LAST WEEK IN THE USA

  We got to video chat with Jordan on Friday for his last P-day at the MTC, which happened to also be....Ashley's birthday!! The last of our 3 October birthdays! He called a little bit after Ash got home from school, so she got first dibs on talking with him :)

 Then I got a turn and he told me all about how his Tahitian teachers, who are recently returned missionaries from Tahiti, have been telling them all about Tahiti and showing them pictures from their missions, and giving them tips. He said it sounds so crazy and so awesome! He said the pictures were so beautiful that it looked like they were in front of a green screen with computer enhanced images behind them! One tip they told him was to spread the food out on his plate and eat very slowly, because if you clean your plate too fast, or it looks like you didn't get enough, then they'll just keep piling the food on! And it's hard to tell them you're too full, haha. There's a funny story about that in his email below. He was told that they eat a lot of rice and fish. Their most popular dish is Poisson Cru, which is raw fish cut up into cubes and mixed with coconut milk and lime juice. Sounds interesting, and not necessarily in a good way - but they all say it's so good and quickly became their favorite! Another thing they eat there a lot is fafaru, which is the raw guts of fish placed in a glass jar full of salt water, and set out in the sun for weeks. I've heard the smell gets so strong that you can smell it just by walking down the streets if someone is making it at their house. When they are ready to eat it, they get fresh raw fish and slice it into strips, and put it in another glass jar of salt water, then pour the aged fish guts, liquid and all,  into that new jar with the fresh raw fish, and set it in the sun for anywhere from 2-3 hours, to 2-3 days. This, he was told, is down right terrible. You hope you get it after it's only been sitting out for a couple of hours, because it's not as awful as when it sits out for days - but in any case it's bad. There's no way around it. The locals will ask you first if you eat it, and of course you say yes! Because eating their homemade fafaru is such an honor and they will love you like family if you do! You just pray they don't put too much of it on your plate, haha! One teacher said his stomach was torn up for the first couple of weeks from all the raw fish, but then his system got used to it and he was fine.  Jordan said they showed him pictures of so many different fruits too, many that he had never seen before and is excited to try! If you don't know, Jordan LOVES fruit. It's his absolute favorite. So that will be great for him!

 Another thing they talked to him about were the coconut trees. They are everywhere, and the coconuts are huge! And they randomly will fall from the trees, so you have to be careful not to get hit by them! He said they have competitions there for cracking open coconuts, and that they will get really good at it! They'll learn how to open them so they can drink the water and eat the inner flesh. Apparently, as soon as a coconut falls from the tree, it starts to plant itself and take root, growing into another coconut tree. If you find one that has fallen recently, and has just started to plant itself, then when you crack it open, there won't be any liquid - but instead it'll be full of white spongy stuff, that has soaked up all of the liquid, and that, his teacher said, is the yummiest thing to eat on earth! I can't wait for Jordan to try all of this and tell us what he thinks!

 Jordan has enjoyed his last week at the MTC. He said they are starting to put up Christmas lights all around! He's been having fun with the friends he's made with some of the other missionaries in his district. I hope they'll get to serve in some of the same areas during their missions.

Jordan has always made good friends with girls :) He thinks they're so fun.

Jordan sent this picture and told me it was taken in Tahitian class when they were practicing sentences on white boards. They had to write one sentence that said something they like and one saying something they don't like. 

Jordan wrote,"I like prayer" and "I don't like leprosy"  - Hahaha!! 

Glad he can be silly and make class fun!

He received his travel plans, and said that every missionary assigned to Tahiti, in both districts, had their travel Visa's approved and are able to go to Tahiti all together! This will be a large group of Missionaries - there will be 17 of them going to Tahiti together! Their travel day is this Monday(!!!), so keep them in your prayers for safe travels that day! They check out of the MTC on Monday morning at 6:15am (Utah time), then head to the Salt Lake City airport where they'll fly to Los Angeles. They have a 4 hour layover in L.A., but I guess they're all excited about having time to eat at Cafe Rio and Chick-fil-A at the airport, haha - Their last American meal! Their plane leaves L.A. at 4:40pm (California time) and they arrive in Papeete, Tahiti at 9:45pm (Tahiti time - 3 hours ahead of California - same as Hawaii time) So it's an 8 hour flight from L.A. to Tahiti.

