Tiablo Rabi - 8 Apr 2018

June 20, 2018

Tiablo Rabi - 8 Apr 2018

Kam na bane ni mauri tariu ao mwaneu,

A lot has happened since the last time I was able to send an update. We have had a couple of tropical storms approach our area but nothing too severe. This past week it has been raining just about everyday.

Last week were transfer calls, and I knew I would most likely be leaving my island, Rabi. Due to all the rain, transport was very bad my last week there. A lot of the families that I have become so close with I couldn't go see. I was hoping that on my last Sunday things would clear up and everyone would be able to make it to Church. However, the rain persisted and we only had about 20 people attend. I was very sad that I would be leaving the island without being able to say goodbye to so many dear friends and investigators. I had imagined my farewell to the island would have been great, but it was quite the opposite. It was a very humbling experience to have things go down the way they did. Just a little reminder that this work isn't about me.

We came off the island and I spent the next two days in Tukavesi, serving around Elder Reese, and Elder Hunkin, two Elders out of Utah who I have become good friends with. It was nice to have them around while I was transitioning out of Rabi mode. On Tuesday, I received a call from the Mission President and was told I would be headed to "Naulu" back in Viti Levu and that I would be training a new missionary. At first I was nervous, training a new missionary in Fijian when I have been out of that program for the past 9 months and just having to train him in general would be hard.

Elder Zenas (pronounced Jenas) is from Papua New Guinea and is my son (missionary terminology for your trainee). I went to the mission home in Suva 4 days ago and picked him up. I still haven't got a good read on him yet, hes very quite and seems to talk more to himself than to me. I love him though and his excitement towards the work is contagious. He has quickly realized that I am not the go to Elder for Fijian questions and I feel I have already lost his trust in the language. Give me a week and that will change, but for now keirau sa vuli tiko. We are white washing the area of Naulu. White washing means we are both new to the area and have to rely solely on members and our area book for help.

I love my new area and the new ward is great! We have an average of 140 in attendance from what I hear, but we will see this coming week. Excited to be back in an area where the Church is very strong. After only attending branches and units for the past year with at most 40 members its nice to be around a big group of saints again. I now have 24 hour electricity, clean water, a grocery store, and a FAN! There is more but that's what stands out to me. Very crazy to have all of these amenities all of a sudden, but I am sure loving it.

We watched General Conference yesterday at the Chapel and it was great. I didn't see the Solemn Assembly for President Monson, but being able to witness it this time for President Nelson was amazing. It was heartwarming to see the whole Church unified as we sustain our new Prophet. There were so many amazing talks, two of which came from our two new apostles whom I love. The Tabernacle Choir sounded better than ever. Was a great conference. Hope everyone is ready to start "Ministering."

Have a great week everyone,

Love,

Elder Richardson

Huge rainstorm on the hike down. Slip and slide the whole way down. Only took 30 minutes to get down. Crazy after the 3 hours hike up.

Island off in the distance is Vanua Levu, about a 40 minute boat ride from Rabi. You can also seeing the rainfall approaching us on the left side of the picture.