Week 80: No time to write from Ua Huka

Elder Boyd and his companion have travelled by boat to the neighboring island of Ua Huka for about 10 days to find, teach, interview, and baptize people they have been teaching via Skype. Internet wasn't working well there so he was only able to get through a message to pray for the people they are working with and that he sends his love.

Week 79: God gives light to those who use his atonement daily

Hey guys!

Elders Boyd and Paxman from back in Aru'e doing a Zone Conference. (we just got this today)

So after emailing on Monday, we went and fixed our bikes because yeah they were a little bit broken down and needed some help! Haha! Then the Gendron family invited us over and we had a great family night with them!

On Tuesday we started the week off pretty well with a bunch of good lessons and cool stuff! One of my faves is a little kid from Ua Huka named Ronny and we have been talking about baptism with him for a while, so we hope that we can baptize him next week.  BTW, this next Friday we are heading over to Ua Huka and we are staying there from the 24th to the 7th of March. This is my first time over there so we are really praying that when we get there we will be able to baptize some of our investigators that are ready for baptism...we do so many of our lessons with them over Skype so pray for us!!!! We are really excited to head over there and to work with our investigators face to face. I hear that it is super different, but super cool over there!

Wednesday we rode our bikes all the way to Taipivai, and had a great day!!! We went to the Ah Scha family's home (active members) and then brother Ah Scha (bless you) came with us to do missionary work the whole day!  He is such a stud, and he is soooo funny! He has sooo much energy, and he loves the gospel so much that he just gets super excited and his enthusiasm is contagious!  I had such a fun time hanging with brother Ah Scha that day...it was really a blast! He is definitely one of my favorite members. We had the chance to visit a lot of inactive members and a lot of investigators, and then we did an English class which was super fun!

We had our district meeting, our meeting with the the Branch Mission Leader, more lessons, and then we had our weekly planning meetings to round out the week. 'Twas a good time!

Saturday was branch conference, and the District President came over from Hiva Oa, and we had some activities. We made little basket things out of leaves and stuff, and for those that know me pretty well you can imagine that I got bored of that really fast haha! The sisters in the branch finished my basket for me because apparently I wasn't very good at making it (I thought I was doing ok) haha! Then that night we had a fireside that Elder Mcquiston and I planned. We watched videos on doing missionary work and talked about the importance of the members in missionary work! We make so much progress when we are all working together!

I had one of those missionary testimony builder experiences on Sunday. When sacrament meeting started Mcquiston and I were sitting at the sacrament table (we bless the sacrament) and I could see in the back row the Ah Scha family. Brother Ah Scha looked miserable and he was crying, and his wife had sunglasses on and you could tell she was crying too! I was worried because before they were reactivated they had a little challenge with the Word of Wisdom, so in my mind I thought they maybe had a setback with that again! 

When we started the sacrament I saw that brother Ah Scha left and went to the back of the house. After the sacrament Mcquiston and I went to the back of the house (which was on the other side of where the meeting was) and I saw him sitting there and tearing up. I just went up to him and gave him a hug and Mcquiston did the same. Brother Ah Scha kinda tried to hide it but then he started talking to us. 

So long story short, when they got to church his oldest kid pushed his little brother to the ground on purpose (classic brother move) and his little brother got all dirty, so Brother Ah Scha got really angry. He said that he was just sooooo filled with anger that he didn't feel ready to take the sacrament that week. He just expressed that he is trying so hard and wants to be a good example for his kids but was worried that he was failing! Then something came to my mind that I had never really thought of before, I said ,"During my mission I've seen the difference in the families that truly want to live the gospel. There is a certain light in their home, and I saw that in your home last Wednesday. God gives this light to families that use His atonement daily, not to families that are perfect, but families that use the atonement." 

In that moment the Spirit taught me through my own words that He put inside my mind to help comfort Brother Ah Scha, but they were as much for me as they were for him. Then Brother Ah Scha cheered up and we talked a little more, we talked about Punu Pua Toro and Uru which is one of our favorite meals in Polynesia for the both of us! Things just got better as the day went on!

