December 1, 2013

Smith and his new companion

Week 9 Island of Tanna Dec 1st, 2013

Dear Mom,

I will be sending my package to you guys after I get done e-mailing.  My package hasn't come yet. How it works is that you send it to the mission and when Zone leaders come to the islands or when transfers are happening, they bring packages with them.  Zone leaders will be coming today so maybe I will recieve it.  Just so you know I bought a little flash light off of amazon because my other one isn't working very well.  If you could send that sometime that would be great, and I am running out of digestzen Oil and Peppermint Oil so maybe you could send those with it. Sorry I didn't think of it till now. Use money from my account to send them if you need to.

Preaching in Saet Siwi was slow but we have found a few more investigators. The water isn't fixed and I don't think it will ever be fixed but I'm still fine using buckets.  The house is small but good.  You wouldn't like it because you see cockroaches here and there.  I will send you pictures of it sometime.  The house has lights but they don't work because a fuse went out before I came. We have solar panels on top of the house with a cord that hooks up to a battery.  We charge it and we have lights with cords that plug into the battery so we are able to have light.  The house looks really dirty because the floor and walls are ply-wood a so when you spill water or anything, it makes spots. 

We have a stove for cooking and the usual meals we make are rice, noodles mixed with canned beef, and breakfast crackers(which are like saltines). That's just the regular meal.  We have a mug of Milo in the morning which is kind of like hot chocolate.  We have peanut butter to dip the breakfast crackers in.  And I buy lots of cookies too. You know me, I need my sugar.  The people give us island food as well so sometimes we will make noodles and boil up some Taro and Manyoke which taste similar to potatoes.  Last Week I was homesick because of the food, but zone conference is in January so I will be able to have a burger in Port Vila.  I haven't been sick yet, the essential oils have been great to use as well.

We have beds to sleep on so don't worry about me sleeping, there are lots of bugs though. There aren't many in Saet Siwi but they're bad in Lenakel and Port Resolution. My new companion is great and has taught me to work harder as a missionary.  The island has many chickens, goats, pigs, ducks, cows, and a few other animals. So far I've only eaten pig, chicken, and goat. It's nice to have some meat. We didn't celebrate thanksgiving but before transfers the Tongans in our district made a big meal before everybody left so I guess you can call it Thanksgiving.

Last Sunday we went to Port Resolution to teach.  We taught 4 lessons but I didn't teach them very well. I didn't focus on the spirit very well. I seem to teach a little to fast.  My teaching is improving now though.  We stayed in Port Resolution until Wednesday. We planned on staying the whole week but the mission president contacted us and told us he doesn't want us to preach in port resolution during the week because it's too far of a walk and he wants us to strengthen the branch in Saet Siwi first. 

We hold a sacrament meeting in Port Resolution every Sunday and President Brewer said we can teach the people who come so that's good.  We commited 5 people to be baptized there which is good and we plan on baptizing them towards the end of the month.  We also have 4 people waiting to be baptized in Saet Siwi.  Things have been good and I hope things continue to be that way.

Sounds like you guys have been doing some fun things these last couple weeks. I hope everything is all right with you. I'm not home to help you around the house and I hope Ridge and Chance have been helping you.  I love you and can't wait until Christmas!

Love,

Elder Beynon

Putting on "Tanna" paint on P-Day

Scenery near Port Resolution Dec 2013