Week 12 - Crazy Travel Week

This week was insane!!! After we emailed last week, we went to the church grounds and had a ping pong tournament and played a 4 on 4 game of football. We have Elder Condie as a ZL and he was the quarterback for American Fork and he was way good. After we went from Savusavu to Labasa on Monday night and then had train the trainers on Tuesday. It was way good. The main message for the trainees was to be a sponge and absorb all that we can from our trainers. After we went back to Savusavu so that we wouldn't have to wake up at2am to catch the bus to the ferry. We woke up at 5:30am in Savusavu and took the bus from there to the boat. :) 

We got back to Taveuni Wednesday and Elder Noble decided to wait until the next day to go back down to our area so that he could take one of the Somosomo elders on exchange. So I stayed in Somosomo and helped there. They have 2 golden investigators. One of them, his name is Timoci and they had given him a baptismal date for the 24th of this month but he came in and basically said I am ready right now can we move the date up. So he moved it up to this coming weekend. He his so good!!! Then right after that we went to go see a girl named Asinaca and she had written down all of the questions in the back of the pamphlets and answered them in 2 or 3 paragraphs!!!! Then she told us of an experience she had while she was praying at her house where she heard voices praying with her!!!! After seeing all of these investigators in Somosomo, it just makes me want to find people like that in Vuna!!!!! We have a couple but they are all scared to change because they are Catholic and all of their friends and almost everyone in the village is. It's hard but I bet once we get a couple of people more and more will follow.  

Well, glad to hear that everything is good back in the states. I still haven't seen conference. We have the CD's but they are in Fijian and even Elder Noble says that Fijian is hard to understand. I tried to watch the Saturday afternoon session but gave up because I was sick of hearing the same voice. The whole branch will watch it on November 1st because that is when we can get a TV and a generator to the chapel. Well, I hope all is going good, love hearing from you all and hope your week goes well!!!

Moce,

Elda Brown

On Friday, the school had a track and field day and all of the kids raced. It was cool to watch.

Beautiful pancakes with the mix mom sent and fresh bananas right off the tree. They were AMAZING! 

Week 11 - Exchange Week!

Things have been going really well here in Vuna!!! We had another exchange this week. It was me and the brand new elder, Elder Jonutz from California, in Vuna. Elder Noble had to help Elder Barnaby open up Qeleni so that new missionary's can come in next transfer and have something to work off of. It's crazy that they are trying to run 2 area's at the same time!!! But Elder Barnaby is the man so they can do it. 

Well our exchange was good. I was really nervous because I would be leading everything because Elder Jonutz is fresh out of the MTC. But it turned out to be a great experience. My Fijian and my love for the people grew so much in the 3 days I was with him. By the end I was confident to walk up to someone and talk to them. Maybe I wouldn't understand all of what they said but I can get a lot. We gave out a baptismal date to one of our investigators and she accepted. So hopefully we have another baptism at the end of this month if everything goes according to plan!!!! I hope it does. 

Elder Noble is going to leave this next transfer and it would be good to send him off with a baptism. Me and Elder Jonutz worked really well together. When i would be stumped to say something he would jump in and say like 3 lines but it was enough for me to get back on track and keep the lesson going. It was a very humbling experience. 

So we had the funniest Ward baptism this week. The guy baptizing said the prayer right and everything but then he went to put her under the water and she fought back and wouldn't go under. She wanted to do it herself!!! After about 6 minutes of her fighting and the whole crowd yelling encouragement, the boy baptizing finally just picked her up and they both dove into the water!!! The branch president said it was the funniest baptism he had ever seen, and it was his grand daughter!!! It showed me that Heavenly father does have a sense of humor about some things :)   

For the question of how do we watch conference, I really don't know!! I think we wait for the recordings, then we get a generator and a tv and watch a couple sessions and then just read the rest in the Ensign. 

Well we have some meetings in Labasa this week. We are in Savusavu right now emailing and then tonight we will finish the travels to Labasa. Sounds like everyone is doing good!! I'm happy to hear about the new apostles!!! I can't wait to hear what they said and what else our apostles have to say. Love you all and hope that all goes well this week!!!

Us on the boat this morning headed to Vanua Levu.

Our chapel finally got a sign!!

Week 11 - My First Babtism

Well this week was great!!!! Elder Noble and I were in the service of others this week. The zone goal of saints was struggling. We needed like 8 saints in 2 weeks. So they told all the DL's to work hard and try and get as many as possible. So to help out Matei, we went up to try and solidify a baptism and do the interview and help with a returning member. We went up Tuesday around 5 and planned on going back to Vuna the next morning. Well, the girl who was wanting to get baptized decided to go to Suva for a party. The person we were trying to get back was gone also so we helped them with lessons and trying to get people ready but not much success. Then, I got sick. I went to bed with aches and kinda hot and woke up with a 101 degree fever. So, we missed the bus because I just couldn't move. But i took some pills drank a lot of water and the fever broke about 4 hours later. But we missed all the buses so the Vermeerens took us into Somosomo. 

