Katie's Engagement - A Masterful Prank

This week's post begs a little background information.
Katie recently made the decision to serve a mission.  While her papers were being prepared, she devised a plan by which she would tell Josh.  Naturally, she elected to lure him into believing that she was engaged instead.
Then, for Family Home Evening, we invented Katie's fiance' via a game of "Mash"

And Luke Reeves was born.

As Katie introduced Luke to Josh through her letters, and through correcting our letters, Josh began to believe the tale.  But, trusting his instincts, demanded a picture.  Katie immediately found an unsuspecting fellow business student, (name withheld in order to protect the innocent), who consented to play along.  She sent Josh this photo:

Letters came from Josh, asking if Katie was going to wait until he got home to get married.  Finally, Katie's call arrived, and she created the following announcement titled "BIG NEWS"

JOSH!!!

I'M ENGAGED!!! 

Luke is the absolute GREATEST and you will love him when you get home, but as for right now, love the PROPOSAL STORY!!

Yesterday, after he picked me up, we had a wonderful lighthearted dinner with his family (they are amazing by the way) and then we drove up the canyon a little ways to ride HORSES! We went on a gorgeous trail ride that winded up a pretty steep mountain and ended up being opposite of Park City's slopes. Once we arrived at the top, we got off the horses, hiked a little farther to where there was a HUGE lit heart on the opposite side of the mountain!! It was INCREDIBLE and I have never seen anything so beautiful! Here, he got down on one knee...and this is where we broke up...:) 

I got my call this week and I have been called to serve in the Bolivia, Cochabamba mission!! I am so excited and privileged to serve in such a great place:D I report to the Peru missionary training center on August 2nd and will be preparing to teach the gospel in Spanish-jealous?;)

Luke Reeves is really is a solid guy, but he was just made up by our family in a family home evening game of MASH (I'll send you a pic;)). However, I wasn't lying about the big news or that I'm engaged-I'm just engaged in a good cause to serving a mission:D All the other stuff was just to remind you about how incredibly witty, clever and charismatic your favorite sister is! With all this said, Rachel is still predicted to be married first so don't worry;)

Sorry to play the prank, but someone had to do it;) Have a great week, make good choices, and don't hate me okay? haha:D

Love,

Bubs

Josh responded:

BUBS.....

EAHA TO'OE HINAARO?????? JE SUIS CARRÉMENT FACHÉ AVEC TOI MAINTENANT. AITA VAU E ITE NAFEA E NENEHE IA'U IA PARAU TEIE NEI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT, CONGRATS ON YOUR MISSION CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS SO AWESOME TO HEAR!

And, you definitely got me, I'll put it on the next email ha ha ha! To everyone! But that is so great to hear! Congrats on your decision, and you really did get me, I opened that and honestly thought that you were engaged!!!! That was one of the weirdest transitions in my life! Shocked, confused, angry, shocked, confused, happy, angry, happy, furious, astonished beyond all measure!

Gosh dang it Bubs, I'll get you back one of these days.

Elder Garff

Katie has been called to the Bolivia Cochabamba Mission.  She will report to The Peru MTC on August 2.  Josh has vowed retaliation.

A Few Thoughts on Gratitude

Again, I don't have a lot of time and I am on the phone... So I can't send pictures either or the group email. For the blog, maybe just put a little spiritual message on Gratitude and counting all the blessings you have.

This was a week where Josh really has had to do this.  He informed us that he was dealing with "Pink Eye", so counting one's blessings is a better focus.

In true Josh style, here are a few quotes on gratitude that might convey his intended entry this week:


"Be grateful.  Count your blessings and gifts and privileges and see just how long that list is.  I imagine that each of you will have difficulties ahead of you.  None of us can avoid them.  Bur do not despair.  Do not give up.  Look for the sunlight in the clouds.  And be grateful for what you have."
                                       Gordon B. Hinckley , Way To Be, p.21

"None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude.  Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy."
                                       Fred De Witt Von Amburgh

"Gratitude can transfer common days into Thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy and change ordinary opportunities into blessings."
                                       William Arthur Ward

"Mortal Mathematics...is forever mistaking who and that counts.  Even so, we should be more quick to express genuine appreciation to others.  The arithmetic of appreciation is far less practiced and known than the multiplication tables."
                                       Neal A. Maxwell, Believe, p.55

"The habit of saying thank you is the mark of a cultivated mind."
                                       Gordon B. Hinckley, Way To Be, p.18

"The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket;  they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments.  They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives.  These are they who are truly happy."
                                       Dieter F. Uchtdorf, forget me not, p.30

Count your blessings, and remember to acknowledge from whom they came, and possibly be grateful that you do not have pink eye.

