Week #16

Bulaa! Sorry I just got on the computer to do e-mails...I had to wake up at 5:00 this morning and I've been on a boat, a bus, and a truck ride for the past 6 hours! I'm exhausted HAHAHA! We had to travel to Labasa today because we have mission tour here tomorrow. Gifford Nielson from the quorum of the seventy is coming to give the missionaries here a training! As for my week.....WELL IT’S BEEN INSANE AND TIRING! My head hurts from all the work we have done this week hahaha! But I love it so much. Before I start talking about my week I want you all to know that I did have Thanksgiving here in Fiji but it wasn't the same without any of you and I miss you all a lot.... Funny thing though! Thursday came last week and I didn’t even know Thanksgiving was last week. Sad truth is I really can't even keep track of what date it is down here because we are constantly working. I seriously feel like I’ve been in Fiji for like 2 weeks... It scares me haha. On Thursday the Czieps gave me and Elder Barnaby Thanksgiving at their house! It was really nice of them. Turkey here costs 180 dollars and you have to get it flown in so we just had chicken hahaha! But they made gravy and we had rolls that reminded me of Grandma’s rolls with butter and jam! They even made us pumpkin pie! They said it took them two weeks to find the pumpkin hahaha! I was really grateful for them. But eating Thanksgiving with them really made me miss you all! This week Elder Barnaby and I worked our selves to the max! Next week is my big week...They have this 12 week training program now and next week I have to lead the entire week...Meaning planning it all out, leading all the lessons, and just everything. I’m way nervous so could ya please pray for me haha...Thanks ;) So this week we started using the Czieps just like president told us too! They came out teaching with us three days this week. They are way helpful especially because they have a car and we can get to appts faster! Their desire to help the branch out here really inspires me actually. I love the Czieps. They will be living out here for 6 months and instead of just vacationing they have decided to be branch missionaries and helps us. It just gets me more excited and motivated about missionary work! Tuesday night I probably had one of the most spiritual moments of my life! Taubale and Paulnia's lesson was insane. We've been trying to get them to pray and read the book of mormon for like the past month. When we got there Tuesday night all they wanted to do was bible bash and they wouldn’t let us get through the lesson without asking a million of random questions in-between. This went on for a good hour...Finally I had had it! I was about to cry hahaha! I love this family so much and they just aren't getting it so I put my Book of Mormon down and bore my testimony to them. I hardly remember a thing I said but I remember telling them that all they have to do is pray to know the book is true. I felt the spirit so strongly and after I bore my testimony, Paulnia said to me that the things that I had said are true and neither of them spoke through out the rest of the lesson and we left their house with the spirit! Me and Elder Barnaby walked out of their house like WOAAA! I'll never forget that lesson. Please pray for their family! I know for FACT that they felt the spirit that night! It's awesome to have a personal study every morning! I’m almost done with the book of mormon again...WHO KNEW I COULD READ IT THAT FAST HAHA. Elder Barnaby and I have been getting so blessed with missionary work it's amazing. I honestly feel so blessed. We have a baptism planned for next month. Mesake is his name. He's been coming to church every week and we just thought he was a member but he isn’t! He said he wants to be baptized we just have to teach him all the lessons and then he's good to go! The only problem is he can't read or write so we have to teach him. He's 14 and I’m way excited to get him ready for baptism! Elder Barnaby said my Fijian is just rocketing. I hope he's right! Right now I’m just working on how to carry on conversations with people which I even had a hard time with in English haha (Mom)! But I really have felt Heavenly Father’s help this whole time I’ve been learning fijian! We found out it was just members with a key who were breaking into our flat hahaha! So the branch president put an extra lock on our door but it’s not going to do much good! I’ll have to take a picture of it it's pretty funny how they put the lock on our door! Here in Fiji it's pineapple season! I’ve literally had like 10 pineapples given to me this week. They are so sweet and amazing here. But the fijian people like putting salt on their pineapple..I’m not a fan. I thought the day would never come but yesterday we took the sacrament to these elderly ladies who can't come to church and they fed us lunch and I actually enjoyed it... It was chicken, with dalo (which i used to hate) and it had all the guts and stuff haha. But I was just sitting there cross-legged eating outside their doorstep...and I was loving it. (We were sitting outside their door step in the rain because there was no man in the house so we couldn’t go in so we ate in the mud and rain haha. FUN STUFF. But fijians only eat with their hands and I felt like an animal and I like enjoyed all of the food. It scared me actually hahaha! But I feel like a fijian now. Someone told me the other day it sounds like I have an accent. I think they were lying though I hope haha. Anyway me and Elder Barnaby got 24 lessons this week! President told us that’s the number he wanted from us and this week we delivered. It's not about the lessons though. We sat down with 25 of Heavenly Father’s children and tried to help them feel the spirit. That’s my job as a missionary. Sometimes we don’t get fed all day and then I sit down in a lesson and I feel the spirit and I forget that I’m hungry because the spirit is so strong. But don’t worry about me getting fed. I am fed well here. I love and miss you all. Hazel looks so funny in those pictures. I hope she still remembers me. I miss everyone! Tell Tyler,Travis, and Jordan I miss them like crazy. I love you family and friends. There isn't a greater job in the world than missionary work!

Love, Elder Jonati