The next day (Thursday) was their day to drive us around so we finally got to our area and just focused on Caroline. We spent 2 hours their teaching her the lessons. she had been going to church so she knew most of the answers but then Elder Noble interviewed her and she passed! We left and as we were walking Elder Noble told me that she wanted me to baptize her!!! The baptism was on Sunday morning before church so I couldn't wait!!!  The rest of the weekend we checked up on our less actives and couple other investigators. Sunday came and the Vermeerens came and picked us up. We got there and we all changed and walked down to the ocean. The baptism was great! It was the first time that I have baptized and the first time that anyone has baptized in that village. Normally it would be up with the branch but they just opened the group down there so it was the first one. 

We had some changes in the district. Elder Carter and Elder Alonzo left for diffrent areas. Elder Alonzo went to a island that speaks Gilbertise so he will have to forget Fijian and learn that. Elder Sarufa got a Tahitian comp Elder Tera and is senior comp and Elder Barnaby is training a new elder, Elder Jonutz.

Well that was my week. So happy to hear about dads calling!!! And good luck on the hunt!!! Requirement, if you kill a deer I have to see a picture :) Love all of you guys!!!!

Moce,

Elda Brown   

We had to climb down into the ocean and all of those rock where way slippery. I almost fell like 4 times, haha 

Caroline Jane Wils, first baptism in Navakawau

One with us just before we climbed into the water

Waiting for the bus and these 2 ride by. They can't be older then 8!!! And no one else was around!!! 

As we waited for the bus

Week 10

Bula Vina'a!!!!

Hey everyone!!!! Sounds like all is well back in the states. We had a really good week last week. The biggest news I think is that everyone is healthy!!!! Well, except for my comp who is still having some trouble hearing but for the most part we are all back. 

So Tuesday Elder Noble and I got a Ward Missionary to take with us down to our area to evaluate to see if he is ready to serve a full-time mission. His name was Tabua ( pronounced Tambua) but Elder Noble ended up having to leave to go do a baptismal interview in another area so me, Tabua and an Elder from Somosomo, Elder Alonzo, went down to our area to work. Tabua was great! He knows all of the lessons, he has a huge spirit with him, and he got us into 4 houses that we just walk by, talked with them and they all want to take lessons. Probably the biggest is in Navakawau. We have had a referral that is always not ready to see us but he and Tabua got talking and we ended up teaching him the first lesson! We have a return appointment with him and his family!!! So when we went back up to get Elder Noble and give back Alonzo, I talked with Elder Noble and he said that that was enough, we thought he was ready to serve a mission and said he was good. We are really excited to see where he goes.

Then Elder Noble and I went back to Vuna and killed it. He was so relieved to be back in his area we got a saint this week and have a baptism lined up for next week!!! I had a really cool experience out here this week that involved the money that ****** (a friend) gave me before I came, which he told me to put in my scriptures and use in the work. So, this family has been a part member family for 6 or 7 years. The grandma is a really strong member. Her daughter (Arieta) and her boyfriend (Meli) are living their as well with their 4 kids. The oldest just got baptized. Arieta and Meli are not members but the missionary's have been teaching them for about a year now. Arieta wants to be baptized. But they have to get married first and they can't because Meli doesn't have a birth certificate. To get one he needs $40 FJD and go to the town hall, an hour and a half away. We found out last week he has today (Monday here) off from work and can do it but he doesn't have the money. I pulled my comp aside and told him I had money to help and we gave it to them and she now has set a date of Oct 10th for baptism!!! We are so happy!!! Five or six sets of elders have tried and we are finally going to do it. 

So, all is going really well and I am almost able to follow everything in lessons. I can also hold a conversation for about 5 minutes in Fijian. So its all coming slowly but its finally coming!!!! I have also had a couple encounters with cockroaches, the most recent was this morning, I woke up at 3 am to find one behind my ear!!! And they are about the size of a cell phone, so we have fun here in Taveuni  :) 

Well, that's about it for this week. I love all of you guys and love to get emails and hear of all the great things

happening in the states. 

Au lomana kemuni!!!!

Elda Brown

So what do we do when it pours and we have no umbrella?? Grab the closest banana leaf :)

This little boy, Matthew, fell asleep on my leg at one of our dinner appointments.

So after it rained, this is what i saw outside our flat.

