Real Island Life

Hey everyone! What a crazy week... first off... I'm 20!!! That doesn't seem real at all. On my birthday, my companion and I and the district leader, who lives on Christmas Island, flew out to this tiny island called Washington Island. We took this tiny sketchy propeller plane and I'll be honest, I was terrified the whole time. We land in this tiny grass field in the middle of all these palm trees and join up with the 2 missionaries who had been working there for the past couple months. We stayed with them in their little buia (which is a little stick hut that is built a couple feet off the ground) that was right on the beach.

We had the chance to establish a church branch on the island which was such an awesome experience! I've never seen a group of people so grateful to simply have the gospel in their lives... They made us a huge dinner that night and they cooked us some... DOG! For anyone who is wondering, it was really good. Unfortunately, it made me really sick! I had to run to the bathroom and that is when I found out the sad truth... there was no bathroom... or toilet paper. There was a hole in the ground and a bucket of water. It is at these times in your life that you really come to find out who you are haha. This trip was so insane and the island was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. As we lay on our Buia at night and listened to the waves crash on the shore, I realized how great life is if you appreciate the simple things.

Before we left, we had a district meeting with the 4 Elders on the island. We all talked about the mission and the work so far and everything we needed to work on. Finally, we ended by singing the hymn "The Spirit of God" in Kiribati as a district. As all 4 of us sang, while sitting in this tiny little house on the beach, I felt such a sense of peace and comfort come over me. There we were, 4 young men, in the middle of the ocean, on this tiny little island that no one has ever heard of, singing a hymn, and we felt the presence of our Savior more than we ever had. It was at that time that I truly realized that it wasn't just us 4 doing this work, but we were working shoulder to shoulder with our Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful to have the chance to be his missionary and representative for these 2 years. 

I love you all so much. I apologize I can't send pictures this week. The computers aren't working that well. I'll send some awesome pictures next week! Keep pushing on. The Future is bright! Tiabo ngkami!

Tangira,
Devon

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