I know that it may not seem like a big deal to us that he got a little angry and didn't feel like he could take the sacrament, but to brother Ah Scha it was. I think it is because he truly understands what the sacrament really is, he showed sooo much love and respect for our Father in Heaven that day, just by his concern that he was not worthy to take the sacrament. I will always remember that moment!

Have a great week and love ya!

Elder Boyd 

Week 78: When FHE cancels ... make burritos.

Hey guys!

Monday we did a bombin' hike! Slightly dangerous, but it was super fun!! I sent pics of it last week! Then we got ready for our FHE and right when we were walking out the door, the member called us and canceled! So I made burritos for us and man it was good! I found taco seasoning in the cupboard, and I got soo excited!!

This week was a little bit harder because a lot of people canceled on us, we had a day full of scheduled lessons, we had 8 planned but 6 canceled or weren't there when we showed up! It was a bummer, but we still made good use of our time contacting, visiting old investigators, and visiting members, so it was still a great day!

We planned that every Wednesday we would ride our bikes to the next valley called Taipivai, and we would stay there the whole day. There are two active member families (the Ah-Schas and the Chus) that live there, so we planned to go with them and see some of their friends, and we had some great success. We met an inactive member and his wife who is not a member but she believes in the church (she is just waiting for her husband to get his act together). The husband's name is Rocky haha I totally call him Rocky Balboa; he is a good guy so we will help him get on a good path so his family can be in the church!

Thursday we had our lesson with Sister Marie, the sister in law of our branch mission leader. She is probably our biggest potential because she is interested and she has family helping her through this process. I noticed that when you teach someone who is interested and ready to hear the gospel message you can see a certain light in their eyes, and it is amazing to see. It's like God's spirit is changing them in that very moment. I never really noticed it before, but now it's something I notice easily!

Elders McQuiston and Boyd working Taipivai

Friday: We had a lesson in the morning and then we had district meeting by Skype and my comp, Elder McQuiston, gave a killer lesson! Then we went out to see some members and some old investigators, then we did our weekly planning!

Saturday was great. We planned a missionary activity and some of the members came. Basically we talked about missionary work and the importance of members' role in the work, then we did some role playing and had them practice sharing a message about the family.  We had them write down names of five friends, then we split up into three teams and we all went to visit those friends for an hour. It was super awesome because the members actively engaged in finding people for us to teach and THEY shared the messages.  We were able to get a few good references from it, invite new people to family night activity we set up, and found a new and solid investigator!!

Visiting bro Gendron

Sunday we attended church in our little branch and were invited to dinner with Kevin (the American) and his wife sister Ellis, and then we visited some investigators and some less-actives!!

This week we weren't able to see Rapuni and Leila -- they were busy -- and we were a bit busy too, but we will try and see them this week!!

I always will say that the biggest thing I learned on my mission is the principle of repentance; it's sooo important and necessary for our happiness! When someone changes for good, God forgives and rejoices! That's what I have felt so personally in my life!

Have a great week!

Elder Boyd

Note: Connor's Valentine's Package is somewhere between New Zealand and Tahiti and will probably reach him in Nuku Hiva next month (even thought we sent the first week of January). Hope he enjoys a few snacks and thoughts from home.

Week 77: Elder Boyd testifies about what helps him believe in God (Alma 36)

Kaoha Nui! 

Last Monday after we did our emailing we went to play basketball with some really cool members. It was super pretty too because the court is just right beside the ocean! It was a pretty chill Pday! For family night we wanted to do a thing we call "Soirée Quartier"...It's basically FHE but everyone in the neighborhood is invited so it's a great way to find investigators.  Our branch mission leader hosted it and we watched "Meet the Mormons"! We had 12 investigators there and our branch mission leader was sooo giddy haha! He was pumped that we actually had investigators there! It was neat to see his excitement!

Tuesday we got back to the grind...ha! We had lessons almost every hour and man I was sooo tired that night.  That's the way it's supposed to feel on the mish!

Wednesday was the grind round 2! We are getting down to business! We found some new investigators and were super busy! I finally got my bike there on the island so now we could do things a little bit faster.  It was great to be able to pick up the speed. That night we were supposed to go and see Steven but he was working late. We didn't really a have a chance to see him this week so there's no news on his situation, but we have a lesson with him tomorrow, so wish us luck.  

