elder. guess what.

Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2017 10:44 PM (MDT)
           Wednesday, October 25, 2017 3:44 PM (Vanuatu)

you're the new zone leader. wait.... what?

that's literally what my week has been. im not dead. but my p day is wednesday this week cuz i attended Mission Leadership Council on monday and tuesday so today is my p day. so sooo much stuff happened this past week o my goodness. 

i went to the museum! twice! so when i was still district leader of my last district, we went to the museum and then played ultimate frisbee outside the museum! super fun and culturally enriching! #squad! (see pix) and then again in my new district as a ZL today they wanted to go to the museum and had planned for a while to go there today so i went again with a new squad! yeah!! i learned some cool sand drawings! like how to make some cool cultural stuff. kinda like how polynesians have tribal tattoos. we in vanuatu have sand drawings. yeah!

i had a youth pastor from a non denominational christian church try to release me from my calling as a missionary. we just walking down the road to an appointment and this white dude from colorado rolls up on his motorcycle and talks/preaches to/against us for a hour straight on the side of the road and then rolls off. the biggest thing that he said that pissed me off is that he told me what i believe. he didn't ask. and what he said was i was being led astray and wrong and he had already 'researched' and knew that we were wrong. mind you. that he hadn't read and pray'd about the book of mormon but he had done 'research'. i won't go into all of the sophistries that he spew'd but yeah. fun guy. what a interesting fellow. 

i baptized a child on her 8th birthday. daughter of the relief society president. we walk up to the relief society pres's house on the way to an appointment and she asks us for a baptism record. go back to the house. get a form. fill it out. teach the appointment we were going to come back and cuz i have a camera they wanted me to come to take pix for the baptism. and also my very limited piano abilities is more than like anyone else in the ward so i sat and played the melody of hymns for a long while. playing guess that hymn and such waiting for peeps to come and the font to fill up. then they gave us a bunch of taro baked on stones for the last meal in etas. so gooooooddddd.... 

i became a zone leader. i get a call on wednesday last week from our zone leaders that im the new ZL and one of the ZL's is gonna come and stay with my pikinini imae. didn't believe them. tried to get a second witness of that fact. found out thursday night it was legit. packed up and became a ZL friday morning. wwwooootttt its great but i also feel a much greater  obligation to my fellow missionaries to look out for them and help them in their work and stuff. tbh i don't really feel adequate. like. i can be a DL forever just fine i can be DL in my sleep. i've been DL basically my whole mission. but ZL?? 🙃😅😎👔

my new companion is elder piol! he's from the Philippines in cebu and he's 3 months younger than me in the mish but he's been a ZL for 9 months now. so he's a seasoned veteran and he can be a ZL in his sleep. so much to learn from him. he's probably the most mature missionary i've met/gotten to know in the mish. great guy.

all the members in etas gave me some legitttttt souvenirs. the blessings that come when you serve in a area for 6 months and all the members love you. so i found out wednesday lunch time. wednesday night was ward council. told the ward council i would be gone by friday. some of the members dedicated like all of thursday to make me some custom stuff. like i had casually asked them weeks before if they could maybe make me some. but now i have custom stuff out the wazoooooooo sweeeeetttt so many peeps be jelly of meeee

i got to go to MLC!!!! what! what a experience. basically 2 days straight of president granger and sister granger at their fetching mansion of a house(compared to the houses that i have lived in and proselyted to on my mission) with all the zone leaders and sister training leaders from new cal and solo and vanuatu teaching us how to be leaders and the problems the mission faces and the needs of the missionaries and all that. wowowowowowow. i lovedddd it. pres g is such a g. wow. sister granger made lunch in the crock pot the first day. soooooo goooooddd... and home made enchiladas and bean salad the next. wahhhhhhh i miss mexican food so much..... cafe rio how i miss your spicy goodness... 

just this past week with the doctrinal trials of the youth pastor bro and the bonfire of faith that is pres g my testimony feels so much stronger now. like. there's no doubt. at all in my mind or my heart that this church is anything but the one and only true church of christ on the world today. god does not change. he has called a prophet today. he has given his authority to him and leads and guides us individually and as the body of christ though the trials of these final days. i know it.

yep. that's about all i wanna talk about today. this mission has been such a roller coaster from day one and i still gotta hang on until the end!

that's all for now! 

elder hyatt vi 

1.      sand drawings!!!! this one tells the story of black birding and the basically slavery that happened back then. 

