January 23

I'm sorry to hear about Bro. Ellsworth. I'm not wholly shocked, but it is sad to think he won't be there when I get home. He was a huge influence on me as I was growing up. I'm doing fine though. Death is a part of life. I teach people everyday that if we live the gospel we can be with our families forever. Bro. Ellsworth and his family live the gospel and I have no doubt they will see each other in the Celestial kingdom. Spencer Avarell talked a few weeks back in his email about a couple elders that died in his mission. He talked about his mission president as saying something like our message isn't just a lesson, its real, We don't just tell other people about it but we can use it too. (That is not even close to a direct quote, those were just my thoughts as I read what Spencer wrote.) The pain of death is swallowed up in the joy of Christ.

Well my week has been really good. We got to teach a lot of really cool people and a lot of investigators and less actives came to church! Its always wonderful when people say they will come to church and then actually come! I feel like I should be used to people saying they are coming and then not coming. It has happened a lot on my mission, but for some reason I just cant get used to it. I always have such high hopes and then Sunday comes and they don't show up. That is how Sunday started out for me. When we started the opening hymn there were only a few of the people we are teaching there, but when I looked back during the intermediate hymn I saw more that had come in a little late, It was so exciting! 

The good days are always the days you remember, the bad ones usually just kind of fade form your memory. Also this week we had an investigator pass a bap interview. She will be getting baptized this coming Saturday which is really exciting.

So as of late it has not been raining here in Tana, which is good for us as missionaries because it's much easier to talk to and teach people when its not raining. It means we don't have to walk through gross water. However, its not very good for the people here. There is a lot of talk of water being shut off if it doesn't rain soon (not just like running water because most people don't have that but also the wells where most people get their water from. Our Bishop yesterday told everyone to pray for rain. Another reason we need rain is so two of our investigators can get baptized. It is a couple and all they need to do is get legally married in order to get baptized. However that is pretty difficult because the wife was born very far from Tana and needs a copy of her birth certificate from her birth town in order to get married. Well her mom went out there to plant rice, but she needs it to rain before she can plant the rice. So basically it we need to rain so she can plant the rice, get the birth certificate and come back here so they can get legally married. Its strange, but literally they will get baptized as soon as it starts raining.

Well that's about it. I love you!! 

Word of the week is fahafatesana which means death.