Patapata hoho’a

Iaorana!

Yes it is true, there are only two weeks left until the transfer, and it is almost 90ish percent sure that I will leave Bora. If I somehow stay I will be really surprised. 

My health is great, the lumps (lymph nodes) have gone down, you can barely see them anymore. I’m clean, no worries. 

In French Polynesia… the missionaries are probably the poorest people around, but the richest at the same time. Our allowance to buy food is actually super small, and most Elders have very little spending money. But the ward members and other locals have so much respect for us that we find ourselves not paying for stuff. We went to a small pearl shop. the guy gave us like 60% percent off everything and then threw a bunch of extra stuff in for free. We then got an amazing deal on 11 pareos, which for anyone else would have been hugely expensive. The Elders from Vaitape got to eat lunch and do a tour of St-Regis, a 5 star hotel last week. Some restaurants don't let us pay. We literally have to throw our money and run. We actually just got back from the Motu that we went to before. We were on the same boat as a couple tourists on the way there, we just waltz in and hang on the motu, eat food and play the ukulele for free and all the tourists had to cough up just to be there. The polynesian people are the nicest people ever, they truly take care of us... and I am thankful for it. 

The baptisms this week were awesome. Mami and Papi are the best people ever. They have been following the lessons for about 4 months now but they have been attending church almost weekly for about 6 months. They are the parents of our bishop’s wife, so bishop’s family played a huge part in helping them accept the gospel. I really love them a lot. Mami is kinda like my grandma from Bora. Great experience seeing them be baptised and being able to be along side them during their conversions. 

Overall life is going really well. Trying hard to stay motivated. We have progressing investigators and some potential investigators this last week.

Thats my week this week. love you guys!

Elder Goodwin

Mami and Papi baptism

Visited the motu today! 

A sign of respect...

Hi.

This week was pretty rough on the missionary work scale. But we managed to finish the week without being complete failures. Haha, naw it was alright. I'm just being hard on myself. Lots of running around this week is pretty much the best way I can describe the week. We have a bunch investigators that are progressing, but they have little things blocking them like marriages that need to be done, and such. We keep working because eventually these problems work themselves out in their own way. 

Dad I totally reallized that I forgot to even mention your birthday. I am so sorry. I am a horrible son. Just be aware that at the age of 60, in Tahitian culture I have to start calling you Papi. Be Warned. There is actually no reason to be offended, it is a sign or respect for old people. (editors note: a sign of respect for OLD people is it?). 

All is going well guys. I love you guys lots. I also got a little bit of news that I may be finishing in November rather than October. Just a little heads up. but we've still got a bunch of time before that. 

Thank you for all your love and support. Have a great week. LOVE YOU GUYS!

Elder Goodwin,

p.s.: I need to go pick up some elders on the other side of the island, so have to go.

White hot focus on the work...

Dear family and friends,

All is well on my side of the planet. the lumps (lymph nodes) are going down slowly every week. 

That's super awesome to here that the ward had a baptism. There is nothing better to bring a ward together than a baptism.

No major news this week. we ate at Bloody Mary's today, and we ate for free because this one American member that used to own Bloody Mary's is the coolest guy ever. Last week we did the same hike we did a couple weeks ago, but we brought our missionary clothes with us so that we could take some cool pictures. there are a bunch of pictures on the other Elders cameras, so I will probably send the other cool pictures next week. 

Funny thing that happened a couple weeks ago that I totally forgot to tell you guys. a couple young men and young women came up to me and told me that they figured out what super hero I am. They said that I look like Captain American.!  ...before he went through the machine that made him all manly. Soooo, I don't know how I should feel about this. I think I should just use it as motivation to workout. Sheesh

Work has been going really well. We have a couple investigators that are really progressing. So I'm feeling really great right now. My companion and I are doing really well, no worries. I’m trying really hard. I'm really loving the Ward I’m serving in right now. I know them all so well now, so its great to work with them.

I'm really sorry that I don't have a crazy amount of news.

Love you guys.

Elder Goodwin

Elder Rolls (Aus) and I doin' a little scripture study.

Elder Bayart (France), Elder Dalton (Chicago), Elder Sylvestre (France) -- my companion.

