Flyin solo (Bora Bora - week #6)

Ia ora na!

Well, another week past, with some changes in the lineup. Yep, there was a transfer, and  Thursday morning Elder Lee Chip Sao got sent all the way to the tiny island of Raroia in the Tuamotus. We were together for just a little less than six weeks. I miss the guy already. He was a blast, and a good missionary at that. 

Now the question, who is my new companion? As title of this email may suggest, here's the curveball: I don't have one. Let me explain a little. Tomorrow there is a large group of missionaries that are going home, the group that Elder Millett was in. But that presents a problem, because next week is when the real transfer is supposed to happen, when a large group of new missionaries arrives to Tahiti. For some reason the release date for the missionaries going home is a week early, and I guess it couldn't be changed to accommodate the transfer. So Elder Lee Chip Sao left to replace an elder going home, and next week is when the real transfer will go down and I'll have my new companion. So for the moment, I'm flyin solo..

So another question, how the heck am I gonna get work done when Im all alone? Luckily, I'm not completely alone, I'm officially paired with the elders of Vaitape, Elder Gilson and Elder Requillart, for the moment. The goal has been to try and share the amount of work in our two areas and work all together, but of course that naturally shifts more towards Vaitape, cuz they already had more lessons fixed this week. So to try and work a little more in Anau, my area, I've left on splits with DMP and with a couple young adults of the ward. The work isn't quite as effective without a real companion, but I'm hangin on, trying to keep the area alive and still staying in contact with all the investigators.

So this week, there wasn't a lot that went down in terms of lessons in my area, we mostly spent time helping Elder Lee Chip Sao prepare for the transfer and saying goodbye to members. But Elder Gilson, Elder Requillart and I had some good moments in terms of their work. On Friday, we had a few lessons in their area that were all in Tahitian, and I forgot a little how much I love speaking Tahitian, since it's actually been a while since I've spoken it. With one of their investigators, Marie-Claude, she loved how we all spake in Tahitian and we celebrated my birthday eating stake together at a roach coach. Good times.

Well that's all for this week, until next week! This is the last week until the creation of the new ward, so President Bize and the stake presidency of Punaauia will be coming down this next week. I should have more to comment on this next time! Photos:

Goodbye Sao

Sunset, photo credit to Elder Requillart

à la roulotte avec Marie-Claude (Casey's 21st birthday dinner)

I love you all!

Elder Ball

http://mormon.org

Hâtons l'oeuvre du salut (Week #5 - Bora Bora)

Ia ora na!

Good week. Good times. Always accompanied with small difficulties and trials, but who remembers that stuff anyway? It's already been 5 weeks that I've been here on Bora Bora. I believe that's fairly longer than the average American stays on Bora, and for that I am absolutely grateful to serve here on this little rock in the ocean. There are so many awesome people here, and so many memories made every day. Its a privilege to serve them and help them all come unto Christ.

Elder Lee Chip Sao and I are still pushing forward. We've had some sweet moments with some of our investigators this week, and found some new ones as well. We started lessons with a teen named R------. He's 13 years old already pretty deep into the things of the world, which isn't rare here at Bora. He often passes by the Hutia family, a member family. The family proposed that he take lessons with us, and he accepted! We had a good first couple visits with him this week, he's a super nice, smiley kid. We do the lessons at the beach because its waaay beautiful and peaceful and sometimes it attracts other teenagers to come over and listen. We haven't taught him a ton yet apart from a lesson on our Heavenly Father and prayer, but yesterday one of the Hutia kids tells us "Elder ma, I don't know what you guys did to R------- but he's stopped drinking." Haha, pretty cool! I hope it will be a lasting change.

Maybe the best part of the week was Saturday, when the whole island participated in a proselyting activity in preparation for the celebration of the new ward which will be created in a couple of weeks. We all started with a fast Friday night, and Saturday morning the members and missionaries split up into different sectors to distribute invitations to less- active and inactive members, as well as as many nonmembers as possible. It was a sweet activity, and it was the first time I've seen all the members participating in missionary work like this. Everyone loved it and were excited with all the names they collected of all the people they went to visit who accepted the invitation to come to the celebration. We plan on doing the same thing next Saturday to hit up more people.

After the activity, Elder Lee Chip Sao and I had a good amount of lessons planned, but they were on the other side of the island... faaitoito over to the other side of the island on bike while fasting? Aita, fiu! Just before leaving the chapel we grabbed a young adult named T--- and asked us if he wanted to drive with us to do some lessons. He playingly murmured in the beginning but he agreed, and we had a sweet time together! We taught some solid lessons with R----- and M--- and C---, and it was fun having T--- with us because he shared good thoughts and a sweet testimony. It's awesome because T--- hasn't had the opportunity to serve a mission yet, and times almost up for him. But he said that it was the first time that he went to teach with the missionaries, and he had a sweet time as well. We hope that he'll go again with us in the future and that he'll have the opportunity to serve a mission.

