Talofa!

Talofa!

This week has been really good! We have had a lot of our investigators from before either be really busy or dodge us this week. That was not good and it's kind of bad because the three that are doing it the most are from the same church. It's possible someone from their church said something about our church. Hopefully, we'll be able to meet with them and clear up any misunderstandings that may have occurred.

There was some pretty bad weather yesterday that prevented the members and investigators from coming to church. It's unfortunate because our meetings were very nice yesterday especially because one of the stake presidents from Taiwan, Brother Young, came to church this week. He was visiting for some research and saw us walking on the road and we told him about church and he came. He was really cool and had a really nice spirit with him. He reminded me of one of my friends from the University of Utah named Abraham Chung whose father is the area seventy in Taiwan. I asked Elder Young about him and he seemed to know who he was.

We found some really good investigators this week. One man is named Iosua Malona. He knows the bible really well and he pretty much was teaching us the first lesson when we were talking to him before the lesson. I'm really excited to teach him this week because I think it would be really good if he joins the church.

We also visited a lot of our recent converts from the last baptism. We shared with the Tekueia family about temples and they seem so excited to go to the temple. I really felt the spirit as we shared with them about temples and how families can be together forever. I really hope they go through the temple while I'm still in Fiji and that my mission president will let me go to be with them. We'll see!

That's something interesting. We will be having a new mission president this coming june, but who it is still hasn't been announced at least to me. So it will be exciting to see who it is. It's a big job to preside over this mission and requires a lot more creativity and stamina than a lot of other missions because the president here moves practically once every three weeks.

Well today was an adventure. I went and got my hair cut by this really crazy chinese guy. Elder Key told me his last companion had a really bad haircut from this guy. I was worried it would look really bad, but it turned out to be pretty good. I'm not too picky about haircuts. (that's why mom cut my hair almost every time I got a haircut....)

This week has been really good! I really love being a missionary and I'm hopeful that I will be here in Tuvalu for a while. President Ostler told me probably 4 months total. When we go back in two weeks that will be two months. So I probably will come back and be here until May. Then back to Fiji! I actually am saying a fair bit in Tuvaluan this week, so slowly but surely I'll learn this language.

Love you all,
Elder Paul Leland Hill

Back to Tuvalu

Talofa! I'm back in Tuvalu! Short trip to Fiji and then back to this paradise where it is hotter than anything and the air is salty. I really missed it actually. I miss Fiji too. Why is it that we always miss things after we get to be there, but sometimes don't enjoy them enough at the time?

Well this week was really good. We had a few last days to do some shopping in Suva, eat some McDonalds, and then hop back on the plane to Tuvalu. We came back and began setting up appointments and trying to get back into the work. Unfortunately a lot of people were sick or busy and we haven't gotten a lot of lessons in lately. It has been so hot the past few days! Someone should look up the weather and tell me how hot it is. Heidi reminded me that it was 120 degrees in Cordoba when she was there. I don't know what the temperature is here, but I definitely can relate. I am so hungry this week too. I think that's a good sign that my body is ready to gain some weight or grow or something.

A few good things that happened this week in Tuvalu:

We had branch council. This has been the recent focus of the world wide leadership trainings and our mission focus lately. Working effectively with the Branch Council to then do our work. We planned a good picnic coming up and we got back on the right curriculum for priesthood and relief society. (they were using some really old book that wasn't very good....) We had three more people to our branch council this week and that was really great.

One of our investigators, Eti, came to to church this week even though we didn't really invite him or anything. I think his whole family would have come but they were sick.

Also the parents of two of our recent converts are going to start taking the lessons and want to be baptized. If you remember the boy I baptized, Mauesi, they are his parents. I'm really excited for the whole family to be together.

The language actually is going pretty good this week I'm saying more than I used to. I still don't know what's going on sometimes but that is life. President Ostler told me in my last interview that I would probably only be here for four months so that means when we go back for zone conference around my birthday in May, I will probably stay in Fiji. We'll see how it goes, but I might tell President he can leave me here longer if he wants. I might be going crazy by then though... I don't know yet.

I tried to print some pictures in Fiji to send home, but for some reason my memory card wouldn't work in the computers of the one place we always go. I think I'll try again next time, and if it still doesn't work I'll send my memory card home with a few other things that I want to send home, including my first mission journal. Although, I haven't decided if I want to keep my journal here or not.

Thanks for all the emails and stuff. I live for emails in Tuvalu because I don't get to talk to other missionaries or get letters. Me and Elder Key are getting along really well so far in Tuvalu. We sometimes play card games and we've had really good studies here.

Loving you all,
Elder Paul Hill

Zone Conference and jazz

Bula Vinaka!

I can't tell you how good it was to hear those words this week. We came back to Fiji for Zone Conference on Thursday and I had an interview with president Friday morning and then had Zone Conference on Friday. It was really great to see all the Missionaries in our mission. It's weird how the mission changes! I also heard that some things are changing back home. For instance, I heard that NaTasha is engaged! That's kind of weird and I heard that was one of my cousins proposed to his girlfriend this past week. (wow that's kind of cryptic) Weird how things change! People getting married and having babies and dying and I'm here in Fiji. I think I've changed some too...

I hate to say it but I think I lost a little bit of weight when I was sick just barely. Not so much that it's any worry but just enough for people to notice. When I came back to Fiji, Sister Ostler asked me if I'd lost weight. I told her I thought so and she made sure I got an extra cupcake at lunch. YES! I should have lost weight earlier!!! Just kidding. I'm confident my next trip to Tuvalu will be more successful for weight gain! I can only hope.

So my interview with President was really good this week. We talked about Tuvalu and about me learning the language. He told me he thinks I have a gift for languages. I told him it's hard for me to know because I don't know how other people learn. I have had to struggle a lot and there's still a lot of struggle ahead. I feel like the Lord has helped me a lot though to be somewhat successful so far.

