We had a pretty cool week this week, life is cool here in Taha'a.
Tuesday I think my bike got more work on it than any other day on my mission. We rode at least 40 miles on Tuesday, with this huge sector that we have. We met a french hippie named Plume, that talked for like an hour straight about her hippie life, and the hippie conventions she's been to and stuff...who knew you could find hippies here at Taha'a. We also checked out a new house that we were wanting to move into after that, with a missionary couple that came from Tahiti for the week. We had a coordination meeting after that, all in Tahitian...I'm goona track down whoever created that language and give them a piece of my mind, because it's sooo hard. But I'm making some progress, it's getting a little easier. I'm up to about 20% comprehension.
On Wednesday we went on a split with our DMB and his wife, who took us around the whole sector and showed us where all of the members and the investigators live. Thursday we had to pack up all of our stuff in the morning, because we found out that we were going to be moving. The afternoon our bishop helped us make like 4 loads in his truck to get everything moved over to our new house. The new house is great, it is like 6 times bigger than our old house. The only problem is that the plumbing isn't quite finished, so we are doing bucket showers from the kitchen sink. But that's no big deal, some missionaries have to do that their whole mission. (sorry Zach) Our ZL's came over for a training here in Tahaa, and stayed the night with us.
Friday we did a split with our bishop for like the whole day, and went to see a bunch of investigators with him. I love our Bishop, this huge young Samoan, that speaks such bad french. He's the funniest guy. When we got to our dinner appointment, the dad was outside...skinning and gutting a dog! It was so gross! And it's gonna be left unsaid whether I ate some or not.
On Saturday Elder Stevenson came to Tahiti, and Saturday morning he did a special meeting for all of the missionaries. We joined them over the internet...not nearly as cool as being there, but it was super awesome. The spirit was so strong, and I learned so many things. That definitely doesn't happen often that an apostle comes to visit the mission. We had a way good day after that, 2 of our investigators accepted the invitation to be baptized. And then Sunday was great as well, in between the ward and the branch we had 11 investigators at church.
Je vous aime, et faaitoito pour la semaine!
Elder McQuiston
Pics:
The first one is a pic with my district and zone leaders. The second is a pic from the split with bishop, hiking through the forest, the third is us on a conference all to the meeting with Elder Stevenson and the last one is from this morning cuz its pouring rain
Hello everyone from Taha'a! It is incredibly pretty here, when you think of paradise, this is what comes to mind. We definitely had a crazy week this week, with a lot of stuff to do and a a lot of changements.
Tuesday of last week I spent showing the new Elder around the sector, because they were whitewashing the area. And then Tuesday night I went up to President's house to meet my son, who is Elder Arlington. He is from Indiana, and was home-schooled, because his family moved around a lot. I'm way pumped to train for the first time!
Wednesday we had to go back up to President's house, to pick up my son. And then we went around my old sector together, and I said goodbye to everyone. And then Wednesday night was Vaiarii's baptism. It was super cool to be able to be there right before I left, which I may or may no have arranged that way on purpose... It is sad to leave Mahaiatea, I loved that sector, and I had so many good friends there.
Thursday morning me and my son took the airplane headed for Raiatea. When we landed in Raiatea our zone leaders were there to pick us up, which is Elder Goodwiin and Elder Omorodion, my old companion. We chilled for a while together, waiting for the boat for Taha'a. And then we took the boat, and our Bishop was there ready to pick us up and take us to our new home.
Friday-Sunday were all spent trying to get to know everyone here, the investigators and the members. I am hoping that we will be able to quickly get the hang of things here, so we can get to the grind and start working. This morning we went fishing on the other side of the Taha'a, and then ate it for lunch; fish, crab and these oyster things. So good!
I love you all, have a great week!
Elder McQuiston
la ora na tout le monde!
So first things first, I was super shocked Thursday night when we got the transfer calls, and I found out that I am getting transferred as well. I'm going to the island of Tahaa, and I'm going to be whitewashing, training, and district leader. On Wednesday I'll be picking up my son, and then Thursday we'll be taking the plane together. I'm super pumped, it is definitely going to be a crazy experience that's for sure.
Our week actually went really really good. We fixed 4 baptisms this week, and had a lot of people at church on Sunday, I'll send pics. We also worked really well with the ward, and have a bunch of activities planned. I'm glad to know that I'm leaving the area with it doing so well. I'm sad to be leaving everyone here, I've made some really good friends, but that's the mission I guess. The end of this week was pretty much just full of goodbyes, and then this morning I had to say goodbye to all of the elders that are finishing today, which was way tough.
Other than that I've got two funny stories for this week. The first one is that I had like insomnia Thursday night, and couldn't sleep at all. So Friday I was super tired, and I had to take a nap. Well turns out I couldn't even fall asleep for my nap. So I took some melatonin, and realized as soon as I took it how bad of an idea that was. I was literally like a walking zombie for the whole rest of the day, I had to use every single ounce of my strength to battle the sleep that tried to envelope me. Moral of the story, do not take sleeping medicine in the middle of the day.
