Monday, December 3rd, 2012

MAMA!

Woof what a crazy week.  Tell Justus congrats with cross country and I'm excited for him to do Squaw Peak!  Tell Tristan good luck in drumline.

My French is a ton better now.  I'm starting to pick up more and more of what people are saying.  I'm reading Te Buka A Moromona and understanding a little of it.  Frere Patu is now the First counselor for the Young Men, how cool is that?!

Guess what?  It snowed!  Not.  It is still 90+ degrees all the time.  The members here are always asking me about snow because they have never seen it.  Oh, I set up my mini tree and have my Nativity scent out now. This last week was really rough.  Out of 30 planned lessons, we taught 14.  Everyone else cancelled or wasn't there.  So we did porte a porte (door to door) with no  avail.  There are so many kids in our ward, and they love the missionaries.  The people are so kind here.  All day all we hear is IA ORA NA ELDER MA! (Hello Elders!).  There is a guy in our ward who says his mission companion was and Elder Heaps from Lehi.

I sent a letter to Alec and Whitney about two or three weeks ago so it should be there soon.

I have been having marching band and music withdrawals lately, you know it is bad when you are whistling your marching band show from your sophomore year.

Well I must be going.  I love you all and am excited to hear from everyone!

Faaitoito! Ua here au ia otou!

Elder Fitzsimmons

November 26, 2012

 Mama!  I am a little jealous of the cold weather you are having.  It is always 90+ with 100% humidity, so at the end of the day we smell rank.  Our shower is an old garden hose outside; I love it!  I missed everyone at Thanksgiving, that was the day of our zone conference so for lunch we had chow mien, salad , and ice cream.  I'll attach a picture of my Thanksgiving dinner which consisted of pear from Raiatea.  haha.  So it is official, we have a wedding and baptism for Louis on the 15th of December and the same for Jean on the 22nd!  CRAZY!  It has been difficult because we are supposed to be teaching about 30 lessons a week and this week we only taught 16.  What a bummer.  We do at least one blessing for the sick or for comfort a day, and sometimes we do ten a day.  We are for sure busy.  Every night we either eat fish from the lagoon or chicken with rice and fruit.  SO much food!  The raw fish is o.k., it will take a little while to get used to.  The first thing I'm doing when I get back is drinking water from the tap and mowing the lawn! hahaha. But, that will have to wait, we've got souls to save.
So I hear Colby is getting married in March?  Don't ask mow I know, I have my sources haha!  Be sure to tell him and Danaca congrats for me.  Oh, last week we were going door to door trying to find where someone lived (there aren't addresses here) and we found a man who, get this, looks EXACTLY like Freddie Mercury!  Mustache, teeth and all!  Woot!  I was going to ask for a pic with him but I had left my camera at the house that day.  What is new in the good ol' town of Lehi?  How are brothers?  Dad?  How is the ward?  We wear our pants here, and sandals with socks.
Well, I must be going.  Have to build the Lord's kingdom!  I can't wait to hear from everyone!  Faaitoito!
Love,
Elder Fitzsimmons

November 19, 2003

Mama,
Eaha parau api?  What is new?  I miss you all so much and I am jealous that you are all going to Phoenix without me!  Have fun and give everyone a hug from me.
After this week we should have eight investigators with baptism dates and a whole bunch of wedding dates!  Woot!  We started teaching a young girl named Marania.  She is the daughter of one of our investigators and wanted to be baptized.  We also have a baptism scheduled for the 22nd of December.  My French is still improving and I can read and comprehend everything.  I'm starting to pick up more of what people are saying as well.
I placed two Books of Mormon this week!  On Saturday there was a baptism meeting for the two other elders on the island - two new members of the Church!  On Sunday Elder Bluker, the Bishop and I conferred the Melchizedek priesthood to Frere Patu.  He is such an awesome man and is very kind.  His kids love us so much and always yell out the window of their house when we pass by on our bikes.  We teach almost all of our lessons on the beaches because the people's houses are right there.
Every night we have a faatamaaraa (dinner appt.) with a member family.  SO much food all the time.  We were eating with our DMP (ward mission leader) and his family and I had eaten four plates of food and he asked me if I was paia (full)?  I said yes and they said not a problem, EAT! hahahahaha.  Even with all of this food I've lost a bunch of weight.  My shirts are all big on me especially my t-shirts.  I would definitely love some socks and shirts and a hat in a package.
I spend so much time on my bike, so I get to think alot and I miss my brothers and friends; so I peddle harder!  We have our first zone conference this Thursday on Raiatea.  I'm super stoked.  Oh, tell Jeni Bodine that I found her Tahitian twin!  If she will write me I'll tell her all about her.
Well, that is about it for this week I do believe.  I love you all very much.  It is crazy that I'm almost four months into my mission!  Hug Mary Jane for me.

Love,
Elder Fitzsimmons

November 12, 2013

Mama and Family!

Woof.  What a crazy week.  Every day we bike around the cost from Vaitape over to I think it is called Anau. 

Our house is pretty much a large house made of plywood with a tin like roof, but compared to the other houses, it is a castle.  I love it here on Bora Bora.  We have running water but can't drink it because we will get sick from it, so we buy bottled water.  

Two of our investigators have wedding and baptism dates set for December and January.  We help with weddings.

We have a church building, it is an open air building which means that the walls are pretty much windows that open and there are a bunch of fans.  We don't drink a lot of Coke, mostly water and something that is like Kool Aid.  It is a liquid syrup that you mix with water.  The people here have the most and the strongest faith I've ever seen.  That is why we are able to work miracles here.  In one of our lessons three neighbors were blasting Tahitian dubstep and the wind was out of control.  It was impossible to feel the Spirit, let alone hear the investigator.  I said a silent prayer while Elder Bluker was trying to teach and instantly all of the music and the wind stopped.  The investigator's name is Ernest and he and his family committed to have family prayer and come to church.  I know that if we humble ourselves and ask God, if it is in His will we can achieve all things.

I love you all and can't wait to hear back from you all.

Love,

Elder Fitzsimmons