Monday 26 September 2016

Challenges and opportunities

Trio is going pretty Boff. Could be a lot better. (Boff I believe is a French slang word. it just kinda means, it wasn’t great nor was it horrible. boff is kinda like bleh, or meh.)

I have one companion who is super motivated to work and is really obedient. and one is quiet and doesn’t talk much. President Bize sent me a message the other day basically saying, "what can I do to help you make it through the next four weeks until the transfers." I pretty much said as long as he comes to each lesson, I can still get some work done here. 

I am 100% recovered from Dengue fever. My weight is starting to go back to a reasonable place. No energy problems. One thing is eventually it would be nice to get two new pair of pants, the biking has made my thighs a bit bigger and I've already had to repair a couple of my pants. Its not urgent. but some time in the future we might want to think about that.

(October 22 is 1 year in the field) Yes at 1 year, we usually burn a white shirt that is the most worn out and/or stained. I’ve already got that shirt picked out and ready. 

General Conference is next weekend. We will go to the chapel and watch it with our district or zone. It starts at 6 o'clock in the morning, (10 o'clock your time) so we are going to do a sleep over at the Elders' house that is just next to the chapel.

Mom… I will always have a special place in my heart for funny airport stories… keep them coming. It reminds me of Jordan Bester and I at the survival camp, there is only so much you can do when you don’t have a sleeping bag. 

This week I got to do a split (switching companions) with our district leader Elder Malca, who has been on the mission for about a year as well. Super cool guy. He’s from France, a tiny village just north of Paris. Super fun guy. Funny story with him. I showed him a card game that I learned early on in my mission, we all ended up really liking the game. Sometimes we would play it while waiting for our comps to finish their emails. We couldn’t really figure out a name for it so Malca just started calling it “Goodwin." So he just says all the time "On vas jouer au Goodwin?" Long-story-short he teaches a nine year old girl who is super funny in lessons, and she loves card games and magic tricks and stuff, so Malca introduced "Goodwin" to her, and now it is her favourite game and at the end of every lesson they play a couple rounds of Goodwin with her. Sooooooo when we did the split--it just so happens that we had a lesson with this little girl. While I was introducing myself she kinda popped up and looked at Malca with a big smile. She then got the amazing opportunity to play Goodwin with Goodwin. 

Overall Reasonable week, only four weeks left until the transfer ;)

E ere i mea ohie te Reo Tahiti. 
Tahitian isn't easy...

Elder Goodwin

To Mom — MAHANA OAOA IA OE! It's your birthday, I hope you have a great day today. It sounds as though spirits are high, judging from your email. Mom, I just want to let you know that you have had a huge effect on my life. I've always been able to confide in you. I used to love coming home from hanging with friends and seeing you still awake at 1 o’clock in the morning. You are a great mother, you do the best to help those around you and you have a level head when it comes to tough situations. 

52 years and you are still goin' strong. I can’t believe how fast time passes. If there is one huge thing I've learned on a mission is, how important Family is. I Love you mom, I hope this next year treats you well. I honestly can’t put into words the love I have for you and the things that you do. Just know that you are a great mother. 

Ua here vau ia oe. Faaitoito Na roto teie matahiti!


Elder Goodwin

On vas jouer au "Goodwin"

Monday 19 September 2016

Not recommending the Dengue weight loss program!

Bonjour tous le monde…

I am back to 100% this week. The last two weeks I have just been super tired. Just a little bit more info on the Dengue fever event.  I lost 8 kilos in about 9-ish days. One week before I got the dengue, I ripped two pairs of my pants because my thighs were starting to get big. I repaired the pants and didn’t wear them until after I got sick. Now I basically swim in the pants, so there shouldn’t be any pants ripping problems for at least a little while. I’m starting to gain weight again already because 90% of our faatamaaraa's (meals with families) are either some variation of chicken and rice or fish with pork or something super protein rich like that. It is really easy to put on weight with a diet like ours. Long story short, I never want to have dengue ever again. 

My new comp is Elder Faatau, he is waiting his visa for the Australia Brisbane mission. He is super cool actually. I like working with him. He helps the companionship stay on track when we are dealing with this or that.

My Tahitian is coming along really well. I can speak pretty simply, but I can speak none the less. There is kind-of a joke going on in our English class, that I teach English, but when a new word comes up, I need to know it in Tahitian.  I've come to realize that I’ve learned so much with my last four Tahitian companions. Only two of them actually speak Tahitian, but still it’s better than before. We still have tons of opportunities to speak Tahitian. FUNNY storry, on the boat going to Moorea, the wind was so strong that is blew my French name tag into the ocean right about halfway between Tahiti and Moorea. So I only have OROMETUA GOODWIN tags left. That has given me more oportunities to speak Tahitian. 

This week went well, we ended up doing a lot of splits with The zone leaders, It was fun for me to serve with an English speaker again. The dynamic serving with an American is very different. Overall, I’m just happy that I’m back to normal. The Ward freaked out the week after I had dengue. This sunday all the old ladies in the Ward were giving me there tips on what medicine to take and what to eat. 

I’m sorry for the lame emails the past couple of weeks.

Ua Here Vau ia outou. (I love you all)

Ua nehenehe to'u tiho i roto to'u piripou. (My butt looks nice in these pants)

Elder Goodwin


Before dengue fever
After dengue fever. (Please note very sad face)
With most of my zone! Note photo-bomb face!
From my Moorea "Balade" (bike ride)
Moorea




Moorea is quiet and calm and very lush.



Monday 12 September 2016

Dengue fever and other evils

Family and friends,

I am doing better, not 100 percent, but better. We went to a doctor during the week and found out that I have Dengue fever. My head hurts really, really bad, I had no energy at all and threw up a lot. It is an evil illness. You just have to lie down, for like a week, to get rid of it.  So, long story short, not a lot of missionary work got accomplished this week. 

I was only on Moorea so that another Elder could visit old investigators and members that he likes. We did it on bike actually. We just cycled around in the area of Haumi and talked to people. It wasn’t the greatest adventure but it was a fun change of scenery for me. It is a lot wilder that Tahiti and is super quiet. 

We had transfer calls last Friday, and me and my comp are staying until October.

Lets hope this next week goes well. I’m hoping for some miracles...

love you guys. 


Elder Goodwin

Monday 5 September 2016

Not feeling well... my apologies this week

Readers,
Elder Goodwin sent a short note indicating he is very sick at the moment and gives his regrets regarding emailing this week. He is going back to bed.

So this week... some pictures from the internet of Moorea, the island he visited last week on his p-day.