BULA VINAKA EVERYONE!!

 

This week has been wonderful. The rain has slowed down a little so we actually got to go out and teach! yay!!  We've been super busy with all the new people we have.  We got six new investigators and six more solid referrals last week!! All you RM's know how awesome that is :D  We have one investigator with a baptismal date and another who will hopefully have one by the end of this week. We'll see.  All I can say is that its gonna be a crazy busy week and I hope we survive!! 

On Tuesday we had exchanges with the sister training leaders, so I had a different companion for a day.  It was fun to teach with her and I learned a lot, but I was so happy to see Sister Maile when she got back.  We work so well together and I'm so grateful I got her as my trainer.  We have been out working a lot more now that we know the area better, and have had some fun finding "shortcuts" the locals tell us about. (FYI: not all of them should be used when its raining. lol!)  We've had some pretty close calls. :P   The members are getting more used to us and have been more willing to help out, thank goodness!!
 

Noteworthy stories for this week: chasing geckos around the flat, taking the wrong bus and ending up back where we started, lots of slip and near falls from all the mud (found out I can almost do the splits lol!) playing baseball with the elders in ankle deep mud, running from the neighborhood dogs. you get the idea.  Lots of awkward moments that are bound to happen if I'm around lol! 

The work is really getting going in this area and we're doing well, but there is still sooooo much to be done.  I hope we can whip Tamavua into shape and get some baptisms before I have to leave. 

That's it for now!  I'm out of time. 

Love ya!! 

Sister Pyne

Suva North Zone Conference

Bula everyone!! 

This week was pretty interesting. it was raining constantly and we had a cyclone warning so we were stuck inside for most of the time.Needless to say we got a little cabin fever, which resulted in reorganizing everything, drawing pictures, singing to modernized primary songs, and lots of fun memories.  

We got a lot of referrals last week so we had plenty of people to call while we were in weather quarantine. our newest investigator is Susan. She lives at the end of our street in a small tin house. The nearby village owns the land and she has been living there for about a year, making a small 'plantation'. She's 60 something and lives by herself, except for her dog. (he's pretty mean and has sent us running for cover more than once lol! ) Susan is amazing!! She's Methodist, but her brother and son are both members and she is very willing to learn. she actually asked for a Book of Mormon within the first 5 minutes!! She is so nice and has had really good questions for us to discuss with her. The other day we spent almost two hours just talking about things she read! We are super excited about her. We also had the opportunity to go visit some people in the local hospital. a member from another ward is in the hospital and contacted the mission office about bringing some things to the hospital for him. We thought it was just to keep him busy so we got some ensigns and a Book of Mormon for him. Turns out, he needed teaching pamphlets! While he's been there he's been teaching anyone in his hall who will listen and has a whole group of new investigators for us :D How awesome is that !! It's definitely the coolest story of the week. It's amazing that he could turn to spreading the gospel when he's sick and away from home. Hopefully we will be able to get contact info for all the people there and get it to their area missionaries! 

We also had zone conference this week. it was really nice to meet everyone and get some training. plus the lessons were all exactly what we needed! We've been having trouble getting the ward involved in missionary work, even the ward council! almost everything we talked about in the conference applied to member relationships and using them to do missionary work. We've already benefited a lot from what we learned. 

I think that's it for now, not many note worthy stories this week. I hope everyone is doing something fun to kick off summer! Fill me in on your adventures! :D 

Love,
Sister Pyne

 

Better pic of Sister Maile.  She hates pictures...I had to sneak up on her!

My "pet" cat, still no name.  He lives under the porch and we give

him some of the less edible things we get from members. LOL!

Our bedroom (notice "Snowy" on my bed.  He goes with me everywhere!)

My study desk
 

Our fabulous kitchen.  This used to be the senior missionaries flat.

This is the main room, there's a hallway that goes past our bedroom, the spare bedroom, the laundry room and bathroom.

The wall outside our compound.  Does that make you feel better mom? Lol!

Our Street
 

My companion
 

Bula!! 

the past week has been interesting. we met some new investigators that are going to be wonderful, and got some referrals. but others have said they dont want lessons anymore, so thats a bummer. everyone here keeps asking for the elders and where they went. people in fiji are so nice, that even if they dont want to join the church, they let you in and have you come back just to visit. some of the past elders "golden investigators" that they spent months with have told us flat out that they only took the lessons to get to know the elders. super frustrating. we're pretty much starting from scratch. 

since we didnt have very many appointments this week, we spent most of our time visiting the members in the ward and getting to know them. there are alot of inactives or less actives in our area so we're focusing on them for the moment. 

one of my favorite families are the Racule's. theyre one of our dinner appointments every week, and have been super helpful. one son just got back from his mission (he got called as our new ward mission leader yesterday :D ) and another just got his call last week so they area really interested in the missionary work in the area. we stop by whenever we're in the neighborhood, and they help us find the investigators houses. another great family are the samisoni's theyre a recent convert family and are so amazing!! they live pretty far out, and its an adventure getting to their house every week. both parents grew up as members but stopped going when they were young. because they know what life is like without the gospel, they are so strong now. they have three young boys, and all of them love reading the scriptures, are super polite, work hard and always participate in lessons. they are so willing to learn. definitely my favorite family. 

now for the news of the week. we spoke in church yesterday :D one of the counselors called us during a dinner appointment on tuesday. a minute or two later the phone rang and one of the daughters picked it up, talked for a bit, then ran into another room and started screaming/crying! turns out she got asked to speak too lol! it was pretty funny. we spoke on forgiveness. surprisingly i wasnt nervous at all, and actually had to cut off the end of my talk because i went over 10 minutes! how crazy is that!  definitely had alot of help from the spirit. 

funny events of the week: i kinda have a pet dog! we named her lia. she is super sweet, waits for us at the gate every morning and walks us to the main road. she comes when we call her and even chases off the scary neighborhood dogs! 

a few days ago, we were having dinner with a part member indian family and got in a discussion with the husband about his belief in the bible. he said he doesnt believe the bible because there and no dinosaurs in it. lol!! apparantly his hindu books talk about dinosaurs. because we know they existed he thinks that them not being included is proof that the bible is false. crazy huh!! super fun discussion about that after . . . .lol!

other than that, its just been an adventure of new foods, geckos in the flat, crazy bus rides and trekking through 'short cuts'. still loving fiji and and loving the people.

thats it for now!! hope everyone is doing well! 

love ya! 

Sister Pyne