Four months in already....

Bula vinaka!

  

So a few things about Fiji that are awesome….

1. The laid-back “Sega na Lega” lifestyle.  Missionaries just have to get used to it, but it didn't take me long.  The people here don’t want to be rushed, they just want “no worries”, so as missionaries we just have to try and get them to have the desire to things on their own. If you try and force them to do something not only will they not do it, but they won't like you anymore, so we really just try and get them to want to do it themselves.

2. Drunk people are very funny, ha-ha. We don't run into a whole lot of them but when we do it is hilarious.  So yesterday we finished our last lesson of the day and were just heading back when a guy yelled out to us to come over to him. He was talking way loud so all of the little kids came over and were listening, but he ended up singing us a Fijian hospitality song which was so funny, and then he was asking us our ages. He asked the others first… they were 19, 20, then when he asked me I said tinikaciwa, which is 19 in Fijian, ha-ha. He grabbed me and gave me a big ol’ hug, then a nice kiss on the cheek, ha-ha! I about peed my pants from laughing so hard.

3. The people here are growing on me a lot. When we teach people and mostly just get to know them they will be so loving as long as you try and just be yourself with them. They attach really pretty easily, I love them so much. The people we teach are my best friends and also the members of the wards are so sweet. I hope I serve in this area again, that would be the best.

  

Anyways… so the Wards I cover are both English speaking wards and so we teach mostly in English and that is really frustrating because it makes it super hard for me to learn Fijian.  (I wanna so flippin’ bad!)  The word on the street is that I might be getting transferred to the bush somewhere, so I'm just hoping it’s an area where I'm just isolated and that I won't be able to e-mail or do anything for like 6 months, ha-ha! But who knows, I just wanna learn the language so stinkin’ bad and it’s tough here.

  

I really do love it here though, the city is awesome. We are teaching a Tongan girl who is about 22. We had a lesson with her on Saturday and she is really good but she has a sketchy family, ha-ha.  Her dad is a Methodist preacher so obviously he is against it but we were talking to her about the situation and how she could talk to him about it. Then we gave her a baptismal date for the end of this month, which she accepted, and we told her that she has to tell her dad before then. She said she would, I think this week, so we should have another baptismal date as well.  The work is going good here.

So the Ostlers left this week and in came President and Sister Klingler.  They are actually from Kalispell, Montana (I thought Dad and Grandpa and Grandma might wanna hear that), but they are sweet. Today we had our mission tour so all of the missionaries in Fiji came to Suva for the weekend.  It was awesome seeing my whole district and what not.  There is so much going on that I can't even write everything but just know that miracles are real, I see them every day. People can change when they choose to accept what we share and then apply it into their lives. The gospel brings so much joy into people’s lives, I can't even explain it.  Just knowing that if someone will read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and then act on the answer they receive, and just knowing that by doing these simple things their lives can be blessed so much.  I just want everyone everywhere to do that and I know they can be blessed so much.  I know it’s true because I have seen it happen many times. I love the gospel for the happiness that it brings and for the direction it gives.

So you want to know about a typical Sunday….  They are pretty crazy. We go to Suva 1st ward at 8:00 and sacrament meeting is last so we leave sacrament early and go to Suva 3rd ward because in both wards we have to check and see if any of our investigators came to church. After church is over we always have someone in the ward feed us lunch which is way good. Then the rest of the day is spent teaching lessons, its packed and now that we have a car its even crazier, ha-ha.

  

‘Til next Monday, your Sunday, ha-ha….

ELDER GARRETT HANKE

  

Peace and Blessings  

Garrett's sense of humor continues to shine through, but we're so happy to always read that he loves being a missionary and doing the work in Fiji.  Not sure how I feel about "the bush" and no emailing for six months, though!  :) 

Love to everyone, thank you so much for your support. Hope everyone has a happy 4th of July!