the last......

Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 8:01 PM (MDT)

           Monday, March 12, 2018 1:01 PM (Vanuatu)

hello friends. 

this feels so surreal typing this my last email home as a missionary of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. so, review of this last week and then i'll get into the last messages of elder hyatt vi

a cyclone wreck'd my last week as a missionary... finally got to go back to malekula on monday! diligently looking for a dog to eat! but alas, it didn't work out. the dog ran away... sadness. 

overall my last week in vanuatu was mainly sitting and doing almost nothing while the cyclone raged on outside/nearby. but i was ok i didn't get hurt and the truck didn't get hurt and all the missionaries were good! it was kinda cool cuz a dude from vila called us shortly after the signal came back and asked us on behalf of the area seventies wheter or not we the missionaries on malekula were ok! and we were! it was so cool! like. the area seventies were worried about me individually! but that's how the best ministering takes place. one by one. woot! 

had a last district meeting. i love those elders so much. i hope and pray that they will(along with the other missionaries that are gonna come after them) will be able to uplift and bless the lives of the people we've taught and helped and come to love... i wish all the missionaries here could feel what i feel. im sure they feel it to some degree but. the mission is so short. these last two years have been so short... urgency! massive action! this gospel is a gospel of now!

but it was interesting cuz i had asked in a prayer recently. is there anything that i have not learned yet on my mission that i need to learn before i return. and if so please teach me what those things are. and then this last week happened. so, though the last week of my mission didn't go at all like i planned it or wanted it to go, it was the week that i needed to go through and learn from. the lord answers prayers. that is a surety. i know that to be true.

been thinking a lot about what i'd say in my homecoming talk and such. wheter or not i've changed on the mission. very surreal. i don't know how well im going to adjust in this upcoming week/month. but i've learned a lot of stuff on the mission and now i've got a whole life ahead of me and turn this knowledge into wisdom and experience. so that one day i can look back(and forward) and be confident of my stance before the lord that i am clean and have developed my talents and abilities and all that to the best of my ability. 

scatterbrained email as usual. but i suppose since this is my last email i should share my witness and testimony of this gospel. and i could much better express the things i know and feel if we were in a district meeting or in a conversation. cuz this gospel is personal. and the things i've learned and felt and now know. are personal and significant to me. and so, i want to share my testimony but i fear you won't be able to feel what i feel by just reading the words on the screen... but here goes. i know. that this church is true. i know that god is mindful of me. weak, imperfect, flawed me. and he loves me and has helped me more than i probably have realized or recognized. i am so grateful of that unchanging love. he is always there for us. it is us who move away from him... the things i speak of are spiritual and you can't touch them or prove them as with a scientific experiment that can be recorded in some dusty textbook. they are living statements of truth. so when you read the book of mormon or want to test whether or not this is true. this kind of truth is felt far before it is seen. i feel my saviors love. in everything around me. so, i suppose a more accurate statement would be, i feel this church and this gospel are true. come unto christ and be perfected in him. he that is found faithful. god be with you till we meet again. 

elder hyatt vi

over the rivers and through the bush

Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2018 4:52 PM (MST)
           Monday, February 26, 2018 10:52 AM (Vanuatu)

to tisman we go!

hello friends. this week we spent a lot of time in the truck cuz from our apartment to the area where we were gonna be proselyting in this week is a 2 hour drive if you push it. so. lots of time in the truck. grateful for a large supply of talks and singsing to listen to on the road!

tisman and aulua tho! the members there are so dope! they love the missionaries so much and since the missionaries only come sometimes cuz it's so far away and also fetching bunkamo. (i saw where the river broke the road. mother nature doesn't mess around in the bush. she is queen of the bush!) but! we went! the church has been in tisman for about 6 years now and in aulua for less than 2. lots of investigators and people to meet and befriend and teach and strengthen along the road to our heavenly home! 

