Catchin Me Some Crabcakes

Well hello week 2 in Tahiti! Woo!

 

This is where I study, almost every day.

 

Thankfully my cell phone taught me how to type without looking back in the day, so I managed to change my keyboard to English and off we go!

 

This week has been incredible. So, so, so amazing. Most of the week I just wanted to punch a brick wall because I can't explain my thoughts to anyone. BUT. I've finally gotten to the point where I can understand everyone else. Phew. That is a major relief. On to Learning how to speak... Fingers crossed for me!

 

I feel like a marriage counselor. I'm probably not a very good one either... Because I have to counsel in French. *sigh* Every single day I'm talking with couples who are engaged, going to be engaged, need to be married before they get baptised. The whole nine yards. Here in Tahiti people don't get married. It's very expensive, and they just don't see the need for it. That's when we step in. We are planning 3 weddings for this month, and hopefully 2 more for September. I say hopefully because one of the couples are a bit stubborn. We are working on it.

 

I found us 3 new investigators this week. I feel pretty legit. One is named Yves. He's around 25 and works at the fruit stand where I like to buy my mangos if I've eaten all the ones the members have given me. We talked to him twice, and the third time he invited us to his house, we taught the Restoration, and he invited us back. So far so good! My next two investigators are my favorite... If I'm allowed to have favorites... We are teaching a girl who's my age, and I (after months and months of lessons) committed her to a baptismal date. #awesome. Anyway, there were two little kids watching our lesson and I told them they could come sit and listen with us. They did, and the next lesson we taught the plan of salvations, they came back and remembered every single thing we had taught the day before. The boy, Manuarii (yes, the name of my investigator in the MTC) even remembered the song number we had sang the lesson before and the words to the song. He's 9. Really though, they are incredible. We're talking with their parents this week to get permission slips signed, and after we'll teach them more. I'm pretty excited, the girl we are teaching is their Aunt, and she said we shouldn't have any problems, but, sooner rather than later is the best. I'm excited. The boy's sister is named Ranitea, she's 8 and is the cutest thing ever.

 

Each Monday we have family home evening with a mixed member, amis, nonmember family. I love them all. I think that's the theme for this week. I love everyone here. Anyway, the little girl, she's 9, I can't remember her name for the life of me, but she's exactly like McCall. In every single, crazy way. It's slightly odd. They would be best friends. The taller girl in the picture with me is her, and her little cousin is the other girl. The cousin is 6.

Ignore my face...

 

Names. I can't remember them for the life of me. I just need to sit down with a page of names and attempt to remember all of them. They're crazy polynesian names, but they're so pretty.

 

The cat is doing well. I found out her name is Panache.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention last week, the second day here I had 96 mosquito bites on my feet and legs. The picture is from a few days later but... you get the just of how I'm feeling. The worst is, right now, I have 4 huge bites on the bottom of my feet. Each time I take a step i'm like, yep, there's a bite right there. blast.

 

Food stories of the week:

I ate raw fish. And I didn't like it. One bit.

I cooked myself fish. (Yes Marnine, I used your seasoning, I'll get a picture next week). I had no idea what I was doing. Sœur Li doesn't cook, so she didn't know what she was doing either, so I just went with it. Anyway, I only got a picture of one of the combinations I made, It's some sort of fish (I watched the cut out the liver and heart and other things. The fish was bigger than an 8 year old child,) The members cut it up, threw a giant chunk into a sack for me, and then cut the rest up. Fresh from the sea. I threw it in with citron (it's a lime/lemon heaven) and soy sauce, Pepper of course and cooked it. Yes. I could eat it every day.

I think those are all the crazy food stories of the week...

 

Investigators:

I am teaching everyone you could possibly think of.

I'm teaching a deaf man. Yes. Hello sign language. Thank you Avery for teaching me how to finger spell.

I'm teaching a homosexual man. I thought he was a woman for the first week.... But he's very nice. Probably one of the nicest people I've ever met.

I'm teaching 5 people Under the age of 16.

A grandma who is 80 plus and only speaks Tahitian

and a large handful of adults.

Really. Name a problem, and I've taught it, in french (or Tahitian).

 

"Service" Project of the week:

This is the coolest thing ever.

We had 2 dinner appointments cancel this week. (aka no food) So instead we went and did TUPA. That's tahitian for, "Sticking your hands in strange holes on the beach and catching crabs, to eat, maybe, if you like crab"  Really though, I had so much fun. It's slightly creepy. You're on a pitch black beach with your nifty headlamp trying to find critters that will pinch you with very, very strong claws, I did it though! Sœur Li and Sœur Jennings (the ward missionary) was very impressed with me. I caught 4 of the 20. A few days later, after you feed them special flowers and coconut, the member we gave them to cooked them for us. I ate it. I didn't like it. I'll leave the raw fish and crab for everyone else. :)

This week's service is "Rent a Sister Taylor" No joke. The Sisters in our ward found out I can cook and bake, so they have me on a Schedule... Every Pday and a few other days, I go to a members house and teach them how to make what they want me to make. Today is pumpkin bread, next week is Oreo cheesecake.  The problem? They don't really have a lot of spices... So, if you want to send me some cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, allspice, pumpkin pie spice, it'd be appreciated. ;)

 

Miracle of the week:

We found 6 new people to teach. That hasn't been done in this sector in a single week for a very, very long time. We had a ward fast for the missionary work last week, and we challenged all the ward leaders to pray at 6:40 for missionary work, and we have 1 new bapteme date, and 6 new investigators. Prayer works. :)

 

Here's to another week of adventures!

 

XXo,

Sœur Taylor

 

 

 

Tahiti Papeete Mission

Soeur Taylor, Morgan

 

B.P. 93

Papeete, Tahiti

98713

French Polynesia.