Week 74: Saying Goodbye to wonderful people in Aru'e. Next area: Nuku Hiva

Hey guys so this week was pretty great. It was my last week here in Arue,

Last P-day after emailing we stayed at the church and played card games and stuff together as a district, it got super intense.... maybe a little too intense! Haha! Then we had family night with the family Tepahauaitepari, their son is serving a mission; he is a Zone Leader in Pape'ete right now and he's super cool.

An investigator that the sisters were teaching in another area moved into our area so we went to go see her on Tuesday. She is sooo potential! She has read the BOM all the way to Alma and she loves it! Her boyfriend, Matoa, is potential as well. And as an added bonus the other people in their house (Martin and Marie) started coming to the lessons while we were there and they are super potential as well! They live super far up on the mountain where there is no service or electricity. They actually have to use car batteries to get electricity!! They are great people and I am really excited about them!

Later that day we had interviews with President Bize and it was super great. We had a great discussion about the transfers and how my mission is going and all, and then he told me a tad bit about my transfer. He didn't tell me where I was going but he told me I was being transferred.

Wednesday was just a busy day of lessons and we watched the Joseph Smith movie with Sebastian, it was super great!

On Thursday we had another day full of lessons!! Then the sisters had a baptism so we went to support them. Right after that we went to the High Council member's house to eat with him since he knew that most of us were getting transferred and he wanted to do a last "Tamara'a" feast!

Last District Meeting in Aru'e

Friday was our district meeting and the zone is still doing pretty well. I'm super proud of what the zone has done these last few months. That night I got the transfer call and I'm going to NUKU HIVA in the Marquesas Islands! It's an island that's 10x bigger than Bora Bora, but there are far fewer people there (only around 2,600 on the whole island). Apparently it's super pretty and it is considered a special assignment area!!! President told me in my interview to make sure that I had a good camera and now I know why!! So I'm really excited for that!

Elders Ruff and Boyd with Nicholas

We had some good lessons on Saturday and then we went to go eat at Mehmeh's house (Nicolas' grandma). We ate some Ma'a Tahiti and twas a blast! We chilled with Nicolas for a little bit, and then we did some more lessons and I said goodbye to some of my investigators! It's so hard saying goodbye.

Church in Aru'e

Sunday was my last day of church in Aru'e. I sat by Nicolas during church except when he went to bless the sacrament. It's so great to watch converts bless the sacrament!! Then after church we went to Mehmeh's house again and said our final goodbyes.

Saying goodbye to Mamie (Grandma) Delphine and Nicholas

Then we went to say goodbye to Hitiari'i, Sebastien and then the Teiti and Diard families. Truly some of my favorite people ever.

More Goodbyes

These were all families and people that I have come to love because of missionary work. Missionary work is such a precious and important work and the outcomes are great and eternal. Not just for the families you are teaching, but also for yourself. That is what I learned here in Aru'e and the rewards of missionary work cannot be fully explained or described. It is an experience that you have to live.

Every Sunday I watch Young Men's leaders struggle to explain how great their mission was to their Priests (trying to convince them to go), but they really can't, because the blessings are so great and personal that they cannot be explained! Jesus said, "love one another"; to love is a verb, meaning an action, we can't love someone without showing them our love! We can show how much we love our Father in Heaven by keeping his commandments and loving and serving others. There is nothing more important than that to really understand what love is.

Adeline and Christian Orbeck showed up at the airport at 7:00 am to see Elder Boyd one last time.

Next week I'll be emailing you from NUKU HIVA! I'm super pumped for this next adventure hahaha! Have a good week and wish me luck!

Elder Boyd

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Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Island chain is known as the original homeland of early Eastern Polynesians -- they were the Explorers (See Disney's newest movie Moana) who from this origin sailed out and settled many Polynesian Island chains. Over 130,000 were on Nuku Hiva in the 1800s before the great expeditions, and before the French colonized and brought with them Typhoid Fever wiping out much of the remaining population until vaccinations were developed and brought there. This culture is known for cannibalism back in the day.

Population has been less than 3,000 since early 1900s, and just 2,600 today (less than the student body of Lone Peak High School). Hopefully Elder Boyd can shout "Ia'Orana" and flash that smile to each of them on this beautiful island at some point in the coming months. But if they bite, he'd better run fast.

The 4th Season of Survivor was filmed on Nuku Hiva. Yes, the Boyd family is currently Binge-watching. Fascinating history of Nuku Hiva found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuku_Hiva