rabi end of April

MAURI!!!

sorry all have to make this fast before our desiel runs out in the generator! haha

so this week was another crazy one for sure!

we got called friday that a boat was coming from taveuni with a truck and timber for a members house thats being built this next week! and at the same time we are doing a picnic with members and a shipment of seed for a farming initiative through the church that helps people with seeds and tools.

So ran around all day letting everyone know about helping with the unloading the boat and the picinic information. augh! no one has phones or service or minutes on their phones! so we ran up and down the island all day. and working out hometeaching and typing it all up and handing them out. finally got that done for now till we make changes dew to other members and ranges of people to visit. anyways. the seed stuff was another story all together. so I just kinda took charge of it cause I knew if I didnt do it then it wouldnt get done and people would get their seeds. And I saw it as an opportunity to serve the branch and to gain their trust. which it ended up doing both after a long weekend. had to carry it all to the branch after helping unload the timber at the house on saturday afternoon. got help from two young men there.

oops got to go

Pictures

Rabi 4/18/11 - 4/26/11

Mauri everyone! sorry its so late for the email but we've had a hard time getting to internet this week. Easter monday and good friday are public hollidays here! so the library was closed and other persons computer is getting repaired. and then tuesday the library left an extension cord at the funeral so no tue either.

So it was another slow week. There was a funeral that started wed and went all week till sunday. so all of our people were there helping with that or participating in it. so we only had our lessons in uma and thats only twice a week. but we had some really good times getting to know new people and spending time with members. We bought a chicken and some sausage and rice and took it to our family that we ussually have FHE with every week cause they didnt have any cash this week and good friday is a feast kinda day out here so we ate with them. I love that family. Pita is tongan and moved out here like 20years ago and married reke and she's just awesome. they planning on going to the temple in october! he is such a huge strength to us in our work.

Ive been trying their massage medicine. They use massage to heal everything out here. to reset bones and when lymph nodes are swollen and pretty much everything else. so he's been massaging my butt and lower back mostly. And on my buldged disk in my back so if he could heal that it would be awesome ahaha. but when the funeral started stopped cause he was busy so gonna have to start all over but i think it was helping. thought jacque would like to hear about the massage healing out here.

No investigator is really progessing fast right now but working on it. theres a few kids that need to get baptised and should be ready in a few weeks. but most of our problems that we are facing is getting people to church and smoking. Matang has been smoking for 35 years so its not gonna be easy! but he's strong. Rajen is waiting to talk with his wife.. but thats been awhile.. I know that he knows its true and wants to come but idk. Qelokai (my rabi wife) is gonna get back into school in 2 weeks. I went and bought material and got one of the member ladies (mere, also an amazing woman!) to sew the uniform for her. She should be in class 6-7, well she's 9 yrs old, and she's only gonna be in class 2! both her parents are gone and she stays with her grandparents.. in their house there is 6 adults and 9 children! in this tiny house. Even then i cant believe they cant get 10 stinken dollars for qelokai to go to school! she pretty much just helps raise all the children.. I wasnt happy. but anyways

We got some really good tuna from a local fisherman and took it too a members house to cook it. it was really good and they all liked it. in this culture only the men eat at the table first then everyone else eats after or in a seperate room. kinda stinks when the person that made the food isnt there for the prayer most of the time. but this time the dad was gone so we just had everyone eat all at once. And then when your done eating the woman come and take the food away and bring a wash bowl to clean your hands. oh yeah theres no utensils here. its all finger food haha

spring break is for the next two weeks after this one for the schools.

We've had some really good lessons but nothing very consistent and Ive been feeling a little down since the work is slow and I feel like I could be doing better and working harder. So gonna change that this week and work our butts off.

We've gotten better at having member present lessons. We are using recent converts to help translate and teach. The lessons go soo much better and you see the spirit shine in the eyes of the member. Its so awesome haha

I still havent killed that stinken rat! or caught a fish! grr .. my water bottle fishing pole isnt top of the line haha but the kids do it! soon i will master it! but we dont spend much time doing it anyway.