It was a good week. We're excited for the new ward. Also in two weeks the mission will receive 25 new missionaries, and the zone leaders told me that it is very likely that I will train. I'm down to have a second son! Here's some photos.

After a lesson with Raihau. They brought a guitar over, haha. And im not as sunburned as I look.

Typical everyday scenery.

I love you all! Until next week

Elder Ball

Hawaiki Nui madness (Bora Bora - week #4)

Ia ora na tatou!

Today I'm not gonna take too much time, but its been another wet week! The first 4 days of the week it did nothing but rain, and hard! There were some pretty gnarly floods in some of the neighborhoods where we went. We keep hearing things from people that its cyclone season and that its been a good while since there has been one, like 5 years. So its about time that one comes around here pretty soon! I wonder what that would be like to be in a cyclone. We'll see!

But anyway, it rained all week, up until Friday, just in time for the Hawaiki. The Hawaiki Nui is this monster canoe race that happens every year in November. The race takes place over a few days. The first part of the race starts on the island of Huahine until the island Raiatea. The next day, there's a sprint between Raiatea and the island just adjacent to it, Tahaa. The final stretch of the race is Tahaa to Bora Bora, which happened Friday. It's crazy! Since Bora Bora is the finish line for the race, you can bet that there's a good amount of celebration. We headed over there to Matira Beach in the afternoon after the first canoes made their way in, and the sight we saw was insane. The lagoon was filled with boats and tons of people were on the beach. Pretty much the whole island was there partying, in addition to tourists and people from the other islands. We were hoping to get some contacts, but I don't think that worked out too well. To much beer and partying, so we didn't spend too much time there.

But the worst was later that evening. Our dinner appointment was with a family who lives at Matira, so we were obligated to ride over there. The partying didn't seem to die down since the afternoon. I couldn't tell you the number of fights and passed out people that we saw as we rode by! It was sad to see all that stuff, all caused by alcohol. I guess you could say that my testimony of the Word of Wisdom was strengthened that night. I saw only sadness and pathetic behavior, all caused by alcohol. Something so subtle as to dumb down the potential of a child of God with just a few sips could only come from Satan himself.

Coincidentally, we had the chance to teach the Word of Wisdom to A------- this week. He has no problems with alcohol or cigarettes, just coffee. He's got real potential and he progresses well. He reads the Book of Mormon and prays with K--, and he participates in family nights with his family in law. He's been prepared to receive the gospel for sure. We just gotta get over the concubinage block and we'll be good!

Life has been hectic this week, hopefully things will calm down this next week and we'll be able to leave our house and still feel the Spirit. A couple pictures below of the race day at the beach, and of the victoires. Pretty cool. I love you all and have a great week!

Elder Ball

Race day at the beach

Victoires!

Diamonds in the rough (Bora Bora - week #3)

Ia ora na!

Its good to be writing off another email after another week. Its been a long one! Elder Lee Chip Sao and I had our share of difficulties with plenty of lessons cancelled, getting stood up by references and lots of rain, and lots of sand and lots of mud, everywhere. It becomes exhausting! But there's always some beautiful diamonds in the rough that keep us on our feet and help us remember what this work is really about. Not forgetting the fact that we're on Bora Bora, as well.

The week before last, I got a call from a member from Vairao with a reference! She told us to go visit her cousin named M--- who lives in Anau to give her a blessing. So we fixed a rendez-vous for Tuesday and we drove over there with our DMP. M--- is this super nice woman who suffers from bipolarity. Her companion is named H------ and together they have a 6 year old son named M----- who is handicapped and has no usage of his legs. Recently they've been burdened by these conditions and had questions as to why God gave put them in these conditions. We answered their questions saying that God loves them so much and that they have these burdens to help each member of the family grow stronger and look to Heavenly Father for help. Afterwards we gave them all blessings. It was a sacred moment! I have good feelings about this family, and they accepted another rendez-vous for this coming week.

We also had an awesome lesson with a family, comprised of a couple named T------- and R------, the father of T------ named R----. We taught them an amazing lesson on the Restoration, Elder Lee Chip Sao and I both felt like our mouths were filled with words to say and our minds were clear while we taught. The family completely understood the lesson, and when we told the Joseph Smith story I just about teared up the Spirit was so strong. For me I feel like it was one of the best lessons I've been in in a while. We invited them to baptism and Tehapa'i said "If it's for the best for my family, then yes." R---- had some objections, as most Tahitian papis do, but we'll help him out with that. Sweet experience.