The second story is that the other day we were with an investigator, and she said the closing prayer an started crying, because she was super touched by the spirit. Well turns out she like never cries, and when her son saw her he yelled, "Dad, mom's crying!" And her husband comes out and stares at us and is like, "uhh, why is my wife crying?" It was super awkward haha good times.
Well, that's it for this week, talk to you guys from Tahaa!
Elder McQuiston
Pics: The first one is our class of investigators and recent converts at church, the second is us eating lunch by the ocean, the third is a picture with Tehaamatai family, and the last one is with DMP and his wife.
y
la ora na everyone!
From what I read it sounds like everyone had a way good time at Disneyland, which is good news. E had a decent week this week with some good times. On Tuesday we went and saw G., because it was his last day here before he moved. He announced to us Tahiti the found a job at Faaa, and that he is getting married, and his future wife is getting baptized at the end of the month. That was awesome news, he is already getting super blessed for his obedience and his decision to follow Christ and get baptized.
Tuesday night Elder Gilstrap got an emergency transfer to Moorea for the last of his mission, and a french elder named Elder Dieutre replaced him here at the house. He doesn't speak hardly any english, so we've been talking in French the whole week. I feel it slipping already my English haha its getting corrupted. We were able to go to the temple with Guy to do baptisms of the dead Wednesday night, which was super cool, I love Guy so much.
On Thursday my toe was finally healed, and I was able to play sports and wear normal shoes in the first time in like 2 weeks which was great. On Thursday the Jehovah Witnesses stopped by to try and preach to us and so I roasted then in bible bashing, which doesn't do anything, but it's always fun.
Saturday was super fun, Elder Thorpe went to his old areas for some marriages and a baptism. So I was with Elder Prete and Dieutre all day in their truck (sooo much better than bikes). We did the lessons that we had planned in both areas. Kinda funny, after one of the lessons with a 12 year old girl, her mom brought out bananas, and I was STARVING, and literally downed like 12 bananas, and the little girl just stared at me with this astonished look on her face. Good times.
This morning we did a hike up to a lake called Lake Vaihiria way up in the mountains in the middle of the island, which took forever to get to. It was incredibly pretty, and is definitely a must see, even tho we spent all morning going to the forestation and the mayors office to get permission to go. Worth it 100%.
I love you all, and have a great week this week!
Elder McQuiston
Pics: The first 3 are from Lake Vaihiria the last one is with Gaspard and DMP.
Bonjour tout le monde!
First of all I want to give a birthday shoutout to mom on Wednesday and Ty on Sunday. Also for anyone that is interested, my mission president and his wife made a new Facebook page, which is Tahiti Papeete Mission-Fox . This week had its ups and downs, that's for sure! We are going through some medical trials at the moment, with my infected toe that got pretty nasty this week, as well as with all of Elder Thorpe's various ailments. He's had a rough go recently, between the hole in his shin that's been infected 3 different times, his sprained ankle, some sickness that gave him a cough, runny nose and fatigue, and then the newest problem, a sharp pain in his ribs that makes it so he can barely breath. I'm pretty sure his body is just breaking down on him after two years. My goal is just to get him through these last two weeks so that he makes it on the plane alive and in one piece.
But as I said we had some ups as well. This week, despite all of the trials, we worked really hard, and had quite a bit of success. We found 7 new investigators this week, and were able to double the number of investigators at church this Sunday compared against the number that we have had the last few weeks. At the moment we don't have any baptisms fixed but we have several investigators that are very potential, that we should be able to fix in the next week or two.
Alright now for the rundown of the week...so on Tuesday my toe was hurting pretty bad, and we pretty swollen and gross. So I decided to ignore it and go out for the day despite the pain. In the morning we were able to find a family of new investigators from a reference that we had gotten, which was awesome. We came home and ate after that, and then went and met with on of our other investigators named V., a 19 year old girl that is a little bit slow mentally, and the sister of a recent convert. We did our coordination meeting after that with our DMP, and then went on a split with him to see another new investigator, and then ate with him and his wife at the roulette.
On Wednesday when I woke up in the morning, my toe was leaking pus all over, and was super red and swollen. I was tempted to just ignore it and work for the day again, because we had a pretty big day planned out as well. But as soon as I tried to walk on it, I knew that there was no way I was getting on a bike, I couldn't even walk. So we had to call the zone leaders to take me to the doctor. Elder Lewis came and worked with my companion, and then I went with Elder Rice all the way to Taravao to see the doctor. We had to wait forever to get in, and then he cleaned up my toe, and fave me some french bandages (in other words, gauze and tape, there is no such thing as bandaids here, which kinda stinks) as well a some antibiotics. We did a couple of lessons in their area after that, and then we went and switched back.
