A faster pace in Fiji...

Bula Vinaka everyone!

The week was straight up crazy! So, first off, we got the car, no big deal. I turn the windshield wipers on a lot when I want to turn, but other than little confusion it’s not bad. I'm starting to drive like a Fijian taxi driver, though, ha-ha. It’s way fun to drive here. My comp reminds me every once in a while to take it easy.  I love honking at all the cars and crazy j-walkers, it’s all just really fun.

Next crazy thing is the AP's called us up on Monday night and told us that they were dropping off three new Elders to stay with us until they get sent out to their areas. Two of them are Fijians serving in Fiji; the other is Wallition from Wallis and Fatuna. He grew up in New Caledonia so he speaks French and very, very, very little English. It was hilarious to talk to him but he is now serving back in New Cal. Anyway, it was just nuts because they had to go the temple a bunch and what not so we were running them around everywhere.  But long story short, we only were able to teach seven lessons and had to cancel 14, which was really bad. So this week is super packed because we have to get stuff done that we were supposed to finish last week. Quick side note, the Elder from New Cal was way good at the guitar, so one night we spent the whole time singing songs while he was playing, it was so funny.  The landlord below us was cracking up the next day while he was talking to us about it.

Anyway, this week.....the Ostlers (Mission Pres) leave on Thursday and our new Pres. gets in soon after that.  We have a mission tour this weekend which makes it hard because we are taking care of six other Elders.  What mission tour is, is that all the Fijian missionaries come to Suva and we just have a big conference. Should be fun but it makes things pretty hard with the schedule.

So everything is still way awesome even though it’s busy. I'm having the time of my life. The best part about all of it is being able to teach so many people everything I know, and when they accept it, watching them make a change in their lives is so awesome.  I could do this forever, ha-ha!  Sorry fam, but I signed up for the lifetime mission so I'm never comin’ home. (Ha-ha, I wish! That would be awesome.) But because we only have two years that makes most missionaries just work their hardest and give it everything.  I know my time here is short and I only get one chance. I love the work, and I love you all. Thanks for the support and everything.

Sota Tale,

Elder Hanke

Mama's note: The pace in Fiji must have picked up a little, huh?  "Fijian time" for Elder Hanke seems to be moving a little faster, at least compared to the "relaxed/no worries" concept he was sharing last week.  :)

Thanks so much to everyone for your continued love, support and prayers for Garrett.

~Nova

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....

More "sweet stories" from Elder Hanke...

Bula Vinaka noqu matavuvale kei itokani,

So the last week was so sweet, I baptized Komai yesterday! But the bishop didn't fill the font up very high and since both of us are tall and he weighs about 100 more pounds than me he didn't go under the first time. It was all good though, we did it again and it worked, but I don't really know how I pulled him up out of the water! He is so awesome…the spirit was so strong at the service. His family came and his mom got up and talked and said she has never seen Komai so happy, and that she doesn't know why Mormons are so happy! I about busted up laughing, I wanted to just say, “I can answer your question!”.  She is being prepared for missionaries, but still not willing to accept lessons yet. Hopefully soon.

We had a lesson yesterday with two guys form the Soloman Islands; they go to school at USP and invited us over.  In the lesson we focused on Moroni 10: 3-5, and read the introduction of the Book of Mormon with them saying we can teach you all we know but it won't mean anything until you know for yourselves that it’s true, through study and sincere prayer. At the end of the lesson one of them asked if he could give the closing prayer, which was so awesome.  I can't even describe how it felt in the room, it was so sweet.

I know from many different examples that the Gospel blesses lives; it helps when we need help. When we don't do the things we’re asked by living the Gospel standards there is definitely something missing.  So many people we meet with don't let the Gospel in and I can tell it really hurts them. They get caught up in worldly things that give pleasure right at the moment, but the moment NEVER lasts. They always come to us with their struggles and when we ask them if they went to church, read the scriptures, or prayed they always say no. I promise that the Gospel blesses people, and the reason I know most of all is because of my own experiences, I would not share any of this if there was any doubt in my mind of its truthfulness. I know it’s true and it works.

Apineasa is the best example I know.  He is a 25 year old Fijian who three months ago didn't have any direction in life; he was going to school hanging out with friends, just being a normal guy. But after missionaries taught him he found that there was something to live for, something to look forward to. He is now done partying and has a plan for his life and when he has a hard time fulfilling it he knows what he can rely on for help. He just got a call as the 1st counselor in the Young Men’s, and is working on applying to go to school at BYU-Hawaii. He’s a sweet guy who helps us with our Fijian whenever we see him, and also with anything else we need.

Mom, don't ever worry about me, ever.  I have received so many blessings since I've been on my mission that it’s not even funny. The best one is the opportunity to help other people and try and bless their lives.  Any temporal problem can be worked out, but spiritually there is nothing better to do than this.

