!Oaoa noela!
This week was spent finding people and we had a couple of miracles happen also. So usually we stay in just our little valley of Tipearui, but this Tuesday we decided to go out, because someone gave us a referral for a person that lived far enough away where we had to take out our bikes. It was my first bike ride in Tahiti and it was nothing like riding a bike on the country roads of GA. People here drive like New Yorkers in NYC, but we aren't really in a huge city. (the first time I got in a car with missionary driving I was stinking scared to death, we had 6 missionaries in it and I was sure that we were going to flip the car, because here you have to take the round abouts to get on the highway, so while you are going on that round about you have to get your speed up and yeah I thought for sure we were on two wheels a couple times) The referral was at the bottom of a really huge huge hill (again I don't know how people get their manual cars up it, let alone a bike). The referral wasn't there, so we set out to share a Christmas message with some of the neighbors and we started up that huge hill, just walking our bikes up there. Well, sure enough, the first person we stopped at let us in and gave us water. They were super kind and receptive to the message and wanted to meet again. It was a cool thing to me because we got out of our comfort zone of Tipearui and like the first person we contacted wanted to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Also this week we have been working on asking everybody for referrals. Wednesday we went up to a member's home to return some dishes and asked them for referrals. While we were going up there I felt like Dora the explorer with my sandals and bright blue backpack and knowing just about as much french as Dora knows Spanish. We had to cross over a bridge and like climbing up a mountain and were surrounded by jungle. It really looks like the jungle here. We asked them for referrals and they actually gave us three houses to go to!! It was a Christmas miracle. The rest of the day was spent trying to contact them.
Being here on a tropical island there are many many bugs and sicknesses that get spread by them. Right now there is a little epidemic going on with chikun gauna. It pretty much is spread by mosquitos and you get really sore joint pains and a fever and kind of like red spots all over you. Out of the 130 missionaries, about 50 of them have gotten it here. So many investigators and members have gotten in too. It only lasts about three days, but everyone has it/has gotten it. Good new, though, my companion and I are still yet to get it! Hopefully, this isn't going to jinx it, but we are still left standing. My companion did though get scabies this week. Scabies is a disease where you et really itchy red rashes on your body. It is spread by bed bugs. It goes away and isn't fatal, but we had to decontaminate everything in the house. We had to wash all the seat covers and she had to rewash all her clothes and spray them down with an insecticide and the bed sheets and everything.That whole washing everything process has to take place in three rounds, as soon as possible, 3 days after that, and then 4 days after that. It is kind of weird how we got it because I have been told we live in the nicest house in the mission. Yeah, it's pretty much us versus the big bad world out here in Tahiti. hahaha. jk, but it isn't anything like America.
Oh yeah, while we are on it. I encountered my first island spider this week and it was stinking huge!! We ere sitting down at the table just chatting and then this nasty little 6 legged, battle-scarred spider comes walking out. Soeur Richards and I both stinking screamed. We just freaked out for a little while, but then it had to be killed, so I threw my shoe at it, but I didn't get it and it ran off. Yeah, it was about 3 in diameter. So then I hit it with a broom but didn't know if I got it (by this time the other sisters we live with were downstairs thinking something was terribly wrong because we creamed so loud). I was scared it ran off and I was NOT going to sleep well until it was dead, so I looked under the table and sure it enough it was there...DEAD!! VICTORY!!!!! Then it wasn't scary anymore and I took pictures of my success.
Saturday we taught an English class, and it is pretty funny because I don't even know how to speak french and I sit there and try to speak in French to help the Tahitians learn English. We did a theme of Christmas. It was fun teaching them the vocab.
I am so happy for our investigators who are making progress. Lelani (who has a baptismal date in Feb) is already sharing the gospel with her friends. She asked us for a Livre de Mormon to give out. She also came to church on Sunday. Yeah, Sunday was a little miracle, we have been making an extra effort to get investigators to church. Two weeks ago NO ONE came to church and last week we had two (we really had to push for it). This week we had 4 and next week's goal is 7. One of the greatest things about being a missionary is getting to work with people and help them progress and realize who they are and who they can become, because of Jesus Christ.
Wednesday we also had another door to door miracle. We were in the "out of our comfort zone" neighborhood with the huge huge huge hill. We were just going around trying to share the good news of a Christmas message and were about ready to go down the hill to contact the referral we needed to contact, but my companion was like, "lets just try for like 1 or two more." I was like, "ok, why not." Then we found a 21-year-old whose family was like all members of the church and he had a Live de Mormon and everything, but he hadn't been baptized and his parents have been wanting him to go back to church. We shared our little Christmas lesson with him, and he had a ton of questions not really relating to our Christmas message, so we answered some of them and told him about church on Sunday and made an appointment. That was Wednesday. We both left the scene just so stinking happy that God lead us to someone who was like prepared. His mom (who lives out on one of the outer islands) called us like Friday, telling us she was so excited and was like setting up a ride for him to get to church and everything. Awwww. It is soo good. Heavenly Father is just sooooo good. This work is wonderful. I love it. I am so grateful to be a missionary in this season of Christmas. Christmas is all about Christ and we get to actually wear his name by my heart. It is great not having to worry about all the little temporal things during Christmas as a missionary, instead, we get to just focus on Christ and helping others come unto him.
Christmas in Tahiti is celebrated on like Dec 24. They open presents that night and Santa comes and hands them out. We are getting together with the mission on December 24 and are doing a concert. Our zone has been preparing 2 songs to sing. They are Grandma got Ran Over by a Reindeer, and a medley of more spiritual songs. Grandma got ran over... is fun because half way through we start singing it in French.
Oh yeah and Christmas day we get to go to a baptism. So Lelani's (the one with a bap date for Feb) cousin is getting baptized. Her cousin is the one Lelani saw how much the gospel was changing her life and that is how Lelani (and her aunt and another cousin) started taking the lessons. Yeah, so we teach Lelani, her aunt (Chantel), and her cousin (Tauhia). There are so many people we are in contact with who love to hear the lessons. It seems like people like to hear the lessons, but don't like to come to church or do the actual stuff as much.
So I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and love love love it!!! This is a great time of year!!!
love Tuahine Campbell
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