Elder Kala Ellis

Iaorana Palalas, It's only right to start of this email by saying bulking season has begun. We have eaten so much this past week, it was crazy. We had some days where we had teaching appointments and they fed us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food has been amazing and we even got to eat more ninja. Ninja for dinner, then breakfast and lunch the next day. People here really love their turtle. It was funny because one time this other Elder told a member that he should obey the law here that says not to eat turtle. The member proceeds to say that God put turtle on the earth for him to eat and the rules and laws that are here are below us. But forreal I have been eating like crazy and have gained a belt loop back in this past week. I can't go too crazy though because I only have two more belt loops left before I gotta start poking more. From the poisson cru, sashimi, turtle, poisson fromage, cake, Mahi Mahi, Pork, Chicken, Fafaru, fermented coconut, Ulu, and choke steak frites. ...

Mele Kalikimaka...  ...Is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day. That's the island greeting that I share with you from the land were palm trees sway! Merry Early Christmas everyone! Christmas came early here in Bora Bora. I got some packages from family and we got news from the mission president that we can now listen to music that invites the spirit. You already know that right after that zone call Kolohe Kai, Hapa, Maoli, Fiji, and other Hawaiian and Reggae songs are now playing in the house.  But f'real life's been good on the southern half of the equator. The winds have been blowing extra strong lately and it feels like a crazy amount of resistance when you are trying to bike. It's also pretty fun because you'll come out from a wind block like a house to an open spot and get hit by the wind and it just pushes you horizontally and you kind of need to bike at an angle cutting into the wind. Eating: Happy to say that after waiting a whole week and str...

It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas... Not so much in the music. But I did hear someone blowing some fireworks last night and it reminded me of all the illegal aerials that ring in the New Year in Hawaii.  This past week has had it's ups and downs. Started of the week learning how to fire knife dance by Sister Tippets who just arrived in Bora this transfer. Taught some more kids, a couple new faces and some more familiar ones. Now that I brought out the GoPro they never let us leave without a picture. There was this big Bora Bora craft fair with some vendors that even flew in from other islands to participate. A lot of good food, nice crafts and good music too. We had a few of our lessons at the craft fair because the main person running it was a member and our friends wanted to check it out. I scored a sick Christmas ornament and even got a hat for free from someone who saw me checking it out. Now I can hang out with all the Papi's and fit right in. Wednesday was ...

Transfers!!! Well transfers happened and I'm still on Bora Bora. There's no complaining here though because I absolutely love it and love the people. It even allows me to get to know the members in the ward a little bit better.  Hiking: We started off the week going hiking with our district one last time before one of the Sisters headed to Moorea and another one of the sisters off to her home since she finished her mission. The journey didn't start at the bottom of the trail but rather at the house as we had to bike 7 miles just to get there. The hike was super cool but also super hot. It felt like I was hiking kokohead midday because of the heat but the trail itself was more of a crouching lion type of hike. Super steap at parts with lots of loose rocks which made going up and going down really "fun". Transfers/Splits: Transfers happened, everyone in the house stayed and the other companionship even got an additional person. Having five people in the house is rea...

Aloha Kakou,  Hauoli la kuokoa and happy Hawaiian Independence Day. Aloha au I ku'u lahui. 'O ka' Aina o Hawai'i ku'u ku'oko'a. He lahui ku'oko'a ko'u. He la aka ku'oko'a au. Eia a'e no kakou. E kupa'a kakou ma hope o ka 'Aina. E welo mau loa ku'u hae aloha.  Started off the week by visiting a member on his motu or little island near Bora Bora. It was so nice to be on an island all alone, and he even let me drive the boat while heading out. We saw a few sharks and stingrays while we were chilling.  Splits: We had two splits this week once with Elder Nelson on Thanksgiving day. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch of Saporro Ichiban and had 6 lessons after. On the way to one of the appointments we saw a dog get run over which was really sad. As we continued on some people started yelling at us because they thought we were the one's that hit the dog. I'm pretty sure if we hit the dog with the bikes that big dog woul...

