Yup, it's that time again. A time that I had thought that I had avoided. Considering that president told me that I wouldn't be leaving anytime soon I was feeling pretty good that I would stay. But of course there was always that thought in the back of my head that I would still get transferred, and what do you know? It happened. So I am being transferred to Outumaoro. I still be in the same stake and zone but I am just headed back to Tahiti, which means saying goodbye to Bora. It's been difficult to think that I am leaving. But it will be okay. I have really enjoyed it here.
But anyway, let's talk about what happened this week. So Monday we had our family night at the house of the family Atiu. And those are always fun. We have passed almost every week with them since Elder Joly got here. I usually end up being in charge of the game and there is one game that I really like to play that I learned in my last area and we play that every time now. And the family is getting really good at it and they love Monday night where we can play that game again.
Tuesday was a pretty normal day. Except that a lot of our lessons got cancelled and so we were out doing our own thing. Not really. But it's pretty rare out here that our lessons fall through so to have that was a little shock and we had to find things to do. And it worked out. We had a lesson with Puarai and his wife (their lessons are normally in Tahitian) and we talked about baptism. Puarai is a deacon in the Protestant church and we weren't sure how that would go when we talked about baptism and with the authority and what not. And we had planned to invite him to come to church, which we had yet to ask them to come. So the lesson started out and it went pretty well. We ended up having a good discussion about baptism and at the end we invited him to come to church. He gently said no but went on to explain for a long time all about the bad things that were happening with the other deacons which caused him to no longer go to his own church let alone this church. But it was still a good lesson and he appreciated the offer.
Then Wednesday we headed out to the other side of the island. We have started to teach the husband of a recent convert, Myrta, who was baptized in February. Myrta is so happy that we were able to start doing the lessons with her husband. Our lesson on Wednesday went all right, it ending up with him talking about how he stopped drinking but how he won't stop smoking. But while he was saying that I was thinking that it will come. Then we went to Mami Rosine's house and starting doing our lessons. They all went pretty well, nothing too big.
Thursday is when we got the big news. That me and Elder Bagley are leaving Bora and going back to Tahiti. That pretty much threw the whole day off. Normally we were going to go out and see people and doing our lessons but we ended up doing only one lesson and visiting some members to say goodbye. Then my companion thought about doing the baptismal interviews one day earlier than we had planned so we could see if I needed to call president and ask if I could stay a few more days so that I could baptize one of the daughters of Mami Rosine. So we did the interviews for a family friend of Mami Rosine, her name is Maiana, and the daughter of Rosine, who's name is Mahealani. I have to explain this. Their baptisms are fixed for the day after I leave. And sometimes if that's the case president will let us stay for the baptism. So I asked. President told me to ask the office if they could change my ticket and the office basically said no but they would give it a try anyway. But I had to wait until Friday to find out.
So, Friday comes around and after having thought about it most of the day and having had one of the assistants call me and tell me how much more complicated things would be I told the office not to worry about changing my flight and that Mahealani (who wanted me to baptize her would have to find someone else, which wasn't too hard, she chose my companion). That was okay. I didn't spend much time in my area Friday. I went on a split with Elder Bagley to do a baptismal interview for someone that wasn't there. No!!
Saturday morning we get a call from Brother Atiu and he tells us that we will now have two more baptisms Thursday night. What!? That was really good news and sad at the same time. Now I really wanted to stay. So Saturday we went out and did our lessons. We had our meal at noon with a member that lives at almost the end of the area. We pedaled out there, ate really well. I enjoyed my 4 well stuffed burritos. Yup. I ate burritos. In Bora. It was good. Then he dropped us of at the end of our area so that we could meet the other two Elders and continue in their area for the baptismal interview. And when we got there for the interview it was an interview for someone whose baptism was cancelled before we got there. No!! It was sad. It turns that her husband doesn't want her to get baptized and threw a fit. Then we biked our way back to one last lesson and then to the church for a fireside/farewell for a sister in the ward. They asked my companion and I to speak about our missions. And it was fun. I enjoy giving talks and joking around with people.
Sunday we did the baptismal interviews for the two youth who will be baptized on Thursday, Monoihere (we call him Dadou) and Curtis. They went well and just about everything went well Sunday. And it was Father's day. I called my mission dad and wished him a happy Father's day and that was fun. And I wish a happy father's day to my dad and to my grandpa and to all the fathers out there.
Then today, Elder Bagley and I did one last tour of the island. We took our bikes and rode all the way around Bora. It was a lot of fun. I started to feel tired now. But I still really enjoyed it, and we got to do our last hurrah before we leave.
And that's pretty much it for around here. I love you all family and friends. I hope you are all doing well. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Squires
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