Hello family and friends,
This week was very good! It was fairly uneventful except that we had a big storm yesterday and only 14 people came to church because of it. It was a really good week for finding and teaching investigators though this week. We had a lot more member present lessons this week too, because we're teaching a lot of people who are from part member families and such. So in total we had 23 lessons this week and with the recent convert and less active lessons we had, we taught 27 lessons this week. I'm tired!
I think this week I will tell a little bit about our 12 investigators that are getting baptized this week, so that you can get a feeling for who we're teaching. They didn't get baptized two weeks ago, contrary to what I accidentally wrote. (reasons why I need to proofread my emails number 10) This week is the big week, hopefully. We're hoping the sea will calm down enough for them to get baptized in the sea, otherwise we'll have to postpone it or think of something else. After the big storm this week, the water is very restless both in the lagoon and outside of the lagoon.
So here they are:
The Tekueia family: There are five in the Tekueia family that are old enough to get baptized. The son Teia began coming to church about two years ago. Then the other two sons went to church too. The mom, Patelli, had just started going to church when Elder Key and his last companion Elder Wall got here. They began teaching the family and they were good, brother Tekueia didn't seem very interested. As the teaching went on, however, Brother Tekueia started to change and became interested. Before Key and Wall left, Brother Tekueia came to church and while we were away he quit smoking and the whole family goes every week (they even came yesterday despite the storm.) They are so excited to be baptized and will probably be sealed in the temple in one year's time.
Meli and Jefasei: These are two little girls whose parents are less active members. Their older brother and sister got baptized when Elder Wall and Elder Key were here and now they want to get baptized. Meli is really smart, but Jefasei is really shy. They have younger twin baby sisters that are always walking around naked, it's hilarious.
Moesi, Kalafaga, and Lala: Moesi and Kalafaga just started coming to church because their parents want them to be good kids. They have an older sister whose name is rosemary who really wants to get baptized but had to go back to school on another island before we had time to baptize her (same with Teia Tekueia), but she will be baptized in April hopefully. Lala is their cousin who started coming to church while Kalafaga stayed with her and her family.
Pukeata: Pukeata is interesting. Her baby girl was really sick with heart problems about 2 years ago and she went to every minister and priest from other churches to heal her baby girl. The only ones that helped were our missionaries. They gave her a priesthood blessing and she was healed. Pukeata's husband is a returned missionary but he is always drunk now. She has come faithfully to church for probably 2 years, but has yet to be baptized into the church. Her husband wants to change his life too.
Sister Famanatu: Her story is tragic. Her son died and she needed to have the funeral somewhere. She knows the Branch President so she asked if they could have the funeral at the chapel (we don't have a real chapel, just a building we rent.) She then started coming to church and she really loves the gospel. We gave her an english book of mormon but she didn't really understand it. So she went to the chapel and got her own Samoan book of mormon (the Book of Mormon is not yet in Tuvaluan). She loves the gospel and she's really nervous about her interview, but she'll pass it really well. She's afraid she'll forget something.
Tilia: Tilia is 10 years old and her Father is the 1st counsellor to president Niko. She just wasn't baptized when she was eight. She already knows what we teach her and she's really smart. Her family always gives us iceblocks and ice cream when we go there. It's really fun!
That's our twelve that are getting baptized. I'm really excited for them. We'll get pictures with them, no worries.
Today I went to our Indian Friend Kris and he cut my hair. He's a really good barber and it only cost 4 dollars. What?!
Good week! No worries here!
Love you,
Elder Paul Hill
Talofa! It's been another really great week in Tuvalu! I will admit we had a few desperate days last week where we didn't eat anything but crackers and water until dinner, but the people here in Tuvalu won't let us starve. Then our support finally came in, so it all worked out in the end.
We are still looking forward to the 13 baptisms that we have coming on the 29th of this month and almost all of them have finished the missionary lessons and are ready to be interviewed. Some missionaries were supposed to come from Fiji this week, but it looks like they will have to wait until next week on the 25th. I don't know why but it always seems hard to get a flight to Tuvalu...
This week we had a really good teaching week. We had 29 total lessons for the whole week, which is the highest I've had so far in my mission. We hope to keep it up so that we can really light up this area with the gospel. There's a lot of people that are really prepared. I wish I could share all of the people that we are teaching here in Tuvalu with you, but there is simply isn't time and you would get bored after reading about 5 or 6 of them but I will tell you about a few.
One funny story from this week is we were walking and I heard a little girl call out "Toku palangi tena." I didn't really understand, but Elder Key just started laughing. He said did you know what she said? I said something like there's that white guy or something. He said, "No she said There's my palangi (palangi is what they call white people.)" I just laughed. It was really funny!
