Week 59 - Heiva

Hello Everyone!
 Me and Elder Larsen celebrating Heiva!

This week was super awesome and it was full of so many great experiences! I love, love, love being on a mission ... especially in Tahiti! The time is flying by and I am trying my best to cherish each moment I have here!

I did a baptismal interview this week. Nothing out of the normal, but the cool thing is that the girl (Mirei) is deaf, mute, and has a hard time reading and writing. She didn't go to school a lot as a child because it was so hard for her. So for the interview we had a translator come to do sign language. But then we realized that she never had learned sign language. Her entire life she just makes up her own actions with her hands to describe things. So, for this interview that is exactly what we did! I just made hand motions, with the help of the translator and then Mirei would reply in her own way! It was silent but the spirit was so strong! She passed and then got baptized this past weekend! Super Cool!
Mirei and me

Friday night was the start of Heiva! Heiva is this big event that brings back all the old culture from Tahiti. They celebrate it once a year and this past weekend was Heiva. So Friday night was full of dancing. They did all the traditional dances they do with costumes and everything! 

Saturday we went to the park and ate a ton of Ma'a Tahiti (Tahitian food) and it was so good! We also played a ton of game with the people there!
One of the games was "Catch the Pig"

We saw some guys on the beach playing football and so we took advantage of the opportunity and I went and played some two hand touch football!!
2 hand touch football

We helped a member in our ward out this week. He is going through a divorce right now so he came over and we helped him clean out his car (it hadn't been cleaned in years ... really, years!) and then I gave him a haircut! Now he is back up on his feet and ready to go!


I did another baptismal interview this week as well. His name is Teva and he is way awesome! We talked a ton about repentance and it was just such a testimony builder for me. He is so ready for baptism and I am excited to see it this upcoming weekend!

This week I have studied a bunch about patience. It is something that I can work on and it is something that is really important! Sometimes things happena dn there is nothing you can do about is, so you just gotta be patient!

Okay, this was WAY long! Sorry for the novel!

I love and miss you all!
Elder Kyle Van Lindt


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