Monday, March 28, 2016

Baptisms, Pink-eye, and Rain - 28 MAR 2016

27 MARCH 2015

Hey Everyone, how is it going? I am tired. This week has been pretty exhausting and pretty interesting. We have had a bit of lessons this week but the highlight was our baptisms on Saturday. We had John who is a 15 year old boy get baptized, and we had Jerol who is the 10 year old son of a recent convert. It went well. There were two wards there and so it was combined. Since, there was no one from the stake presidency there, I was the presiding authority. I basically ran the baptism and
made sure everything went well. It was kind of crazy.  I also baptized the Ohlen Sisters' investigator. He is an 8 year old boy named Olivier, he really likes me. He's a cool kid.
 
Elder Jeffries, John, and Elder Bramell

This week we have been trying to see people we haven't seen in a while. Saturday we saw Tasiy again. She has a hard time because she never went to school so she has a hard time reading and she prays everyday for understanding. We talked about how with God all things are possible and even though Joseph Smith was uneducated, that with God's help, he translated the Book of Mormon. We also saw James throughout the week. He has been doing everything we taught except coming to church. He told us that before it was good, but now he feels different. He feels like he changed. So, on Sunday he came to church! He is on track to be baptized in 2 or so weeks! Everything is going well.

This week has been pretty rainy. It has rained almost everyday. It's usually on and off. As the locals say, "rain, sun, rain, sun." Sometimes it comes down pretty hard, sometimes just a trickle. We have taught several lessons in the pouring rain and it gets hard to hear. As for the pink eye, I don't think I have pink eye. But for the past couple days my eyes have been pink and sore. It kind of stinks especially since I drive and use a computer and everything. I use my eyes all the time and they always hurt. But I don't let that stop me. I just shrug it off and keep doing what I'm doing.
Elder Jeffries, Mother, Jerol, and Elder Bramell


Sunday was pretty good too. I was sitting there during sacrament meeting and about halfway through, the 1st counselors daughter told me that I was giving a talk on the Resurrection because it was Easter. So, I had like 15 minutes to prepare a talk. But it was good, I gave a ten minute talk and I had scriptures and everything. All in Bislama. I think I have the language pretty much down.

Evri samting i tuff we tuff. Mi wantem sarem se mi glad we glad mi stap serve lo ples ia. Mi save se Jisas Kraes hemi Sevya blo yumi mo mi save se hemi stap laef. Mi lavem yufala evriwan. Namburu hemi wan tuff eria mo spos mifala triem best blo mifala, mifala save casum fullup baptaes. Lo mission ia hemi wan gudfala mission we hemi bitim evri nara wan. Lavem yufala. Alle.
Elder Curtis Bramell and Elder Jeffries cooking in the Apt.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

The Sun is Cruel - 5 MAR 2016

5 MAR 2016

Hey Everyone!

How's it going? Everything is good over here. This week has been full of teaching and full of contacting. Tuesday was the first day of the Market Stall! I think I've mentioned it before, if not it's just a stall at the Market and we stand out there and pass out cards and pamphlets and talk to people
about the church. It was a huge success! We were out there for 12 hours and we passed out about 600 pass along cards, 400 pamphlets, and received around 170 referrals. Guess who's in charge of the referrals, that's right me! So, I spent a long time separating and distributing them. From now on we will have a referral phone and I can send them as they come, which will make my life easier. We had missionaries come sing and help out, it was cool. I taught one guy the entire Restoration, Sabbath day, and the 10 Commandments all by myself in Bislama. It was tuff we tuff. (That means very good.) Mi bin mekem fullup samting lo ples mi bin stap lo Market. Hemi bin fun mo mi wantem lo mekem samting ia bakegen. I'll let you guys figure that one out.
Guess what happened at the Market Stall! My watch broke. It literally fell off my wrist. It still tells
time but I can't wear it. That was really disappointing. I'm going to have to find another one to replace it. My watch tan is bad, like really bad. Because it was soo bad something special happened. Yesterday we did some service. We were helping a Mama gather rocks and lay concrete for a small school. It took a while and it was tough work. I got fried. My face and neck were on fire. I didn't notice until afterwards. You know what else got burned? My watch tan. The whiteness that used to be my watch tan is now solid pink. It hurts. This is the first time I got burned in Vanuatu. And it sucks. My face and neck and wrist all hurt but it could be worse.

Yesterday, we also went to a nice restaurant because an Elder went home today. So all the office Elders went and had a farewell dinner with the Grangers. We went to the Stonegrill Restaurant. You get some meat and then you grill it, on a stone. They have a special molten stone that cooks it while you eat. So naturally, I had a Tbone steak. So did another 8 of us. Most of us got Tbone steaks. It was good. Then we went back to the Mission Home and had a short program. It was nice.

Other than that this week has just been full of teaching. Not as much as weeks before but a good amount still. Well that's all I have for this week. No need to worry about me, I'm having a great time.

I love you guys!


A Cyclone, Temple Dedication, Zika and More Baptisms - 26 FEB 2016

26 FEB 2016

Hey everyone, how's it going? It's all good here. This week has been pretty good. First I'll start off with the temple rededication. It was on Sunday and there were three sessions, at 9 12 and 3. However that was fiji time so it was actually 8, 11, and 2. But we did make it on time. It was very nice. The second session was not nice. They closed the windows to keep out the world and all that. It became an oven basically. It got painfully hot. It was so hot people couldn't focus and people started leaving because they couldn't handle it. So, they eventually opened the windows. But overall it was good.

So, now I'll mention the cyclone. During the Fiji Temple Rededication the cyclone was hitting Fiji hard. A few people in Fiji were killed. Cyclone Winston then started to come towards Vanuatu. One nice thing about it was it got pretty cool. It came closer and closer and turned South. So, no cyclone here. I am completely safe. No worries.

There's a new virus going around called Zika. It's a mosquito thing. The locals call it redeye. It makes your eyes extremely red and it gives you some pains. So, I've been using a lot of hand sanitizer. I am not sick yet so that's a good thing. I don't think I'll get sick, I'm careful. It's hard because people rub their eyes then go to shake your hand. You cannot say no either so that's what the hand sanitizer is for. It's all good though.

Other than that this week was full of lessons and appointments. Today was full of baptisms. Efate
Baptisms of Joanna, Titus, Martha and Maki
alone had 26. I am not sure about other islands for obvious reasons. Today we had 6 baptisms. We had Jack who was a referal from the 1st counselour in the bishopric. He was baptized and now he wants us to teach his family. We also had Irish, who has been an investigator for almost a year. Then we had 4 kids, Joanna, Titus, Martha, and Maki. They are children of some recent converts that we had taught. It was a great day.  Well that's this week. How has all of your guys' week been? I hope it was good. Well that is all for this week. 

Love you guys!


Elda Bramell, Jack, and Elda Christensen

Elda Bramell, Irish, and Elda Christensen