On Thursday we went to see some investigators that I really like. The wife is named Leila and the husband is named Rapuni. Rapuni is a pretty smart guy and we were just talking to him like friends!  He would tell us stories in his life when he felt like the Spirit was telling him something. He has had many expériences that have helped him believe in God, and he asked about the Mormons and why are we different and stuff.  

We talked about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, Plan of Salvation and stuff like that, and then he asked me directly about my expériences. He wanted to know what has helped me believe in God and to feel that He is there to help me.  I shared a few verses from Alma 36 which is when Alma talks about the joy he felt and even his repentance process. I expressed to him that we all make mistakes...in my life I have certainly made some mistakes...and that it's through this repentance process that we can no longer be "tortured by the remembrance of my many sins". The Spirit was sooo strong in that moment and we could feel it so strongly. 

Then Rapuni was quiet and ended the conversation and was like, "I gotta get going to work." It was weird to me that he ended the conversation right after that moment. He hurried in the house and his wife said goodbye to us. I don't know what this man was feeling or what lead him to end the conversation like that.  I could tell that something about that conversation hit him really hard. I'm excited to see him this week and to talk to him. I will keep you posted.

Friday was a day of meetings and planning.  We set out our goals and plans for the week.

We had another busy day of lessons on Saturday and did our best to contact more investigators. 

On Sunday after Sacrament Meeting the branch mission leader, his wife, Sister Ellis, and the two of us went to the other side of the island to a village named Aakapa. It was like a two hour drive so we could see some of the members over there. We are going to organize a prayer group so that these members can take the sacrament on Sundays in their own village. It's really hard for them to get to the other side of the island and they need the opportunity to take the sacrament. Man is it super pretty here in Nuku Hiva...i mean it is just soo pretty! It is really an amazing place!

K guys have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Boyd

Week 76: Caught a yellow fish. We do our best, and God does the rest

It was a great week in Nuku hiva!

After we emailed on Monday we went fishing with Brother Bonno who is a inactive member and a really great guy. We went fishing for a few hours, and guess what? I actually caught some fish haha! I caught a cool yellow fish that was pretty awesome...it was a good time. 

Fish I caught on P-Day

After that we had a lesson with a Sister named Cynthia and she has studied with the Mormon missionaries for like 20 years!! Holy cow! So we re-contacted her and tried to start things up again!

On Tuesday and Wednesday we really got back to work and had pretty busy days! Tuesdays on the mission are usually the busiest and the best days; you are just running back and forth from lesson to lesson haha! At the end of the day we had a lesson with Steven who is 19 years old. Last week we set his baptism day for the 18th of February but during this lesson he was saying the he wants to "take advantage of the world" right now, and then get baptized later when he is older and has had some fun!! Elder McQuiston and I were just begging him not to make that decision. He said that he would pray about it, so let's hope he is open to what God tells him this week.

We had a lesson set up with Cynthia on Thursday morning and we invited Sister Ellis who is awesome BTW! She was converted three years ago and she is married to an American named Kevin. He is super cool but he doesn't yet believe in God. But with the strong testimony of his wife, I think he will be converted one day for sure! Anyway, we show up to Cynthia's house for the lesson and she wasn't there...bummer! But Sister Ellis thought of her older sister so we went to go and see her! She was home and was willing to talk a little bit and the lesson was good until we talked about the family...then the lesson was INSANELY GOOD haha!! She totally loved the message and wants us to come back! Sister Ellis said they have tried over and over with her and that she normally never accepts the offer to return and talk about more gospel principles.  She is definitely being prepared by God...you can just feel it! Her name is Ann-Marie by the way!

Friday was a good day. We had district meeting and a bunch of lessons.

Saturday was great! We did a bunch of Skype lessons with our investigators from Ua Huka (the neighboring island) and they went really well. It was a good day.

Elder McQuiston and I working the jungle

On Sunday we went to Church and I still can't get over how small the little branch is! My whole life I've been in a big ward and I've served my mission up to this point in decently bigger wards. So this is definitely a change! After church we had Branch Counsel which was a bit interesting! It's funny how much things change according to the culture.  Marquesas is a completely different place, but it's great! I honestly love it here! 

