Monday, April 8, 2013
04/08/2013
Well this week has been quite grand,
and it finished very nicely with general Conference! For the first time in my
whole life I thought that all the talks were too short!! It was really weird.
Here Elder Joly and I had to wake up at 5:30am in order to get up and ready for
when conference starts at 6. It was in a little room in the chapel, because for
me, I wanted to hear it in English and understand every word. I started this
Conference off a little different too, I started with a prayer before each
session. Being a missionary out here in Tahiti and learning practically
everything that has to do with this gospel all over again has really helped me
understand how necessary all of it is in our lives!! So I took advantage of
every second of conference. I only wrote down the things the spirit told me to,
so for me this past conference was very edifying.
As
you can see by my notes, excuse the handwriting, It was early and my
handwriting stinks anyway... I bet you can tell what my question was! And as
you can see by my notes, I definitely received many answers! It was such a
blessing! I missed going to priesthood with all of the Fyffes, It’s a tradition
that I will love to get back into when I’m home! Saturday morning during the
second session, I got a text from one of our investigators saying that he has
to cancel his baptism because of family issues, It was a real bummer during
conference, but the talk right after talked about how there is a time and a
season for everything. So I gained hope again! It really pulls your heart
strings when you create a bond with the investigators and you see them not
doing so well. It just makes you want to work harder and harder! And sometimes
slap them and say," what are you doing?! Don’t you know this is your
salvation you’re playing with?! Little Stinker...." It’s hard not to do
that sometimes, because I really do love every single one of our investigators
like family! Anyway, enough about violence.
This
week I have also spent a lot of time in the trees, I’ve been climbing palm trees getting lunch for
elder Joly and I, and then have been finding refuge in the trees away from all
the heat. Also I ate a delicious avocado stuffed with shrimp and other
delicious things. I really am blessed to serve the people of Tahiti! The last
Picture is of Lewis again, he was staring at me the whole time like that during
the last session of conference, very hard not to laugh, he’s the best haha.
Anyway, if you guys don’t already know it, this church is true! I love you all
and stay safe!
Monday, April 1, 2013
04/01/2013
Great
week again! It went by fast but that’s because I’m working hard I guess. Is it
a bad thing that I wake up excited to go back to sleep that night? I’m just
tired a lot here haha. I continue to love every second of this mission, I learn
something new every day and I continue to grow spiritually and physically each
day. Last week at our zone conference I was talking to Elder Millet and he was
surprised of how much I’ve grown already. My pants are slowly turning into
floods! Oh for some other exciting news, our house was broken into while we
were out the other day! Thank goodness nothing was stolen, I believe that they
were just looking for our bikes, the whole experience scared the crap out of
Elder Joly and so that night he didn’t get any sleep. Of course I slept like a
baby and laughed at him in the morning when he told me that he didn’t sleep
because he kept hearing "noises."
I
had a cool experience this week during one of our lessons, Moana (one of the
very first lessons I ever taught) told me that he has seen a huge improvement
with my French since I have arrived here. The lesson was on the topic of
fasting and during the lesson I felt prompted to tell him that I would fast for
him, so that his situation would allow him to be baptized. At the end of the
lesson he told me that during the many years that he has been receiving the
lessons, he has never met a missionary who cared about him as a human being.
All the other missionaries would just teach him the lessons. He thanked me and
told me that I was sent to Tahiti just for him :) I love my mission!! Also
during another lesson with a youngn of the age of 14, for some reason he thinks
I can’t speak French or something because he always asks me questions through
Elder Joly! But after the lesson, I asked Elder Joly what he asked and he said
that Manea (the youngn) always asks why I am so happy and kind haha. Elder
Joly says he asks that every time! Phuni kid...
Anyway,
for the adventures this week, I had a lot of phun on a teeter-totter by myself
between a lesson one evening, then during a talent show I took a picture of
Lewis, an awesome handicap in one of our wards during another talent show, the
whole time he was creepily looking at me from behind the curtains, then just
some beach shots, then a picture of one of my new favorite languages, Bislama.
The picture was taken of one of their hymn books. My favorite song is the
fourth from the last! Anyway, this week has been great, almost died a few times
again, but God keeps me alive because I have a mission to serve! I love you all
so much, stay safe!
Elder Fyffe
Monday, March 25, 2013
03/25/2013
03/25/2013
This
week has been really awesome, I taught a lesson to our district this past Friday,
and everyone was impressed with my courage to do that, being that it’s been
only about two months that I’ve been out here and not even the missionaries who
have been out here for 6 months want to do that. But my saying is "just go
with it" or in French, "faire avec" so I’m happy to take any
challenge or calling, no matter how impossible it may seem at the time with my
knowledge of this gospel or the language. It’s always just an opportunity to
grow, so I’m always thankful!
Also
on Saturday we had our first baptism! For Nicola, he’s a friendly giant, and
throughout the whole service he was crying because I’m guessing he was feeling
the spirit so strongly. You would all be so surprised of the support the wards
and families give here. The chapel was full with members and non-member for his
baptism! I think there were actually more people there for his baptism, than
there were for church the next day! Also to congratulate him for being the
newest member of the ward on Sunday after his confirmation, everyone lines up kind
of like at a wedding reception and one by one places a shell necklace around
his neck and kisses him once on each cheek. It’s really cool to see the
different traditions here and the love everyone has for one another!
Here
another crazy fruit this week, it’s called pomme cannelle, it tastes a lot
like mango and you eat it kind of like a pomegranate. Also there is a picture
of my tan line, and then one of me sitting on a bridge while Nicola was getting
interviewed for his bapteme. And then just a picture from last week’s meeting
that I forgot.
