170 Years, 170 Marching

19 May 2014 - Tiapa Paea
The reason I didn't email last week is because we had a BBQ zone activity. We couldn't keep the coals going, so this photo basically sums up Tahiti and most of my day to day experiences. Yes, the bottom of the BBQ is the wheels from a rolly chair.

Ed. Note: The actual fire container of the gril is the drum from an old washing machine. And the two cooks are not missionaries, but two recent converts.

 These two weeks have gone by pretty quickly. I'm really sad, that the training is coming to an end. We only have 4 more weeks. This is week 9, and its 12 weeks long. I hope I get to train again; I want another go at it. I kinda didn't really figure out how to do it til about 3 weeks in. I'll probably get moved since we are coming up on 4 months here in Tiapa. It's funny, but I'll be kinda sad to leave, I really like the members here-everyone speaks Tahitian!

This week; I don't really have much to report on. Our lessons are progressing nicely, we have more and more every week, and all of our new investigators read the Book of Mormon. I can comfortably have conversations and do contacting in Tahitian now - thank you, gift of tongues.

We had several funny experiences with birds this week. We saw a bird trapped in the chapel. So we went inside to save it. We chased it into a corner then I went and petted it behind the head and around the ears where Zuzu liked to be petted. It went from being all scared to super fluffy.

Then it sat on Elder Smith's finger and we walked outside. But even when we walked outside, it waited with us a couple minutes before it remembered it was wild and flew away.

Then we had another experience with a bird. We were doing a companionship study, and this bird just came into our room. It was chilling under Elder Smith's bed when I noticed it. I secretly told him to give me his camera, then he threw it over and it smashed against the wall. It was pretty funny, the bird then starting walking out after that.

The 170th anniversary of the arrival of missionaries in French Polynesia is this week. So all the stakes and wards are combining together to put on the usually enormous French Polynesian dance-cultural-show-spectacle-thing they always do. I'm pretty excited. The missionaries are going to march in it as well. It's only the missionaries on Tahiti; 170 of us! It'll be cool, but it was really hot while we were practicing marching at the stadium. While there, it was nice to see a pole vault runway - just lets you be at peace somehow.

The box was full of dirt. I don't think it has ever been used. 

The book on a pole vault runway!

In my scripture study I'm at Mosiah 25-26. And I've noticed a huge pattern of authority. They talk very carefully about who had authority, who could baptize, who could give authority, and then how it was used. I really like it. It shows that you can't organize a true church without authority given from God. I just really liked how the people of Limhi had made a covenant with God to serve him, but they realized no one had authority to baptize - let alone organize a church. So they didn't. Pretty powerful.

Here are a couple of beautiful Tahitian sunsets. 
There is a spectacular sunset nearly every night. 

The island you can see is Moorea.