Miss and love you all! cant wait till we meet again!

Loloma Elder Estill

Rabi

Mauri everyone! so this is the report for my week in rabi from 3-21 to 28

didnt get to email monday cause the internet was down so we moved things around a little to write home.

so last tuesday we went down to rabi to check up on the three people that we had schedualed for baptisms and to have some lessons with new members. on the trasnport ride down to the village uma(a truck with beanches in the back and a canopy cover) we saw one of our appointments walking the other way. so that was the first fall through and postponed baptism for that weekend because we had to meet with him to finish his lessons on time. so that was a bummer. then we went to one house to check on a lady and the other lady that is suppose to get baptised saturday that lives a few houses down walks by smoking! so within the first hour. but the third came through for us. and passed the test and is ready to be baptised but we dont have any clothes to do it here! so we had no baptisms this weekend. we had three really good lessons tho. we meet matagn daughter, 19 yr old just had a baby.. a HUGE baby lol kids a beast. and had a good lesson think she understood a lot of it. Matagn is the man tho. really workin hard on him and he knows its true he's just working on kickin smoking. so we are doing two addiction lessons with him and the lady and they are trying really hard. cutting back a lot. if we get matagn he will be a great strength to the branch out on rabi.

so after all our lessons we stopped by natans shop , the branch president, doesnt speak english. him or his wife. and she wanted to feed us... so we sat down to a quick meal. some rice, noodles with canned fish in it, and raw corned beef out of a can... i tried to eat fast cause it tasted like dog food. Blue def wouldnt have eaten it! so then i got food poisoning from the raw corn beef.

that night the district leader elders were comming over to do the baptismal interviews the next day. I wasnt feeling good that night and threw up before dinner and decided didnt want to eat and just drank water. all went to bed. after beating some fools at chess haha even when i was feeling like junk. and woke up at 11 and well... i sleep in a masquito net to keep the bugs off.. well i found out that those nets filter the chunks really well ... hahah

well had to clean it all up mostly just water and went back to sleep. next time i made it to the br just fine. and slept out the rest of the night. went the next day on just a cup of water for lunch. slept in a little and had some coka (you can guess what that is in english) and went about doing lessons. had a really good one with fule and tebuki that night and my comp went to uma and did the interviews with the other elder. so we taught the importance of prophets and their purpose and the truth of their calling. really made me realize how amazing it is to have a true witness of christ guiding us. It really was a good lesson. tebuki is a muslim since she married her husband and he died but that really touched her and made her start thinking. and talking about christ being the son of god in the flesh. With how much ive been serving and studying I can testify with more strength and power then ever before. I can see the lives of the people that we teach change . its another evident of the truthfulness. with so many religions here we have to teach that there is a one and only true church and that they can all find out the truth for themselves just by acting on the commitments we give them. my scripture this week is luke 12 really like it when doing my studies.

fri i was pretty much back to good. throughout the whole sickness i never felt bad. it was weird . It was just things going on . ussually my body hurts when sick but this time i just kept on going about my work and was strong and happy. didnt really hurt just more inconvinience.

thur night adventure...

so companion elder hillyard was laying in bed and i was sitting on mine. lights are off cause the generator is already turned off and no electricity. so i had a lighter in my hand and was talking to him with it lit when i heard a fly near my ear and i swat at it and said (what was that!) and the light went out cause i jumped and im like what the heck is that cause it wouldnt leave me alone. so my companoin just takes off cause all he knew is me freaking out and the lights go off like some scary movie haha

then i got stung in my left bicep and i was like ahhh it bit me! and he's runnning around looking for a light and im trying to kill these things i cant see that wont leave me alone so i picked up my sheets and tried swinging them around to kill them all and didnt work too well . i could see anything. well he gets a candle light and look at my arm and theres still a huge stinger sticking out of it (my misquito net was still outside drying from the night befores experience,,, it needed to be cleaned lol) and my arm was itching so bad and a little red the next day. we stayed up a couple hours and killed like 5 bees in the house. idk why they were there. only night we have had them in the house.

so that was me getting attacked at night

still got 9 lessons in this week even with being sick and all so we are trying for high goals this week to get more in.

goals are really important with achieving great things. learning a lot there. and with making small goals that get to the big ones that actually have purposes.