This email got interuppted because the internet cafe we were sitting in suddenly crashed and the power went off in the middle of the email. Thank Heavens for Auto Draft Save.

This week in Tuvalu wasn't too exciting, we were just excited to come back to Fiji and see our friends here. We didn't have much work to do because of our recent baptisms and confirmations.

In Fiji, we've been staying in Wainibokasi. I've been here before but just for a week. That week was probably my hardest week so far on the mission but it was really enjoyable to come back to this beautiful place. Some people even remembered me! There's one Samoan lady who was born in Tuvalu that they teach and we taught her when I was here before. She remembered me.

I was on splits with another Samoan elder named Elder Momoisea. He got really sick yesterday though, so we had to give him a blessing in the middle of the night and this morning I had to clean up his puke in the bathroom. He went to the Doctor's today and I think he was just really dehydrated. We'll find out when we see them later today.

So something I have thought a lot about this last week is the principle of sacrifice. When we read about the apostles of Jesus Christ we read that they "straightway left their nets and followed him." They left their families and their livelyhood to follow the savior. Peter says in Mark 10:28-30 "Lo, we have left all and have followed thee." The Savior promised him that they would receive an hundred fold and eternal life for their sacrifice. I was thinking about what I have sacrificed to be here right now. It doesn't seem like that much in comparison. I think it's really merciful how God just asks 2 years of my life and my whole heart, might, mind and strength at this time. It makes me really grateful for the primitive apostles. They had to give up so much to follow the savior. He doesn't ask that much of me so I cannot complain.

I love you all! This church is the kingdom of God on the earth. It says that in the introduction to the Book of Mormon and I think it's so true! I love the Book of Mormon and I love my savior Jesus Christ. He loves us too and knows each one of us.

I love you!
Elder Paul Leland Hill

Baptisms!

Talofa! This week has been stressful and hard but rewarding. Our twelve got baptized! It was such a beautiful service!

In the morning, it was raining really hard and both me and my companion were a bit worried. So we kneeled down and said a prayer and then we got our umbrellas and we went to the chapel for the service. The weather cleared up in time for the baptism and for the tide. Not many members came, maybe 30 or so. The important ones came though. All thirteen of the people getting baptized (One was an eight year old), came to the baptism and were ready to go in white. One of the speakers didn't show up, so last minute I got my scriptures and gave a talk on baptism. Good thing I'm a missionary and can do that without getting too worried. I hope that I can do that for my whole life because it's not good to have to talk and not know what to say. The spirit helped a lot!

We then had the baptism in the lagoon of Tuvalu. Nothing could be more beautiful than the water near the chapel on the lagoon. It was truly beautiful to see 13 new members of the church come out of the water with the confidence that they can receive a remission of their sins because of their Savior Jesus Christ. We then had the testimonies and I haven't felt the spirit that strong for a long time. I was privileged to baptize one of the boys that got baptized named Mauesi. It was really cool, he's a good kid!

Then on Sunday we had the confirmation. It took the entire sacrament meeting, but it was so worth it. President Niko, My companion and I all took turns confirming the new members and giving them the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was really cool to feel the Lord speak through me as I conferred that holy gift upon four of them and as I blessed them with a bright future in Christ.

I still felt sick this week and so we didn't have as many lessons as we would have liked. Also a lot was happening in Tuvalu this week: a funeral, a marriage, and lots of people were sick. That's just how it goes sometimes though!

I feel really good today and I think that it will help me to be more effective to be feeling well again. We're headed back to Fiji this week on Thursday so that will be good. I'll be healthy just in time to go back!

Good week! Thanks for your notes and prayers!

Much love,
Elder Paul Leland Hill

More Tuvalu!

Talofa! This week had a lot of surprises to say the least, but it was still good. This week we had two elders from Fiji come so that they could interview our investigators for baptism. They are both from the United States, one from Ephraim, UT and one from Oregon (I forget which city, maybe Portland). It was fun to have them here!

Well, the biggest surprise this week was that I was unable to work for four days. On Tuesday, I had a little bit of diarrhea and because the other elders were there, I stayed home that day. The next day we woke up really early to walk to the skinniest part of the island (the causeway between two islands actually). I didn't feel very good, but I thought I'd be ok. I had a really bad headache when we went back to the flat and I could tell my head was really stuffed up and I had a little cough. When we got back I just laid down and couldn't get up, I had a fever and just rested for like three days. I really only had a chest cold (we called the area doctor just so he could tell me what to do so I could start feeling better). I was really grateful for the 200 tablets of Ibuprofen I brought from america. It helped me feel a lot better and it helped me manage my fever. I feel quite a lot better today and I think I'll be able to work this week. It was good those other two elders were here to help me and my companion.

Well the other surprise this week was that our baptism on Saturday was postponed due to rough and dirty seas and bad weather. We feel confident though that next week will be clear and beautiful. It should be a really beautiful baptism.

I forgot to mention! The elders from Fiji brought me a really nice package from my family! Thank you so much! I was so pleasantly surprised to find lots and lots of christmas candy and nerds and my favorite reese's pieces (It all was my favorite actually!) My companion and many of the tennants in our building shared with me in the delight of that package. I also enjoyed the CDs that were inside! Especially Joseph Smith a Nashville Tribute.

This week we're hoping for sunshine both for my health, the weather, and for our baptism. I even get to baptize one of the boys named Moesi. I didn't expect to baptize any of them!

I got a lot of emails from you this week and it made me really happy! I hope you have a great week!

Only 10 days until I go back to Fiji, and then we're coming back here quickly I think.

Love you,
Elder Hill