A Lovely Valentine's Day Weekend

"I thought 2 "Goods" would make a "Great", but I was wrong...  Somehow Rice Krispies and Pineapple Juice aren't compatible." - We are glad Josh is learning and sharing such valuable information.

Hey Eveyone!

I hope that everyone had a great Valentine's Day and that you all got your fair share of hugs and kisses! For me, definitely not on the mission and probably not after as well. The closest I'll get are Hershey's kisses and hand hugs. But don't worry about little old me!

Takivera and Benjamin!  Awesome Day!

This week was great! We had 2 baptisms! And they both have incredible stories! The first was Benjamin. With Benjamin, he had been taking the lessons for ages. Then, all of a sudden, we had a lesson with just him, and we gave him the Book of Mormon, the first one he had ever received for himself. After a week, he knew the Book of Mormon was true and asked us when he could get baptized! And was!!!!

The next was a 9 year old named Takivera. Defintlely a name I could give my kids one day! He comes from an inactive family who, right now, are trying to get sealed in the temple! Takivera getting baptized was the first step, and now we'll try to keep it up and help them get to the temple!

In all, this week was a rewarding week and after every baptism, there is a great feeling of "yes! That was exhausting... On to the next one!" and hopefully we'll have some coming in the future!

Funny Moment: Benjamin's last name is "RAVEINO", which in Tahitian means "do bad". So, we joked that after his baptism and confirmation (which was on Valentine's Day!) we should change his name to "RAVEMAITAI" :)

Culture Shock: Here, the last names are in ALL CAPS. So, if you don't write a name in all capital letters, it means that they don't have a family name...

Ward Activity on the Beach

Spiritual Thought: I have been reading the Book of Mormon in the book of Ether lately. As I read Chapter 6, I was moved by their willingness to thank the Lord. They were in tumultuous conditions, living with animals, over and in the sea, whipped around, and yet they still sang praises to God endlessly. All that for a year, longer than I have been on a mission! So, if they can stay grateful to the Lord, even during all of that, can't we do the same and be grateful to the Lord, during our little hardships?

Love you all!

Elder Garff - (I think he means GARFF)

The Sky is on Fire

Hey Everyone!

Yeah, the sky was on fire!  Crazy sunset that Elder Peel and I couldn't believe.

This week was another good week! It was really a week of preparing people to get baptized and to accept baptismal dates. While it was tiring at times, it was overall really good!

The work in Tahiti continues to progress and we are just following the slogan here "haere maru, haere papu". "Go surely, go softly", basically take the little steps. And with many of our investigators and inactives here, there has been a lot of progression! With the new year, a lot of people have changed for the better and are doing awesome with their progression! Something I definitely hope will keep going!

And, just a weather check for you all. I hope you are enjoying the snow, here it is crazy hot! We are in the hot season right now and it is not getting colder any sooner! I get many comments about how much I sweat, which is usually something like "how can you sweat that much?"...

Funny Moment: Defintely goes to all of the comments I have received about my face. Either it is about sweating, acne, that I look like a 27 year old, that I speak and look like I am from Russia, or that colored eyes are the reason why many people like us ha ha ha!

Josh trying to mimic Garfield's eyes - a little spooky.  Thanks for the tie Truman!

Culture Shock: So, when I received a pair of slacks from my family, I compared them with the slacks that I have been wearing the past 8 months. Can you guess which ones are new?

Which Pair is New? Hmmmmmm

Spiritual Thought: During the mission and during our lives, there are many Ups, and many Downs. While we can't control what happens, we can know that all things happen for our good (Romans 8: 38-39). But, what we can control is which things we will focus on. We can focus on the bad things that happen, and then receive the sad feelings associated with them. Or, we can focus on the good things, the blessings God gives us, and receive the feelings of happiness that accompany them. Choose the Right, when a situation is placed before you!

Have a great week, and don't do anything I wouldn't do (especially you Gam!)

Elder Garff

It's Raining, It's Pouring, and the Ants are all Snoring

Spraying ant poison on my bag that was infested by ants - ha, ha, ha!

Hey everyone!

So, the title is a little strange, but, this week we got tons of rain. The rain was good in some ways because a lot of people stayed home because of it, but it also caused us to travel in the rain all day ha ha ha! So, needless to say, all of the books in my bag got hammered! Also, with the ants, they were snoring in my bag... During a lesson, I put my bag on the ground. After an hour, I picked up my bag, only to discover the ants had formed a colony - in my bag! So, I took my bag home and destroyed the ants in there (see my facial expression below to see if I was a welcoming host...)

"Teaching a piano lesson, and I have to say, with 8 months of no practice, it was rough - ha ha ha!

But, overall, we had a good week this week! We are working with a lot of new investigators and we have a lot of people who are close to baptism! So, the work is going well here! We are trying our hardest so that we can have the Spirit, because it is truly the Spirit who converts people, not us! We are doing well and I appreciate all of your prayers for the area and the investigators!

