Tahiti Week 1!!

Oh goodness! I finally made it to Tahiti. 

Right now I am in Tipaeru'i. It is like a little village/suburb of Papeete. My companion (Soeur Richards, who has been on a mission since last Dec) says that technically we are still in Papeete. Our sector (area) is shaped like a pizza slice with the crust being on the coast of the Island. We pretty much proselyte in a little valley and just walk, because that is where most of the people live. If you go more inland there is a Mountain and the houses are really spaced out. If it is high than the houses are bigger. A good rule of thumb here is the higher you live the bigger the house because it takes a car to get up there. We missionaries don't have a car. I live in a house with 3 other sisters. They are my companion, Soeur Richards, and another companionship who is over another ward. I love them all. 

  We teach so much. I love it. People here love to have the missionaries and lessons. We are really trying to get people to come to church. 

 There was one investigator named Lelani. She was a referral from some other elders because her cousin in getting baptized and she saw the difference in her cousin's life as a result of this change. We started having lessons with her and it started out just her, but then her aunt started listening to the lessons, and then her sister. Each lesson just gets better and better. It is amazing because they totally feel of the goodness of the gospel and have strong desires to have it change their lives. In all honestly I can't comprehend 100 percent of the lesson (thankfully my companion does), but I got to testify at the end. The spirit was so present as I told them I don't comprehend French super well but the Spirit does and because of that, I can feel what is going on. 

  Yeah so speaking is a struggle. It is a process that takes patience. All our meetings with missionaries and everything are in French. I get the gist of what is going on and am not completely lost, but sometimes when people direct questions to me, they have to repeat. I do participate in lessons, but I have to really concentrate on what I am saying. My poor trainer. I always am turning to her to help me. She is super awesome and patient, though. 

  The members here treat us like stinkin royalty. Which is really weird because I look like crap. Usually, in Tahiti, you eat on the patio and teach on the patio and everything happens on the patio. Sunday though, I just had a craving not to eat on a patio. We got a ride up the mountain for our dinner and oh my goodness, we were just so spoiled. We didn't eat outside and they had AC. I was so stinking grateful. They also fed us poisson creu aka raw fish with like veggies. I really didn't hesitate. It was really good and my first time eating raw fish. I thought it would be chewy but it wasn't. Oh boy. Yeah really though you are probably thinking "ewwww, I don't know if I could have." Let me tell you "oh yes you could have.!" Because when you haven't really eaten much and have worked really hard in the sun and everything is expensive to buy and you just fasted for 24 hours and you love the members, you just eat. It was so good. Yup. I am in Tahiti, I am a missionary, and I CAN eat raw fish.....with a smile. 

  What else.. well there are a lot of drunk people here. I don't know really what to do when they try to talk to us. I try to ignore, but feel bad, but they know we are missionaries. I am soo stinking green (newbie). My trainer thinks I am so weird the way I get around the drunks. I don't really understand their slurred french either. Then they try to talk in English with us. Just imagine me out here with drunk people trying to talk to us. It is pretty surreal and funny. 

  We did get to go watch the Christmas devotional, but it was in French. I didn't understand a whole bunch but did understand Pres. Eyring's testimony. It was pretty powerful. I loved hearing the motab sing. 

   Church was great. I got up and bore my testimony because every teacher said I had to. I started and ended in French, but threw in a couple of Tahitian phrases. It went ok. I wasn't too scared, but I know there is TONS of room for improvement.

  The mangoes here are stinking awesome. The other sisters in our house get them from members. My trainer showed me that if they aren't ripe you dip them in chinose bonbon (Chinese candy) or red prune powder. I was down for that. It tasted really good. YUMMMMM. Tahiti is a winner for the food. It is like a mash-up of island food and Europe, so they have all the bread and cheese and kinder bueno that we love so much from France, but the awesome fresh fruit just makes it that much greater. They also have really good tomatoes here. They threw some of those in our raw fish meal and yummm. Oh yeah and the green beans here are like two feet long. I took a picture, but the pictures take forever to upload.

  Culture wise we always take off our shoes in the house. It is pretty much a habit for me to keep my shoes on because that was like one of my things back in the states. Now I am in Tahiti. I am quickly getting over that. We also take two showers a day, because Tahitians are very clean people and because you sweat so much it just works out.

-Sœur Campbell

Made it to Tahiti; we arrived on a tarmac just like in the books; it is not as hot or humid as I thought it would be Georgia prepared me well!