Finding Joy!!!

-


Alohaaaaaa Nuiiiiiiiii,


We've made it! A full week has passed by in this amazing and beautiful new area and I have to say I'm falling in love more and more with every passing day. It might be a little crazy at times going back and forth killing our legs on the bikes or having to do some hikes to get to peoples houses for lessons but it's all better than being stuck in a city or a place with paved roads going everywhere and modern houses all around. 







Highlights:

- The week started off pretty chill, we got the district to go on a hike. A couple wrong turns were taken and our hike ended up becoming a little longer then we expected but it was all worth it when we got to the top


- We had at least one member present at a lesson each day and they helped to share their own experience and really added a nice spirit to our lessons


- Taught about the Word of Wisdom or why it's important to not drink coffee, alcohol, tea, smoke tobacco or other drugs and then one of our friends stopped drinking coffee the next day and switched over to hot chocolate like whaaaaaat






- Ate with an Elder who served in the mission and his family and then we got invited to their house again a few days later to have lunch with them. The members are so kind and even though we're biking a lot we're gonna gain weight because they pack us with so much leftovers 😋😄


- Got a call from Papi Coco from Nuku Hiva. We were in the middle of a district council and then my companion was just like we needa take this call. He answers and the first thing we hear is a big old KAOHA NUIIII! Elder Tingey was thrown off and quickly handed me the phone, Papi kept talking in Marquesian and I was trying my best to keep up especially since it's been 3 1/2 months of not hearing it. We still answered all his questions and then transferred over into tahitian for the rest of our conversation. Happy moment but also sad moment because he called saying he missed me and is on Tahiti and wanted to go out for lunch. Ahahaha Papi would feed us even if we already ate or where gonna go eat while we were on Nuku Hiva, he's the Best!








- Speaking Kaina or a mix of French and tahitian has just been amazing the members love it and the friends also love it. You can be speaking French and also throwing in tahitian words and the people are just like. YESSSSS .... Anyways we were eating dinner with this family and we started joking around after my companion said he would probably run away if there was a robber. To which I said, "Oh no, he needs to find a Rere for a wife". The conversation progressed further and further and they kept referring back to that or why he needs to find one until the point where we finally asked him if he understood the conversation and he was just like, "No, it's going right over my head". We all cracked up, and then the mom ended up translating into English because I was still laughing


- We were told to pull up for a choir practice and then at the end they were just like, "Yeah, we're performing next week". It threw all of us off but I think it'll go fine.


- In the little time when had left on our Sunday we prayed and then biked 40 minutes to this one area in our sector. We got there and then this guy we talked to comes out and right behind him is his girlfriend holding the book of mormon with a book mark inside, like what, that's crazy. We started talking to them and she started saying how she's been super interested and when she saw the book she wanted to really understand it and find out for herself if it was true so she's been reading it this past week. We started answering her questions and then setup another time to meet next week. Ahhhhhh, following spiritual promptings are the best!


Lowlights:

- Can't complain, work is going well, members are amazing, and I'm in a beautiful place.

-Below are images of Nuku Hiva.















Spiritual thought:

Alma 5:33-34 " 33. Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you.


 34 Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely"


I love how it says that the arms of mercy are extended towards them. His grace is sufficient for all who hearken unto his voice. And at the same time, he is merciful because he knows and understands each one of us individually.



"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:

There's a lot, from this past week, district council, the families we ate with and everything in between


Popular posts from this blog

KFC in Tahiti?!?!

-
Image
Yes, I am talking about good old Kentucky Fried Chicken. One of friends just got baptized and one of her sons flies for Air Tahiti Nui and brought back KFC because another Mami at the luncheon really loves KFC. We showed up and they started bringing out the food and I thought I was dreaming for a second. Like there's no way that's actually KFC, the best part was just seeing how excited the Mami was about it. Anyways that was a nice little highlight from the other day. Also just realized I didn't get a picture of it, sorry bout it, but was good. :) Highlights: - Elder Brown made me some special drink for my throat but he didn't have the actual ingredients to make it so he improvised and mixed Water, Hot sauce, Salt, and Honey. He heated that bad boy up and it started frothing and smelt like warm vinegar. It didn't taste the best but wasn't too bad. It also kinda looked like beer.  - We got Facebook back thanks to the amazing work of the Elders in The Office. - We...
Read more

Te mau haamaitai a te atua!!! The blessings from God!!!

-
Image
Alohaaaaaa ko'u 'ohana, This past week was absolutely magical. First off, we just had general conference and they announced so many new temples. One of them is over on Raiatea and another one is going to be in Honolulu, Hawaii!!! Like what a great blessing that is for people all over the pacific and especially my beloved Polynesians that are scattered across the various islands in the sea.  Highlights: - Went on a split with Elder Christensen and it was pretty fire. We biked back from the port to our house and the poor guy was sweating so much. We had a pretty good time filled with lessons, contacting and following the spirit. The man even drank half a vaimato 5 gallon jug when we were together. Pretty impressive if you ask me. - Elder Tingey and I were so hyped after our split we decided to go contacting. We entered a neighborhood at around 10am and didn't leave till it was almost 6pm. We both thought it was only going to take 2 maybe three hours max but we were so wrong. ...
Read more

And He's home...

-
Image
After serving the people of French Polynesia Elder Ellis returned home to Hawaii on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. He was honorably release that at 5pm and then went to the beach with his family.  Mahalo for all your support... Please join us Sunday, July 28, 2024 at 11am at the Kapalama Ward meetinghouse at 622 N. Judd Street, Honolulu, HI. For sacrament meeting at 11am in which Kala Ellis will be speaking and sharing about his mission experiences.
Read more