And, today during a multi zone soccer match, I was talking to some Elders and Sisters from my MTC promo, it is so weird that it is already February! I am already 8 months on the mission! Almost a year, crazy. Some days go by painfully slow, but for the majority of my mission, everything has flown! Crazy how time flies when your are serving!

Je suis vraiment reconnaissent pour toute votre support pour moi et pour le Seigneur! Sans Lui, c'est impossible à accomplir le chose on doir faire ici sur le terre. Ua ite vau e e ohipa maitai roa teie ohipa. Ua oaoa vau ia tavini to'tatou Fatu na roto te ohipa misionare. I roto te mau mea atoa, ua tia'i vau tera e nehenehe ia outou ia farii to'u aroha no outou!

Funny Moment: Though I was angry, the ants were a pretty funny moment ha ha ha!

Culture Shock: When it rained, especially on Saturday, it was crazy! All of the streets were flooded and the neighborhoods were covered in giant puddles! The first time I have walked through 5 inches of muddy water and biked through it all too!

"Through the River and Through the Woods, to an Investigator's House we go!"

Spiritual Thought: This week, I really learned a lesson about attitude changes everything. In our lives, we will have many temptations and many things that don't go quite our way (ants, rain, tests, school, dating, etc...), but, our attitude determines our altitude. We can choose to be happy when adversity comes, or we can choose to be miserable. Choose to be like God or Satan. In the end, why would we chose to be miserable about a situation and become like Satan (miserable), let us choose to be happy no matter what comes our way, to be like Christ!

Elder Garff

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like February"

Josh thought he would share a "Deep Pondering Missionary" pose.  He mentioned that it was a "pretty legit study spot".  Surely you realize how serious he must have been while taking this...

Hey all!

I really hope that I spelled these words right, words like February and begining are a little out of my head right now! And with French spell check, not the greatest source of help ha ha ha! And with the title, I am thinking that I am going to love February a lot this year, because not only is January over, but tons of cool stuff will be happening in February!

This week was a great week! This week was more of helping people with baptism dates get ready for the interview for baptism and for the baptism itself. They will come in the future, but know for now that we have a lot of great people who are ready to be baptized, stay tuned! As they get baptized, I will post it, just to try your patience huh? :)

Chopau: "A bread roll with mystery meat on the inside.  Got to love it!"  For a kid who elected not to eat anything at scout camp, this shows tremendous growth.

And also this week, we had transfers, and Elder Peel and I are staying together in Maraa! We are really starting to click right now and the area is picking up! Before Elder Peel, it was ok, but now with him, the area is rocking! Definitely thanks to my college missionaire et Notre Père Céleste! C'est quelque chose grande qui va passé avec le pouvoir de Dieu. Nous sommes rien sans lui, mais, grace a lui et son fils Jesus Christ, on peut faire toute chose! C'est grande ça!

I hope you like the French ha ha ha! Maybe here and there I'll throw in some sentences i roto te reo Tahiti aore ra i roto te reo Farani. No reira e nehenehe ia ratou ia haapii mai te mau reo mai vau te huru! (And sorry, there isn't Google Translate for Tahitian :) )

The Caves of Maraa - A Little P-Day Field Trip

But, just know that all is well here! The area is great, we're doing great, and Tahiti is just maitai roa!

 

Culture Shock: Goes to the ice cream we had the other night! Ice cream here is very expensive and is far from a day to day pleasure here! Something I'll look forward to in 1.5 years ha ha ha

 

Funny Moment: I have started a juice collection. I don't know how much exactly, but I have consumed over 18 liters (pictured to come in other weeks!)

Spiritual Thought: Charity is the pure love of Christ. If we want to have this pure love, we need to act. We can either wonder if we have charity and worry about it, or serve and show our charity.

Stay tuned for next week!

Elder Garff

Cockroaches, Beetles, Lizards, Flies, Spiders and Mosquitos at night...Oh My!

"Something you might not be seeing in Utah this January"

Hey all!

I hope that the snow is treating you all well! Here, it is hot, and getting hotter! I think that the members and people here are starting to identify me by how much I sweat! On bike, crazy hot weather, and long distances don't help matters either! Each day my sleeves are covered in sweat and sometimes have to peel them off ha ha ha!

This week went by really well for us! We fixed 4 baptism dates for February, and it should be great! We are working with a lot of great people and there are tons of cool stories here! I will tell you about them as they happen, but right now we are working with a cool family which has touched me beyond anything I have felt in my life. Though it sounds cheesy, it is true and I love this family to death!

And, everything else has been going well! There is no room to complain. There is nothing better than going to bed tired (except of course the feeling of waking up the next morning with tons of energy, if not, the going to bed tired thing isn't as cool ha ha ha!). We'll just keep working! I love you all back home and hope that when you are in school or the weather is less that 0, you'll think of Tahiti ha ha ha!

