Week #94

Bula Vinaka Y'all! What a week! Craziness is happening in the Fiji Suva Mission! I LOVE IT! We had zone conference this past week and it was so sick! It was all on The Book of Mormon! President Layton and Sister Layton gave us our last interviews....I'm so sad to see them go. They literally have changed my life so much and I want to be just like them! This week Elder Forbush and I have just been running around all over the place. For example we just got back from the hospital because my companion has something wrong with his stomach. Nothing too severe but we're going to go and get an ultra sound around 4:00 today. I'll let you guys know if it's a boy or a girl! Other than that we have just been working as hard as our bodies allow us. I have this weird rash on my hand but it doesn't itch or hurt it's just weird so I have to get that checked out too. Don't worry mom. I'm all goods haha! One of our assistants is also in the hospital because his leg got infected and it's so swollen you can barely see his ankle. We come out of this mission so tough haha! The experiences help us grow and we change for the better. Lately we've been working on finding new investigators each week. We had a rough night where literally every single house told us no! I was so surprised. We sat down with this one couple that had just had a baby and I asked them if they wanted to be with their family forever and they said no.....pretty dang sad but I guess we all have our agency! We had a cool experience with finding this week. We were out and about and didn't really know where to go so we just kept walking and we found this Kiribis settlement. We decided to go and give it a try. On our way down we met a dude who told us to follow him to his house to meet his family. We jumped on the opportunity and went for the adventure. We found out both of his parents were from the church and he was born on Rotuma. I was so excited. We taught him about how in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we have the authority from God to seal a family together forever. He was excited to hear that and he now is taking lessons to find out for himself if it is true. His name is Laurence and he is way cool. I'm pumped. After church on Sunday we sat down with one of our investigators Lolo and she is planning on being baptized next week! One of the people we found last week walked with us to the road after his lesson and told us that he saw us walking along the road a few weeks prior and had an urge to come talk to us. He said he wasn't surprised when we showed up at his door. He said he and his wife want to join our church. The lesson I have learned this week is that to be a good missionary you just have to go out and try. Do good things and the Lord will lead those who are ready to you. Being a missionary is so much fun. Can't wait to talk to you guys next week!

Love, Elder Jonutz

Ran into one of my old investigators. Still not baptized...ONE DAY!

PNG MONEY

Walking the roads...Just strollin' 

Suva city

Taking elder Forbs to the Hospital

Stepped in mud....Not a blast

Water pipes in Fiji are crazy....

Cool palm tree

Weird looking fruit

Abandoned house

Not sure what they mean....

Another abandoned house

The Kiribati settlement

I saw a pillar of light

Isa lei the Fiji Temple!

From jungle to city

For effect

Serving in compton

Just explains fiji

Week #93

Bula Vinaka family and friends! It has been a week of hard work! Elder Forbush and I have  been out finding people all week! It's so awesome to be in this beautiful country and have people welcome us into their homes. I still am amazed everyday at how nice Fijians are. There's no doubt in my mind that they are the best people in all of the world. 

This week we went on lots of exchanges! First we went out with the assistants which is always a way good learning experience. I went out teaching with Elder Green who is from Utah. He is a huge guy and has this voice that one day will be opening up General Conference and the Spoken Word haha. He is a way sick dude and I learned heaps from him. I also learned that this year he's going to have all the missionaries at his house for, "Pie Night"..... Basically his family makes over 500 pies every year. I'm definitely going to be there!

After my exchange with Elder Green I got to go on an exchange in Samabula with Elder Billy, who is from P.N.G. The stories I heard from this guy were pretty humbling. I'm not sure how many of you have heard about P.N.G but it can be a crazy place. Elder Billy shared with me the fact that he had 6 siblings in his family but only 3 of them are remaining. 1 was drowned in a whirlpool while bathing in the river and the other 2 died of diseases that they had no medicine to cure. In P.N.G. there are over 800 different languages... The rivers have heaps of crocodiles and Elder Billy is a master at catching them and eating them! He was baptized last year and he never gets to contact his family because they live in the bush. To me, this exchange taught me to be more grateful. 