I miss alberstons! and stores and elecricity haaha but then again i have tropics and beaches.

papaya are getting ripe. tavioka is pretty good. not much dalo on rabi but thats good too. then they eat the leaves of both too.

My companion is really great. helps a lot and teaches me a lot. we are a good team when we teach and know how to work with eachother. im glad i got a good trainer. he might get transfered next week tho. he's been on rabi 6 months! hope he doesnt leave tho. either way it will be good. we have a lot of fun and get a lot of work done. our studies are good cause we teach eachother with our different insights of things.

my leg is doing good. its getting a lot stronger already. who knows maybe ill play football again someday. getting my workouts in and strecthing in the mornings.

found some really good ways to cook canned chicken potatos rice and chow noodles. drink a lot of drau ni moli and ovaltine stuff. drau ni moli is a ti you boil a citrus tree leaf in and its really good.

pictures of me and Matagn . love that guy and his argentina shirt. haha how random?!

had a lot of really good lessons this week.

mainly teaching. elanor, fule, tebuki, matagn, rajen, kabaroro and couple others those are our best i think

Im doing great . really best time of my life. hope all is well at home!

miss my family but its nice to see the blessings they are recieving from my sacrafice. my life is on a new path that leads to great great things and i know that i could not have any other way then serving a mission. I think everyone that is able and worthy man or woman should serve a mission. the entire world would change. and every single one of their lives would be on a whole knew track that always lead to the best.

love you all so much. think about you all the time and are in my prayers. keep the letters coming!

Elder Estill

Week 2 in Rabi

Bula vinaka!

so second week on the wonderful island of rabi. the island is 11 miles long and the people only live on one side of it so we just walk up and down the beach so visit everyone on the island. my legs doing good. just gets pretty sore some days. not much rain so far. kinda had a dry spell since ive been here. its light from about 5am-6pm ish . we have electricity from 6pm-8pm depending on whos running the generator. people stay up all night drinking grog and playing guitar. getting pretty good at playing chess with my companion lol we get along great. his name is elder hillyard from utah, rides dirt bikes. got lucky with a really great companion. the language is really hard to learn. we dont have many materials for it at all. he's been here six months and we still need a translator for people that dont know english. We have 3 baptisms for this weekend. and a few more commited to later. its really great to see what the gospel can do in peoples lives. they become so much more happier and full of hope.

last week our water pressure went out so we bathed out of a 5 gallon bucket. our water filters go out really quick because the water is so nasty. when i rinse my clothes they get dirtier then before i even washed them.

Ive learned to cook a mean custard and potatoes and rice and chow noodles and canned corn beef . ive learned to make a variety of dishes from those cause thats about all we have. we started a dinner calender for the members to sign up. some people eat bat and raw fish here. the fruit bats are huge. papayas are almost ripe so looking forward to that. this next week hoping.

there's chickens running around everywhere and me and my comp like scaring them when they are asleep in the trees haha the things you do for fun when there is no technology.

there is a transport truck that runs up and down the island 3 times a day. so we have to work our schedual around so many factors. kinda makes this a unique mission. and that there is a chinese soap drama going on the tv behind me while i use the computer haha

sorry if I repeat stuff.

my legs getting stronger. just a painful process haha no its good just gets sore on the times we miss the transport so we have to walk the whole way. . we had a lot of fall through apointments last week so we had to wait for the next one and kinda just go wait on the beach to kill time when theres no one around to contact and all of our apointments fell through. they either are up at the farm or in the other village. best time to catch people is at 6 but theres no power or lights so we are really limited on the time to see poeple then.

did laundry by hand again . did a lot better this time I think. less dirt still on the clothes.

we really wanted coconuts so we tried to tie two stick together with a machete on the end of it... didnt work too well . lol peta (great member in the branch) amazing guy just comes and climbes it for us haha

the geckos on our roof eating bugs at night chirp really loud.

people in the house next door just drink grog and sing all night.

