Press Forward - 25 Feb 2018

Kam na bane ni mauri au aomata,

Sa dede na gauna au vosa ena vaviti, kei ena na macawa oqo au dau vosa vaviti.  I was able to brush up a bit on my Fijian this week as I found myself going on a transfer to the beautiful yet very bush area of Nakawakawa.  It is the most southern part of the Vanua Levu island and I was able to work there for two days while waiting for transfer calls.  It was a great experience and I was surprised how much Fijian how could understand after 7 months away from it.  

The day came for transfer calls and President Higgins told me I would be getting Elder Latu as my next companion.  No idea who he was, but after spending the past 4 days with him I can tell we're going to be very good friends. Elder Latu is from Tonga and is almost as tall as me.  He is still learning English but there is no trouble communicating with him.  Now the crazy part of all this is that I am now going to be teaching him Kiribati.  I will be leading our lessons and just about everything for the next 6 weeks because he is still just learning how to introduce himself.  

It is amazing the things that can come onto your plate during the 2 years of a mission.  Never thought I would be in this situation, but I am very excited for it.  Should be very difficult and there will most likely be some very tough/embarrassing times.  However, I can assure you all that my Kiribati skills will be extremely better 6 weeks from now. 

I know that if I can continue to push myself each day and not let the communication barrier deter the work then it will be fine.  Our zone leader said this past week that if we can come before Heavenly Father at the end of each day and honestly say that we did the best we can then he will bless our work.  Sounded better the way he worded it, but it hit me hard and its a good thing to remember while on the mission.

Heading back to Rabi today with Elder Latu and looking forward for the work to come.

Hope everyone is doing well,

have a great week,

Love,

Elder Richardson

Caught in a huge storm

Have to cross some rivers to get to houses in Nakawakawa