Week #3

Dear Family! BULLAAAAAAAAA! This week was another good one!!! I will have you know I did get better by the end of Sunday night. I'm sorry to hear Olivia is sick! Hope she feels better. Has Hazel swooped on my room yet!?!?! Tell megan I said sup. OKAY, before i forget i have to tell you guys this awesome story. So you know like how I'm amazing at identifying people and saying they look like an actor or someone famous and how im just like super great at that!?WELL! I forgot to mention that when i first got to the MTC and met my branch president Presidident Willes, i immediatley thought he looked and sounded like president Hinckley!! I told my whole district that and they were like DUUUDE! you're so right! And i was like duuuuhuude......I know;) So on sunday we go on this temple walk and i saw president willes there...so i decided to go ask him if he was related to president Hinkley and he said YESSS. He is President Hinckley's Nephew! Isn't that so cool? I felt like so awesome. I just knew he wasssss. Anways this week flew by but it's also been super tiring and hard. Some hours of the day i just feel like im going to crack hahaha Tomorrow we start teaching an actual investigator in Fijian.......haha..(nervous laugh) Yesterday elder Sieverts and I taught a new fake investigator and i didn't even have to use any of my notes!! And i said like 10 sentences and totally understood what he was saying back to me. Keep praying for me. I feel good with the language but it's hard to feel what i'm saying sometimes because they are just memorized words in my head so please pray thAT I CAN BEGIN TO TEACH WITH the spirit as well in fijian. OH and mom the dear elder letters and packages are sent to the mtc mailroom and i get notified and then go pick them up. just so ya know. I love all the packages they are awesome. And tell g and g brower that i love the cinamon rolls yes i know i spelt thAT WRONG BUT THERES NO TIME TO GO BACK TO CORRECT IT HAHAHA. Like thanks for the food and everything guys but....its already hard enough to stay fit here hahahaha! One of the leaders in my group has gained 20 lbs already ahhhhh hahahaha. So here's the dealio... My district made a pact that next week we are only speaking Fijian for the rest of our time at the MTC haha. We think if we do this it will really help us. NO english. So wish me luck;)  So on our sunday movie night i watched the coolest joseph smith restoration video that made me start balling like a girl. (But the lights were off so it was all good).  Just to think about what Joseph Smith did to bring this gospel to earth, and to keep it here, it empowers and motivates me to try my hardest these next two years of my life. The gospel is worth doing anything to fight for. I cant sit still thinking about all the people in Fiji who have no idea that this restored gospel is available to them to feeel the peace and comfort of their savior Jesus Christ. I can't think of anything more that i want than to tell the people in Fiji that their savior jesus Christ loves them and that they can be together with their families together forever. The church is true and i really miss you all. Hope all is well. Oh and on P-days i'm aloud to go on blogs of people from my mission and i went to that "prepare to serve" website that had all those missionary blogs on there that we looked at and i saw my blog on there and i almost peed my pants. It's getting real! I'm on that website now! My blog looks awesome mom. My little blogger harhar! I'm weird. Sorry my pictures are lame. It is what it is. Just wait till i get to fiji and im taking pictures of palm trees, coconuts and fijians. It will be cool. I'm already half way through the mtc!  Only 3 more to go! Way crazy. Love you all!

Love, Elder Jonutz

This pic is of my branch president, President Willes (AKA Gordon B. Hinckley's Nephew ;) 

The guy on the very left in the blue striped tie is one of my language teachers. His name is Brother Lodoux. He's way chill

My Fijian Bible is orange! Woa

This is a filtered waterbottle i was given that I have to use when i get to Fiji

practice fijian prayer

early morning endowment session

Week #2

BULLAAA again family. You better start embracing Bullaaas cuz you're going to be hearing alot of them from now on. Sorry for all my typos its so crazy to write for olnly an hour. I HAVE SO MUCH TO WRITE ABOUUUT! This week has been the craziest week of my life!!! Saturday after the p-day I emailed you all I studied Fijian for 11 straight hours! It was so crazy and tiring but incredible at the same time hahaha! Ive never been more tired in my entire life! Fisrt off Id like to thank you for all the packages. They are awesome. I loved all the sweets and my blankey:) so soft mmm hahaha okat seriously though I love all the packages. I have finally memorized and understand how to say my prayers in fijian and my testinomny in fijian now. The gospel is way true because i shoould not be learning the language as fast as i have been. Honestly. I know more fijian and have learned more fijian this past week then i know spanish after taking it for 3 years....:0 I get about 3 hours of personal study everyday and the spirit is so strooong!!! Its so calm and relaxing. Id never thought id say that i love just chilling and reading my scriptures for 3 hours a day! I woke up sunday with the nastiest cold ever. I was like bummmmerrr. I thing it was Elder YOung who got me sick because he was sick before he came and i always give him head butts. wow that sounded weird. Elder young is the district president of the other fijian district just so you know. At first i was really bummed out ABOUT HAVing a cold but after sacrament meeting i was like woa. The spirit was so strong. I started to forget about being sick and just had this crazy desire to become as close to my savior as i possibly could this week. I love my savior just so much and i want everone i come across to feel his love for them! btw mom i loved that quote you sent me about him being my Jesus. When i opened my email up today and saw that i was like woa....coincident..? I THINK NOT!!! On sunday night we have movie nights. The movies are just mtc talks by general authorities and the video i watched i think pretty much changed my whole aspect on my mission! IT WAS INSAZNE! The holy ghost testified to me that i need to stop caring about what i want, try to forget about myself, and turn outwards to serve others and God continually! By caring only about the people I love and those around me ill forget myself and come closer to christ and its all worth it because he gave his life up for me and everysingle person who ever has lived or lives. 

