Transfers -- Staying on Tarawa

Howdy!

Fun fact:  Temaiku (the area that I work in) is the old word for shark.  Fun, right?  

Easter was good.  It is a normal day in Kiribati... The only thing they actually celebrate here is their independence day in July.  

Our Easter dinner was cabbage, rice, fish, and (drum roll please) oreos (kind of like an asian knock off brand... :) )   It was great.  We ate with a recent convert, Teitiaki, and her family - a mix of less actives and non members.  It was great.  Very fun!  I enjoyed it. :)

The best part of the meal was that the cabbage and oreos that were put into the same bowl -- they call cabbage the kabalance, meaning to make balance, as in it is a healthy food. It was just funny because the bowl was definitely kabalanced by the oreos .  A little bit of unhealthy mixed with a little bit of healthy.  It was a good balance... :)

Elder Miller has been transferred to be the West Zone Leader.  I am happy for him.  Transfers started early because six missionaries from the Marshall Island's side of the mission transferred over to us. There is a lot of work here and because in the summer a lot of elders will be leaving and not that many will be coming in, so we need more elders.  Anyway, I will be working with one of the elders for a week before he transfers out to Onotoa, an outer island, and my new companion, Elder Graham, comes in from Onotoa.  It will be great.  The elder I will work with this week is Elder Mahanga.  He is from Australia and family is from Tonga.  It is great.  I am excited to work with him.  It will be a great experience.  He is learning the language extremely quickly -- the gift of tongues is real.

This past week we had a great baptism.  There were seven baptized.  Uekam, Steve, Maete, Titu, Tioan, Maritaake, and Teemam.  They are all great!  All of them, except for Maritaake and Teemam were young children that the branch had not baptized when they were eight. ...  So we helped them there.  It is great because it has lead to reactivating their families.  I am very excited to see that one of the families is now preparing for the temple because their daughter, Maete, is so excited about the gospel.  It is amazing!  I love the people here!

I am so happy for the gospel.  I am coming to realize how important it is to choose to be happy and to follow the Lord and His teachings every single day.  I am so happy that I get to see the joy and peace that come into people's lives when they have the gospel.  The gospel is real and true.  I love it.  I am trying to know it.  I hope and pray that I can always live it.

I love you all!  If you ever feel down, know that you can pray for help, but also know that I am praying for you all!

Love you!

Press forward!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig

             Front row: Uekam, Tiuan, Maete, Steve, Titu

                  Back row: Me, Timeon, Maritaake, Teemam, Elder Miller

Forest

Swamp view from our house

These are called doughnuts...  They are cheap and therefore purchased frequently.
Also,  I named this place Krispy Kreme, it is our local doughnut creating shop.

Spaghetti head -- a very confused puppy

Sunrise

Elder Miller and I right before a rainstorm

Kiribati cinnamon rolls on a stick, that is how the members gave them to us... :)
Anyone who has watched iCarly should appreciate this (tacos on a stick... etc.)

Cabbage and oreos -- kabalanced :)  I must have every meal.

An old military tank

Beach with tank in background

Sunset with tank

Daily Splits -- Part Two

Howdy y'all!

I hope all is well with you. :)

Well, this week the daily splits continued.  It was good.  It is interesting to see other people's teaching styles.  I was also able to work with Elder Bollin again.  It was very fun.  He is from my intake and so it was fun to work with him and to see how far we have come.

This week was exciting.  We accomplished a great deal.  I am very grateful for how willing the people are to help out with the work.  It has been a great week.

We had district meeting. We do it entirely in the Kiribati language.  This week I was able to understand everything and participate, whoot!  It was a good day. 

We have been doing recent convert lessons a lot lately.  It is great to see how much the people have changed from the first time we taught the lessons to the second time.  They have a light in their eyes.  They are joyful and receptive and have a greater capacity to learn.  It is great!  The gospel is real and truly changes people.

I am grateful to serve in Kiribati.  I am grateful for the gospel.  I am grateful for the Lord Jesus Christ!

Love you all! Stand strong in the faith! Reread and relisten to General Conference, if you can.  It is amazing to see the promised blessings in each of the talks.  If we remember that those blessings apply personally to us, it is amazing how much more our desire increases to apply the words spoken there.

Love you all!  Thank you for being great examples!

Love you!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig

Baptism - Teneneari, Reitaake, Rutieta

Elder Miller and I in the woods

Puppies!!!  The dog next to  us just had ten puppies!  Whoot!

Elder Bollin and I on the road

Daily Splits -- Whoot! :)

Howdy!

Well, this week was exciting!  I was able to go on a split every day.  Except Tuesday, I went on an exchange with none other than Elder Bollin, who is from my MTC intake.  It was great!  Anyway, the elders from Kuria are staying at our house.  They came in to speak with the president and will be here for a week before they fly out.  So, they have been going on splits with Elder Miller and I.  It has been great.  Lots of fun.  One of them is younger than me in the mission, so I was the senior companion.  Fun, right?!  It was actually an amazing experience.  I loved it.  I felt the Spirit guide me and was able to see more fully God's hand in the work.  Things from lessons falling through, but then us being able to find people that really wanted to hear the gospel, to us walking home a different way and being able to see our investigators and a few less actives, and remind them about lessons and church and what not.  It was great!

Well, this past Saturday was great!  We had three of the people we have the opportunity to lesson with be baptized.  Teneneari and Rutieta are in their twenties and are friends.  They live at the same house.  Their testimonies are strong.  Rutieta has almost finished the Book of Mormon!  It is amazing!!!  I am so glad we were able to lesson with them. :)  It made me so happy! :)  The other person that was baptized was Reitaake.  She is in her thirties and she is amazing!  She has great friends that were baptized last year by Elder Kennedy (my trainer).  It is great to see how much they have helped her come unto Christ.  I am very grateful for their faith and for their testimonies!  They are such amazing people!  I love them!

Also, fun story.  One of the senior couples came to our church for meetings on Sunday.  I translated for the elder during priesthood meeting.  It is amazing to see how much the Lord helps us through the gifts of the spirit -- for example, the gift of tongues.  I am grateful for the Lord and His blessings for us.  I know that he gives them to us all -- we only need look for them.

I am very grateful that I am able to serve my mission here in Kiribati.  I am grateful that I am able to see the kindness and faith of the people here. They truly believe. They do not have any doubts.  I love that about them.  Faith is such an essential part of all of our lives.  It is amazing how much faith can help us to overcome all things and to do all things.  I know that faith is real, that it is true, and that it helps us.  Faith is the key to happiness -- the pure joy that comes from our Savior, who is Jesus Christ.

I know that the gospel is real, that the Lord loves us and helps us.  I know that the Lord answers are prayers and that He supports us.  I know that the Lord never abandons us.  He is truly our loving, kind, perfect Father in Heaven.  I know these things are true in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love you all!

Keep the faith - stay strong in it!

Keep on being amazing!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Weenig