Luckily on Thursday we had our multilane conference, so I didn't have to go anywhere on bike or anything. We had a really good conference, the assistants and President gave some pretty good trainings. We came home after that, and then went over to our amp's house for his birthday party. We had barbecue and talked about his mission.
On Friday we had a lesson in the morning, and then did our district meeting, which we almost always do at our house, because our district is tiny, and that way we can eat afterwards. Elder Thorpe was actually super sick tho, so after the district meeting our zone leader stayed at the house and did their weekly planning while my companion slept, and I went on a split with dmp to the lessons that we had planned. We were supposed to go tot the temple with our recent converts after that to do baptisms for the dead for their first times, but our ride left without us...kind of a bummer, but at least our converts went anyways. So we ended up going with the zone leaders to their baptism that night, and then went to the Heiva in Mataiea with them, which was pretty dope.
We actually had a pretty decent day on Saturday. Normally Saturdays and Sundays are super rough, because everyone goes to the beach to drink and play pétanque, and no one is at home. We were able to finish up our weekly planning in the morning, and then got a bunch of lessons in after lunch, including finding 2 new investigators And then for dinner we ate with our bishop at this house.
Yesterday we had a bunch of investigators at church, which was awesome. After church we had a lesson with M., and then with another new investigator that came from a reference. That was when Elder Thorpe's chest started hurting and he was having a hard time breathing, so we headed back home to make sure that he didn't die on me. Kind of a bummer tho, on the way home this huge dog came and took a big chunk out of my thigh and tore up my pants, so I was up fixing my pants forever last night. This morning we went to the doctor for his chest, and turns out he has some lung infection...probably not so good. Kinda funny tho, the private doctor sent us on a wild goose chase to go get an Xray for Elder Thorpe, but we had no car and no idea where the hospital was...so we walked around and finally found the hospital, but we were on the back side of it...this crazy janitor let us in a prohibited access door, and then the door slid shut, locking us inside. We tried all of the doors on the inside, and all were locked but one. When we are out we were at the very back of the C-section surgery place, definitely not where we were supposed to be. Some nurse asked us what in the world we were doing there and I said, "uhhh I think we're lost" hahaha way funny we had a good laugh. No worries tho we eventually found the X-ray from haha.
Well that's about it for this week! I love you all, have a good week!
Elder McQuiston
Pics: The first 2 pics are from the Heiva the third is a pic with the sunset, and the fourth is a pic with amp and his wife
Well this week we decided we needed to start working out a little bit more, so we organized with our ward beach soccer everyday at 6, because the beach is like right outside our house. And turns out beach soccer everyday is not a good idea, on Tuesday Elder Prete got injured, on Wednesday Elder Gilstrap got injured, on Thursday Elder Thorpe got injured and on Friday I did haha pretty funny. This next week we decided we better switch up the sport and go for beach volleyball instead.
Last Monday we did a fast with Maiana to help her stop smoking, because she has a big problem smoking, and has smoked for 20 years or so. Well Tuesday we went back, and she had completely stopped smoking. She no longer even has the desire to smoke. It was a huge miracle, and was super cool to see her so happy and so grateful for God.
On Saturday Elder Thorpe had to go to the city for a baptism and a sealing, so I had to find a split. Luckily my amp didn't have anything to do, so I did a split with them from 6am to 5pm. I love dip, he's a way cool Tahitian. But man idk if I could do what he did, an 11 hour split with the missionaries on Saturday and he's married as well.
We worked super hard this week even tho the work has been slow recently with the Heiva and everything. But we saw some miracles and found some new people to teach, so hopefully things will pick up soon. I know that God is there for each one of us, and Know that happiness comes through obedience and diligence to all of God's commandments.
I love you all!
Elder McQuiston
Pics: Here are some pics from when I burnt one of my shirts for the one year mark, and then the third one is a pic from Abel's faaapu, and then the last pic is from the Heiva...I got some dope videos but sadly I can't really send those so we'll have to wait for next year.
la ora na everyone!
Alrighty so this week was not too bad here in Mahaiatea, besides the fact that its the Heiva. The Heiva is a tradition here during the month of July. Every July almost all of Tahiti goes on vacation, and they have huge celebrations here. They have dances, competitions, fairs, art festivals, singing, and so forth. Which makes it really cool for tourists, but tough for missionary work.
Last Monday we had a really fun day. We went with the Paea zone, and had a celebration for the fourth of July. We had a barbecue, and then went to a field in Maraa and played some American sports. The funnest was some 2 hand touch football, it's been over a year since I've played football.
Wednesday had some stuff worth mentioning, we had interviews with President which were awesome, and I almost died when a car missed me by about 2 inches, and turns out it was a member (not my fault).
Thursday was my one year mark, so I burnt one of my shirts as that's the tradition. Saturday night we went with the ZL's to a Heiva dance, which was way dope, Tahitians are insane at dancing. And then yesterday we had our last missionary concert.
I love you all, the church is true!
Elder McQuiston
