Elder Max Barnaby: A Seventy and an Eighty (Matei/Qeleni Area, Week 21)

This was taken on a beach called Sawana

near our house in Qeleni. Totoka vakadina.

This week has been so so so good, I can't even describe it. On Monday we took a nice trip up to Labasa on Vanua Levu island and then on Tuesday, Elder Nielsen of the Quorum of the Seventy came to speak to us. For those of you who don't know what it means to be a member of the "Quorum of the Seventy", go to https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/seventy?lang=eng

It was awesome. Elder Nielsen of the Seventy came.

Elder Nielsen and his wife were absolutely fantastic speakers, and the Spirit testified of so many things to us, it was amazing to be there. Of the things they taught, some of the most powerful were his witness of Jesus Christ and the Living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. When Elder Nielsen testified of President Monson, I felt the Spirit confirm to my heart that Thomas S. Monson is truly a Prophet of God. It was special. Elder Nielsen had President Layton, the Fiji Suva Mission President, do a roleplay with him to demonstrate a concept. It was the first time I've ever seen President Layton nervous. It was way funny. I loved it. At the end, Elder Nielsen left a blessing on us that was so inspired and specific for us that I won't mention what he said. Mission Tour was a truly special experience.

After taking the 4am bus from Labasa and the 9am boat back to Taveuni. The waves were calm, and as we came back towards the harbor, a pod of dolphins came up to the boat and started jumping for us! It was way legit! Anyone who knows me knows that I love dolphins, so the Lord must love me or something. It was so so cool, like I'm still pinching myself over it. And as soon as we got back to Taveuni, we got straight to work. Ever heard of "no rest for the wicked"? The wicked ain't got nothing on us missionaries.

We had some special lessons in Matei this week. One of my favorites was a new family that we found that let us in and had lots of questions for us. They were pretty poor, we had to bend under a tin flap to sit down in their house, which was more of a covered mat than an actual building. Taito and

DISCLAIMER: I did not ride with them,

I just got in to take the picture.

his wife Teresia were way welcoming though, and they were very happy to hear our message. They want us to come over every week, so I'm excited to start visiting them. We saw Roberta too, but we didn't sit down with her. Apparently (and this is our bad) we set up an appointment with here for Tuesday when we were in Labasa that day. She had been waiting for us, and had even made us cake - what a loss. That's okay, next time, next time. We've been taking the Czieps with us, as Brother Cziep just got called as the new Branch Mission Leader and we visited a lot of investigators with them this week. We had a fantastic lesson with Siteri and Paula up in Vunidawa on Thursday. We taught and testified of the Temple and invited them to be baptized. They said that if they found that our message was true, they would be baptized. I think Siteri is more interested than her husband, but that's okay.

Look I got Mail!!

It was a hard weekend working in Qeleni, there wasn't a ton of work for us there and one of our

investigators, Mata, asked that we stop coming to see her. That was disappointing, as she was doing so well. Elder Jonutz was leading the area and all proselyting activities this week, and even though it was hard, he kept it up way good and we ended up getting a great amount of lessons in just those four days. But the biggest blessing of the week was Sunday.

80.

We went to Tavoro Falls in Bouma,

Taveuni today! Way fun!

That was our church attendance. Not 20 or 30, not 40 or even 50, but 80. It was insane. There were two baby blessings, callings given, and testimonies borne. It was such a fantastic day. When I bore my testimony, I told the members, "Ni'u raici kemuni, sa vuabale na noqu marau." (Translation: "When I see you all, my happiness overflows.") And I was speaking so truthfully. I was so happy. This might be my last time to bear my testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting to the members here in Taveuni, and it was just a wonderful feeling to do so with so many of them there.

Transfers are next week, and I'm not sure if I'll be leaving Taveuni or not, but I have been here for

nearly 6 months. It may be time for me to move on to another part of Fiji that needs me and the gospel of Jesus Christ. But I don't want to go.

Love you all - loloma levu!

Elder Barnaby