Un Mois!

Nov 25, 2019

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! 

With all that was going on over Thanksgiving week, I am a week behind on getting Jordan's emails out! We weren't able to talk to Jordan again the P-day before Thanksgiving, but we did get an email, and lots of pictures!! Can you believe Jordan has been on his mission for 3 months now and has been in Tahiti for a month?! Here's his email from last week:


Un Mois! (One Month!)


Iaorana! This week marks one month in the field! It's been really hard, physically, physically, and emotionally, but I know its the most important work on the earth and its such a blessing getting to be a part of it. We had a zone conference on Wednesday which was super fun! We got to hear from President and Sister Fox (the mission president) and learned a lot as well. This is the hardest work on the earth because we're asking people to change, but for those who are willing to surrender their own will to the will of the Lord and put complete trust and faith in Him, miracles happen in their lives and He gives them the strength to change. Iam more and more convinced every day that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fulness by a prophet in our day and that we are gathering Israel as has been prophesied of by Isaiah and prophets as old as time, preparing the world for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord directs His work.

I love you all! Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday!

A Bientot!

Elder King

Pictures:

poulet-frites (chicken & fires) with poisson cru (raw fish) and coconut water

The biggest spider I have ever seen in my life - it was as big as the palm of my hand!

Me soaking wet after biking in the pouring rain

Elder Bennett and I

A pic of Tahiti from the boat going to zone conference

a rainbow on a mountain of Moorea

and some other random pictures :)

Jordan said these little lizards are everywhere! He's so used to them that they don't bother him. 

I love seeing pictures of where Jordan is and what he's eating! He did good on the pictures :)

I'll post this week's email tomorrow! 

Iaorana!

We didn't get to talk with Jordan this week, as his time was needed elsewhere. I am so grateful that he was willing to be where he was needed, even if it meant not calling home. He wasn't able to send pictures this time either, but has been taking some to send when he gets the chance!

We did get a short email though! I know what he is doing is hard, and I admire him for the positive outlook he has. I know his strong faith, combined with the love he has for his Savior and his desire to do good in His sight, as well as the understanding he has that we are all God's children, and the love he has for the people he is serving, is what gives him strength and helps him to stay positive. He knows that blessings come through obedience too. Maybe not right away, but they do come. 

Here is Jordan's email:

Iaorana! (Hello!) 

This has been a bit of a tougher week, most of our lessons were cancelled, amis (investigators) asked to stop taking the lessons altogether because they're too busy, and overall people were just not very interested. But it's always darkest before the dawn, we're working with the président des anciens (Elders Quorum President) to get the ward more involved because members are so incredibly important in this work, especially in this sector as we've come to realize. Missionary work is not possible without the help of members.As for me, I'm doing well, the languages are getting better as I keep just trying to listen and pick out what I can. Speaking is getting more fluid too. Miracle: toward the end of the day yesterday, we prayed to know where we should go and who we needed to visit before going home for the night, and I felt a really strong impression to visit a house down the road from where we were that we had never seen or visited before. So we went, and they said they had never talked to the missionaries before, we were the first ones to ever go by their house! They have no idea how much their lives are about to change if they will let the Spirit work in them. People have absolutely no idea what they're missing. Our message is so indescribably important!

Study your scriptures (especially the Book of Mormon) everyday, pray multiple times a day, and go to church every week. Don't let yourself ever be too busy for those three things.

Je vous aime beaucoup! (I love you a lot!) 

Elder King

Haere Manu Haere Papu

Another week, another p-day! And guess what?! We got pictures!!!!

Jordan was able to send us pictures this week, and I am so happy! They are mostly pictures of sunsets and scenery. I love that he notices beauty:

He also sent some pictures of his travels. Here's the plane he took from L.A. to Tahiti. 

It's painted so fun for Tahiti!

