Tau Lofa

Ok the big news of the week is... I'm being transferred. Not only that, but I'm going to be away from Fiji for a little while. I'm going to Tuvalu! No this is not a joke, and I'm not lying. I am really going to Tuvalu and I will be learning Tuvaluan for the next few months. What the heck! I'm so excited and nervous! I'll mention more about that later, because so many things happened this week!

This week was seriously a really good week! The Lord blessed me so much this week! Elder Reddy was my companion for this last week again while Elder Forbes was companions with my new companion Elder Key. On Tuesday, We got to go to the Suva Fiji Temple. What a beautiful little temple! I felt so at home and at peace while I was in that temple. I just really felt the spirit of the Lord while I was there and it was so refreshing to just step out of the world which we still live in, even though we are missionaries, and to feel the spirit of the Lord and ponder on the love of the Saviour. I know the Saviour loves us so much! I am almost finished reading Jesus the Christ and it is such a remarkable book! The way James E Talmage explains and expounds the scriptures is truly amazing and makes me want to read all of his books when I return home from the mission.

Something else that happened this week is that Elder Reddy my companion was really sick. It was my turn to give back and nurse him back to help after I had my turn a few months ago. When I was sick two months ago, I determined if there was ever a sick missionary that needed their companion to go out into the field that I would take care of them. So that was my experience for the week, but he wouldn't listen to me when I told him just to drink stuff and he would eat too much food and then he'd puke again, I felt a little vindicated that I really did know what I was talking about... but I really wanted him to get better. He is feeling better this week though.

We still got to go and see plenty of people this week one of which is a woman named Rosie and her husband Salesh. Salesh is a taxi driver that has a problem with drinking, but he is a really good man. We went and visited them three times this week and one night Sister Rosie even made us dinner. It's really cool when we find people that seem genuinely interested, and it's always interesting to see what obstacles they face in accepting the gospel and getting baptized.

One day when we went to visit one family who hasn't been coming to church lately, it was really rainy. We were walking down these little cement paths and it was really slick. My companion, Elder Reddy, slipped a little bit and I said something like be careful. Then about 10 seconds later I slipped and fell right on my bottom getting my sulu, my shirt, and my backpack really dirty. I was laughing and so was Elder Reddy and he started calling me Elder Dekkna (Dekkna means be careful in Hindi). We went home and I just hosed clothes off and then had a shower.

So next week there are three baptisms in the Suva 3rd Ward: Sister Ram Pati, Sister Isabelle, and Chris. Of course, I am getting transferred right when our area is really blossoming, but I will accept the Lord's will. He knows what I need to make me stronger. I was really excited because Chris, a nine year old boy, wanted me to baptize him. Elder Forbes and I have been teaching him for like 2 months now. Something really sweet and funny about him is that he had no middle name. So his auntie, who is more like his mom, decided to combine mine and elder forbes's name for his middle name. His name will now be Chris Tirohanga Hill Mototabua. (Tirohanga is Elder Forbes's first name)

I will really miss this ward so much. Yesterday I kept joking with people saying "I'm the Elder that is going to Tuvalu." We knew someone was going to Tuvalu, but I really didn't think it would be me so I thought it was pretty funny. Until it came true... Elder Forbes was on the phone and he was like take a wild guess where you're going Elder Hill. I said "I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying here." Well four phone calls later and after hearing it from the zone leaders... it was confirmed that I really am going to go to Tuvalu.

I have worked with my new companion a lot before, because for the first week of my mission in Fiji, he was with me and Elder Forbes. His name is Elder Dyron Key. He is from Samoa and he is a really hard worker. He is a really good missionary so I am so excited to be his companion. He already knows Tuvaluan because it is a lot like Samoan. So He will help me a lot. He said there are nine baptisms waiting for us as soon as we get to Tuvalu. They are just a branch now, but hopefully they will grow to a good sized ward.

We won't be leaving for Tuvalu until December 28 or something like that, so I'll still be in Fiji for Christmas and then I won't be back in Fiji probably until the end of February, we'll see how it goes. I will still be able to email in Tuvalu and it is a pretty civilized place, so don't worry mom we will still be in touch.

Well I love all of you! Hopefully this random spurting of information still made sense. I'm just so excited and in a daze today! Wa hooo!!!

'Afu Atu (I don't know if that's Tuvaluan, but it's Tongan and Tuvaluan is like a mix of Tongan and Samoan),
Elder Paul Hill