A Service of Love: Tahiti

I have told people a plenty about going on a mission to Tahiti. Usually there was some kind of "ohh, well, you should count your lucky stars, because you are going to paradise" type of response, well this right here section on my blog is to convince you other wise!

Missionary Life in General

(click the title to see the official church website's take on this topic)

Getting a mission call is quite the event for an LDS teen. We have sang about it since the time we were three (no joke). Young men can serve when they are 18 years old and young women at 19 years. What happened for me (and all other LDS missionaries) was I had to go to a couple of interviews with my bishop (church leader over a congregation) and then an additional interview with the stake president (who is another leader, but over multiple congregations) before I could submit my papers (jargon for the preprocess before a mission). I also had to get a medical and dental approval. After all the interviews and appointments my papers went to Salt Lake City, where the church headquarters are and I had to wait a couple of weeks. An assignment was made for me by apostles and other church leaders. They make this decision by inspiration. Then I waited a couple of weeks for the mail to come with an envelope and it was super exciting when I got that thing.

There are missionaries all over the worlds. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a structured missionary program identical to the program I will have in Tahiti in over 403 places world wide. We also have over 80,000 young missionaries out in these places. Another way to say it is my sister Erin, who is serving a mission in Japan is using the same exact schedule and handbooks, and structure of meetings and leaders as I will experience in Tahiti, which is clear on the other side of the world.
Missionary life is according to the white handbook, pretty much. The white handbook is a book about 80 pages long of guidelines, but it is pocket sized. There is a set schedule and everything. It is strict, but as missionaries learn to do these things, we learn to be better people. It is all about submitting and giving it all to God.
There is no way that I am going to be able to do this with out Him and if that means me going to bed at 10:30pm every night and rising at 6:30 am, I am down for that. I want to do all I can to make this experience beneficial to me as Caree.

Still have questions? try these links
Missionary Life
Mission Terminology
The White Handbook
What I Can Pack (infographic)
The Dedicated Life of a Mormon Missionary (infographic)

Missionary Training Center Life

So after you get the call, it comes with a place assignment and a "report date." This report date tells you when and where you are to go to train for your mission.IF you get called on a mission to serve in the United States you usually go to a Missionary Training Center for about 10 days. If you are called to serve in a foreign language you go to a MTC for about 6 weeks. If that language is Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, or Russian to name a few, you usually have training for about 9 weeks. If you are going to Tahiti you get to be in a MTC for 12 weeks!! K so now you are probably wondering what this entales. Well I'll tell you! For me it means I will live in a one mile radius for 3 months. The food is cafeteria style and on a three week rotation, but breakfast is like a weekly rotation. I know this because I used to work in the MTC cafeteria. Every day you live according to missionary schedule, 6:30 am - 10:30 pm. It is a pretty cool thing though, because you have opportunities to listen to church leaders on a weekly basis. If you want to know more about the MTC you can go here. There is a video and everything. The site does a good job of explaining it better than I can (they are professional about it)!

PS- I'll be in the MTC over Thanksgiving, you stay there the whole time, no going home. Sure I'll miss my family, but it is all apart of the journey!

Helpful Links:
Infographic About The MTC
Life in a Mormon MTC

Tahiti: Facts and Map

Tahitian Flag

Quick Facts

Tahiti and Her Islands covers over two million square miles of the South Pacific Ocean and is comprised of five great archipelagos with 118 islands.
The beautiful black pearls, cherished by natives and visitors alike, are indigenous only in the Tuomotu Islands of French Polynesia.
The translation of Papeete (Tahiti's capital) is "water basket".
There are no poisonous snakes or insects in French Polynesia.

Learn more by clicking here or learn about Tahiti and its geology by clicking here!

LDS Mission Life in Tahiti

Lets start out with this quote from a letter I got from my mission president.

"You are one of a select few called to accept the challenge of learning two languages, both French and Tahitian. French Polynesia is an Overseas Territory of France, and as such all Tahitians are French citizens. French is the language of the government and the schools and all young people speak French. Tahitian, however, is the language of the natives and is used a great deal in the outer islands. Through your faith and diligence you will be blessed and will be able to learn both French and Tahitian so that you will be able to fulfill this special calling." This is why I will learn two languages.
I have heard lots about mission life by reading other missionaries blogs. From what I gather there are some places with no hot water. Depending if you are on the outer islands, things get more primitive. Our family has a friend who is on one of those outer islands and has learned to catch fish with chicken and drink from a coconut. I read on an Elder's blog that he was sick and couldn't go to a doctor, because there wasn't a doctor on the island. I think it is kind of cool, more than scary. Sounds like an adventure! Some areas are biking and other's are in a car. Most driving areas use manually operated cars. I am going to post some links to blogs I have enjoyed reading. The last link will take you to a whole list of blogs for people who I will be serving with.

Elder Larsen
Sister Taylor
Tahiti Mission Blogs

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tahiti

About 20 of the 118 islands are open for missionary service. There are 7 stakes of the main island of Tahiti. There is a temple in Papeete.
This comes from a letter to me from my mission president:
"We are confident that you will learn to love this great mission. The country is beautiful, the people are gracious, and the Church is well known. There are approximately 23,000 members in eight stakes which include the islands of Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora, Huahine and Maupiti. There are also branches of the Church located on many islands throughout the Australes, Tuamotus, and Marquises."