tilikon and helen! the unit leader and his wife are sooooo cool! they are 100% on board with missionary work and so happy to help us find and teach their friends and neighbors and invite all to come unto christ! if only if only my area was smaller and i had more time i could really come to love and make a big difference in aulua i think but time is so short...

this next week basically the whole week we(elders of kula) are gonna be in santo. zone conference on wed-thurs but we go on tues and come back on sunday. so! lots of signing journals and last memories and such cuz whence it's over i fly direct to vila after next sunday. it's so fast... i only have 5 more days of solid proselyting left!

and we were hoping on having 12 people from aulua baptized on my last saturday! but then the domino personality in the group of 12 decided to procrastinate the day of his repentance so looks like we're only gonna have 1. man im gonna miss this place. i don't wanna go! well i do but i don't what is life

i love being a missionary so much. im gonna miss it so much.. even though these people are so strongheaded some times i love em and im gonna miss em so much... as time grows shorter and shorter i reflect a lot on how far i've come. if im the same dude i used to be. i suppose you fellows who read this back in the states will be able to tell whether or not i've actually changed in the last 24 months.. what is life

also. the pig roast went exceptionally well. i felt like a true man bush. squatting with my district around a roasted pig with no utensils but 2 bush knives. #districtactivity #vpvm #malekula and we're gonna do the same thing this week but with a dog. it's gonna be great! 

well that's all i can think that i wanna say. gotta change the tires on the truck cuz they be bald. gotta go!

lavem yufala!

aleeee

elda hyatt vi

shark shark pig! (vanuatu duck duck goose)

Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2018 5:07 PM (MST)
           Monday, February 19, 2018 11:07 AM (Vanuatu)

so guess what friends. i actually got to eat shark. and it tastes almost exactly like fish. cuz sharks are fish. but it was really good fish! lots of meat! yeah! but the cool thing is the person who gave us shark (while we were on small island wala) we weren't expecting them to give us shark so two people gave us shark. eaten once and the next will probs be tonight or tomorrow. hope i can eat turtle too but chances of that are pretty low. 

today we're gonna roast a pig! #district activity! it's gonna be sweet. i hope i get to kill it so i can mark it off my bucket list that i killed a pig! (already killed a chicken back in etas so pig and dog are next)

but. about missionary work! we have been teaching a lot of really cool people! this past saturday we had 4 baptisms! huzzah! in a river! huzzah! i almost fell over trying to lift one of the dudes back out of the water cuz the river sand was so soft and malleable. but it was a great experience. 

tomorrow we're finally gonna get to go to tisman and aulua! it's gonna be sick im so hyped there's been so many stories shared of the legendary quality of investigators and church leaders there. its gonna be grand. probs gonna stay the whole week there. 

we did a lot of work in all of our areas this week. focusing on preparing and planning the baptism for the 4 in lowni and helping our investigators in wala progress and coming to know the members of brenwe and get them excited about missionary work once again! so some cool (spiritual) stories that happened this past week. 

toby and anita. toby is the first born in his family which means when his dad dies he will become chief. and like all of his family is super strong catholic. but toby and his wife are seeking for truth. so if and when he's baptized he will be able to stand confidently in his family and in his position as chief with no fear but only pure faith. leading his family (and hopefully village too!) along the covenant pathway back to the kingdom of our father in heaven. i love to teach people like that who are sincerely 100% desiring to know the mind and will of the lord. hoping and praying that they will look up and not around for their answers! yay! 

i suppose that's something that i've noticed alot on my mission. way too many people look around at their friends or family for the answers to big spiritual and life changing questions when we should depend on the one who has all wisdom and knowledge who will not lie to us and who loves us perfectly! so if you're reading this i'd like to invite you. don't look around. look up. ask. and you shall recieve. i testify that's true. 