Sad goodbye to Elder Frazer... bonjour Elder Sylvestre

Hello all,

Well.. the lymph nodes seem to go down for a couple days and then the next morning they come back again. Its kinda weird, but I can live with it I think. 

Yeah, Jordan (Bester) emailed me about that last week. He'll make a really good AP He has the right character for it. He will learn a lot with all the responsibilities that are going to get dropped on him. 

That's awesome that there is a new family coming into the church! I cannot wait to meet them. You guys should invite them over for dinner or something. I think it'll be good for them to get to know the members. Make sure they feel welcome and loved by everyone. Sometimes it is hard for new members to "get in" with the Ward. 

So on Wednesday morning I said goodbye to Elder Frazer, I really really liked serving with him. He is a great missionary that has learned a lot on his mission. He is the kind of guy that doesn't look to make conflict at all. He first searches to understand before he starts judging. He is overall a very great guy. 

My new companion is Elder Sylvestre from a little village just next to Lille in the very northern part of France. He has the same sense of humour as Cobi Reeves, so we get along really well already. He is a pretty quiet guy, but he is a really good teacher in lessons. We have had a lot of fun in the short time we have been together so far. I'm pretty pumped for this transfer. 

The New elders in the district are Elder Pedron from Tahiti, who is Elder Rolls ‘son' (when you are their first companion and their trainer) . Elder Bayart from Valleiry, France who is Elder Daltons son and Elder Sylvestre who has been on his mission for about 12 weeks now and I am his second companion. Overall we are pretty pumped for this next transfer. We are going to try and make it a work hard play hard kind of district.

So yeah, this week was pretty great, we had 8 investigators attend the chapel this week. That was pretty great. And 2 of which have never stepped foot into an LDS church before. We are seeing a lot of progression in some of our investigators but we really need to focus on finding over the next couple weeks. we really need some fresh faces to teach. Overall the work is going very well. 

Do you guys have any other questions?

Elder Goodwin

Mom…  Do YOU have a ‘son’ on your mission?

Elder G… Yes. When you are a trainer you are their ‘father.' I trained Two elders, but one I don’t count because he only stayed in Tahiti for a few weeks waiting for his visa to Australia. But I trained Elder Tebaud.

Mom… Have you ‘killed’ any elders yet? (when you are their last companion before they return home). 

Elder G… Nope. Not yet. Still waiting on the opportunity. It’s awesome to ‘kill' elders because they give you all the stuff they don’t want to take home!!

Mom… Do you still have your bike with you? Will you try to bring it home with you?

Elder G.  Yes. Just in case we want to ride or the car breaks down. No.. I have an arrangement with a member in Paea to trade it for two Tahitian paddles at the end of my mission. Pretty good deal actually. 

The three senior Elders on Bora. Elder Dalton (Chicago area), Elder  Rolls (Australia) and the dude from the North Pole

Saying goodbye to Elder Frazer

Hello Elder Sylvestre from near Lille, France

Well, I'm not going to die anytime soon...

Hello all,

Well. This week I got a blood test done and an ultrasound done of my neck. I’ve got about 4-5 swollen limph nodes in the right side of my neck. The doctor said that normally is is caused by and infection either in my mouth or on my skin. But I dont have any of those. So after the blood test I was told that I am positive for Toxoplasmosis. It is essentially harmless to a healthy person. I don’t even need any treatment. 

The lumps should go down in a couple weeks the doctor said. But he said they may come back every once and a while. Toxoplasmosis only really causes complications immune compromised people, in pregnant women or people with aids. So I just can’t go around becoming blood brothers with people, or get pregnant anytime soon. I can live without both of those things so I think we are good. Normally I would have gotten this parasite from improperly cooked food or from cats... which gives me a reason to stop playing with investigators cats during lessons. 

Yes, we ran into some tourists the other day. They were really nice and bought us all food. Actually on Bora we run into member tourists all the time.

So yeah I totally picked up the watch on Tuesday at the airport. And it works really well. The time wasn't right when I got it, but after about an hour... and a priesthood blessing we were able to figure out how to make it show the right time. If I remember correctly I think I asked for a simple watch. You guys literally sent me the “Bat-Watch." I mean I'm not complaining, its super cool. I’ve been timing literally everything since I’ve had this thing. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH. This watch is actually pretty awesome.

