy birthday Grandma! Also shout out to my homegirl MEGAN OLSEN going on her mission to Oaxaca Mexico! You'll be great, Meg!
I love all of you!
Love
Sister Trammell