Looks like Jordan was tracking his flight too, but his in in French! Kinda fun to see :)

The Papeete,Tahiti Temple:

Jordan with his first two companions when they were in a trio (the one on the left has been transferred) Looks like they are getting ready to head to Moorea after their first night there!

On the ferry boat from Tahiti to Moorea

Jordan took some pictures of a house and what looks like a back yard. 

I don't know if they're where he's living or if it's a members house, or just a random house! But I love seeing what houses are like there:

And he sent some pictures of the inside of his house. 

Looks pretty bright and like it's a decent size! I hope so with 6 Elders living there. 

I'm guessing one of the Elders is from Canada ...

  It was pretty fuzzy and broken up for our video chat again - which I'm assuming it will be from now on. But I am so grateful to be able to hear his voice and see his face each week!

Jordan is doing well. He says they are teaching a few families. It's hard to get too much information from our video chats because it's so broken up. But he did say again that the food is good, and that people keep giving them pineapples! Haha 

Here is his letter this week:

Haere Manu Haere Papu

(translation: slowly but surely) hahaha Tahitians say this all the time.

Iaorana ia outou! This has been another great week! I got a bit more frustrated with the language this week, I feel like I want to help these people so much but I don't have the words to do it. So I'm going to take this opportunity while I can't always understand everything people say to really focus on what the Spirit is telling me and just testify with all my heart when I teach and say what I can. This work is truly a work of joy, and the harder you work, the greater will be your joy! Attitude and diligence are absolutely everything. Miracle: 4 amis de l'èglise (friends of the Church, aka investigators, aka people we are teaching) came to church, 3 of which were completely unexpected! It was so wonderful to see them taking steps to prepare for making covenants with God. One of the amis has a baptism date fixed for 7 December, I am so excited and happy for him. Making covenants, or promises, with God, including baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, are such incredible blessings in this life and eternally. They are essential for salvation and exaltation! This is not just another church, another religion. It is the literal church of Jesus Christ led by Him through a prophet just as it always has been with His authority to make sacred covenants with God. I love being a part of this church and having the knowledge and incredible blessings that I do :)

Ua here au ia outou! Je vous aime beaucoup! à beintot!

Elder King/Roi/Arii

Deuxième semaine!

 We heard from Jordan again on Monday!!

 How is it already Friday and I'm just now posting this?! I'm so sorry. This week slipped away from me! I'll get next weeks out sooner.

 We got a short email from Jordan this week, and we also got to do a short video chat! It was very fuzzy and hard to hear, and the screen kept going black every few seconds - ha! But I really needed to see him and hear his voice that day, so I am extremely grateful that it worked enough for me to do that. He apologized that he wasn't able to send pictures again this week. The members home he was at didn't have a computer, so he couldn't upload pictures. But thankfully they let him use their cell phone so he could video chat me! And of course I took screen shots :)

Oh how I love that face <3

 He said he would try to go to a members home with a computer next Monday so he can upload pictures. Hopefully that works out! I'm dying to see what it's like where he is!! Because he was on a cell phone when we were chatting, he was able to turn around and show me his surroundings - which I was really excited about! This is the members home he was at:

And this was facing the other direction, towards their dirt driveway and out to the street. It's hard to see, but just past the tress on the other side of the street is the ocean!

 Jordan was able to tell me a story of two miracles that happened to him on Sunday. He was at church, and was just so hot and so hungry, and so tired. It was Fast Sunday, so he hadn't eaten all day - he was fasting. Normally after church they would have an invitation to eat dinner at a members home to break their fast, but that Sunday they didn't.  Which meant that he and his companion would have to ride their bikes back to their apartment, hot and tired, and scrounge up whatever little food they had since it was the last day of the week before P-day when they go grocery shopping. And they didn't have anything he was particularly excited about eating. So he's sitting in class, the second hour of church, super hot and super hungry. And so tired. The first hour of church is Sacrament meeting, and they speak French, and Jordan is able to follow along pretty well. But this week for second hour he  was with all of the older men, and they were speaking Tahitian. And it was much harder for him to follow along. And he was just so hot, and so hungry, and so tired... He said it was pretty brutal, haha. And he knew when it was over that he would have to exert a lot of energy in the humid heat to bike home to eat whatever they had. He was struggling. But being the person he is, I'm sure he endured it well.  So - after church, he and his companion  get on their bikes, and all of a sudden it starts POURING rain!! Jordan said that was the first miracle! Because the rain cooled everything off and was so fun and invigorating! Jordan has always loved the rain :) He said it hadn't rained at all since he got there, and now it was suddenly a downpour! He was so excited!! 