If anyone sends me a package I want music. mp3 format will work with my cd player so you could fit a bunch of songs on there. just like all the good disney songs. tarzan lion king alladin lord of the rings pirates of the caribean sound tracks. stuff like that. would be really awesome. le'mes and that stuff too :)

hope this picture loads today.

the giblertese language is really hard. and its really hard for me cause i like to communicate and we have to use translators with half of our investigators. we have about 30 of them over all haha. we have 55 member come to church every week. there was 100 on the rolls but 40 of them moved to other islands. just how life goes out here. we tried to do a door to door apraoch but it doesnt work so well out here. but we did find a girl thats had all of the lessons already from other elders on other island and just moved back here and wants to be baptised so it wasnt a waste of a day at all!

we got chased off this one guys front porch that day too. before we walked on to it i told my comp. "watch this is the catholic preachers house" and first thing he said is im catholic get off my porch .. so revelation haha

the preacher here talks bad about us and the methodists.

theres a few big creepy churches here. like old vampire places haha . one has a giant cross in the bell tower that glows red at night haha

life is great having a good time and working hard. helping people as much as i can. I know i can do better though.

hope everything is going well at home. I miss you all.

need to go buy a new machete. gonna kill me some mongoose and bats this week! haha

first baptisms this weekend! excited. had some really good lessons even with language barriers.

till next time

Elder Estill

First Area/First Week in Mission Field

Bula Vinaka! So my first week in fiji!
Its going amazing! Im pretty much living the dream!
I just spent 10 weeks at the mtc learning the fijian language and where do I get sent?
Rabi! where they speak gilbertese.... lol pronounced (rambi)
its one of the smallest islands with missionaries on it! only one side of the beach is inhabited. we have about 55-65 members come to church every week and about 30 investigators. the work is moving. baptisms are hard cause people travel so much and dont go to church consistently enough. the life style is so different. get up go work in farm. eat. sleep. visit. eat. sleep. sleep. eat. drink grog. sleep. lol its very different. we just meet new people from referalls. we dont do much at church really. taught the young men young women. 3 ppl and only 2 could really understand us. the giblertese language is really hard and difficult. theres no real liturature to study for it but a very small dictionary thats really old.
Eat a lot of coconuts already just cause i wanted to. my comp loves me cause I can actually cook something other then noodles.
There is no electricity. they turn on a generator from 6pm-8pm ish. no laundy machine. no irons. tiny house. fighting mold and stuff all the time. The water is so nasty. its just brown. I washed my clothes and they got even more dirty! so we are coming up with new methods to help keep dirt out of it. We have good filters just on sink water. no water pressure. my comp has been here 6 months. and will either be xferd nextmonth and ill have a new comp out here still or he'll stay here even longer.
The house is about 100' from the beach. all of the houses are right there on the beach. cant hear it cause theres no waves because of the reef is 80' off the beach and the waves break out there. the weather is beautiful and great. kinda dry right now not much rain at all.
working on getting a good home teaching group set up in the branch. the 1st councelor is the man he's so awesome. xlates for us all the time. and gets us coconuts.. we cant climb the trees. we tried some redneck ways to get them but failed lol still waiting for a ripe papaya
I pretty much got the exact area I wanted. its really bush.
wierd that everyone has a tv here tho... and music. even tho theres no electricity but at night!
really some awesome families here! the people are awesome.
tsunami didnt hit us at all or anything so no worries. idk why
maybe thats why its so dry right now.
address here is just to send it to the mission office.
Elder Estill
Fiji suva mission
gpo box 215
suva fiji

Legs doin great. not bugging me at night or anything. sleeping here is so amazing. doesnt get light till 630am and gets dark at 6pm. dont use a blanket. just sleep with a masquito net. and they arent bad. I have yet to be bit once... so yea. pretty much the best place on earth haha
my companion is elder hillyard. he knows nichole gummersal! haha (for mom and dad) so funny and small world. crazy.
he's awesome. get a long perfectly and hoping we get put together for a long time.
Mission pres is awesome and his wife. love them

so far an amazing start to an amazing time of my life!

love
Elder Estill

Ben's a Missionary!!!

