1/2 Cup Of Awesome

This week turned out golden brown and we enjoyed finishing it :) I gotta get down to it so coming at you quick with the week-- we turn the time over to the highlight reel:

Progress: 

The Couple and their daughter I Have been telling you about got baptized on Saturday! But let me back up a little bit and let me tell you about Friday. Friday was the day of their marriage which meant they were to go down to the marriage office to get married by the government, but with an unreliable government we were not sure if they were going to be able to get married. Especially because we have had 3 other couples that went on the Friday before to get married, but were told to come back 2 months later. So that made us a little bit worried because here were these 2 amazing people wanting so badly to get baptized but not knowing if they were going to be able to get married on Friday. We went over to their house around 1:00pm to see how it went, and as we were walking up we heard Terenga (the Wife) yell with a happy voice that they got married. That was so awesome to hear because that meant they could get baptized the following day. Now we fast forward to 4:00pm on Saturday when the baptism took place. All I can say is they were probably the happiest family at that moment in all of Kiribati. One of my favorite parts of being a missionary is seeing a family grow in the gospel and progress all the way until baptism. After the Baptism Waintau (the husband) came up to me and started telling me how good he felt. He told me "I love this feeling that I'm feeling right now inside of my chest, it makes me so happy." That was one of the coolest things that I have heard. Seeing this family get baptized was so wonderful. They are like a family to me here.

Covid-19 and Zone Conference:

Here is the update of Covid-19 and how it is affecting us here. At Zone conference we were informed of all that was happening with the Corona Virus throughout the world and how it was affecting missionaries. We were also informed that missionaries in Africa and the Philippines would be getting sent home. That was insane to hear! As of right now we have nothing to worry about because there have been no confirmed cases of Covid-19 here yet. But our Mission President told us that if a case of the Corona Virus were to come here the same thing that happened in the Philippines and Africa would most likely happen here as well also. That was something none of us missionaries wanted to hear. We were also just told that all flights and cargo ships into and out of Kiribati have been stopped, so even if it it were to come here we would have no way out hahah. Basically we just got thrown a curveballs full of bad news. So that kind of made us all sad to hear, but I know that He has a plan for all of us in this world and no matter what happens, although it may be hard, it is important to put our trust in Him. But as of right now we are not quarantined and we are still working hard.

That's the update for this week. I hope you guys all focus on the Savior and the Prophets teachings in the days which are this.

I tangiringkami 

Elda Jeppson

Baptism of Waintau, Terenga and Marawa 

Kiribati children like to look in our window 

Our friends taught us how to Raraanga (weave)

We were invited to help celebrate a 1st birthday party.  In the Kiribati culture there are 4 main celebrations: 1st birthday, when a young woman becomes a lady (gets her period), 21st birthday and a wedding.  Lots of food and dancing.  

Our princess neighbor