 So - Jordan and his comp. start happily riding their bikes in the rain to their house to find something to eat. Still so hungry, but less hot and a bit rejuvenated. They see the Bishop of their ward drive by, and he stops and randomly hands them a bag of doughnuts! Jordan said that doughnuts there aren't sweet like they are here. They're basically just fried bread, and not really that great, haha - but they were so grateful to have something to eat right then! Their Bishop drove away, and soon drove by again, this time handing them a bag of chicken! Hahaha! Jordan said it was so random, but so awesome!! He said that his Bishop kept leaving and then driving by again and handing them food three times!! Hahaha! I wonder if  the Bishop knew they didn't have a dinner invitation and so he was getting food from members to give them and he was piking it up and would hand it to them as he passed them on the street?! So funny! And so cool! Hahaha! So that was the second miracle - food! He had been sitting in church, so hot and tired, and so hungry... and after enduring it well, Heavenly Father took care of them.

  I am so grateful to know that my boy is being taken care of. That there are people there who are looking out for him, and also that Heavenly Father knows his needs and is helping him too. 

 I asked Jordan if he had eaten the fermented fish dish yet, and he said not yet! But the people ask him all the time if he's had it yet, so he knows it's coming hahaha. He said no one has any made right now, but when they do he's sure they will ask him to taste it...  I asked him what kind of food they eat most and he said rice with lentils, chicken, and either plain spaghetti noodles or spaghetti noodles with mayonnaise - !! Luckily he thinks it's all been good! Another blessing I'm sure. The house he's living in doesn't have any fruit trees, but lots of members have them and they give them fruit all the time! He said it's super good. 

Well here is Jordan's email this week. He was using a members cell phone so it's short and sweet :) 

Deuxième semaine!

(second week!)

 This has been a great week! We taught a lot of lessons that went really well, seeing how much the restored gospel of Jesus Christ can change people's lives is absolutely amazing. I never fully appreciated the knowledge that I have. The fact that families can be together FOREVER through temple sealings, that we have a living prophet on the earth today, the truths that we know from the Book of Mormon, I really have taken it all for granted. I'm slowly but surely getting over the shyness of not wanting to bother people because I realize just how much they need what I know, even if they don't realize it yet. I need to love them enough to not let them get off the hook right away with being "too busy" to read the Book of Mormon or have a short lesson with us, but explain really why it's so important. I love this gospel, I love these people, and I love my Savior Jesus Christ.

P.S. I haven't been in a position to send pictures, hopefully next week! I'm sorry! The sunsets are unbelievable.

À bientôt!

Elder King/Elder Roi/Elder Arii

Tahitian Sunset

Photo credit to Elder Fiore, another missionary in Tahiti that sent this pic in his weekly email this week :) 

Moorea!

We got an email from Jordan today!!

And - we got to video chat!!! He had to find a church member who has a computer, who will let him come over and use it to email and video chat on his P-day. Apparently I wasn't getting notified that he was trying to call, so he ended up calling Jared! Jared answered on his computer at work, and then Face-timed me so I could be a part of it! (I am so grateful for technology!) I guess we need to get Google Hangouts figured out, haha.  It was a bit fuzzy and would freeze sometimes, but it was so good to see him and talk to him! Even if it was through Jared's phone looking at his computer screen at work :)

 He told us that he was assigned to the island of Moorea!! And he was in fact part of a trio, and he absolutely loves his two companions!! He said that usually they get put with a Trainer who has been to the place you are assigned, and knows it and the people, but this time they are doing a "white wash" and they are all new to Moorea! One companion, the trainer, has been out for a while, and the other companion came to Tahiti with Jordan! So two "greenies" and a more experienced missionary, all in a new place together. 

