Hey Family!
Well it's official, I cannot trust anyone to cut my hair over here! Monday after emailing I got a haircut and the girl messed it up so badly it may take the next 18 months before I get home just to grow it out again - so no pictures this week! I was so mad! Elder Sovereign was making fun of me all day because it was so bad! Hahaha! Later that night I fixed it a little bit, but it is still pretty funny, haha!
We had FHE on Monday with this great ward member. I'll have to get a pic with him because I love him!! He is just small and old and he is just a typical "chill-islander" grandpa. He speaks English really well, so he and I talked in English and he told me his life's story. He grew up with his stepfather who spoke only English to him. He and his stepfather lived in the first hotel built in Bora Bora and it was only him and his stepdad that ran it! He was a little boy that would help the tourists and stuff! Then he just continued on about his life and I love how he said it, "Then for the rest of my whole life after that I was married and working somewhere else but wherever I was, every night I would go to my stepfather's house and we would talk in English for a little bit. I did that every night until he died."
He had just had this little smile on his face, like he wasn't sad about it, just glad he could spend so much great time with his stepdad and then he said, "I'm just really happy to be talking to you!"
It was such a cool moment to me to see an old man just as happy as can be about his life and memories. He wasn't loud or anything that draws attention.... he was just a quiet little guy with a small little smile and eyes that gleamed with the love and joys of life...real life...enjoying times with his stepdad, learning from his mistakes as a teenager, getting married and having a family and going to visit his grandchildren. Even the way that he prayed was so quiet and sacred to him! He just gets it. It was really cool.
Everytime I see him now I give him a hug and speak to him in English, and he always has his small, closed mouth smile... you know that kind of smile (and he has a little mustache) but just good with life! So yeah, you can picture it, haha...I wanna be an old man just like that!
Tuesday, we had a big day of contacting! Whew! And Wednesday we had a few lessons and found some new people! It was good!
We had a lesson on Thursday with Herenui and Anthony and their cute little family!! You can see the stress in their lives with all the jobs they hold down and the stress of taking care of their family. During the lesson Herenui was asking so many questions and the lesson ended up being 2 hours long! It was crazy long, but it was awesome! I gave her a Book of Mormon and I was kinda direct with her. I said, "Herenui, I dare you to read this and see what happens next and the blessings that will come from reading this book... she seemed interested and excited to read, I hope God backs me up on this one! I have already developed a love for this family we met on our first day of contacting here!
On Friday, my companion and I went to lessons with a member named Ramon who may be the funniest human ever, haha! The rest of the day was just kind of interesting...
Saturday we worked hard contacting and taught lots of lessons.
Sunday we went to church and afterward went to Ioanes house for a lesson with him and his future wife! I think I forgot to tell you last week that they are getting baptized on the 27th of March! Then we were asked to give a few blessings for school and stuff, and that was really cool! We ate dinner at a member's house and then we went to sleep at the Elder's of Anaus' house, which is on the other side of the island.
My companion and I went to Elder Sovereign's and Elder Ruff's house to stay. We were supposed to go fishing with them in the morning (P-Day), but that didn't work out. Yeah, we had a missionary sleepover, ha, but I didn't sleep much because Elder Sovereign and I stayed up almost all night talking about missions and life, just like we did in the MTC! Elder Sovereign and I have become really good friends. I'm pumped because he is going to UVU after his mission too.
Since the boat was broken today and we couldn't go fishing, we just went and got coconuts from the nearest tree and ate coconuts and had breakfast with some members. It was a good P-Day morning.
This week I had the opportunity to watch the movie "17 Miracles" again. It is honestly the coolest movie; I think it is my favorite now!!! The things that people sacrificed just so they could see the temple and have temple blessings is amazing to me! I think often now about when the lady said from that moment on, whenever she felt like giving up or things got bad, she just got on her knees and said a prayer of gratitude instead of feeling badly! I think that is something we should all do! If that is something that the pioneers could do with all that they endured and sacrificed in their lives, we can definitely suck it up and say thanks to God instead of complaining and getting bummed out!
Live your week with a prayer of gratitude in your heart and all will be well!
Love you all!
Elder Boyd
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