Happy Father’s Day!  And congrats to Easton on being baptized, that is so awesome man.

I hope you are all having a good time without me, haha.

Au lomani eda.

Peace and Blessings,

Sota Tale Elda Garrett Hanke

A few pictures...

Received a letter from the President Ostler (the Mission President in Fiji) in the mail yesterday stating that Garrett had arrived safely (the beauty of snail mail from Fiji, it was mailed on May 24th).  He also mentioned that "Elder Hanke will be a fine missionary. He is excited to be serving, and we are happy to have him...".  Also enclosed were a couple of pictures - yea!  So...finally!  We can see Garrett actually in Fiji.  Adding a few other pics that I haven't ever gotten around to posting on the blog - one from the MTC days (in front of the Provo Temple) and two from the infamous Walgreen's parking lot...where we had to drop off Garrett because we didn't quite make it to the MTC.

Love to everyone, thank you so much for your support!

~Nova

Fiji is wananavu!

Garrett's personality really comes through in this week's letter, along with a couple of things to make his mother worry a little bit (note the mention of an earthquake and high tide - which I'm sure he thinks is funny).  But, like Garrett always says, it's all good....


Bula Vinaka Matavuvale,

How is it?  You can probably guess how Fiji is….it’s wananavu (awesome)!! I still can't believe I'm here, and it’s already been almost a month.

So it was a sweet week with some really great days. First of all - Komai Bouganville Kosovanapasifika Draunidalo, we have been teaching him since I got here. He is 16 years old and looks like he should be an O-lineman for the University of Oregon (he is a BIG kid).  We get along super good, we always joke around together about Elder Duncan. Anyway, we asked him who he wanted to baptize him and he chose me, which I'm super stoked about.  (I just hope I can lift him out of the water, ha-ha!)  But he is so awesome; he will be the only member in his family and his Dad is high up in the Methodist church here but he said, "I can't deny how I feel about the church", which is awesome. What is really good, though, is that his family isn't against him being baptized. Hopefully someday they will take the lessons. Each time we teach Komai his Mom feeds us heaps of this Fijian food that is so good! The first time we went there I ate a ton because I was starving, and now each time we go they expect me to eat the same amount. It’s really good though.

We have an Elder from Vanuatu staying with us for a few days because he is waiting for his Visa to go to America to serve in North Carolina. He speaks French and Bishlama (pigeon English) so he can't really communicate with us, but he is super funny.  People here (mostly like 15-year olds) will get tattoos of “LDS” on their hands or arms and he has one. It’s super funny to see those because it’s like bad, but sort of good at the same time.

So I tried the picture thing again with no success. It’s either I’m terrible with computers or the computer is terrible (I'm pretty sure it’s the first one, ha-ha).  I have no idea what I’m doing. Sooner or later you will get some pictures if it kills me…. I will figure this out. (I need Elder Atkinson, ha-ha, he could do it.)

Anyway, there is a hurricane alarm going on outside but no one seems to care so I guess I won't either. My guess is that there was an earthquake some where far away and that this is just precautionary stuff. There will probably just be a high tide tonight, but no biggie. Earlier this week we went out one day and forgot our umbrellas.  It was sunny and hot, so we thought there would be no need, but it turns out there was.  About an hour later it just started coming down like you wouldn't believe, it was crazy!  I don't know why but my companion was just like, “OK let’s go”, and we just toughed it out. I had a blast, but I don't know how much he liked it. We were soaked and had to go back to the flat and change and grab our umbrellas. It’s crazy how little I have in common with my companion.  I crack up at some of the stuff he does because I'm just like “What the heck?” (ha-ha), but obviously he does the same about me. (Whatever, right?) As long as we teach well together and he is willing to work hard I don't care what his personality is like.

Peace and Blessings, I love you all!

Moce,

Elder Garrett Hanke

Serving in Paradise....

Bula Vinaka from the Island Paradise!

The main reason this is paradise is because the people here are so sweet. I'll be walking down the street and just hear someone yell, “Bula!” to us from a freakin’ 100 hundred yards away, then they will throw their arm in the air and wave to you until you’re out of sight. That happens all day long, it’s so sweet.

So we had a baptism yesterday with a little girl named Nere, she is super sweet, and we also had one baptism the week before with a guy named Bose. It is so amazing to see the changes people make in their lives to follow Jesus’ example and become better people. It is also really hard when people you come to love don't accept the gospel, especially when you know that they know it is true, but everyone has their agency.
  
Time here is already starting to just slip away. I feel like I just barely left this internet café, and then I realize a whole week has already passed by, and it just blows my mind.

So ..... very sorry about the short e-mail, I was trying to upload some pictures but this Fijian computer doesn't really want to work with me, and now we’re out of time. So long ‘til next week.