Now that I'm writing, I'm seeing how flippin' sweet this week was haha. We had a lesson with C--- the uncle of T-------, who had an aneurysm about 5 months ago. So he's basically sentenced to a hospital bed at home in a paralyzed condition. He's able to understand what people say, but has a hard time speaking. He accepted to have us visit him personally as well, with T------- as sort of his translator haha. We taught him a short lesson this week about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and during the lesson he testified in all the breath that he could, saying "I know Heavenly Father loves me. He is my source of life." Even as we shared John 3:16, he mouthed the words along. He has so much faith in spite of his condition, he even knew the words of "I Need Thee Every Hour" which we sang at the end of the lesson. I almost lost it! 

It was actually a special week, after a bit of retrospection. Sure there have been a good amount of trials, but through our efforts the Lord has placed people in our path that need help. I love being a missionary.

I love you all!

Elder Ball

P.S. Pics finally!

That mountain

My friend Elder S. Gifford Nielsen

The famous Matira beach

The gang, Elder Ball, Elder Gilson, Elder Requillart, our broski Mica,
and Elder Lee Chip Sao, at Matira beach

Same beach, different day, lunch break. Lookin good Sao

The other side of the postcard (Bora Bora - week #2)

Kia ora! 

Its been a pretty solid second week on Bora Bora for Elder Lee Chip Sao and I. We've been blessed again to find a large amount of new references, and we haven't even had time to contact all of them! But after being here for two weeks the excitement and the whole idea of being on Bora Bora is starting to calm down a little bit. Of course the island is beautiful and I'm stoked to be here, but when you start getting to work it feels like any other area. You see a little bit past the cliché paradise and you rather see the working life, the everyday struggles of people who live here. The other side of the postcard, you could say.

Front side of the postcard

Our week started out great Tuesday with A------- still progressing. We finished talking about the Restoration with him and he understood everything completely. The Spirit was powerful, and things were looking good, and we extended the baptismal commitment... and he said he'll think about it. At least he didn't say no! He said he'll read the Book of Mormon, and when we came back, you know it, he read the Book of Mormon! He still needs to pray and ask God if it is true, but its sure that once he gains a strong testimony of these things he will make the decision to be baptized. 

Then Wednesday, life got even more awesome! The 4 of us Bora elders had the privilege of going to Raiatea for a multizone conference with Elder S. Gifford Nielsen of the Seventy, along with hes wife. He's one of the coolest guys of ever. He's an old quarterback for the Houston Oilers, and he gave an awesome talk two or three conferences ago about having a missionary work game plan. We had a sweet conference with him, and the thing that stood out to me the most that he taught us is that we are on missions to become better parents. So basically I'm a dad in training. And its totally true, where else are you going to learn how to teach others the gospel, and acquire Christlike attributes like patience, charity, faith and the like? It was awesome, and I also got to play a hymn arrangement on piano for the conference. Its been a while since I've performed!

Multizone Conference with Elder Gifford Nielsen

The coolest experience was after the conference. Elder and Sister Nielsen were headed back to Bora with us, so we had the chance to spend some time at the airport with them. While we were talking, Sister Nielsen told us to listen carefully, and we all heard the song I Am a Child of God being plucked on a ukulele behind us. We looked and there was this big dude with long hair with his ukulele playing a children's hymn. He must be a member! So Elder Lee Chip Sao and I head over there to go talk to him. We find out that he's an inactive member, and he was waiting for a plane to Papeete. Then Elder Nielsen comes over and asks him to play the song again. It was pretty funny! He talks to him as well and finds out he's an inactive member, and then invites him to a stake conference in Faaa Saturday and Sunday. He said that he would come! After parting ways and getting on our plane, Elder Nielsen asked what we all learned from this experience, and probably the biggest thing that we learned was that this was a member who needed help, who wanted to come back and wanted us to find him. If not he wouldn't have played I Am a Child of God. There's people everywhere who must see us and want us to find them and help them come back. Puts things into perspective a little bit!

That's about all I have time for this week. The mission life is extraordinary. You learn a lot. I love you all and until next week!

Elder Ball
http://mormon.org

Pearl of the Pacific (Bora Bora - week #1)

Ia ora na!

So, voila la suite! Like I mentioned at the end of my last letter, I got transferred. It was a little expected, but nonetheless bittersweet. After being in Vairao for almost 6 months, it was tough to leave the members and the amis that i grew to love so much. I had the chance to bear a final testimony during testimony meeting, and at the end they decided to put God Be With You Till We Meet Again as the closing hymn. Whattup with that, that's not even fair. I almost cried! I said final goodbyes to the members before leaving that chapel for the last time in who knows how long, and before I know it that Sunday night I was at the airport ready to leave for Bora Bora.

And now the nitty gritty on Bora. I have been transferred to the Anau ward with Elder Lee Chip Sao as my companion. He's from the Papeete 1st ward, he's been 8 months on his mission and he's already been here in Bora for about 4 months. I already knew him well enough since he served in my last zone before and we've been on a split together which was totally rad. He's a total goofball, and I'm excited to serve with him.