There's one really good family that we teach called the Tanendoa family. They have probably 5 or six children that are older, my age or older mostly, and they all still live together. A lot of them are married, so needless to say, there are a lot of people at their house. Well we have been teaching them for two weeks maybe now and they are great. They invited us to a birthday party last week and so of course we went. There was so much food! And I surprised myself by eating a lot (remember we were very poor last week). Then before we left they had cake and ice cream. Well we all got a little piece of cake and then we were supposed to wait. Well me and my companion didn't know so we just started chowing down. Then I noticed that no one else was eating so I stopped, and I looked and Elder Key had eaten some cake too. I was way embarrassed! Then we said something like "Manuia te tausaga." which means like bless this year or something like that. I'm still kind of lost in Tuvaluan. Then the Father of the family ole Tanendoa himself said, "Shove it in!" We all laughed and then I finished my cake. It was really fun!
One really cool person we found this week is a girl named Hsiu. She is 19 years old like me and we were playing four square with some kids one day when her and her friend Precious came and started talking to us. We chatted with them and they told us all about how they were in Assemblies of God members and they really wanted us to study the scriptures with them some time. Then they went to go play volleyball with the youth of their church. We were on that side of the island again another day and we saw them. Hsiu said she wanted to ask a question but she wasn't really sure if she should. WE were worried. Then her question was, "What's the difference between your church and other churches?" What an excellent question!! That's our favorite question actually (ps we got asked that question like 4 times this week. That shows you how prepared Tuvalu and its people are.) So we share with her about prophets and the restoration of Christ's church through Joseph Smith. She really liked it and we're going to see her again this Wednesday.
I can't express how grateful I am to be here. It's surreal to see how the Lord has prepared these people! They are all so hungry for the truth.
Well I love you and I can't express how nice it is to receive your emails, even if they're only a line or two long.
Elder Paul Hill
Talofa! Ea Koutou? This week has been a whirlwind of activity and it really feels more like a month, just because we have done so much! It is still super hot here in Tuvalu! I think the only time I've been hotter than I am here was when I was at Masada in Israel by the Dead Sea. That was drier too... so at least it's a little cooler than that. The sun is hot and maybe my skin is a little tanner I don't know... The ocean is beautiful though, and we get to walk by it every single day. Yesterday when we were taking a break we just sat by the ocean and rested for a little bit, because one of our investigators lives a long way from our house. This week coming is going to be interesting because total assets, Me and Elder Key have about 30 dollars Australian. So it will be an opportunity for us to rely on the Lord and on the members here. Food is pretty expensive here, because everything is imported, so that is where our money got sucked into.
Where to start? I'll start with me learning Tuvaluan. It is coming... very slowly though. Actually, I think I'm quicker than I give myself credit for. I am able to teach principles of the lessons now, very painfully. I think it was easier with Fijian because I didn't know what the real Fijians sounded like so I thought I was better than I really was. Now I am very self conscious because I don't know the grammar or the vocabulary of this language. The Lord is helping me though. It's actually a relatively simple language compared to French and English and all that. Even compared to Fijian, but there is always something hard about a language and this one it is hard to know what all the little words mean in the middle of the words I know. I am reading from the Tuvaluan Bible though and the people here are very helpful with the language so slowly by slowly I am learning.
Our investigators here are really good. There's one woman who I think is in here mid forties or something that we teach who doesn't really know english. Well the only Book of Mormon we have is in English so that's what we gave to her. She decided though that she would understand Samoan better though, so she went and got a samoan Book of Mormon from the church. Then when we came back we were so excited that she had shown such a great desire to read the Book of Mormon and found her own way to do it.
We have twelve investigators that are going to get baptized this week, which is amazing! Believe me, it's not because we're amazing, we try our best, but it is because this Area is just on fire! These people are ready for the gospel. Many feel dissatisfied with their church so they really like the things we teach.
One cool investigator we picked up this week is Kris. We go and eat at this Indian Curry Restaurant every day pretty much because it is cheap and the food is good. The lady who runs it is really nice and she says that we are like her sons because we always come. She really likes when I try to speak Hindi too, even though I hardly know anything. Anyways, her son is Kris. One day we came into the Curry Restaurant to eat and Curry mom asked us if we could teach Kris the Bible, because he's really interested in learning about it. We told her of course we can! So we came back and started teaching Kris about God and Jesus Christ, and he didn't really know any of it! By the end, though he understood pretty well. Well we came back the next time, and he had told his mom that everything was very clear. She said that he talks to Jehovah's witnesses all the time but the things they say don't really make sense, but the things we taught were really clear. I'm excited to keep teaching him.
Today marks one month until we return to Fiji. I'm not really looking forward to going back to Fiji, just because I love this place so much. I am kind of excited though to see other missionaries and to hear a language that I know again. I'm pretty sure I will be coming back to Tuvalu though shortly after our brief visit to Fiji, and it's possible I'll have a new companion. I hope not because I really like my companion now, mostly. Plus, he still needs to teach me Tuvaluan. I need to be fluent!!!
Yesterday we spoke in church and sang. It went really well except the first song. We sang Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy, but I could not remember the tune for the life of me. I also started it too low! Man it was a disaster but then I talked. A little in Tuvaluan but mostly in English and then we sang I'll go where you want me to go. That song went really well! Then my companion talked mixing Tuvaluan and Samoan, and it was really good!
Well I love all of you, and I hope that you'll pray for me to learn this language, because I will need every prayer and every ounce of faith. I know the Lord can help me do it though!
Alofa atu,
Elder Hill
