I'm in Fiji

Well, everyone... I don't even know where to start with this week. I don't have much time at all. I'm in this tiny little internet cafe in Fiji that is in the middle of some jungle. Hopefully, you all receive this. We landed in Kiribati on Thursday and we gathered all of our things in a close by building to be assigned our area and trainer. Everyone gets assigned their spot and I still haven't been assigned.... They have me stand up and the mission present goes, "Elder Wardell, You will be flying out to Kiritimati island on monday where you will be introduced to your trainer and the 4 other missionaries that will be on your island" Feel free to look up Kiritimati island on a map. It's thousands of miles away from all the other islands in my mission. I really hope I get along with these 5 other elders because it will just be us on this island for probably the next 6 months...

The islands are beautiful, but the mission is hard. Not a single house has walls. Every house is built out of sheet metal and sticks. I  was blessed to stay with the APs for the past couple days which live in the nicest house in all Kiribati. IT ACTUALLY HAS WALLS. There are wild dogs that roam the island. I was walking home one night with one of the APs and about 12 dogs come out and start running at us barking. I'm not gonna lie... I was terrified. I was like " okay this is the end". The AP laughs and bends over and pretends to pick up a rock. The second he does that, all the dogs run away. I guess that is the secret. 

When we teach the people, we leave our sandals outside and go sit on their floor or raised wooden platform. We have to sit cross-legged and I am not a flexible person..... Let me tell you, it is a  physically demanding challenge. Right before I leave for Kiritimati island, I found myself very upset. I hadn't eaten a meal that wasn't just a piece of bread, some rice, and fish. Only some houses have showers so I felt really dirty and physically I was in a lot of pain. The fish we eat isn't cooked so it can make you really sick sometimes so that was just adding to the list. I was a mess; however, as we were walking home one night, I took the time to look at all the people. There were people throwing a rock back and forth and they had the biggest smiles on their faces. There were kids that were drawing shapes and pictures in the sand outside their house and they looked like they had just woken up Christmas morning and seen all their presents. These people literally had nothing... yet they are always happy. They are so humble and find happiness in the simple things in life. It really made me think about all the things I am blessed with. Yes, I am hungry, yes I would like to have a nice shower, and yes I would like to have a lot of things.... but I HAVE so much more than I realize. I have amazing family and friends back home praying for me and pushing me on. I have my companion who is going through everything I am. I have a house back home. Most importantly I have this gospel in my life that helps me realize what is most important in this life. I pray that I can reflect the Kiribati peoples' perspective and attitude of life in my own life. They are just an amazing people and I pray I can do all I can in these next 2 years to bless their lives like they have blessed mine already. Thank you for your support and I pray for each of you every day. Love you all

Love,
Devon







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stuck in the Sand

Image
HELLO EVERYONE! Let me just start by saying how much I miss you all!  Hope each and every one of you are doing great. Thank you all so much for your emails. Literally, they make my week! This week was just as intense as the last one! I'm still trying to adjust to the culture and I know it is going to take some time. People here run on "Kiribati time" which means everyone just shows up an hour or two late. It can be kinda frustrating when you have a really busy/full day but It is something I'll have to get used to. My companion and I got invited to several bootaki this week. Bootaki are parties that the locals here have. They always have the missionaries eat first so we stand up and walk over to these buckets full of food that we have no idea what it is. We reach in, grab some mystery meat, some mystery mush, and some mystery drink and go sit cross-legged on the ground. I look over at my companion and ask "do you ever think the next bite is going to kill you?...
Read more
Image
Devon will be entering the Provo MTC on October 18, 2017.  He will be serving a 2-year mission in Kiribati, a group of islands located in the Central Pacific, speaking Kiribati.  Dress code:  short-sleeved white shirt and tie with pants (rolling is optional) and sandals, crocs or flip-flops.
Read more

My Christmas Gift

Image
MERRRRRYYYY CHRISTMAS!!!!! I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! We had our Christmas a whole day before you guys (since we are a whole day ahead of the US based on time). For the couple days leading up to Christmas, all of the church members here gathered in the main church building to celebrate. The rest of the Elders and I tried thinking of all the things we could do to bring the Christmas spirit to the locals. We tried thinking of music and decorations and all different things but then we realized.... their Christmas celebration blows ours out of the water. All the little boys and girls throw on skirts made of palm leaves and headbands made of flower, they blast the Kiribati music, and they do exactly what the lyrics say.... "Shake your bumbum!". Everyone just shakes their hips around and dance and laugh. They had the elders get up and I didn't know I could move like that... but I did! My dancing was honestly so bad but they didn't care. Everyone was laughing ...
Read more