TRANSFERS! I totally didn’t get transferred! yay! However, Elder Frazer did get transferred though. He is going to Makemo--a tiny little atoll island in the Taumotus archipelago. I will be receiving a French companion named Elder Sylvestre. He has been on his mission for about three months so I have never seen or met this guy. But I’ve heard that he is pretty chill. I actually really wanted a French companion to help keep my French nice and proper. (the island dialect is more informal at times). We will see how this goes.

So now I know pretty much for sure that I will be leaving in April. There are three elders leaving Bora, one in each area. so we will see how the dynamic changes. And they are all three newish missionaries coming. Two newbies and my three-month-old comp.

Mission life is going really well, the work this week was pretty great. One of our investigators fixed a baptism... which means we have three people that will be baptized on the 25th of March. AWESOME. I don’t really have many photos this week. Sorry guys. But next week I'll have a bunch. 

I love you guys! have a great week. 

Elder Goodwin

(P.S. Michele and Earl got this email and photo this week from a tourist in Bora Bora)

Dear Parents,

Last Sunday we had the opportunity of attending church in Bora Bora. It was quite the experience. While there we meet each of your sons. They are doing a wonderful job there on the island. The members love them and are helping them out in their work. We met them again in town on Monday and we took this picture. Sorry I'm late in sending it to you. We had very unreliable internet service. Thank you for raising such good sons that have a desire to serve the Lord on a mission. As a mother of 3 missionaries I always loved getting pictures of my missionaries. I hope this will make your day a little better. They love you, but are so happy in the work they are doing in Tahiti.

Barbara Jenson

We are kind of hoping Russell wasn't getting a tattoo that day... but they are a bargain at 40% off!

Lots of rain and a busy week

Family and friends,

Mom, BTW I got my hair cut about 20 minutes before I started emailing. It’s hard to find people with hair cutting machines. 

The weather has been pretty sucky. a lot of rain and wind. but I’ve actually heard that a couple Tuamoto islands got absolutely destroyed. It kinda comes with the season. There are usually big storms during this time. All is well over here, we just got really wet this week. 

Transfers are next week. That is the 27th of Feb. We will get the transfer calls Friday night. We bassically have no idea who is gonna get changed, at this point it could be anyone of us two. 

ohhhhh, and my package arrives on the plane (no idea why they sent it on the plane) today at 17:40. I will tell you about the watch and stuff next week probably. 

We went to the Motu again, that was really fun. and by some miracle, I didn’t get sunburnt at all. Overall a really great way to spend a p-day. We invited Pres Bize but he didn’t want to come... pas grave. 

Normally today we are going to eat at Bloody Mary's, and I will be going to the Doctor to get a thing on my neck checked out, as you can probably notice in some of the pictures, just under my ear on my right side. Sorry I didn’t bring this up a long time ago, but it probably isn’t a big deal. I might just have to get it removed some how... sorry again for not bringing this up like 3 weeks ago. I kinda thought it would go away after a while... sorry. In answer to your question… I’m told it doesn’t have a breathing hole. (good news I suppose). 

Well missionary work was really great this week. We found a couple new investigators this week and hope all goes well for them. Elder Frazer and I gave talks this week at church and it went super duper well. 

Well guys, that’s my life right now. Sorry That my emails are kinda lame, i’m just working hard and trying to not die. Stay cool. I’ll take a picture of whatever comes out of my neck.

love you guys,

Elder Goodwin 

Boat ride to Motu Tane Itu last P-day

Elder Frazer and I

3 shower-a-day hot here!

Hello all,

Good ol President and Sister Bize were on the island this week. They arrived on Saturday but we never ended up meeting up with them, we knew where they were staying because it is in our area. However, we spent all day Sunday with them. Pres. and Sister Bize did a little training meeting with us and brought a bunch of snacks because President knows us all too well.

The next transfer is on the 27th normally. So we will see in the next couple weeks if there will be any changes.

No crazy outrageous stories this week, we just worked hard. Saturday and Sunday were very very hot… like a 3 showers a day kind of hot.

We are going to the Motu (motu tane iti) with a couple of members this after noon so I may have some great pictures for you guys. Sorry that this week I dont' really have any cool photos to send.

Well I love you guys. Have a great week.

Elder Goodwin

Motu tane iti