 When they arrive, they head straight over to the apartments that are next to the Mission Home (where the Mission President and his wife live) which happens to be right next to the Temple there! And they crash for the night. The next day they eat breakfast and lunch at the mission home, and they welcome them and talk to them about things, etc.. and then they meet their Trainer's and get assigned to their areas, and go! They are assigned to anywhere in French Polynesia - and it's a huge area, including many many islands. I am so excited to find out where Jordan will be assigned! Once there, he will serve the people there for several weeks, and then be reassigned to another area. This is called Transfer's and will happen regularly throughout his Mission. So he will get to serve in many different areas. It'll be so exciting to see all of the different areas he goes!


We took one last selfie (missing Ty who was at football) and said our goodbye's since we don't know when we'll be able to talk again. Hopefully he will at least be able to email us when he gets there. And hopefully he'll be assigned to an area where we can video chat. But his new P-day in Tahiti will be Mondays, and since this Monday is his travel day, then we may not hear from him until the following Monday. I'll post anything I hear though :)

Here's Jordan's last email from the MTC!


LAST WEEK IN THE USA

 Iaorana! This has been a crazy week. My teachers have been showing us pictures and telling us stories from their missions in French Polynesia, and it is the craziest thing! I am literally going to be on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean in a few days!!! I'm really nervous, but also excited! They've also been telling us tips for what to expect and some things to prepare for, like how the people (members and non-members alike!) will literally keep feeding you eternally and how you need to eat really slowly so they don't just keep refilling your plate hahaha. Frère Peck said one time, he ate a meal and was SO FULL, and then they gave him a banana to eat so he ate it, but he was like bursting at the seams, and then they just kept giving him bananas until he had eaten SEVEN!!! Hahaha so that'll be fun, but really it's humbling, I'm grateful for people who give all that they have to the missionaries even though they have next to nothing.

We had an amazing devotional on Tuesday by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He spoke about the process for how the apostles assign missionaries to a certain mission in the world (it is so inspired), and he brought original documents from the Church Archives, including the original manuscript written by Oliver Cowdery himself as dictated by Joseph Smith directly from the Golden Plates for Alma 34 (THE ATONEMENT), printer's manuscripts for Alma 34 and 3 Nephi 16, and an original 1830 copy of the Book of Mormon. While the artifacts were cool to see, what hit me most was 1) the divine origin of the Book of Mormon (Joseph Smith could not have POSSIBLY written this book in 60 working days in a single perfect draft. He was translating by the power of God), and 2) how much Joseph Smith and other saints sacrificed for what they knew to be true. He was willing to be tortured and hunted continuously, watch family members and close friends die, and then die himself. All just for a book. Whether you believe in it or not, there has got to be something really peculiar about it or else the world would not go to such lengths to continuously try to destroy it. "However, it was nevertheless a fact that I had beheld a vision. I have thought since, that I felt much like Paul, when he made his defense before King Agrippa, and related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light, and heard a voice; but still there were but few who believed him; some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad; and he was ridiculed and reviled. But all this did not destroy the reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had, and all the persecution under heaven could not make it otherwise; and though they should persecute him unto death, yet he knew, and would know to his latest breath, that he had both seen a light and heard a voice speaking unto him, and all the world could not make him think or believe otherwise." JSH 1:24 (25 is great as well). I know that his testimony is true and I hope that if such lengths were taken against me to destroy my beliefs I would be able to similarly die proclaiming "O Lord, My God!"

The MTC has been a really wonderful experience and I'm excited to get out into the field to help people come unto Christ through His restored gospel.

À bientôt les États-Unis! Tahiti, here we come.

(See you soon the United States!)

Elder King/Elder Roi/Orometua Arii

 Click this link for a video tour of the Provo MTC where Jordan has been the last 9 weeks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV5bAl549Qc