Reo Tahiti Week 2!!!

 October is in full swing, which means we are in constant birthday party mode at our house :)

We got to video chat with Jordan twice again this week because of Tyson's birthday this time!
Again, Jordan called right as we were singing to Ty, so it worked out perfect for him to join us.

He and Ty got to chat one on one for a while, which made me so happy.

 I got to talk to Jordan longer on his Friday P-day, and he is still as happy as ever. We are cherishing these video chats more and more since we're not sure what to expect once he's in Tahiti. Depending on where he is assigned, he may or may not be able to video chat. But I know it won't be forever, and he will transfer all around to different places during his mission. But for now, we've loved this consistency of being able to video chat every week :)

He said that his district is super musical (perfect for Jordan!) so they like to go to the piano and he will just "play whatever" and they'll all stand around and sing. He said it's so great! I know he was missing that so much, so I am so happy he found a piano to play and his district enjoys it too! He misses his acoustic guitar very much still, but the piano has been so great. 

 Jordan didn't send any pictures with his email this week! So I was able to ask him about that when we talked, and he said he doesn't know what to take pictures of! Haha - He's been at the MTC for 8 weeks and couldn't think of anything new! I'm sure it all just feels like the same ol' thing after that long. I told him to take his camera with him after our chat and just take one picture for me - of anything!! And about an hour or so later, this is what he sent:

Isn't it perfect?! I love that he chose to take a pic of this!

 Now he has a picture to help him remember how much that piano at the MTC meant to him. 

 Jordan is getting very excited about going to Tahiti so soon! He will be getting his travel plans any day, and is expecting to be leaving with his district on Monday Oct 21! That means this coming Friday will be his last P-day at the MTC!! His new P-day in Tahiti will be on Mondays, but since he is traveling there on Monday, I'm not expecting to hear from him until the following Monday. Unless the Mission President there let's them send a quick email to their families. I follow the Tahiti Mission Facebook page, and they are good about posting pictures of the new groups of missionaries when they arrive, so I will definitely be watching that page closely! And I'll share any info about him here. 

 Jordan said this past week they have been learning a lot about Tahiti from their Tahitian teacher, who served a mission in Tahiti so he knows all about it! He's been telling him how incredible the people and culture are there. They have been going over safety and other things as well. It has all been making him so excited!! I read in a news article that Dengue Fever is so bad in Tahiti right now, that they have declared it an epidemic.... this is a sickness you get from mosquitoes, and there is no vaccine for it currently. It feels like severe flu for two weeks. Of course this makes my Mama heart worry!!!  I asked Jordan if they had talked to him about that at all, and he said yes - but he's not worried! He just shrugged his shoulders and said "It's all part of the experience!" He is just so excited to experience it all! The good and the bad. The incredible and the uncomfortable. The 1st world beauty of Papeete Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Moorea, and the more 3rd world conditions of the smaller, outer islands of French Polynesia, such as the Marquesas. He knows The Spirit will be with him and all will be well. His faith is stronger than his fear. And he is just beaming with excitement to get out there and get to it! 

Here is Jordan's letter this week:

Reo Tahiti Week 2!!!

This has been a really great week! Elder Giles and I have learned so much Tahitian, we are feeling much more able to teach and communicate with people even though we still know very little. We're getting there! We taught a practice lesson to our teacher, Tuahine Fegtor, and we were able to completely change our lesson in the moment in order to meet her needs with the questions she asked and the responses she gave to our questions. It felt amazing to be able to actually dig deeper instead of just teaching memorized words and phrases and having to read from our grammar books haha.

 The Tahitian is coming, slowly but surely.

We had an amazing devotional on Tuesday from the Relief Society General President, Jean B. Bingham. Something that came to my mind while I was listening was a quote I heard a long time ago by Abraham Lincoln that says, "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." Let us all consciously try each day to see the world through that lens, and we will find more joy and more peace in any circumstance :)

I love you all. I'm incredibly nervous/excited to be going to Tahiti in 10 days. SUPER excited for the work, nervous I guess just because I have no idea what to expect and it's such a huge change. But the Spirit gives me peace and I feel so much joy every single day as I understand more and more how much the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed my life. "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalms 46:10. Brothers and Sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fullness. Doctrines that have been lost and changed through hundreds of years of political and religious turmoil and government creeds have been restored through the plain and precious truths of the Book of Mormon and modern-day prophets. People have always rejected God's prophets on the Earth. We read about it in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Nothing has changed. There is a prophet on the Earth today. I testify that is true.

Talk to you all next week!

À bientôt!

Elder King/Elder Roi/Orometua Arii