I
only have one month left with Elder Joly, and then I will get a new companion. It’s
crazy how fast the time flies, it kind of sucks at the same time because you
just start to get really close to the person and then you have to change! But
by the time my mission is over I will have a lot more friends from all over the
world! In our wards there are about 400 people, 200 in each, it’s pretty small
here, but it’s really Phuni because each of them pronounce my last name
differently! It’s not even that difficult, but they say things like; Fight,
Fifi, fy, Fisse, Fiya and feef. I just let them have their phun because it’s
really hard to pronounce their last names too haha.
Anyway,
my time is almost up so I will say goodbye now. I love you all so much; I hope
you are staying safe! oh and dad, I think I am good on supplies right now, the
mission takes care of most of that stuff, But i do have a question, what do you
want me to do with my bike after the mission? Bring it home or sell it here? I
love you guys so much and can’t wait to hear from you later!
Elder Fyffe
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
03/18/2013
03/18/2013
Sorry I dont have time to write this week because of a meeting we had
this morning with a member of the 70 that just finished, but I am alive and
well! here are some pictures! guava fruit, an Indian dance that the relief society in one of our wards did for a talent show!!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
03/11/2013
03/11/2013
I’m
glad that you are all living and doing well, thank you for all the pictures, I
saved a few and put them on my camera so that I can show the members here. They
always like to look at the photos on my camera and tell me that my family is
beautiful. That I look a lot like my Mom, that it’s strange how tall and dark I
am compared to my Dad, and how pretty my sister is. All the boys ask me to tell
my sister that they are single. Its Phuni, just goes to show you that my
sisters beauty is universal! Everyone thinks she’s beautiful here in Tahiti!
This
week has been really slow, not a lot of work because there was a death of a
member here who had been in bad health for a while now. Like I’ve said before,
everyone here is family, when there’s a birthday, the whole world is at the party
and when there is a funeral, the whole world and a few other worlds are there
to support the family. I love the people here and how much love they have for
each other.
I’m
still confused on where people live, everyone is always over at another
member’s house, so when Elder Joly leaves and I am left here to fend for
myself, I have no idea how I am going to find my way around! I’m thinking there
will be a lot of contacting for the first little while haha. Yesterday I was
asked to give a lesson in English; holy cow was that hard... I thought that it
would be easy for me since that’s my native tongue, but the first words that
left my mouth were French... and that happened a lot during the lesson. It’s so
hard to speak English! I actually prefer to speak French, even though it’s a
lot harder to express my thoughts, and the fact that I don’t know all the
vocabulary yet. But I am more comfortable speaking French. It’s really a
blessing and a testimony builder each time I notice how difficult it is to
speak English!
Personal
revelation has played a huge role in our lessons lately. We had a member
present in one of our lessons and she opened the Book of Mormon to a random
page and read the first scripture that she saw and it fit the lesson and
situation perfectly! It was crazy! I love the miracles that I get to witness
each day. I love the change I get to see in the lives of the investigators. I
love all of my trials that I get to deal with each day, because I get to become
stronger. I love my mission and most of all, my Savior! I love you all more
than three languages can express! Je vous aime!
Ua here au ia outou! I love you!
Elder Fyffe
Orometua Fyffe
Here are the photos for the week.
Just a few doodles that I have found the time to make, and a cute little boy
who found my shoes in the middle of a lesson and hid them.
Monday, March 4, 2013
03/04/2013
03/04/2013
YO Hey!
Ya
for me this week has passed rather slowly but hey, all in all I have been here
for almost 4 months! That has gone by fast! This week was a lot of phun, my French
is getting better little by little. It’s really phuni how the mind works. Last
night the family we ate dinner with asked me to say the prayer in English
because their daughter is going on the Salt Lake City south mission soon. But
when I was praying I couldn’t remember how to talk in English! I kept saying French
words and the syntax of my sentences were in French too! This language is
taking control of my mind! I’m scared to think of how bad it will be at the end
of my mission!
I’m
more than half way done with Jesus the Christ, gotta say, I love that book!! It’s
so good! I read it almost every day. It’s helping me get a stronger
relationship with my savior which is much needed for me because before I didn’t
really know him too well other than the atonement and that he performed miracles.
But through that book I get a ton of details and I can see with much more depth
of how amazing of a person he is! He really is perfect. Every step he took and
every word he spoke was on purpose and was all to accomplish his works on
earth. It’s amazing to read and learn more and more about him. Thank you Cyndy
and Peter Woodman for buying me that book! It’s helped me so much out here; I
love you both and miss your amazing family!
This
Sunday was again fast Sunday and a member in the ward bore testimony of Elder Joly
and I and how we have changed her life. She was our faatamara for last Tuesday.
She chose that date because it was her daughter’s birthday! There was another
reason why she chose that date, because her husband has never allowed the
missionaries to visit him. Whenever she set up a date for the missionaries to
come, he always found an excuse to not be there. But this time he had no
excuse, it was his daughter’s birthday! So after the dinner Elder Joly and I
shared a lesson about eternal families and then bore testimony and left. But
the next day she told us that after we left he talked to her more about the
lesson and said that he really liked it! So for her a door of opportunity was
opened, thanks to the missionaries. It may not seem like much right now, but it’s
a beginning, and for her it means the world. At least that is what she said in
her testimony! One other thing that
is awesome this week is that I finally ate dog!! It was good but
definitely a unique flavor. Kind of like chicken mixed with pork.... But other
than those little stories I don’t have much else to say this week! The pictures
that I have are of the lucky coin that I always have with me thanks to Austin! And
a marriage that Elder Joly and I went to this past Friday. It was really
pretty, and all the greenery was picked right in the back yard of their house! It’s
raining really hard right now and I have to use the restroom... Add the two
together and you get one big GOODBYE from Elder Fyffe! I love you all so much!
Stay safe and stay strong!
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