Then we went and ate with Sister Ellis and Kevin (the American) and he is super cool. We just talked about Newport Beach and movies and many things that you just can't talk about with Tahitians or Marquisians because they have not idea what you are talking about!

This week I learned in Alma 26:22 that if we do our best to have faith in Christ and repent everyday that God will give us many things. Like he can open our mind to more gospel knowledge. He will reveal things to us that have never been revealed to our mind before and he will help us have success by helping others around us to have faith in what we are teaching and be willing to repent.  It's totally true! We can only give our best and God does the rest! 

Have a great week! Love you guys and miss you!!

Elder Boyd

Week 75: First week in Nuku Hiva in Marquesas Islands

Hi guys! So this week was super different, but good!

After emailing on Monday I got dropped off at the missionary house in Faa'a because in the morning these missionaries were the ones who would drop me off at the airport. So guess who was at that missionary house? Elder Sovereign, Elder Piazza, and Elder Lasson! Great guys! So basically it was a party that night because it was the last time we were gonna see each other for a while. We were all getting transferred, and we won't see each other pretty much till the end of our missions! Oh my gosh that is so weird to say!

Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and got ready and then Sovereign and Piazza dropped me, Elder Lasson and Elder Ugbah at the airport...all of us were going to the islands! I was on the plane with Elder Ugbah from Missouri (he's going to Hiva Oa) and man that guy talks! Haha! Good thing he is super funny haha! 

Flying to Nuku Hiva with Elder Ugbah

Then I landed in Nuku Hiva and met my companion, Elder Mcquiston. He is a newer missionary, he's only been out about six months. He was there with the Branch President and we drove to our place, my home for the next little while. 

My new companion, Elder McQuiston from Utah. This is his first area and has been here 6 months.

It was like an hour drive, and man it was soooo pretty, but sooo different. Basically it's like taking one of the rocky mountains and putting it in the middle of the ocean! That's a perfect description of Nuku Hiva! It's very pretty and very different, there are cows and horses all over the place. Many people have cars but also a lot of people just ride horses everywhere!

View from the high road that spans across the island

View of our little town, Taioha'e, by the bay

On Wednesday we set out to do lessons and we had some great lessons and did some great work! There are a lot of people on the island right next to us, called Ua Huka that really want to change. We do lessons with them on Skype and we will try to plan a trip to go over there if we can get them to commit for their baptisms and stuff.  The work here is great, Marquesans are super different but they are rather accepting. If we have good people who are willing to listen, we have a chance! They are almost all Catholic here, and that's kinda a big problem because the local Catholic leaders are super crazy about their people changing religions.

Thursday we had a meeting with our branch mission leader and I am so excited that we have a good branch mission leader! He is sooo great and motivated to work with us! Then for the rest of the day we set out for more lessons. 

Friday we had district meeting and lessons and Saturday was great but tough because I got sooo tired.  I think the week finally caught up with me, but we were still able to have a great day!

We have the nicest missionary house in the mission. Check out that view!

View from our porch. Seriously, can you believe this?!

Church on Sunday was interesting because we don't have a church building in Nuku so the members meet in a house!! It's crazy! There were like only 40 people there, holy cow I have never seen that! We have a lot of work to do here! There aren't a lot of members, but the members we do have are great!!!

This member's home becomes our meeting house on Sunday with 30-40 people attending our small Nuku Hiva branch.

So this week was crazy! It was fun to have a new experience. Everyone made fun of my Tahitian accent! My American/Utah/Tahitian French accent was really a novelty out here! 

Had to stop and appreciate the canyon

I am really happy to have this experience to go here and serve the people on Nuku Hiva. It'll be really different and maybe a bit harder than some of my other areas but "What doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger" -Kelly Clarkson (I think??)  I have a big testimony that a person can do anything if they work hard, there is no secret to having success on the mission....by working hard we can do anything with God's help, of course!

Have a great week!

Elder Boyd

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

Literally in the MIDDLE of the ocean. Farther away from a continental land mass than any other island in the world.