Elder Lloyd and I seem to be getting along great, he is definitely the total opposite of Elder Johnson. Elder J wanted to be a Tongan it seemed and Elder Lloyd wants nothing to do with it haha. I think the biggest difference is the size of there stomachs. Elder J would eat so much at member's houses it amazed m. He would have like 4 plates when I can only finish 2 maybe. Elder L can barely finish one plate. Apparently they don't feed you heaps in Rarotonga, like they do here. Things are going well though. We have been able to work really well together. It sounds like a very busy week back home. Cade and Stevie that is awesome - sounds like it was a blast. Tell everyone Hi back for me (which I am sure you would do anyways). We have a Sister Shusher here in our ward too. It seems like there always needs to be one. I am sorry I couldn't be there to support you by attending the training, sounds like you said a good prayer, the curse continues, and you totally improvised it? I am impressed. It is crazy that John and Brittany are both home. Let me guess, the Larsens are not allowed into the Exclusive Missionary Parent Barbecues anymore? It was a pretty good update on the whole family this week. The Summers/Nerdin side, The Hansgen side, and the Stringham side too - a little bit of everyone :) And,it will be weird for the tree to be gone - kind of sad. I know it is just a tree but still haha.
This week:
This week was a pretty good week.
We have been both figuring out the area this week. I know that I am supposed to be the expert but technically I haven't finished my training yet. It takes 12 weeks to finish and I am on week 11. Elder Lloyd and I have been staying really busy. We are both figuring out the way around. He caught on really quick which definitely helped me out. I don't feel stressed at all when I am around him. I wasn't with Elder Johnson either but I was expecting to be really stressed leading the area.
On Saturday we had another ward activity. Our ward carnival. It was so fun, we ran a booth on minute to win it type games, and each auxilary had a couple games for the kids to play. As they played they won tokens. They then used their tokens at the Bishop's Store House booth to buy lollies and toys. It was honestly so fun. The highlight for everyone however was definitely a large slip and slide down the hill by the chapel. It was so funny to see the young men tackling each-other down the slide. I definitely wish I could have joined in. Pretty soon, before you know it, the young men were trying to get other people to go down the slide. We were pretty confused when they entered the chapel all at the same time. We could hear them yelling and then even some screaming. In a few min they came back out all wrestling Bishop Laing and carrying him toward the slide. They finally managed to get him to go down. It was so funny. Pretty soon there was a whole pack of about 8-10 preist and teachers hunting down different leaders in the ward. The whole bishopric, Sister Fafita, Sister Tuimoala, and everyone in Elders Quorum. It was so much fun to watch. Our investigators really liked it as well and we are now teaching 2 of the non-member youths that were actually helping to hunt down people.
We had a really cool experience. We met this 20 year old Maori girl on the street on Thursday. She said she wanted to be baptized but was afraid she wouldn't be able to stick to it, or in other words "endure to the end". We explained to her that she can do it and we can help. She asked if she could come to church on Sunday and we said, "yes, of course!" She told us that she might need a ride and we were able to organize one for her and told her we would see her on Sunday then. Our block starts at 1. It was about 12:40 when we saw the member who had been assigned to pick Jenielee up and he told us that he wasn't going to be able to pick her up. We then went into a little bit of a panic mode rushing to find a ride for her. At this point everyone that we had talked to was either trying to get their own family to church or was already seated waiting for Sacrament meeting. We finally managed to get a hold of Sister Fafita, the RS president. She said she would get her for us. It turned out that they were about 5 minutes late but they still came. Jenielee came and her sister had decided to come as well. We were in Sacrament meeting when one of the speakers, sister Marsh, was sharing her conversion story about how she had been less active and her husband had decided to be baptized. Jenielees sister leaned over to us and asked, What's baptism? Elder Lloyd and I taught her the doctrine of baptism right there during Sacrament meeting. She then asked us "Can you guys do that for me?" We were both really surprised we didn't even invite her but she invited herself to be baptized. We were both like, Yeah we can help you get to that point. In my head I was shouting for joy though. I know Heavenly Father leads us to people but this time Jenielee and her sister were led to us. It was a really good experience. Definitely one of the highlights of the week.
Overall the week was really good, Heaps of fun. I love my ward so much, I am at the point where I feel like I know everyone in the ward really well.
Love,
Elder Summers