Week 9 - Zone Conference

Zone Conference was awesome! We took a boat and a bus up to Labasa (pronounced Lambasa) and we had the conference there. Total it was about 5 hours travel. We had Zone Training Meeting (ZTM) that was fun. The Zone Leaders and the STL trained us, it was great. Then that night we had Unity Night where we basically just played a lot of games and had a lot of fun!!! I saw Elder Aoina from my intake and it was fun to just veitalanoa (swapomg stories) with him. The next day we had the actual conference so we had training's from Pres.Layton and the AP's and that was good. The spirit was way strong. Then the next morning we traveled back to Taveuni. The only bus to the docks left at 3 am so we were really tired when we got back. 

Then the sickness started. Long story short, I spent most of my week in Somosomo with trips to Vuna where my companion and the othr Elders have all been sick and had to come back to Somosomo. So there have been some trials, but I have done a lot of studies this week so that's a good thing that has come out of it. 

Well, that was my week. Sounds like everyone has had a great one back home. With a lot of people leaving for their missions and some people getting calls. It's great! I love all of you and hope to have a better report next week. 

Love,

Elda Brown

This is where we met this Sunday, it is in somebodies house

On the boat to Lambasa

Week 8 - The Pre-Zone Conference Week

This week I kinda led my area. My comp is the DL so he goes on a lot of exchanges. So, I was with two other elders all week. First, the Zone Leaders came in and I went with Elder Condie. We had a lot of fun! He is way cool, he just hit his year mark and he is a zone leader and he is a really good missionary. Elder Condie is from American Fork. He told me a bunch of stories of him just starting his mission and how bad he was with the language etc. and it made me feel better because I was getting down on myself about the language. 

Then one of the elders from Somosomo came down for 2 and a half days. His name is Elder Sarufa. He is from Papa New Guinea and just finished training. So he knows Fijian but he is still learning quite a bit. So I thought we would struggle. We ended up with 5 new investigators, and two of them have a solid baptism date for the 26th!!! They have been coming to church for two weeks and we didn't know!!! They had been going to the group in Navakawau. Their grandma said they want to be baptized and so we have been teaching them and they are awesome!!!! The best I've met so far. So out of all of that craziness we got 21 lessons and 1 saint!!! (a saint is a baptism or a less active that comes to church 3 times and gets a calling) So I am way happy! 

We leave to go to Vanua Levu tomorrow, the big island next to Taveuni, for Zone Conference, I am so excited!! 

Back home it sounds like its a lot of fun and a lot of crazy also different teams playing and people doing really well at sports!!!

I miss and love you all!!!!

Moce,

Elda Brown

Elder Sarufa from PNG

something we eat at the Alafi's, the white stuff is cassava, its a root or Fiji's potato and the soup was like chicken noodle except the bones were still in the chicken and the leaves are dalo leaves

the sele pic I promised!! sele=machete

Week 7 - Set Sarega!

So, this week was crappy then awesome!!!! My comp is the DL so he goes on exchanges with the other areas in our district. So on Wednesday, we went up and switched with the elders on the north of the island. Elder Noble went up and was with Elder Barnaby and I went back down and led Vuna with Elder Carter. He is from Perth, Australia. But he looks white, just has a strong accent. So we had a whole day lined out where we went and checked on less actives and also checked on one of our new investigators. But, they all fell through. No one was home. So we walked forever trying to find some one to teach. We were talking to everyone but they were all working and had no time. The last house we came to we could tell was Muslim and it is way tabu (forbidden) for them to join Christianity, to the point where they get killed. So we turned around to leave but the man called us back. To make a long story short, we taught him and he asked for a Restoration Pamphlet and a BOM. It was awesome!!!! That started the turn around. The next thing was the Alafis, the Branch President in Vuna, have a big family. One of their daughters was baptized with the family but married outside the church moved to Suva and went less active. But her husband cheated on her so she moved back to Taveuni Island to her parents house and we have been teaching her again. Within one week we have taught her 3 times. On Friday, we stole her cigarettes and threw them away. That made her and her mom really happy! She is set to be a returning member next week, and in Fiji, returning members are just like baptisms. So it was a really good week.Oh ya, by the way, the language is coming good to it's all making sense. I even had a dream in Fijian last night!!! It was crazy!!!  :) I love hearing that so many people back home are getting calls and leaving!!! It's so cool to think about. 

Love all of you. Until next week!!!!

Au lomani iko

Moce,

Elda Brown    

 This is one of Dorine's (sister Alafi's daughter) kids. Her name is Bulo and her laugh is the funniest thing!!!

Here we are in the back of a truck going to Navakawau, if we walk it takes a little over 2 hours.

We walk by here every day!!