Elder Josh Garff: Always Fun Taking a Boat to go on a Split

Hey Everyone!

This week was a great week! We had an awesome hike on Monday (you all saw pictures from the last week), and after it was a chill P-Day :) Then, this week got crazy.

So, Elder Paulsen and I went on splits with the Elders of Fareatai, which was great! I was with Elder Ivie, and after the split, Elder Lasson gave me a haircut, which he had to finish the following morning because the clippers ran out of power :( Then, we went to Haamene, which is at Tahaa, an island next to ours. we took a 15 minute boat ride and met with Elder Eperenia and Elder Opuu. I was with Elder Opuu and it was awesome to serve with him for 10 hours ha ha ha! So, thanks to these splits, I slept in 3 different houses, served in 3 different areas, and went on boat, car, and foot this week, a little change of pace!

Josh with Elder Paulsen and the Elders of Tahaa, Elder Pouu et (and) Elder Eperenia

For me and Elder Paulsen, though we weren't really in our sectors this week, it was still great! We made a lot of progress with our investigators and are excited to welcome our members back from Tahiti! Over 50 percent of our members went to the temple at Tahiti, and we are excited to actually serve with them again!

And, always fun when the Sisters call and ask you to change their flat tire! We were a little perplexed by it all, but in the end, we got the spare on and are heading over to their house today to put the repaired tire back on!

Question: How Many Elders Does It Tiake To Change A Flat Tire?

Last of all, shout out to my Sister Bubsy who is going to serve her mission this upcoming week! Next week there will be more about this, but, if you see her, make sure to give her a big oso hug for me! :) And throw a lot of water balloons at her, she can't really get wet during the mission... (JJ, this is a BIG hint)

Culture shock: The names here are not really like the names back home. Many people have an American name, but their family name is usually long. Check out the name of the lucky Tahitian man who won a car below...

Try Pronouncing That Name

Funny Moment: This will probably go to the car. Their jack was stolen, and our car is much lower to the ground than their car. So, not paying attention to the jack, we exceeded the limit and broke it. Good thing it is in my blood to sell cars, not to fix them :)

Spiritual Thought: I have been thinking a lot this week about the power of change. I know I have said this before, but this week we encountered a lot of people laughing us to scorn because of a baptism that we fixed (set up). It is amazing what changes can happen when we look at our lives and the lives of others through Heaven's eyes. Why would we want to waste our time looking at the condemning past of a person if they have changed or even want to change to a exalting future?

Love you all, enjoy having my sister in Utah while you can!

Elder Garff

Utah vs. byU
I wanted to have us holding up our fingers to show the score of the last Utah byU game (35 for me, and 28 for him), but Elder Paulsen wasn't too happy about that