other peeps i've taught this week: john kennedy! great dude! back in the day he joined the church with some of his friends but due to some extenuating circumstances and perhaps a little laziness his faith atrophied. we visited him whilst trying to come to know all of the members in our area and inspire/encourage them to greater use of their faith! and he was very enthuastic about everything and time permitting we will go and help his family also feel the joys of faith in action! because for blessings to come faith must be used first. ether 12:6 james 2:17-18+20 

i remember back in the day i met a pastor dude from colorado whilst i was in vila. and his main stumbling block(as described in 1nephi 13 and 14) was that we don't have to do anything to earn god's love. while that is true, and many blessings to come to all 'the sun rises upon the wicked and the just' the true spiritual blessings that we all long for take work. take refinement. take repentance. and through all of that along with the companionship of the holy ghost and the grace of christ given through the atonement, we can become what we are. sons and daughters of a heavenly father. 

sorry. spiritual tanjents. i have so many more favorite scriptures than i did back in the day. like. whole book of mormon. favorite scripture. so many A+ stories and doctrine for any and all occasions because it was written for you! for your struggles! that you're facing right now. the words of a loving god to you personally wait for you to open and absorb them. apply them. 

i believe in applied religion. because if we all applied, truly applied, our religion to our lives and lived by the morals and commandments and advice there in, so so soooooo many trials that we all face as individuals and as a human family would be alievated. god wants to bless you. we're the only ones who build the wall/close the door to heaven. so open it! break down the wall of sin and sadness! feel the warmth of heavenly light in your soul today! and then tomorrow we can sing together 'there is sunshine in my soul today. more glorious and bright than shines in any earthly sky for jesus is my light!' 

some things i've been pondering lately if any of you want to ponder them with me. john 17:3 and alma 22:18. what are you willing to give away?

the time is far spent. there is little remaining to publish glad tidings by sea and by land! Then hasten ye hearlds, go forward proclaiming: Repent! for the kingdom of heaven's at hand! Repent! for the kindgom of heaven's at hand!

bwahhhhhhhhhh i only have 2 more sundays in kulaaaaaaaaaaaa whhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

heheheh i wrote another book love pat on the back if you read it all! *pat pat*  email me back with your own spiritual ponderings so we can all ponder together! 

that's all for now!

elder hyatt vi

time flys like a arrow but fruit flies like a banana

Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2018 6:48 PM (MST)
           Monday, February 12, 2018 12:48 PM (Vanuatu)

hello friends. it feels like just yesterday i was emailing you fellows. wow. what is time and why won't it slow down!

so many things happened this week! highlights as they come to mind on 3. 2. 1. 

so we found some former investigators of elder poteki and elder eager (in lowni a area that got whitewashed and given to the district leader aka me) and they're ready to be baptized! and they're gonna be baptized this saturday! huzzah!

one of the really strong faithful members in the lowni area is abu jonah who happens to be the custom chief (called paramount chief) of a large chunk of villages in the lowni area! he's really old and really cool and really passionate about the church and about missionary work! and he wears socks and sandals like the adorable old man that he is! #lifegoals

the mission pres came to our island like out of the blue! he rang me on tuesday morning and was like. im coming on saturday at 9! so we got to have a rather personal meeting with pres g just us the kula squad(6 missionaries total) and got some more A++ counsel. what a guy. what a bro. what a president. 12/10 would reccomend as a mission pres. 

one challenge we're having a lil hard time with is this river called bunkamo. fetchin bunkamo. it broke the bridge a few years back so all the peeps gotta just run through it to get to the other side but the lil mini cyclone that made me shaka shake and jumpa jump 2 weeks ago gave it enough water power to break up the road on the other side so we can't go to the people on the other side of that river... (a certain adele song comes to mind) sadness. hopefully the chinese here(chinese are the only ones to do public works projects here for some reason)  will fix it soon so we can go teach and baptize (there's 14 peeps in aulua waiting to be taught and baptized but fetching bunkamo.) and help the members and people of tisman and aulua(the units on the other side of the river)!

