Hope you have had a great week. Mine has been extremely strange! Not necessarily a bad thing, but strange none-the-less.
So, some reasons why it was strange: I guess it was mainly strange because it was different! I had a number of trade-offs, did different things etc.
Two palagi's teaching people Samoan... Cool!
We had trade-offs with our zone leaders this past Tuesday. And those were fantastic! I really enjoyed being with Elder Anderson again. We had heaps of fun, and got a lot done working in my area (two palagi's in the Samoan ward). That was one thing thing that was a bit weird, but it was fun! Elder Anderson got transferred, he is now in Woden Ward!!! Lucky dog! He has a special assignment with his missionary companion, and next transfer will get to train! The man!
There were lots of power trade-offs this week. Elder Tuua and a Campbelltown 4th Ward Elder did a couple trade-offs because they had to go do a service project for a member of their ward, leaving me and his comp, Elder Losa (Rose) to go proselyte. That was good. It contributed to the weirdness of the week for sure. We had to do another trade-off so Elder Losa and I could teach the Samoan class (two palagi's teaching people Samoan... Cool!)
My Samoan has definitely been improving. I am able to understand a lot better now, and speak/respond coherent sentences! I can still pray, and bear my testimony which is very useful. The language is just barely starting to click for me. But I have lots to improve on!! I am excited to continue learning. The members are super supportive. The investigators/nonmembers we meet are pleasantly surprised. And I am loving it more and more!
One of our zone leaders is on his plane right now going home, so the past week we did some fun things for him. We got together a couple times with the other Elders in the zone, and prepared a Maori Haka (our zone leader is half Maori, half Samoan, grew up in the same stake as Cocker, but now lives in Brisbane). This particular Haka is called "Tika Tonu". It was pretty cool! Some of the Elders recorded it, so I want to get it on a flash drive or something! (BTW I should be sending home a camera card soon.) We sent him off well. He was quite an inspirational leader to all of us, and we were all sad to see him go, but happy for his future.
We wore man-skirts! "Ie faitaga" :)
I almost forgot! (not) I need to tell you about the transfers! Well.......... How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Elder Larsen is no longer in Campbelltown. He is in Eagle Vale!! Ain't that the truth, Eagle Vale is the suburb we live in in Campbelltown:)
But for reals..... Drumroll........ Elder Tuua unfortunately was transferred. Elder Larsen was not! Elder Tuua went to the stake just north of Liverpool, and West/North of Mortdale. Fairfield! He is still in a Samoan ward, probably one of the best in the mission! Lucky guy! He and I were both pretty gutted, so we decided to dress up extra nice for church to send him off with a bang. We wore skirts! (See pic below) Correct Samoan term is "ie faitaga". Man-skirts :).
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| Elder Larsen is the one with the white legs. |
My new companion is a familiar face to you guys! Sister..................................... Jokes, not a sister. Elder....................................... Naidu! (Think cows and ducks). He is the man!!! I was so excited to hear that we would be companions.
See video below for an Elder Naidu memory:
I think our mission president is so cool. He is the man!!
It was actually kinda funny how we found out. We had to call Pres. Back for permission to wake up earlier than he wants us to on Saturday, and before I made the call I told myself that I would not ask about transfers. Pres. Back is bad at keeping secrets; he tells everyone their transfer information before the transfer if they ask. I have found out most all of the transfer info before transfer day since Pres Back has been my president. So I wanted to wait this time. But it was futile. Pres told us anyways. The conversation went a little like this (I asked for permission, and was given permission for basketball early morning):
Pres: How's everything else going?
Me: Yeah things are going pretty good, President. I love my companion, we get along well, the work is picking up.
Pres: That's great. What do you think will happen for this coming transfer?
Me: Well, I told myself that I wasn't going to ask you about transfers haha.....
Pres: But you're dying to know, aren't you?
Me: Are you dying to tell me? (with a light tone)
Pres: (flipping papers) Well, lets see, there are going to be a couple changes... Your companion Elder Tuua is getting transferred.
Me: Oh really? Dang....
Pres: Your companion is going to be Elder Naidu
Me: Really? No way!!
We continued to talk for a bit, but I think our mission president is so cool. He is the man!!
Friendships that will last forever!
I have been really impressed with my companion's desire to work (Elder Naidu), happy nature, and pure testimony. We have had great experiences over the past day (I will have to tell you more about next week) that have gotten us both excited for this new phase in the work.
I am going to miss Elder Tuua. I loved the laughs that we would share. He is so funny. I love his good heart, and his desire to be obedient and diligent. He has helped me so much over the past 2 transfers, and we have developed a friendship that will last forever! I am also grateful for the inspiration of our mission president. He knows by inspiration from on High what we need. Elder Naidu will really help me in this ward, because his English is really good!
We have an appointment with J_ and K_ this week, I will give you an update next week:)
S_ and the family are great. We still have not started teaching them. They were really gutted to see Tuua leave.
Brother Ch_ still comes to church every week, and has a desire to be baptized. Still does not want to set a specific time... Elder Tuua said "Don't worry, he says before the end of the year, but I can feel that it will be sooner than that...." Hopefully it comes soon!
Ez: One of my favorite things to do on pdays is to play rugby!
JJ: You will have to show me some cool tricks with your yoyo when I get home!
Mojo: Hope volley is going good. That's cool that you get to go to present that (asking them to regulate E-cigarettes) to the city council! Good luck!
Kaysie: Try and sing "I've got a golden ticket" with an aussie accent.... :)
Cami: Don't worry, I am fluent in Aussie!
Dad: [For your seminary lesson] Obedience is the first law of heaven. Without obedience, there is no progression. Obedience precedes faith, There is a cool quote by Elder McConkie that goes something like. "Faith is a promised blessing to obedience. The greater the obedience the greater the endowment of faith Heavenly Father bestows upon us."
Love you guys heaps! Have a great week!
Alofa atu!
Elder Loseni
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| Thought you would like the ugly spider I found. It is probably as big as your thumb (the body, the legs). |
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