Kaoha Nui

Iaorana ia tatou,

Pretty eventful week that flew by pretty fast. I swear I'm like oh man another week and then before I know it the weekend is here and the Aloha Friday song by Kimo Kahoano may or may not be playing in our house. Although we still gotta work the song does bring a lot of joy to the Elders in other elders in the house as well.

We started off last week monday by eating with the Poroi family from Ahe one last time and they are literally the best family ever so so so kind and so sweet also it was fun to just talk about the ocean and joke around with them. Frère Poroi is a legend and I really hope I have the opportunity to serve on there island in the Tuamotu's.

On Tuesday we had our emotional resilience class but it wasn't until after the class that we all truly felt emotionally resilient when Elder Winter brought out some Cinnamon Rolls he made. It's been soooo long, not really, but it's felt long because we used to eat it everyday on Bora because one of the members made and sold them on the side of the road. We went to visit some of our friends and recent converts to see how they were doing and we saw some miracles. We taught a few lessons, set up some times to return and also got a dinner appointment for the next day. LUIAAAAA LA MA'A!!!!!

On Wednesday we had a lesson first thing in the morning with one of our friends. At the end of the lesson she was like "Thanks Elder, i'm gonna share this with my husband". Hopefully her husband enjoys it as much as she enjoyed the lesson. After we went to this lookout area and met this lady and started talking to her for a little while. She started off the conversation with, "Are you guys trying to see the sharks too?" To which we responded with, "Wait what?!?". Turn out some lady got bit by a shark near us and they thought the sharks were still lingering in the area. Good thing I'm not planning on hopping in the water anytime soon. All I know is you don't gotta be the fastest swimmer you just can't be the last one.

Woke up on Thursday to some commotion in the kitchen and it was Elder Russel our Zone leader trying to make pancakes, but unfortunately for him our non-stick pan is not non-stick and his pancakes turned into a pancake crumble. He ended up making a parfait kind of thing for him and Elder Brown and they were downing I with some orange soda which I thought was the funniest thing ever at 7am. Healthy? What's that??? Had a lesson with Teva and Diana and he was a whole lot more receptive and started reading more. He even followed through with our invitation to read and discuss with his wife. Another miracle because before he wouldn't pay attention during lessons and would rather watch the TV.

Friday was straight fire because the Senior couple made some BBQ right after our district council. The chicken was Ono and absolutely hit home because we haven't had BBQ chicken in awhile. We had a lesson with Ata our friend who's nine years old as well as his mother and father. This kid is absolutely motivated we gave him a regular Book of Mormon and then we were like actually we don't think he's gonna ready it so we dropped off a Book of Mormon for kids with pictures and he's been reading both and has even been reading to his dad. Ended off the day with a nice cold shower. Haha wasn't expecting it but luckily Tahiti is nice and warm so I warmed up after.

Saturday was a normalish Saturday. One of our lessons got canceled first thing in the morning but that just allowed us to get our studies in first thing without having to wait till the very end of the day to do them. We had a lesson with another one of our friends and we invited her and her boyfriend to figure out the reason why they wanted to quit smoking. It's easy to set a goal but without knowing why you have that goal there's no real motivation to achieve it. We thought about this and invited them to set miniature goals to help them achieve there "Why". After we ended up visiting some inactive members, and ended up eating sooooo much food because they served us our plates. 

Sunday was mother's day here in Tahiti. We had an amazing time at church and then had lunch with Frère Tupana and his family and then right back to work. We had a few lessons after and the highlight had to have been when a little boy wearing nothing was standing on our bench and proceeds to pee on Elder Moriniere. I looked over and was like oh no, and then had to look down for a little bit trying to hold in my laughter.

Thought for the week:

Never deliberately fly into a thunderstorm. Fly around it, take another route, or wait. It's not worth the pain or effort flying full force into a thunderstorm knowing you're gonna hit turbulence. 

Another thing that's been in my head has been using what you got, and using it to your advantage. You might not have the best equipment or materials for your situation but if you open up your mind a little and you will be able to find that what you have is enough.

"Vents favorables et mer suivants"

"Mata'i haumaru e moana mania"

"Fair winds and following seas"

Ua Here au ia 'oe,

Elder Ellis

Link to my Google Photo's album. Go check um, go check um, go!:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qErFS2eWV3pJGVEV7