still havn't been to wala small island or brenwe or liviamp yet. gahhhh i only have like. 3 sundays left in malekula! what the freak! asdjgalskdgjbaqw;eoius Time!!!! freaking slow down theres too much stuff to do!

i went to the small island of uripiv to do a baptismal interview for the norsup elders (garciano and altarejos) got to ride on a lil boat with a boat man that wore a cool hat and glasses. cool guy. uripiv is so beautiful! everyone is so friendly there!

i might get to eat shark today! it's gonna be great! i hope! for those of you who are curious. my daily diet includes the following basically every day of my life on kula

breakfast: lemon tea and bread or crackers with spreads(whichever spreads we haven't run out of yet)

lunch: mercy of the members: sometimes corn or navel or mango or semboro or if we're really lucky fish or laplap. 

dinner: boiled root crop(taro or kumala) and stew of corned beef from a can, instant noodles, cabbage and peppers. pretty good. funny story.

on tuesday night of this week. used some peppers bought from the market. thought they were sweet(like bell peppers) they were not. put like 4 in the nightly soup. hottest. food. ever... made the sides of my mouth really hot so i thought. i'll wash my face. what a bad bad bad decision... lesson learned. don't wash your face shortly after cutting peppers. 

woot nice long email for yah. give yourself a pat on the back if you read it all. *pat pat* good work team. keep it up! see ya next weekkkkkk

ale ta 

that's all for now 

elder hyatt vi

catholic paradise by al yankovic

Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2018 9:54 PM (MST)

           Monday, February 05, 2018 3:54 PM (Vanuatu)

hello friends. 

my area tho! every where is beautiful! but one thing is i'm afraid of the computers here in the bush and losing my 2000+ pix to a virus so. im sorry friends no pix unless i go to santo or vila. 

currently im sitting the library of a french school! cheap internet access! huzzah!!!! but for reals tho my area is no joke a paradise. rivers and lots of scenic sea vistas. the members feed us so much! the church has been here on kula since 1998? so the church is still breaking ground in a lot of places. and as the district leader(the only one on the island with a truck) i get to be one of the ones breaking that ground! which is amazing! 

so many people who wanna hear the gospel! but on the other hand a lot of people who are very resistant of change/ new things. such as: the missionaries of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints! but all is well! there are many people to teach and so many places to go and strengthen and help them to come unto christ! 

these past couple days we've really just been trying to get to know where everything is and who everyone is and lifting up the thoughts and attitudes of the members to help each other and the branch to do our missionary work! lots of referrals! so much to do! so little time! 

i feel a bit spread thin but i know that the lord will make up where i lack! the work moves forward! let us all press on in the work of the lord that when (missionary) life is o'er we may gain a reward in the fight for right let us wield a sword. the mighty sword of truth! 

that's all for now! (ill dump a bunch of pix on fb or whatever social media when i go home. woot. the time is ticking!)

lavem yufala! ale!!!!!

elder hyatt vi

transfers and planes

Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2018 10:59 PM (MST)

           Monday, January 29, 2018 3:59 PM (Vanuatu)

friends i just had a near death experience. (read on to know more!!!)[hahaha revenger of the click bait headlines]

i am transferred to malekula! huzzah! 

and there's unpredictable cyclone weather and lots of jump jump shaka shake on a small plane and long story short im still on santo but should be on malekula. 

this week has been really great and really bitter sweet. i've worked like 9 monies of my mish here and saying goodbye to all them peeps. sad. but also happy cuz i only have 6 weeks till i see my family again! but imma leave my family here... sadness. and happiness. and upset stomachs from turbulence in small plane. i have a bunch of cool pix i wanna send but the internet place is gonna close in 10 mins so idk. 

other cool stuff that happened last week. THE MISSION TOUR it was so sick. i loved it so much. so many doctrinal bombs dropped and blew my mind. and i got a chance to 'visit' with elder craig a cardon. lots of life advice and really good counsel. everything in life is looking up. be positive! everything will work out in the end! 

