Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey all! I hope that this week brings Tahitian-like meals for you all! I think it is funny when people ask about Thanksgiving here, because I basically describe a dinner appointment every time ha ha ha!

Josh with Elder Webber and Keanu

 This week, Keanu was baptized! This kid is an absolute stud! There are tons of stories about him, but the one that stuck out the most to me was right after his baptism, there was a huge celebration, tons of cake!!!!!!!!! And there was a rehearsal for the talent show, and tons of other things happening. While Elder Webber and I were putting away the chairs for Sacrament Meeting the next day, Keanu saw us and asked if he could help. So, he put aside all of the food, friends, dancing, etc... so he could help us. Talk about an amazing kid!

"Tama'a Maitai after the baptism huh?!"

Other than that, this week was another great week! We have continued to work as hard as possible and should be having a lot of success with baptisms in the next few weeks! Right now, our goal is to have 5 by the end of the year. I don't know if I will still be in Bora by then, but hey, 5 baptisms by the end of the year for Bora Bora! We have 1 fixed for the 12th of December, and we should be having 2 others fixed at least this week!

Josh changing his first flat tire

Though this week was great, my bike didn't really get the memo... So, this week I got a flat tire and it took us 3 days to finally repair it! Talk about frustrating! The part where you inflate the tire popped entirely off, it was definitely a fun experience ha ha ha!

"This is how I work out every day - I lift empty gas cans.  With empty gas cans, you know that every shower is cold, no heat!!! Got to love it!"

Spiritual Thought:

This week, I want to share a little Thanksgiving message with everyone. Before the mission, I didn't realize how blessed we are to live where we do. In Utah, there are tons of luxuries that many people around the world don't have. As I look around where we serve, one of the richer sectors in the mission, I am more and more grateful for my home.

But, most importantly, I think the mission has taught me the most about being grateful for my family. I think I might have taken for grated being with my family, and now am starting to regret every time I didn't do something with them and could have. I love you all so much! Definitely know that I am grateful for you and will always be thinking about you!

So, this Thanksgiving, don't focus on the food, focus on the family: Our family here on the earth and our eternal family.

Elder Garff