Hey Everyone, this is Laura, Ben's sister!

I am going to try to keep a blog updated with all of his going on's.  Currently my computer is crappy and about 12 years old.  When General Conference comes in April I am planning on taking a trip to Utah to see 1) General Conference and 2) my handy BIL who works for Apple and will have our new computer ready to go.  So until then, you will have to make due with no pictures (no memory on my computer), etc.

Anywho.....he is still in the MTC, he has another 2 1/2 weeks there before he heads to Fiji.  I got a letter from him today and he sounds so excited.  He is learning the language very well and is enjoying learning how to be a missionary.

Here is the last email he sent:  Enjoy!

The MTC is great. With how smoothly and efficient everything is, its truly organized by heavenly father. Its amazing to me that how evil the world is and how desperate people need the gospel. Gods response is 19 year old young men. Its david and goliath all over again every day. Its a sign of his true power when he can take the most meek and defeat satins power. My branch Presidency is all amazing. Always there for any of us when we need council or help or guidence. Me and my companion blessed the sacrament in Fijian on Sunday and it went well. Didnt mess up too bad haha. The language isnt too difficult and its really beautiful to hear. escpecially the songs. Can understand it spoken alot better then I can speak it but really starting to pound the vocab and learning a lot. Starting next week we are teaching entire lessons in Fijian. I hear the food is great and the weather even better. Gonna have to send a lot of stuff home from being here in utah in the cold. Things are working out great with my companion. His name is Elder Ikafanga from australia. he's tongan. We have our moments of confrontations but working with the spirit really smooths out any problem we have ever had. We are teaching well with eachother and can really feel the spirit when we teach. Its really the only thing in the world I can do 24/7 and not get tired of it. I could teach the gospel all day! :) And thats really the main problem with teaching with my companion is that I like to talk too much. Working on it all the time. Preach my gospel is such an amazing tool! all young men should be studying it. It will truly bless them. The whole reason for preach my gospel is to convert the missionaries so that they could have an increased testimony. You can only convert someone to the level of your own conversion. We arent there to just stop by and have a scripture study once and leave. Im there to help them come unto christ for their entire lifes. I love people and I love the work. So my call is from Dec 29th 2010 to Jan 26th 2013! yay for 25 month missions! :)

I got my first "roleplay" baptism commitment for a progressive investigator! haha I think im good at teaching with the spirit because I truly love people and I can relate to so many people from the experiences ive had in my life. I know this, the true gospel, is for everyone. And most of all I do it because I know it will make them happier then they have thought possible and I want to help them get there cause I care about them. Its nice to be able to share a gift that has an endless supply :)

So its snowed here in Utah and Ive slipped.. twice already.. just hurt my pride really..

We have heard from three members of the 70 and from Elder Holland himself. It was an amazing talk and also awesome experience to hear from one of the lords elect.

We got two big groups in our zone.. my disctrict is comprised of me and my compaion. but the group going to tonga is 12 and the group to samoa is 14. Little goofy sometimes but all good missionaries. My district combines with the Haitan Creole speaking Elders and I love them all.

Its kinda bad that I like asking Elders and Sisters where they are serving just to show off that I have the best mission in the world haha just kidding.

Cant wait to get to fiji! four more weeks to go and there is never enough time in a week. they go by so fast!

I cant believe the blessing that are being POURED out on me and my family. Its too much to take in. Im feeling a lot like the verse Mosiah 2:24

Cant wait to get to fiji and become one of the people. to see how they speak and act. They are such a loving people always friendly. Islands too small to hold grudges or enemies. haha

had a lot more I wanted to write about but im out of time.

My goal is to become one of the people. to love and be loved as a brother not just a visitor for 2 years.

Thanks for all the love and support. 

Loloma,

Elder Estill