One Down!!! One month in the field, one giant centipede and one huuuuuge Tupa. All in the same day, and for the later two, within minutes of each other. It was a Bachi moment. Elder Yates was joking about opening up the doors to let centipedes in and then 5 minutes later we hear screams from Elder Nelson and see Elder Yates dancing out of the house because of this giant centipede. After we kill it we go out into our patio are only to find a footlong faaaaat Tupa outside that wasn't there 10 minutes before. Elder Nelson grabs a broom and starts going at it, but it was doing nothing because he was just using the bristles. I proceeded to grab another broom turned the handle over and smashed that thing in the center of the body. One Down, Lights Out. If only we had a Hinano Can to do a size comparison like they do in Hawaii.  It's been a crazy filled week. We extended an invitation for one of our friends to be baptized and she said yes. Another one of our friends decided that he wo...

Brahhhhhhhh,  I think it's only right to start off this email with mosquitoes. I started off the week by looking down at my feet and seeing that they were just covered in bites. I counted 57 bites on my left foot and 42 on my right side all from my ankle area down. I don't know if it's a blessing that the mosquitoes decided to make things equal or if I would have rather had choke bites on one foot and none on the other side.  On Tuesday some a few of our lessons fell through so we started biking like crazy trying to find inactive members in our ward and other people to talk to. After countless rejections someone finally wanted to hear what we had to share, or so we thought. He ended up inviting us in because his wife was an inactive member and then he proceeds to bash us for a solid hour in Tahitian. We thanked him for his thoughts and shared a quick message and was on our way to our next lesson who was just down the road. After that lesson we where on our way to visit anot...

Hooooo Howzit,  Where do I even start??? The rain doesn't stop and neither does the missionary work. Earlier in the week we extended an invitation to get baptized to one of our friends and she said yes, and got baptized a few days later on Saturday! But for real though the rain doesn't stop and if it does well it'll start back up again without a doubt. It's a never ending cycle of getting home drenched in rain and having our shirts and pants all splattered with mud from our vigorous bike rides and then doing our nightly load of laundry with everyone's dirty stuff from the day.  Eating... We've been teaching one of our friends for a while and he invited us over for dinner this past Friday. After eating three plates and being literally stuffed, like I wasn't expecting desert and literally stuffed myself because they kept saying Tamaa, Tamaa or eat, eat. After eating a lot they brought out gaufres. Gaufres are Belgium waffles with Nutella, whipped cream and cho...

Ça Va ??? ,  The rain is nice... till you go through a few pairs of pants in one day. Nevertheless life goes on. You can't stop the rain but, you can cook a Sapporo Ichiban, change your pants, and keep smiling because life is cherreh.  Throwing it back to last preparation day, we met a member, had dinner near the docks and got to try "ninja" aka honu. My companion was extremely fast to pass the entire bowl over to me and well I couldn't be rude. The honu was already killed and although it might be illegal to catch/eat, I think Heavenly Father found a way to nicely get back at me for eating it because I ended up with an extremely upset stomach for a few days following the "ninja" experience. The meat itself is super tender and falls apart like a nice pot roast, and has a strong flavor that can only be described as the ocean. It just tastes like ocean flavored meat. Oh, and imagining a turtle swimming doesn't help it go down so eat a little and keep talkin...

Well, i'm not in Utah anymore... Quickly, guess where I am... Got it?  K, well if you guessed Bora Bora then you hit it right on the dot. French Polynesia feels like home. The aloha spirit that everyone embodies is super prevalent. You'll never be hungry, because you'll slap (go eat) and once you slapped once, I hope you're ready for seconds and thirds because there's no stopping and desserts, well there's always room and if not, pray and make some room. The weather and vibe is just like Hawaii and the place itself is like a Hauula town mixed with the reef and sandbar of Kaneohe. We had to catch a bus and two trains to get from the MTC to the airport, and then a plane from SLC to LAX and then another plane to get to Tahiti. When we arrived in Tahiti me and another elder stayed the night with another companionship since we had to catch flights the next day. That night was spent trying to figure out all the clothes, books, etc... I would/could pack for the next f...