Lately I've been thinking about what my mission has done to me and for me. I can't even try to explain it. All I know is that this work is awesome! It kills me to think about how short the time is that I have left. Now is the time to sprint to the finish line. I know that this church is true. There are people everywhere around us who need it. I have a firm belief that the only reason I am happy is because of this gospel. Most people are scared to share it because of what people's reactions might be. The worst that can happen is they'll say no. At least you'll be satisfied that you tried. No one knows the day or time when Jesus Christ is going to return to the earth again. We have to be ready and we have to help others be ready. I think it all starts with the mindset that before this life we existed. We lived with Father in Heaven and we are all brothers and sisters. Some of us were born into the gospel and others weren't.  I believe we all have individuals we are responsible to find and rescue. It's His work and they are His sheep and so I know He will help us find them. You just have to try. This week our investigator Joji was baptized. His soon to be wife is a member and she was so excited to see him be baptized. I am way happy for him.

Love, Elder Jonutz

Week #91

Dear family! Bula Vinaka, It's been an intense week. Tuesday afternoon I got my transfer call and found out I was being "de-extended"....That was a shock to me! I also found out that I would be leaving Naitasiri and heading to Tacirua! It's a little town in Suva. I'm literally right across from the temple and mission office. So far so good hahah! It's going to be a way fun transfer. My new companion is Elder Forbush and he's from Utah. He's a way sick dude and it's going to be a blast working with him. 

It was hard to say goodbye to "Naita". I came to love a lot of people there and it was a huge blessing to be able to serve there. It was extremely hard to say goodbye to my "Vanua Levu" family also. They are some of my favorite converts. They all walked out with their Book of Mormons in their hands and I told them I was leaving and it was so sad. I'll see them again someday!

So now that I'm in Suva I get to drive this huge van! It is basically a bus....It it is way harder to drive than the truck but it has been a lot of fun at the same time. Never thought I would drive a huge white van hahaha. The area here is pretty different from all my other areas. I honestly feel like I'm serving in San Francisco.... Suva is a huge city..... for Fiji. Luckily we still only speak Fijian and I'm excited to be serving in a ward again. This past Sunday I got to go to church and it was interesting. All the Fijians here have a hard time pronouncing my name haha. When I tell them it is Romanian they flip out and think I'm this foreign European dude. It makes me feel cooler than I am hahaha. 

As for the work here it is a lot different than Naitasiri. No villages... The other day Elder Forbush and I went out teaching and we knocked on this guy's door and it took a pretty long time before he decided to open it. Finally he opened the door and we told him who we were and how we share a message about Jesus Christ. He told us he already knew about Jesus Christ and that he didn't need to learn any more.  I told him alright you have a nice day and he decided to show us a finger of his that I did not want to see.  That was literally the first time in my whole mission where I have had anything like that happen to me! I'm so blessed to serve in Fiji.

Lately I've been studying "Jesus The Christ" and it is AWESOME. I've just felt a recent urge to learn more about Him. Yesterday I was reading and some things I read really taught me a lot. Lately I've been doubting my abilities and feeling weighed down trying to figure out who I am. I read about the account when Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan. As I read I began to realize that Satan was trying to get Jesus to doubt who He was and His abilities! Even our Savior had to deal with confusion and he slowly learned who he was by the Holy Ghost. I learned that Jesus Christ was able to remember who He was and find Himself and stay strong because of how strong his companionship with the Holy Ghost was. Focusing on the Holy Ghost can help us clear the darkness and defeat Satan. 

I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ and I'm going to spend these next two transfers doing my best to learn even more about Him!

Much love, Elder Jonutz 

                                                 Saying goodbye to the Vanua Levu Family

Saying goodbye to the Singh Family

Sister Singh wanted a picture with me ;)

Asha and jasbin (also part of the singh family)

Isa Naita

The naita bush

The adventure in Naitasiri Ends