My companion (almost) pooped in the river...
Highlights:
- We did the waterfall hike again but this time we didn't have the Papi with us to guide us through the off reading trail in the forest so what should been an hour drive time in the forest turned into an hour half drive time because we took a couple wrong paths. In my defense we did it over a month ago and along the trail it always splits into three different trails and it's like you have to pick the right one. Well, we made it and made it to the top of the humongous waterfall and Elder Hagen is still with us so that's a win.
- Tuesday was pretty packed we had a lesson and he also brought a friend along with him which was amazing. After going back to the guy a few times and seeing different people there we've come to a conclusion that the guy is the neighborhood weed dealer but at the same time he is super open to talk and is insanely knowledgeable about the Bible which is so cool. We had a few more lessons that same day.
- One of our friends sent us a message that caught us off guard because he said, "I'll do what ever I need to to get baptized" like whaaaat. He's been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and we knew it was only a matter of time but the fact that he messaged us out of the blue was insane.
- That same Tuesday we also helped a Papi fix his roof, and then we raked up a huge plot of load because he just went over it with the weedwacker. Then we filled up bottles of water for our branch president, dropped it off and his wife was like Elders it's already 8pm and you're still doing service come eat! The Lord really does see our efforts and knows that food will keep us going.
- Filled up more bottles on Wednesday, had a few lessons and then had a reactivation activity and roughly 15 members in our branch came out and then we split up into teams to go visit inactive members and ended up having a handful come back to church this past Sunday which was nice because it made our small little area nice and packed with roughly 80ish people.
- We ate with Uncle Kevin Ellis again and he hooked it up big time with some amazing spaghetti and garlic bread as well as amazing crepes to top it off.
- The highlight for Thursday was eating some octopus cooked in coconut milk which was a first for me and also the very first time that Elder Hagen had octopus. He really enjoyed it but the next day it absolutely wrecked his stomach. The only weird part was that their suction cups just felt like hard cartilage like knobs.
- Picked up more water and did more weedwacking and service on Friday. As we were dropping off water I mentioned how this one guy had a cool huge JBL speaker and he was like, "You knows there's two microphones, we could do a Karoke Family home evening sometime" Me and Elder Hagen looked at each other and were like "Yeah, we're done, let us know when and we'll be there".
- Saturday was packed with three different service projects but two fell through because of the rain. The first one was helping Uncle Kevin take out a cement and stone reception bar jn the old restraint they're redoing. It took us four hours to get that thing out using a sledgehammer, a jackhammer, and some picks. And we also didn't damage any of the tile which was good as well. We were supposed instal a new staircase for a new member but that got pushed back till this Saturday because of the rain and then we were going to weedwack the rest at our church building but it rained and the Papi ended up doing it a 5am Sunday morning. We thought he was joking but he actually did it.
- Oh Elder Hagen was still having adverse affects from the octopus and we almost pulled on the side of the road for him to go poop in a river but our prayers were answered and it didn't have to happen. I kept joking how it would've been a legendary subject line to an email but I decided to just throw it in there anyways.
Spiritual Thought:
In 2 Thessalonians 2:15 it says, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught." This past week "culture" was something that I really took an interest in. I found out that culture is the customary beliefs, social forms, or traits of a group of people.
Culture and its traditions help establish our sense of identity and fill the vital human need to belong. There are many traditions that we have in our cultures that are able to reinforce different standards found in The Gospel of Jesus Christ which can be found in The Book of Mormon.
At the same time we need to take a look at both the "What" and "Why" of the things we do. It is easy to see the "What" but sometimes it is harder to understand the "Why" behind things. The "what" teaches us what to do, while the "why" inspires our souls to do it. "What" informs us while the "why" transforms us. I have been looking for the "why" this past week and once I started focusing on that the joy started overflowing no matter what we were doing, from the big projects to the littelest projects as well.
"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
Pictures:
1. Elder Hagen and a huge plate of Chow Mein
2. Us and the Tiki
3. The big plot of land we raked up
4. The aftermath/rubble from our demo job
5. Elder Hagens study time
6. Doggo
7. The top of the waterfall
8. Roof repairmen of Nuku Hiva
