The latest and greatest from Fiji...

Ni sa bula vinaka noqu matamuvale kei noqu itokonis, au lomani keimami.

So first off, congrats mom on the race, that is awesome. I could never do that, but then again I would never want to, ha-ha! Running is not my deal.

Story time: Transfers came in and Elder Duncan went to Sigatoka, and Elder Yashko that you asked me about last week is my new companion, baby. Ha-ha, he is sweet and we are gonna have a great time.  We found out that we are going to cover Suva 1st Ward and Suva 3rd Ward which is awesome, but it’s huge. Then later we found out that we are getting a car, and that I'm supposed to be the driver. I was like, “Man, your gonna be mad at me, but I lost my wallet so my license is gonzo”, and he was like “Ah crap”.  So we were just trying hard to figure it out then we remembered that the mission office photocopies our licenses when we get here, so no worries. Also no rush on the license; when it comes, it comes. For right now we are just on Fiji time and need to VA CEQU MADA (relax), ha-ha. Sega na lega (no worries). As for the bank card just as soon as that’s ready then send it on over.  I go down to get my Fiji driver’s license soon, so I gotta practice some stick driving.   But all is well, easy squeezy.

As for my week, it was very sweet. We are fed every night. There is so much good food, mostly curry, I love it.  (Now I’ve got to learn how to make it.)  We have a new investigator named Frank (but you pronounce it “Frahnk”, ha-ha).  He is from the Solomon Islands and he is so awesome.  Our last lesson was so legit, we read over 3 Nephi Chapter 27 together and talked it over and he asked a lot of questions, which is perfect.  At the end we all knelt down and he said the most awesome prayer, it was the best thing ever.  I could live in that moment for my whole mission. Also we had seven other investigators attend church this Sunday which was so bomb. Suva 3rd has a lot of Tongans and I learned a little Tongan in the MTC so I talked to them for a minute. Then I'm just like, “Sorry, I'm just kidding, I can't speak Tongan”. But they love it when I do that, ha-ha! We are baptizing this one big Tongan named Rocky this upcoming Saturday, which is so sweet.

I'm with Elder Everton on this one. I'm so stoked to be doing this work and especially pumped that so many of my friends are doing so as well. I love all my friends that choose not to as well, I know they are all gonna be great people throughout their lives. But I know more than ever that this church is true and that we have a Prophet on the earth this day who receives direction from Heavenly Father and that is sweet to know. I love being in Fiji and I love all the people I’m around.

Peace and Blessings!

Sota Tale,

Elder Garrett Hanke 

A little extra info:

Okay, time for mama to fess up.  Garrett told us a couple of weeks ago that he lost his wallet, which included his driver’s license and his bank card.  We didn’t want to worry anyone, so we didn’t include that information in his letters (sorry). But – he references the issue so much in this week’s letter, we figured we might as well let the cat out of the bag. Of course we were hoping he’d report that he found it, but apparently it hasn’t shown up, so we’re starting the fun process of replacing those items. As you can tell, though, he’s not too worried about it!  (All I can say is some things never change!) J

Something else to note is that Garrett’s new companion, Elder Yashko, is from Hyrum, Utah…just south of Logan.  So watch out Fiji – you’ve got a couple of Elders from Cache Valley on your hands!

Also, the Elder Everton that Garrett refers to is one of his good buddies from Logan.  Elder Everton is serving in the Indiana/Indianapolis Spanish Speaking mission, and I forward his letters to Garrett every week.  He has been a great friend to Garrett - they have a group of friends that are all awesome and supportive of each other, no matter what direction they are going. 

And, as you can see below, we finally got a picture sent directly from Garrett!  My turn to say "sweet"!  He is with Komai, the young man that he baptized last week, and Elder Duncan, the companion that was just transferred.  Good stuff....