Upon arriving at the Bora Bora airport (which is on an outer islet surrounding the main island), he and a couple young single adults from the ward were there to pick me up and we took off on a shuttle boat for the main island. This island is insanely gorgeous! The whole main island is surrounded by a huge outer reef mostly formed by smaller islets, so because of that there is a beautiful lagoon in between the main island and the islets. There are all kinds of shades of blue in the lagoon and on all of the islets there are white sand beaches that stretch out. If you want paradise, this is it. They call this island the Pearl of the Pacific, and it is rightly named.

On Bora, there are two wards, Anau and Vaitape. We live with the two elders for Vaitape, Elder Gilson and Elder Requillart. Their ward is kickin', and they do great work. As for the ward Anau... let's just say that the work has been low... and pretty low.  I'm supposed to see whats going on and boost the ward up a little bit, since there will be a division in the two wards in the coming month. It's a little different from my last ward, but despite the difference we got a ton of work to do!

I can say first off that the Lord has blessed us this week. After getting to know the area a little bit through the area book and the things that Elder Lee Chip Sao showed to me, we managed to fill our time up in seeing inactive members. On the island, there are around 1000 members... and there are maybe 400 that are active. So, this place could use some reactivation anyway! In doing that we were able to find a large amount of references, and that gave us even more things to do! Through one reference we found a new investigator named A------. He's living with a less-active member named K--. We had an awesome first few lessons with him this week, and he even came to church yesterday! First week and he's already progressing. We're stoked to be teaching him, and he loves the lessons!

I had the chance to meet a good amount of the members of the ward as well, including the leaders. I love these people already, and its apparent that our ward has a lot of potential and that most of the members want to work.  Our bishop took us around the area Thursday to see a couple inactives and to teach an investigator lesson with us, and we assisted the ward council and had a coordination meeting with our ward mission leader and everything. I'm confident that things will get moving here soon.

That's about it for the week! P-days are pretty awesome here, last week we went on a hike and today we spent time in a service project removing dirt from a mudslide that landed on the church building a couple months ago... and unfortunately, i cant send photos! There's a virus on my memory card thanks to the computer at Vairao, and I don't want to soil the computers here. Photos will come as soon as a clean it somehow! I love you all, and until next week!

Elder Ball

Alrighty, I managed to find a good photo on the computer, its a shot from the airport. Pretty cool

Welcome to Paradise (Vairao - week #24)

Ia ora na!

Well, it was a great week this week. Of course some difficulties, but life was great this week in Vairao. I truly realized how much I love the members here and how much it was a blessing to serve in this area. 

I'd like to talk a little bit about T-----. She's an investigator that we've been teaching for a very long time, even before we got here. Her husband, C---, is an inactive member. He hides from us or runs away whenever we come by. There was a time last month when T----- was ready for baptism and her baptism date was fixed, and C--- was all good with it, then like a week before the baptism C---changes his mind and doesn't want T----- to be baptized without him coming back to the church, which is dumb because he doesn't make any visible effort to reach that goal... he then fights with T----- , and by the end of the argument they end up drinking and smoking together... dang it!

Well at the beginning of the week Elder Millett and I were able corner the two at their house in a surprise visit, and fortunately they came out and we did a lesson with both of them! The lesson started great after we talked with them a little bit and followed up on their situation, and I felt prompted to ask a question: "C---, do you guys feel like your life is simple?" He thought a little bit, and then he just said "no way man, its way complicated. There's all kinds of problems." We then asked well, why? And if that's the case, do you think that God wants your life to be complicated? It turned into this awesome lesson about how obedience to commandments brings blessings and that while there's work to do, following Christ makes our life much simpler, avoiding so many problems that sin brings. The Spirit was there, and all in all C--- accepted to follow the lessons with T----- and not run away anymore. It's a step forward!

This week we also had a ward activity that was awesome! It was a Friday Saturday Sunday triple combination takedown that we called the Mega Super Weekend. Too rad. Friday night was an exposition of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We did it in an indoor playing field where all the functions of the ward such as relief society, primary, etc. make display tables showing their part in the church, and all the guest rotate stations. It was awesome and super well done. The members were enthusiastic about it, and the guest loved it. Saturday was a sports day, which was fun, and Sunday night was a fireside where Sister Taylor came and talked about her experience with the accident. It was awesome, and many investigators were touched by it. A lot of effort for this weekend, with some good results coming out.

Casey has been transferred to Bora Bora

That's what I'll leave for you guys this week! Oh, in other news... I got transferred. Ia ora na from Bora Bora. I'll leave you more details on that next week. Stay tuned ;) I love you all!

Elder Ball