Back and Better than Ever: I know today is Tuesday... February 3, 2015

I like to imagine how people will react when they read my letters. And as I will send this letter out I can only imagine how you all will react knowing that missionaries are supposed to email ONLY on Monday's. But one of the things about being in a small island is that sometimes the power for the whole island goes out. And when it goes out on a p-day, we can't send emails. So, yeah. That's why I'm writing today.

This week was good. The main events started on Friday with the arrival of the mission president, President Bize. That morning we were at our district president's house and decided to go with him to receive President Bize at the airport. We waited a good thirty or forty minutes before his plane showed up. Once he arrived we gave him some flower necklaces and made him wait. Normally that's not a good idea to make an important person wait around doing nothing but since the back tire of my bike was on the plane, we had to wait for it to be given out . Luckily he was patient.

Friday night we had a dinner with him and the leaders in the district. The food was wonderful. I was very happy to eat sashimi and egg rolls. At the end of the dinner people said things about President Tumarae, our district president who was being released. One sister spoke in Tahitian. Since President Bize is French and had no Tahitian experience before, you never hear him say much if anything in Tahitian. But when that sister spoke in Tahitian he asked her if she wanted him to translate and he gave out the word for word translation for what she said. Everyone busted up laughing with surprise. That night ended well.

Saturday morning we had a training with President Bize. The first two hours were more of a training for the ward mission leaders and the branch presidents. The last little bit was more for us, the missionaries. He talked about how to increase our spiritual power.
That night we had a lovely fireside.

Sunday concluded it all with the calling of the new district presidency. The new district president has a son serving in Franklin ID. Elder Turina. The new distrtict president is a great person and I am excited to work with him.

Monday we went on a nice hike. It started with a phone call at 5:30 am. And ended with getting home at 5 pm. We hiked to the peak of Tubuai. I'll send photos. We taught a family night and the theme was the restoration. I loved that lesson. It is a joy to teach. I love it.

Thank you all for everything. I love you all,

Elder Squires