Of course when I found out he was in Moorea I had to look it up and find out more about it! I already knew that it was the "gecko foot" shaped island right off of Tahiti. 

but I wanted to google search images of Moorea too...and Oh My Goodness!! Jordan is in a beautiful place!! Check out these pictures of Moorea:

Jordan said there is just one main road that goes around the whole island, and that's where the city part is. Inland is pretty much just jungle. He heard there is good hiking trails in there, and hopes to explore those on some of his P-days!

I am relieved to know he is on an island close to Tahiti for his first area! That means it's more of a city and more civilized and populated. He told us he is in  Afareaitu, which you can see on this map:

He said he can see Tahiti from where he is! And at night it looks cool to see all the city lights across the water on Tahiti. It was only a 30 minute Ferry ride to get there from Papeete.  

Before he left, Jordan was able to meet some other missionaries online that were called to serve in Tahiti with him, through Facebook, and I have become good "Facebook Messenger Friends" with the mother of one of those missionaries. He is from Toronto Canada, and I receive his weekly emails too! I love reading things from his perspective as well as Jordan's. Well, he was assigned to Fa'aa in Tahiti (you can see on the map above that it's directly across from where Jordan is Afareaitu in Moorea!) In his email this week he shared a picture showing the beautiful view from his porch, and you can see perfectly the island of Moorea so close to Tahiti! And based on the map above, it must be Afareaitu where Jordan is too! What a fun glimpse to see where Jordan is!

Jordan wasn't able to send us any pictures this week, so this picture I got from the other missionary's email was even more meaningful to me. Jordan promised to send us double the pictures next week!

Jordan said he lives in a house that has all the amenities that we have, and he purchased a bike which is how he and his companions get around there. He said it's so neat to be riding so close to the ocean all the time.  The people there have been really nice, and almost everyone will stop to talk with them. It's true that it's custom there to go up to someone's house and yell "Iaorana!" (Hello!) and someone will come out to greet you,  Haha!  Apparently there are a lot of dogs there. Guard dogs and stray dogs. He hasn't been bit, but he's heard stories! And speaking of being bit - he says he only has a few mosquito bites :) He loves everything he has eaten so far! (Maybe that will change once he has to eat Fafaru - the fermented fish he explained to us last week) He has eaten Poisson Cru once so far (raw fish cut up into pieces and mixed with coconut milk & lime juice - a Tahitian staple) and said it was actually really good! He had stir fry once and he's eaten mango, pineapple, banana (really small and extra sweet), and he tried papaya for the first time! He said they have really delicious sandwiches there, like panini style and also they'll take a French baguette and cut it lengthwise, and put meats and french fries and all kinds of yummy stuff inside of it! But mostly he eats in people's homes. And mostly they eat rice - lot's of rice! Usually with different kinds of lentils on top. Thankfully, he says it's really good :) He's never been a huge fan of rice, so I'm glad he's enjoying it there!

Jordan said that because he has to go to a members home to use their computer, he only gets an hour and a half on P-days now to read his emails and reply to them, write his group email, and call home. It's an ok amount of time, but it is more restricted than he's used to. He'll get the timing figured out I'm sure. He and his companions were heading to the grocery store after we talked. How neat it would be to see what kinds of new and different things they have there!

Here is Jordan's email this week!

Moorea!