Peace and Blessings, I love you all!

Sota Tale,

Elder Garrett Hanke

A day in the life of Elder Hanke...

We received this great letter from Garrett on Sunday night - he was a lot more gracious about answering a few of our questions than when he first entered the MTC ! (A little more humility seems to be involved now).  :)  So at least now we have a better idea about his daily schedule, the area, and what he's eating.

The last paragraph in this letter refers to a young man that Garrett went to high school with, who recently passed away after his second battle with cancer.  (He was diagnosed with AML leukemia five days after receiving his mission call to the Baton Rouge, Louisiana mission last fall.) They weren't the closest of friends, but obviously Tanner made a great and lasting impression. Garrett always spoke very highly of him.

Ni Sa Bula Vinaka!

How are all of you?

So this is how my day goes, ha-ha: Wake up at 6:30 (we wake up to the sound of about 10 roosters crowing away, ha-ha), and I very slowly put on my sneakers, and then go on a little jog to start off the day.  Come back, lift weights and stuff for a little while, and then eat.  Breakfast is usually six pieces of toast and a mug of hot cocoa kind of stuff (the bread here is super good and costs about 70 cents for a loaf made fresh every morning, so we go over after the run and get a hot loaf every other day). Also who would've thought that I would drink hot cocoa here, but that is where it is at.

     8:00 Personal study

     9:00 Companionship study

   10:00 Language study

   11:00 Lunch

   12:00 Go out for the day

Our schedule is super-packed so we have lessons the rest of the day with investigators, less-actives, and recent converts. Lessons are 45 minutes and we usually have one an hour so when we’re walking to our next appointment we usually contact as many people as possible (side note: we usually walk around 10 miles a day). Our schedule is so full that we usually just have to say can we schedule for 2 weeks down the road.  It’s crazy.

7:00’ish - We usually have a dinner appointment every night, a lot of families make American food even though we ask them not to (ha-ha). But if they don't we usually eat curry, with some dalo or cassava, and everyone here drinks TANG! They all say… “You want some Juicy?”. It's pretty funny.

8:00 - We either have another appointment or just stop by a person’s house that we are teaching to give a spiritual thought.

9:00 - Arrive at the flat, plan for the next day and write in my journal. Then it’s time to pull out the foam mats, lay them in the living room with the fan and a mosquito coil, and then hit the hay.

That’s the “normal day” around here, but the funny thing is that it is never normal at all. Every lesson we get some interesting situation and every person we make contact with has a different personality and belief. I love the people of Fiji! They are all very humble because they are so poor, but they don't even know that - so they are all so happy. We get yelled at from the top of a hill or end of a street, people saying “BULA VINAKA” or “MOCE”, it’s so sweet.

There are about a million stray dogs roaming the streets, just packs of wild stray dogs that take over most of the inner cities and villages. They are nasty, ha-ha. Another crazy thing about Fiji is all of the cars. There are a lot of taxis and buses that go about 80 miles an hour on streets that are so skinny I would drive 5 miles an hour on them! There are no pedestrian laws, so if there is a gap in traffic you just run across the street because they won't stop for you, ha-ha.

I'm stoked for Nate, Bridger, Bronson, Isaac, Dalton, and Jackson…also everyone who will serve because it is such an important decision.  And I love ALL of my family and friends.

  

Anyways….. Tanner Smith. He was such a strong young man with such high, strong standards that nothing Satan could do would ever pull him down. I think Heavenly Father knew that and realized how strong of a person Tanner was, and he needed him for a greater purpose than anything he could do here on earth. The reason he was on earth was to strengthen anyone who knew him and that is exactly what he did. Nobody could ever say a bad thing about Tanner because there wasn’t anything bad about him. He only wanted to serve his Heavenly Father and follow his Brother Jesus and he did that in such a way that everyone noticed. And as for the Church, it was only strengthened because of him. His whole life he was a missionary just by his actions and his charity towards others. I know he really wanted to serve a mission for Heavenly Father and one thing he might not have realized is that is exactly what he did his whole life. He has strengthened more testimonies and brought more people to Christ than I could ever even hope to. I love him because of his example.

Moce Mada,

Elder Garrett Hanke

**************

FOOD DICTIONARY:

Dalo – taro is an herb of the Pacific islands grown throughout the tropics for its edible root and in temperate areas as an ornamental for its large glossy leaves

Cassava is a shrubby, tropical, perennial plant that requires a minimum temperature of 80 degrees F to grow. The plant grows tall, sometimes reaching 15 feet, with leaves varying in shape and size. The edible parts are the tuberous root and leaves. Cassava root is used similarly to potatoes in the U.S., but it is also commonly associated with tapioca (dried and ground into tapioca flour).

Yummy!!