Long Time No See eh?

Hey everyone! I am sorry for the long time it took me to write you all! I'll explain below, but the past couple of weeks have been insane...

So, I'll start with 2 weeks ago! Happy Birthday Mom! I didn't forget you!!!! I hope that you had a great time sharing your birthday with the day that Christ was resurrected! I thought about you all day and I hope that you got my Heavenly SMS's!

And Easter was great! Definitely one of the best experiences of the mission this far! And during Easter weekend, we had a baptism for Maina and Tama! 2 people who didn't progress before and who I met in February. Maina told me the thing that was blocking her was prayer. She could not bring herself to say a prayer in front of others. After the first lesson, she prayed at the end, and offered to give the prayers every lesson after! The Holy Ghost really worked with her and Tama and Honoré, the dad, and thanks to one little prayer, a lot of faith, and the Holy Ghost, they got baptized. Another awesome experience that I got to see here at Maraa!

Maina and Tama's Baptism - "Awesome Experience"

After, we were at the hospital. Elder Davis had a serious knee infection that caused us to stay at the hospital all week! We went in to the emergency room Monday morning, expecting to leave in the afternoon... Then found out it was serious and ended up staying in the hospital for the whole week. Not exactly the best place to do door to door contacting, but we still were able to help people anyways! And, because of this incident, Elder Davis cannot walk. So, President gave me a new companion, Elder Putoa!!! Who is waiting to get his visa so he can serve his mission in New York! Elder Davis is still with me, and we are now a trio! He will just do proselyting with the Elders who have a car. When he is better, he will be with me all the time, not just for studies.

Even with the hospital, I was still able to watch General Conference! And this Conference was awesome! I liked a lot of my talks, and my favorite talk will be the spiritual thought!

I hope that you are all doing well! And if I am slow in responding to your emails, I am sorry, we have got very limited time with choir practices starting up and with 3 people sharing one computer... I'll try my best!

Josh amid Rotui juice containers - Fort or bar graph - you be the judge

Funny Moment of the Week: Definitely goes to Elder Davis being on medications:

Elder Davis: I think my pillow is radiating heat

Me: Ok...?
Elder Davis: Can you move it? It is ticking me off!

Me: Why! What on earth did the pillow do to you!?

Fun experience to say the least!

Culture Shock: Let's just say I was expecting an "American like" hospital when we got to Tahiti... It was still nice, but definately miss the American hospitals. I'll leave it at that

Spiritual Thought: The conference talk that stood out the most to me was given by Sister Durham. She talked about the father who was crossing the lake with his shoes that were weighing him down to his death. It was through the Holy Ghost that the father realized this and he was able, after much struggle, to take off his shoes and progress to safety. For me, it was a great allusion to our lives and the sins that weigh us down. Sometimes we have blind spots, but if we listen to the Holy Ghost and act on our impressions (even if we like the "shoes" or "sins" that are weighing us down) to leave our sins behind, we can progress in our journey and make it in safety to the kingdom of God.

I love you all!

Elder Garff

From The Cross Roads of the West to The Hospitals of Tahiti

Obviously this patient did not select his surgeon based upon tie selection.

My parents and Elder Davis's parents,

We are sorry that we didn't have the opportunity to email Monday. We have been in the hospital since early Monday morning.

Around 2 weeks ago, Elder Davis scraped his knee, and around Friday, we found out that it was infected. There were no signs of it at all until Friday night, and Elder Davis had a fever, aches, and swelling in his knee. We both didn't think it was serious until after our medicines and rest didn't help. We got to the hospital as soon as possible after we found out it was very serious and arrived Monday morning.

In the emergency room, we found out that he would have to stay for a few nights and they would be doing a series of tests. We find out either tonight or tomorrow if Elder Davis will be having surgery, because even with the antibiotics, the infection is pretty bad.

We will do our best to keep you all updated on the situation, but due to faulty wifi and bad room location, we only have specific times we can email and keep you up to date. Elder Davis has to stay in the room (no wifi) and it is a challenge to find the wifi port here!

Just know that the two of us are thinking of you and we are trying our best to keep you updated. If you have any questions (as I am sure you do), respond ASAP! We only have 40 minutes before our wifi time runs out.

We love you all! And to the parents of Elder Davis, when he emails again, he has a lot of cool expereinces to share, this week was a week of firsts, physically and spiritually.

Sorry again, but we'll do our best to keep you all up to date! We want to email, just the past 3 weeks have been out of our control. The power of cars huh?