My head has been going crazy! So many fijian words running through my head its almost hard to even write this hahaha. I miss you all so much but the brotherhood between the elders here is so strong. Elder Sieverts and I decided to start getting up at 6:00 and working out. WEll....i work out but he just reads his scriptures because he has back issues and his dog attacked his thumb before he came here so he has to wait a week before he can do anything hahaha. We've been teaching this fijian investigator who just so happens to also be our language teacher. Its so cool to be able to almost carry on a conversation with someone in fijian. We comitted him to baptism. His name was Juita. But after he committed to be baptized he got hit by a car and died. Thats what our teacher said happened. The MTC is a funny place.  It's crazy to think i only have a month left exactly from today until i get to fiji. I want you to know this week has been a very humbling experience from me. We had a talk given to us by a general authority name Elder Echohawk and it was so AMAZING. He talked about the importance for why missionaries should be exactly obedient. Because whe n we are exactly and strictly obedient we are worthy of the spirit. I just sat there and listened and got so pupmed to start trying my best to be the best missionary i can be and be so obediebt to all the petty missio0nary rules that seem small at times. But they are such a big deal! Like i punched this huge elder in our district to be funny and it wasnt even hard but then i remembered we arent supposed to punch and i felt so bad. Its so funny like little things like that are such a big deal to me now hahahahaha. Elder sieverts is awesome he like polishes my shoes hahaha. He's like an organized freak and the most social guy ever. I guess that why he's my companion cuz i need to work on that! Bu seriously one night we were getting ready for bed and he leans over and hands me a tissue and hes like. ELder jonutz, This is for you if you need it tonight and was like hahah ahhh  hes so nice. Okay a story: we were getting ready for bed and it was my turn to say the prayer in fijian and we STAND IN A CIRCLE AS A DISTRICT AND SO WE ALL CAME TOGETHER AND ONE OF THE ELDERS WAS JUST WEARING HIS GARMENTS SO I SAID, eLDER MILLER.....? iD FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE IF YOU PUT ON YOUR CLOTHES AND THEN I STARTED MY PRAYER AND ALL THE ELDERS STARTED BURSTING OUT LAUGHING AND WE COULDNT EVEN FINISH THE PRAYER IN FIJIAN IT WAS SO BAD WE WERE ALL SO ASHAMED OF OURSELVES. anYways i love you all. Sorry this letter is all over the place. Au lomani IKo (I LOVE YOU) Oh and mom id love it if you could send my face meds. The face wash isnt doing squat.  LOve ya;)

Elder Jonutz's first letter home!!! Week #1 Here we go!!!

BULAAAA Vinaka Mom and dad! These past few days have been C R A Z Y! Grandma and grandpa picked me up at the airport and took me to Mimi's. I wasn't very hungry in fact i was sick to my stomach. Wednesday morning I was so nervous. So on the plane I decided to read my Book of Mormon. As soon as I did I felt a calm peace come over me. I decided to have G AND G drop me off early because I was so anxious and crazy. When I showed up every elder said hello to me and took me took my bags and showed me where to go. I went to this building to get my name tag and there it was! Elder Jonutz  BULAAA hahaha. After that they took me to get my language study books. OH MAN! I have so many books I don't even Know where to start! After that I was directed to my room and then after that i was directed to my first language class! Keep in mind I literally had only been here for about 20 minutes and i was already sitting in my first language class! Fijian is such a cool language and very difficult! But I am praying for help and language trainer Sister forgot her name hahaha, said we will be practically fluent by the time we leave. I need to start having faith in that because right now it looks very unlikely. While I was in my language class my companion walked in. Although I didnt know he was my companion yet i literally just felt like he was. SOOOO WEIRD! His name is Elder Sieverts and he is from Bountiful Utah. He is the happiest guy I have ever met and seems just as pumped as me to be here. He will be my companion until I leave the MTC on Sept 21! The first day was huge and I dont know how to describe it all! After that we went to go meet our MTC presidents. Their names are President and Sister Burges. They are a really neat couple and I love them already. After this we went to dinner and I had some broccoli and it tasted like dead rotten fish. But i guess i have to get used to that:))  Soon after dinner we went straight back to studying the language! Its so much fun. My district is so cool. We are full of Tongans, Somoans, and fijians and when we sing hyms.....OH MAN it is so powwerful. I met my branch president, President Willes last night. He hugged all of us when we first walked into the room and it felt sooo good hahaha! I needed it man. He is super old but literally the coolest man i have ever met. He told each of us how much he loves each of us and how he looked at all of our pictures before we came and said he knows alot about each of us! A little creepy haha but sweet;) Sleeping that night was suprisingly easy! I think it was cause i was just so wiped out. I dont have much time but the spirit is so strong here and I"m loving it. I will end with my testimony that ive learned in fijian.

AU VIA WASEA NA NOQU IVAKADINADINA

AU KILA NI BULA NA KALOU KEI NI BULA NA JISU KARISTO

AU KILA NI DINA IVOLA I MOMANI

AU KILA NI SA NODRA IVAKABULA O JISU KARISTO

ENA YACA I A JISU KARISTO EMENI

 I miss you guys all so much. Btw my p day here at the MTC is friday from now on! I was also made senior companion over Elder Sieverts. Cant wait to serve him. I love my heavenly father and I can feel his comfort and support through all of this. 

 Much Love,Elder Jonutz

First Day in MTC

Fijian Book of Mormon