Iaorana!!! What a week, this is such an adventure haha. After I sent
my last email from President Fox's house, we received our trainers and
our sector assignments. My trainer is Elder Bennett, he is absolutely
INCREDIBLE! I am so so so blessed to have him. And we're in a trio
which is fun! Elder Davis, who was in the other Tahitian district at
the MTC, is my companion as well! It's been a lot of fun, they are
really great. We got assigned to the island of Moorea, and left
immediately on a big ferry to get to work! It was about a 30 minute
ride to Moorea from Papeete. In our house there are 7 missionaries
total which is really fun! All 7 of the elders on Moorea are in a
house in Afareaitu and the 4 sisters are somewhere else. My sector is
Haapiti, it's on the west side of the island and it's beautiful! The
people are very, very poor, but for the most part they're happy and so
kind. And the food is soooooo good, I haven't had a single thing I
haven't loved! Tons of rice every meal-- rice with lentils on top is a
staple, I have it basically every single day, but I like it a lot!

C'est tous pour cette semaine, je vous aime beaucoup et je vous
remercie pour vos prières! Prièz pour les gens de Moorea!

(translated: It's all for this week, I love you so much and I'll thank you for your prayers! Pray for the people of Moorea!)

à bientot!
Elder King/Elder Roi

IAORANA FROM TAHITI

Jordan's in Tahiti!!!

He left early Monday morning, Oct. 21, and got there late Monday night. I found a flight tracker app so I could watch his plane go across the Pacific Ocean, to the tiny little dot that said Papeete. It was comforting to see the little plane on my screen move a little tiny bit every time I checked it.

It was getting late, and I finally fell asleep (I wasn't sure if I would be able to!) and woke up at 3am, and when I checked it they had landed!! And - President and Sister Fox (the Mission Presidents) had already posted a group pic saying they arrived and that they would share more pictures tomorrow! It was the BEST THING EVER to see my boy in that picture!! Safe in Tahiti and wearing a lei! 

I had to zoom in to make sure it was him. It was!! Of course I had to post this on FB and Insta immediately and share my excitement with everyone! Haha Thanks to so many of you who follow me and shared a heart or thumbs up for support <3

 I checked back on the Tahiti mission Facebook page throughout the whole day on Tuesday, looking for more pictures that were promised. Tahiti is 3 hours before California, so I had to keep counting back and thinking about what they would be doing, and realizing it was probably too early for more pictures to be posted yet. But then -  I GOT AN EMAIL FROM JORDAN!!!   I literally gasped, then squealed with surprise and joy when I saw his email come through!! I was SO excited to hear from him!! Here is his email:

IAORANA FROM TAHITI

I made it!!! We got in at about 9:30pm local time (1:30am MDT - in Utah where he's been) and stayed in apartments right next to the temple! The temple is beautiful! We are now at President and Sister Fox's house, we just ate breakfast, had interviews, and are about to have an orientation and find out our trainers and where our first assignment is! It is SO HUMID here, I feel like I'm in a sauna! Haha but it'll be fun, I'm so excited to get to work! I love you all so much, thank you for your prayers and support!

A bientot!

Elder King/Elder Roi/Elder Arii

I was so happy to hear from him! I have so many questions...hahaha, but I wasn't sure when I would get to hear from him, so I was ecstatic for this quick email he sent! Bless his heart! 

Then, later that evening a bunch of pictures were uploaded to the Tahiti Mission Facebook page, including several of Jordan!! 

Here's a group shot of all the Missionaries who had just arrived together at the Tahiti airport. You can tell they're all so tired after such a long day, but also so excited!

These pictures look like they're at the Mission Presidents house, where they're having  orientation. 

And these pictures must be when Jordan met his trainer!! Looks like he will be in a trio! Two new missionaries, together with the same trainer! 

I love how it looks like Jordan practically leaped up to hug his trainer, being so excited to meet him! 

  I am so excited to hear where Jordan and his trio were assigned to! I guess we'll have to wait until Monday when Jordan can email again, and hopefully video chat! I have so many questions to ask him!! And I can't wait to hear how these first few days "out in the mission field" have been :)