Love you all!

Elder Garff

"Pictures Speak 1000 Words" (and it is a good thing because his letters keep getting shorter)

Walking on Water in Moorea

Well, for the 3rd week in a row, I am very short on time. So, if I haven't responded to your emails, I am sorry, next week we are going to make sure we have the time.

But, for this week, I'll send a bunch of pictures with little explanations under them!

Heiarii and his Wife on their Baptism Day

Heiarii and his son - Josh had us send a Big Hero 6 figure a few months ago.  This little guy was the recipient.   

Rachel's Testimony - She sent it to Josh to have him translate it into French.

Elders Rybin and Davis - apparently the Easter package we sent 6 weeks ago finally arrived:)

Funny Moment: Lots, but it goes to our movie night! Something I'll explain next week!

Culture Shock: It is easy to go from island to island. Next week I'll expound on our visit to Moorea!

Spiritual Thought: I will expound on the Atonement next week, but Easter is a great time to turn our thoughts to Christ. Search the Church's initiative, Hashtag Hallelujah!

For The Batman vs. Superman, Here is our Choice!

I love you all, next week will be much more personal ha ha ha!

Elder Garff

Taking the Elders to Isengard

The New Electric Fence

Hey all! This week was another week of rain and craziness!

I don't have a whole lot of time today, but I'll try to hit all the big things! The biggest thing that happened this week was we helped a lot of our investigators progress to baptism. It is interesting to see the Lord's hand in everything as I have seen tons of people who I didn't think would get baptized get baptized! Little miracles here and there which happen because of little obedience here and there are remarkable to see!

Culture Shock: Here, they have different names for things than we do at home. For example, Spongebob is "Bob de l'éponge" (Bob of Sponge), snow man is "bonne homme de neige" (good man of the snow) and St. Patricks Day "le faite du boir" (the holiday of drinking)! Just a little amusing!

Funny Moment: Definitely goes to our gate becoming electric. The other Elders have the car and the remote. We have bikes and a key. I feel like a Hobbit going to Isengard!

DMP, The Best Missionary of Tahiti

Spiritual Thought: Our DMP (Ward mission leader) came with us this week, on bike! Awesome to see a 54 year old guy following us on bike! He is very dedicated to the work, and when I get back from my mission, I want to be the kind of person that the missionaries and the ward leaders will look up to, like our Ward Mission Leader! I love that man to death! So, be like DMP!!! Frère Gilkey!!!

Love you all!!

Elder Garff

Happy Birthday Dad! 24 Straight Days of Rain

Crossing the river, this time with the water up to our knees and almost covering the wheels of my bike!

Hey you all!

I have to start off by giving my Dad a birthday shoutout! It was yesterday, but, everyone, if you could give him a rum tart, I think that would do nicely! Unfortunately, I do not think I can send any raw fish to him, so I can't send food...

This week was a crazy week! We went on 2 splits, and every hour of every day was filled, so needless to say, me and Elder Davis were pretty tired at the end of our week! Us, and our DMP (ward mission leader). We went with him a lot this week and it was really cool having him in all of our lessons! He actually speaks the language unlike us ha ha ha! And, he has great experiences that relate to every investigator, love this man!!!

Like always, things here are going well. We have people to teach, we are trying our best to find people, and trying our best to be obedient! Without obedience, good luck with anything Gospel related, it is impossible! Because every blessing that comes is because of our obedience to that law upon which it is predicated!

With Elder Davis about to cross the many waters

Culture Shock: So, just a little bit ridiculous, it has been raining now for 24 straight days... So everything we have is soaked!

Playing Chess with empty Rotui juice bottles

Funny Moment: I have been keeping all of the juice containers that I have been drinking here, and this week, Elder Millerberg and Elder Rybin decided to play chess with all of my juice ha ha ha! I won't give the exact number yet that I have consumed, but it's a lot!

Purple Sunset!  You've got to love having a house on the beachside!

Spiritual Thought: At the last event of our week, we watched the Joseph Smith movie in French. Hard to understand, but the one language that I felt was the Spirit. At the end of the movie, like always, I felt the Spirit very strongly and I cannot deny that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Maybe we get caught up in our own trials and our own lives, but compared to this great man, I know that my trials personally are not near what he suffered. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called by God and we need to follow the church that God reestablished through him. If you don't have this testimony, watch the Joseph Smith movie, and ask God if Joseph Smith is a prophet. God will respond through your heart and mind through the power of the Holy Ghost!

A la prochain!

Elder Garff