Normal Week (for once), Transfers, and 18 months down - November 24, 2014

Mon, Nov 24, 2014 4:41 pm

Hello Family and Friends,

What a great week. Things went normal. We weren't sick. We worked everyday. Yay!

But on the down side we had a lot of missionaries go home this week. Like Elders Christensen, Droppo, Vanderholm, Clark (from American Fork), and many more. It was sad. Elder Droppo and I built a pretty great friendship because he loved talking to me at night as I would take all my nightly pills and brush my teeth. They were all great missionaries and will be missed.

And since these fine missionaries just went home, along with the last sister from my MTC group, except Sr. Taylor, there will be a transfer next week. We have 25ish new missionaries coming in and so lot's of things are going to happen. And since it's been over five months for me in the area we will see what happens.

I celebrated my 18 months in the mission this week. It's crazy family, I only have 6 months left. Almost there! As for the inventory since the last six months here is what it looks like. 7ish shirts, most are still white, grateful for the reception of new shirts. My pants are still good. Also with the reception of some new pairs but the washing in 90°C water hurt those pants quite a bit. I'm still trying to iron out the wrinkles found in them. As for shoes I am down to my last pair. I am hoping for some new ones for Christmas and that should hold me until the end. As for socks I am good. My scriptures are still in tact. Some missionaries have scriptures that get destroyed. And all in all I am happy. I am thinking that this next transfer will be my last area. It's crazy but I love it.

On my mission I have learned a lot. Even if I've only had three areas each one has been such a learning ground. And basically what I have l learned is that Jesus is our Savior and that Heavenly Father loves us.

That's how I could sum up 18 months. And I'll finish by saying that I love you family and friends. You are all so great. Thanks for everything!

Love,
Elder Squires

Elder Webber fell in the mud...haha!

Our zone meeting Friday

I went back to FAAA to watch the baptism of someone who I started teaching during my training and who decided to be baptized one year later. It's been a year. And it happened!

Sick...and It Wasn't Me!!

Well, I have less than five minutes to finish...uh oh.

This week was slow but at the same time it went by really fast.

My companion started feeling sick Tuesday morning and we didn't go out all day. It was nice. I got the time to do some relaxing and studying. And I was happy that it wasn't myself that was sick.

Wednesday we had a multi-zone conference that was really good. We got to go but after that my companion and another elder's companion stayed home because they weren't feeling good so I went out on a split! Woot woot.

Then on Thursday we worked on our bikes and that was a horrible idea, considering that my companion and I were both recovering from sicknesses. I decided that I didn't want to use my bike again but I have since rechanged my mind.

Friday we went on foot on a more calm day. And Saturday was the same. Calm and on foot.

Sunday we missed a lesson because the bus that took us home tried dropping us off in the wrong spot twice and so the second time we got off. Ha.

And today we went shopping. It was fun but I have a weakness for buying things today. Good for you all but not so good for me....ha.

Well, I love you all.

I hope that the Lord blesses and cares for you all. D&C 100:1.

Love you,

Elder Squires

Some of the missionaries from my MTC group. The tall one just become Assistant to the President and the sister finishes next week - the last sister from my group to go home. 

We went and played beach soccer last week

Another Trip to the Doctor with a Wedding and Two Baptisms - November 10, 2014

Wow. This week has been an interesting one. Last week when I wrote I was feeling pretty sick. And that feeling of sickness didn't really fade off until a few days ago. But I am doing much better now! We went to the doctor's office on Friday because I had been struggling to get full breathes in since Tuesday. So we went and this doctor was not the same as last week but this one was a really quick visit and he prescribed me an inhaler and some anti-biotics. As if the medicine in my cabinet wasn't already too much now I have even more...bleh. But it's okay. It's supposed to make me better, and it has helped.

Thursday we had a wedding and the baptism of Jean-Yves. He and his wife were married at town hall at 3 p.m. and then at 4 p.m. we had their baptism. The service went really well. My companion and I got to give the talks about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I enjoyed giving my talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost and being able to promise Jean-Yves that He would be right there next to him as long as he stayed worthy.

Also Thursday we took our bikes to be able to get places faster. We biked all the way up Nina Peata, one the biggest hills in our area, without stopping to walk.

Friday was the baptism for Chantal Keck. The service went really well. I was the one that baptized her. Her friends were so happy to see that she was getting baptized. We even had the missionaries from Moorea, the neighboring island, who had done the lessons with her come down to be a part of her baptism. It's was really great.

Then on Saturday we biked all the way up to the highest part of our area, the Catholic monastery. Who knows why they put in on top of the mountain but we biked all the way up there. It made Nina Peata seem so small.

Overall it was a good week despite the sicknesses and what not. It still went well. We even put up a Christmas tree. Woot woot! My last Christmas here in Tahiti. It's nice but sad at the same time. Oh well.

Love you all,

Elder Squires

Chantal, Elder Webber, and Me

The Newlyweds and the New Member

It may not be the biggest Christmas tree in forest, but we found the best one to celebrate the Christmas season!

Working, Best Friends, and Sick....again - November 3, 2014

Well, I actually shouldn't take a lot of time today (I'll explain in a sec) but here's the update for this week.

The work here is going. We have jumped up our number of lessons enough to have landed in what our mission president calls the "top 5". Every week he sends out, among other things, a list of the companionship's that taught the most lessons for the week. My companion and I made it twice in a row and we were feeling really good about it. Until...

As for the best friends, my good friend doctor in town told me something interesting this week when I went to see him. He had put me on this new medication and this week was my check up visit to see how it was going. It is funny because the doctor was so happy to hear that things were going better. So happy in fact that he said that this medication that I am taking is my best friend. I laughed, not too reassured and said, "Yeah, it's like a friend." He quickly corrected me and said that these pills are my best friends because a best friend is someone who wants good for you and all that good stuff. I had a hard time keeping a straight face. Haha. So yeah, I have pills for best friends.

The work this week was going really well. We have two baptisms this week and our number of lessons is pretty good. So things were going like normal this week until Thursday. Yikes. I got sick. Here we have a new sickness going around called Chikungunya. And there is a virus that resembles it but isn't as bad. I'm thinking I'm more on the virus side. But I've been out and have been sentenced to bed rest. And that's why I can't stay too long here.

I love you family and friends!

Elder Squires