Week 11 - Sashimi (a.k.a. Raw Fish)
THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME!!!
So this week was super awesome! Let's just start with I FINALLY got a bed!! I am no longer sleeping on the tile floor! And I got a closet so I am no longer living out of my suitcase. I feel like I am starting to settle in. I am even getting use to this French keyboard that I am typing on. The French itself is getting better and better every day. It is still hard but I feel myself improving. My companions say that I speak French a lot better than they did at 2 weeks in the field.
The food is still crazy and the majority of the time I have no idea what I am eating! But it is getting better and my stomach is getting use to it. This week we had a lot of fish! RAW FISH! If you know me well, you know that I do not like fish, especially raw fish! We had this fish called Sashimi, and it was actually pretty good! It is cut super thin and then they put it over white rice with some sauce on it. I ate 2 whole plates of it! The bread here is so good! I eat a lot of bread.
On Saturday this week we had the opportunity to have Elder Stevenson from the 12 Apostles come to Tahiti and speak to us. He is such a great speaker. It was super awesome to go hear him speak and I was able to see my friends from the MTC! Everyone seems to be doing great!
We have a family in our ward here, the Orbeck family, and they are so loving and amazing! They love the missionaries! I have been so blessed to have them. They make me awesome hand made ties all the time, always feed us and their daughter made me this super cool covering for my French scriptures. They are so great!
This week I had to give a talk in church. My topic was on families and I was the main speaker. I didn't want to just read from a piece of paper the entire time, so I went with no notes. Then when we arrived to church I see the Stake President! Great, now I am giving my first talk in French and in front of the Stake President! My talk was like 25 minutes long, I didn't even know I could do that! I ended my talk with my testimony .. in Tahitian! The members in the ward love when you speak in Tahitian. Then the Stake President took the opportunity to stand up after I was done (he wasn't even on the program) and he said how thankful he was for my message and how thankful he was of me for trying to speak their language and the impact it has on the ward. It was so great to hear from the Stake President. Then I had the opportunity to lead the closing hymn, Families Can Be Together Forever and everyone was so happy.
So I have a pretty cool story for all of you this week! The area that I am in is at the base of the mountain but our area also covers up the mountain as well. The rich French people live in mansions up there and missionaries don't usually go up there because it is a super long walk and the people are mean and don't like the Mormons. But I had a feeling that we needed to go up there and talk to someone. I convinced my companion to walk up the mountain! It took us about an hour and we got to the very last house on the mountain and we got nothing! I was so confused because I was so sure that we needed to go up there. So we started our journey back down the mountain. I stopped and suggested that we say a prayer and ask for guidance to find someone. The very next house we go to I start yelling "laorana" from the gate, because that is what you do in Tahiti. And then this girl walked out! We talked and shared a short message and scheduled a lesson with her for next week! I know it was the Holy Ghost guiding and helping us find her.
Scripture of the Week: D&C 24:8, "Be patient in afflictions for thou shalt have many; but endure them for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days."
I love this scripture especially this week because being on my mission is hard! Knowing that the Lord is always with me through everything is SO comforting!
Love,
Elder Van Lindt
So this week was super awesome! Let's just start with I FINALLY got a bed!! I am no longer sleeping on the tile floor! And I got a closet so I am no longer living out of my suitcase. I feel like I am starting to settle in. I am even getting use to this French keyboard that I am typing on. The French itself is getting better and better every day. It is still hard but I feel myself improving. My companions say that I speak French a lot better than they did at 2 weeks in the field.
The food is still crazy and the majority of the time I have no idea what I am eating! But it is getting better and my stomach is getting use to it. This week we had a lot of fish! RAW FISH! If you know me well, you know that I do not like fish, especially raw fish! We had this fish called Sashimi, and it was actually pretty good! It is cut super thin and then they put it over white rice with some sauce on it. I ate 2 whole plates of it! The bread here is so good! I eat a lot of bread.
On Saturday this week we had the opportunity to have Elder Stevenson from the 12 Apostles come to Tahiti and speak to us. He is such a great speaker. It was super awesome to go hear him speak and I was able to see my friends from the MTC! Everyone seems to be doing great!
We have a family in our ward here, the Orbeck family, and they are so loving and amazing! They love the missionaries! I have been so blessed to have them. They make me awesome hand made ties all the time, always feed us and their daughter made me this super cool covering for my French scriptures. They are so great!
This week I had to give a talk in church. My topic was on families and I was the main speaker. I didn't want to just read from a piece of paper the entire time, so I went with no notes. Then when we arrived to church I see the Stake President! Great, now I am giving my first talk in French and in front of the Stake President! My talk was like 25 minutes long, I didn't even know I could do that! I ended my talk with my testimony .. in Tahitian! The members in the ward love when you speak in Tahitian. Then the Stake President took the opportunity to stand up after I was done (he wasn't even on the program) and he said how thankful he was for my message and how thankful he was of me for trying to speak their language and the impact it has on the ward. It was so great to hear from the Stake President. Then I had the opportunity to lead the closing hymn, Families Can Be Together Forever and everyone was so happy.
So I have a pretty cool story for all of you this week! The area that I am in is at the base of the mountain but our area also covers up the mountain as well. The rich French people live in mansions up there and missionaries don't usually go up there because it is a super long walk and the people are mean and don't like the Mormons. But I had a feeling that we needed to go up there and talk to someone. I convinced my companion to walk up the mountain! It took us about an hour and we got to the very last house on the mountain and we got nothing! I was so confused because I was so sure that we needed to go up there. So we started our journey back down the mountain. I stopped and suggested that we say a prayer and ask for guidance to find someone. The very next house we go to I start yelling "laorana" from the gate, because that is what you do in Tahiti. And then this girl walked out! We talked and shared a short message and scheduled a lesson with her for next week! I know it was the Holy Ghost guiding and helping us find her.
Scripture of the Week: D&C 24:8, "Be patient in afflictions for thou shalt have many; but endure them for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days."
I love this scripture especially this week because being on my mission is hard! Knowing that the Lord is always with me through everything is SO comforting!
Love,
Elder Van Lindt
The South Pacific right across the street from our house
My official missionary bike! I don't ride it that much because the roads are messed up from the last flood
Sashimi (Raw Fish) .. Sister Orbeck made this for us
The view from when we walked up the mountain
The sunset is amazing here
Ioarana Elder VanLindt,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experiences and adventures on your mission. You were meant to go there so you could get used to eating fish especially poly sashimi..lol..I'm surprised you haven't had a pigs head..��..I grew up in Samoa and I never had it..lol..it's usually served to the visitor. That means you buddy..haha..loved that scripture you shared.
Just thought I share with you something I wrote today in my journal.
I have found that by being vulnerable to the Lords tender mercies and allowing him to enter my life like never before, we become less negative and more receptive of his blessings.
Looking forward to
Reading more awesome adventures.
Manuia!
St John