transfers! a bunch of people got transferred this transfer. like. so many comps got whitewashed. and i got transferred to be DL Malekula for my last transfer with elder lotoaniu! from tonga! he's sick! my area is sick! it's gonna be a dope last transfer! 

there was a branch activity for tanavoli! the first one in a long time! and they had it at this lil secluded rocky beach place with some gorgeous scenery! so grateful i have a good camera to capture all the cool stuff and cool people i meet and will remember forever! so grateful to be on the mish and to be able to have all these expereinces. happy sad frustrated scared hungry tired. making me into the person i'm meant to be. reminds me of a song lyric. it is well. for thy soul. all is well... all is well! 

love you guys! im good! don't worry about me! im in the hallow of his hand! to quote yet another dope song. 

that's all for now! internet cafe people kicking me off now! aleeeeeee

the rains came downnnnnn (but the floods didn't come up)

Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2018 2:51 PM (MST)
           Monday, January 22, 2018 8:51 AM (Vanuatu)

hello friends! this week has been fast! 

we really tried to focus on getting our investigators who are about to be baptized to be 100% ready and not afraid or anything. so we went to crossroads like 3 or 4 times this week! it was really great cuz while our district leader was doing the interviews for them i got to do service! yay! here in vanuatu everyone sees the white shirt and is either 1)afraid/doesn't want to talk out of prejudice or 2) respects the clean 'uniform' and doesn't want us to do any manual labor. but! helping a mama rake her whole yard of leaves and doti was great! i got really sweaty but it was amazing! i love doing service! 

but, sadly the baptisms didn't happen due to circumstances out of our control... one thing i've learned on my mish.. if something is out of your control there is nothing you can do about it. only worry about what you can change and leave the rest to those who do have control.

transfers are coming up! again! and rumors are a flyin. elder hyatt you're going to new cal! elder hyatt you're gonna stay zl santo! i have no idea where i'm gonna be in a week! uncertainty makes life fun! and like. everyone and their mom wants to know where they're gonna go for transfers. blowin up our phone. thursday! all i know is that a lot of plane tickets are gonna be printed!

one really cool thing that i got to be a part of on friday was a mission wide mlc! over google hangouts! the zone leaders and sister training leaders from all the zones tuning in over google hangouts to new cal where elder craig a cardon of the area presidency was! 2 hours of spiritual and leadership training feast. the only thing that was kinda meh about it was our connection in santo was pretty bad so we were watching over google hangouts but listening over a phonecall from our phone to the assistants phone in new cal. our phone hooked up to a speaker so all of us(sis ouamambare, brown and elder toaniuea and hyatt) could hear. very memorable experience. yay!

the elders of the outer islands are coming back to santo right now for the mission tour! elder cardon is gonna come here to santo from 8am to 5 pm tomorrow! and im in charge of preparing some stuff and like conducting the meeting! and they assigned some elders and sisters to be able to interview with the elder cardon and they chose me as one of them! ahhhhh im excited but also anxious! thems peeps have the authority and spiritual purity to look like. directly into your soul. and imma talk with him for like 10 mins. 😯 it's gonna be amazing! but im also a lil scared!

life keeps moving forward faster and faster every day. trying to keep up with my journal. im like one week behind at all times. wahhhhhhh there's gonna be 10 elders staying in our house this time around! 

that's all i can think to talk about right now. 

heres some pix doe!

elder hyatt vi

Pictures:

1.      muddy volleyball (before last week district activity)

2.      mudball part 2

3.      tried to cross a road that i thought was firm but it was not... it's ok my scriptures didn't get muddy. 

4.      itsa mah district! transfers are coming and chances of change are exciting and scary!

5.      sugar cane! delicious! 

6.      meeting at the senior couple's house (cuz they have wifi) for the mlc! woot!

7.      the first district activity from a while ago but i just copied this pix. 

8.      driving back from that district activity! 

idk we only ever really take a bunch of photos at activities.