More exotic disease (Bora Bora - week #17)

Ia ora na!

Well, not much to report on this week, except the fact that I caught yet another rare exotic virus called coxsackevirus. It was basically a fever and a ton of blisters on my hands and feet, which was pretty painful. Luckily it only lasted about three days, unlike chikungunya. Apparently its rare in adults and more common in children, but the doctor said that because of chikungunya my immune system was weakened, so I was able to catch this new virus. How awesome. But I'm over it now, ready to move on!

This picture was emailed to us (Casey's parents) from a sister who was at that neighborhood concert.

We had an awesome time at a neighborhood gospel night that we put on in the Matira neighborhood. Elder Duncan and I taught a lesson on our relationship with our Heavenly Father and how he gave us his son, Jesus Christ. The Spirit was strong, and it went awesome. Matira is known to be a serious party neighborhood, and surprisingly enough we had a ton of teenagers come listen, and a good number of them accepted the lessons in the future. After we had finished the lesson and started eating the refreshments, out of nowhere two guitars come out, and of course Elder Duncan and I start getting ideas. The rest of the night turned into a mini concert by us, and people loved it. When you show your fun side as a missionary, people become so much open to you!

I'm grateful for the talents that God has given us all. It makes me remember the counsel that the Lord gave in Doctrine & Covenants 60:13. "Behold, they have been sent to preach my gospel among the congregations of the wicked; wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, thus: Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known." We might as well use our talents to uplift and edify others and help them to come unto Christ than be ashamed.

That's the short email for this week, more to come next week while I'm no longer sick. Love you all, and have a good week!

Elder Ball