Culture Shock: I think this week will go again to the insects. Because the houses here generally don't have air conditioning, the insects like it. So, at night, it is not uncommon for us to see cockroaches, beetles, lizards, flies, ants, spiders, and mosquitos. Something I don't think Utah has with all the snow!

Breakfast Elder Webber Style

Funny Moment: So, this week, Elder Webber is going home. So, in honor of him, I had the breakfast that he had every morning: Milo (liquid chocolate), crackers with Nutella Spread on them in sandwich fashion, together to form a chocolate wonder... And he is skinny still, unbelievable!

Spiritual Thought: This week I have thought a lot about Self Mastery. If we can't control ourselves, who is going to control us? God will let us choose, but Satan will do all he can to control us. This is why we must master ourselves, if not, Satan will be our master and thus lead us by his chains to hell. So, this week I studied how to do master myself, and I found the answer in Alma 37:33-37, awesome scriptures there. The answer is faith. If we have faith, we will be able to conquer Satan, we will be able to master ourselves, but only if we rely on Christ. So, the challenge I have for you all this week is to develop faith in Christ, so you can master yourselves.

Ua here vau ia outou!

Elder Garff

Fish Eyes - They Almost Made Me Throw Up.

Hey all, this week was awesome and crazy at the same time!

So, big news, we had 2 baptisms this week for Heirani and Jayson! Heirani is the mom and Jayson is her son. Her husband, James, is not quite ready for baptism, but he is so close! Just have to wait for certain things. But, with this baptism, it was very touching. To get baptized, this family gave up: coffee, cigarettes, got married, and all of that in just over a month! This family, I love to say, has more faith than I have ever seen in my life before. The power of faith, the fast, and the will of God are powerful, no denying that!

Baptism of Jayson and Heirani

In addition to that, we found a lot of new investigators this week who have a lot of potential for the baptism! A lot of them could even have baptism dates set next week! So our area is definitely on the "rising stage"! Lots of good news to come!

Culture shock: Definitely goes to our Tamaaraa (eating appointment) last night. The mom said that with fish, only true Tahitians eat the head (sucking out the eyes and tongue of the fish), so naturally Elder Peel and I had to try it! I unfortunately sucked too much out of the eyes and tasted an eye ligament that almost made me throw up... Gross

"Uncle Rick, I Think I Conquered My Fear of Fish!"

Funny Moment: This morning, Elder Lewis got out his shoes for a hike. The first shoe had tons of spiders. After cleaning it out, he cleaned out the other shoe, filled with 10 live cockroaches. Needless to say I hid my shoes after that!

Spiritual Thought:

With the family Teriipaia, I have thought a lot about the power of faith and fasting. With our faith, and with our sacrifice of the fast, we can accomplish great things. Things may seem impossible, but with God, nothing is impossible. He just asks us to believe in Him, and whatsoever we will ask Him in faith (nothing wavering), He will give it to us in His own time and His own way.

Love you all, don't suck too much of the fish heads you eat!

Elder Garff

Bonne anne'e and Ia orana i te matahiti api - Happy New Year!

Hey all!

 

I hope that you all had an awesome New Year! It was definitely weird for me to look at the calendar and see 2016!

But First.... A Toast!

 

Here, the sector is doing well! We continued to work crazy hard this week, and even with all of the crazy partying on New Years, we had a fair amount of lessons and progression from a lot of investigators! In the next few weeks to come, I hope that I can send their baptismal pictures! Truly the Lord is here at Maraa! If we continue to work hard, we'll continue to have success! Especially with the holiday over, I am excited to get back to normal work!

 

And everything else is going great! Elder Peel is definitely a great companion and we have tons of things coming up this week! This week, we had a baptismal interview that President Bize was there for, we will have a zone conference also that he will be here for, an interview with him, then another multi-zone conference next week. A lot of President Bize to come!

Karaoke with Elder Peel

 

Culture Shock: So, whoever created the "Minions" must have served a mission in Tahiti. "Minion" in English means "cute", the Minions I swear speak Tahitian, and like the people here, the Minions like Karaoke ha ha ha!

Funny Moment:

So, my bag strap has been breaking constantly. So, I decided to buy a Minion jumprope and that has served as my strap ha ha ha! Defintiely a little different!

The Minion Jump Rope Strap - Awesome

 

Spiritual Thought:

This week I have really thought about goal setting. With goals, if we set too many, there is no motivation to get them all done because it is impossible! If we set too few, We won't have a ton of motivation after we accomplish them. I finally decided to set 6 main goals, with the intention of making the small goals as the year and my needs progress and change. So, my challenge to you all would be to find 5 big things that will take all year to change. Then, after that, keep these 5 big things in a place you can see all day and make the little goals every day/week/whenever, to accomplish the 5 big things you want to see a change in this week.

 

Love you all! Hope you are all gearing up for school again ha ha ha!

 

Elder Garff

 

Yes, this is a picture of a pig farm just down the street from where Josh lives.  I am grateful for each picture Josh will send, but it did not really fit into the context of any of his letter, so, it has become bonus material.