Miracles

Kaoha Nui ia kakou,

Highlights:

- Went hiking last p-day down to Anaho. It was actually the third time we did it in a week and me and Elder Hagen were kinda over it but our neighbor was hyped so we were hyped as well. We get down there and then he's just like Elders let's hike to the village right over. We walked another hour and a half to the village right over along this desertish plane and when we arrived the beach was beautiful. Sand like Hawaii, Portuguese Man-O Wars filled the beach an amazing beach break with constant waves and some barrels as well. I was in awe at such perfection that very few people get a chance to see.

- On our way back my sandals kept feeling a little looser and looser until finally it felt like I wasn't even wearing my sandals. Not to my surprise the Keens finally broke. Nuku Hiva has been really harsh on shoes and sandals and walking back on that hot sand was the final straw that eventually melted the glue between the sole and footbed causing the strap to come out. And it al happened before the 2nd hike back to the car.

- Bought the only other sandals that they have on the island and it's these insanely grippy Tahitian Jelly sandals. When I say grippy I really mean it and the thing like glows. There's people turning heads left and right as we pass and then looking down at the sandals in amazement. It's pretty funny and even helps start a few conversations as well.

- We had another long lesson with Karen and we were able to talk about families and the importance of parents and what they do to help grow and fortify the family. After we had a lesson with our friendly pakalolo dealing friend and he had another guy there. We started talking about the Book of Mormon and it's importance and gave one to the Papi that was there and he was trying his best to read even though the forgot his glasses. We left an hour later and Papi was still over there reading after thanking us a million times for the book.

- Got a text from one of our ward members, we show up and she's just like, "Elders, I got some people I want you to meet". She introduced us to this lady and this lady introduced us to her father who ended up being this super cool Papi that not only sculpts but also used to build houses and do other things. We were able to help him fill up his water bottles as well as just talk story with him.

- Our house flooded as we washed some white baptism jumpsuits. The jumpsuits were so thick and sticked to the washer and ended up flooding our house. We were studying, I stood up took a few steps and was just like ohhhh no. Yeah, we spent a nice little amount of time cleaning that up. You would've thought we learned our lesson the first time but nope, we washed another two jumpsuits and it happened again. Aiya, we're definitely not washing the jumpsuits again in this house because I don't want be cleaning up a flooding house for a third time.

- We were eating lunch and were talking about random things like the a/c our branch president fixed and in the middle of that conversation another Papi goes, "Elders come over, we'll go wash the motor" to which I was like "Our A/C unit???!?!" To which Papi was like "And the slippers, did you change the slippers on your car?" At that point I was lost and my companion was sitting next to me and he just kept nodding his head and saying yes, to which he later admitted he didn't understand a word that Papi was saying which made me laugh even more. Turns out Papi was calling the tired on our truck it's slippers and told us we need to change them out because the things are pretty much bald. I don't think they realize it's the new mission look... Half Indie 500 / Half All-Terrain Tires. Nah jk, but we tried asking the office about it but they haven't gotten back to us.

Spiritual thought:

Okay, so this past week we had a zone call and our zone leaders told us how we needed to find two new friends on Sunday to which me and my companion started murmuring a little because if you know this sector you can go a couple weeks without finding a new friend. 

Well, we are getting ready to leave the house in the morning and I'm just like Elder Hagen we're finding three new friends today. To which I got the response "Elder Ellis you're crazy, it'd be a miracle if we found a single friend today". I turned back to him and said, "Well, I might be crazy but it'll happen".

We ended up going out in-between the first and second conference session with the intent of building relations with in the neighborhood we were in. We went house to house for an hour an only ended up really talking to two people because we got so caught up in learning about each other's lives. Where they're from, there family growing up and their children and grandchildren, talking about their parents, their work, their passions and truly building deep connections rather than shallow short lived connections. Boom 💥,  like that we had two new friends. Now where's that third?

We ate lunch with our branch president, talked story and then went back out. Went over to this Papis house and did the same kinda thing and Boom two more friends. Yes, we went out there with the dreaded thought of needed to find friends, but once we changed that thought to, "How, can we learn more about the people in our neighborhood and build bridges of understanding?" That everything changed. We were no longer just doing work, but we were doing work with a purpose. We weren't just doing the what, but we had the understanding behind WHY we were doing it. 

In 4 Nephi 1:3 it says, "And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift."

We are truly all the same. We love our families, we long for something more in life. We have questions of where we came from and where we are going to end up one day. All of these questions can be answered through a simple book, a simple prayer, and a simple grain of faith.

"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