2.      finished product from a angle. he never took his finger from the sand. one continual line.

3.      sweaty post frisbee squadddd!!! including from left to right. elder imae, sister marava(from PNG) sister lavemai from tonga marava's pikinini, sister motuliki from tonga almost 2 transfers old and has been training for 1. and last but not least sister james nila from malasyia. 

4.      that farmer's tan tho. #trust your sickle. #skincancer maybe. 

5.      i made bread!!!! for the first time in my life!!! like legit add yeast made by elder hyatt only!!! i feel so #domestic.

6.      the squaddd including john nasse my rc and naela the birthday girl and her family!

7.      custommmmmmm those things around my neck are meant to be tied around your ankles. they're fetching loud when you dance with them.

8.      very concentration. much power. wow. gotta get 4 penne pasta on your spaghetti and dump it in the pitcher. #teamgames

9.      communication games! ft STL's from new cal sis chard and rodriguez!

10.  the musically talented creating motivational songs for the mission! probably to be repeated throughout the whole mission!

11.  efate leaders! ft from left to right. sis fuller from utah! elder piol! sis eria from kiripas! and me!

12.  the stl's were too scared to get on the railing to get a sick jump shot... 

13.  squad at cafe vila for last kakae before everyone files back to their respective countries/islands. 

14.  and drunk photobombing Australian tourists. the best. 

living waters and empty tanks

Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2017 7:34 PM

hello friends. 

this week has been a lil of a struggle cuz it's officially the dry season and there is like no. water. at all. which is a yearly #struggle for these peeps but a 1st time struggle for elder whiteman over here. so apparently before, the municipal city people put a water pipe so town water could come up to etas. huzzah!!! but then guess what happened. some chief or dude or whatever got mad at the government for putting the pipe across his land and the government not paying rent on the pipe being on his land or something so he took his bush knife and broke the water pipe. so now no one in etas has had or probably will have water for a long while cuz one dude is stubborn and selfish. sigh.... 

but all is well the lord will provide! the last time about a month ago when the water was literally almost gone, it rained like the next day and we've had water ever since! but yeah. like we use that water in the tanks for everything and the dudes and mamas from the village use it for just drinking and cooking but there's a ton of people in the village and so people come and take water all the time and part of me is like blahhhhh stop stealing our waterrrrr.... but then the other part of me is like. you have 0 water and i have some so... i have to let you take it... #conflict. im working on my christlike attributes of faith and charity..

wow looking back this week has been really long lots of stuff happened. and it doesn't help that im really really bad about keeping my journal up to date. every night: im not gonna sleep until i update my journal! *sits down for personal study time* *looks at journal* *looks at scriptures* *starts reading scriptures* meh... i'll do it tomorrow morning. *tomorrow morning* i have too much to do right now. i'll do that tonight. *repeat*

we had 2 baptisms this week! anita! she is a great person who initially would run away from the missionaries like literally run and hide. but one day west and i walk up to a house(not her house by the way) and no one at that house really wanted to talk to us so she walks up. *4 months later* baptized! nice wan! she had a lot of fears to get over and it took her time wrestling with the spirit but she was so happy and stoked(even if you can't see it in the pix no ni-van s smile in pictures...) for her baptism. wow. 

and then junior! we thought he had just turned 8. child of record. just helpin the ward a bit with that. go to fill out the record. he turns 9 this saturday. nice wan!!! counts as a convert! kinda funny but it was great cuz his whole family came to the baptism and they brought cake and yeah! woot! 

we went to a new part of eratap! and like no one knew who we were! everyone thought we were j dubbs!it was kinda funny but it was a really cool experience going somewhere no missionaries have ever been before! 

the work moves forward! we're hoping that our other investigators that are kinda progressing will be converted by the spirit and repent and be ready for baptism before the end of the month! i've been in etas 6 months now and i know like. everyoneeeee which is good! but it's also stretching me to go places i've never been before and it's pushing me to the limitssssss!!!! #growth!

that's all for now got a district activity and a fhe to get to! ale!!!

1. baptism!!!!
2. when the mission nurse sees my stained and a lil ripped shirt. trashes it and gives me a tent.
3. a very nice clean tent!
4. that face. that moment when you're re thinking your life decisions. 
5. chair. 
6. the squad on their way to the stake danceeeee!!!!! i feel so old. 
7. jubilee has persuaded his lil bro for us  to teach him! what a great missionary! i hope he can straighten all his stuff and go on a mission!!! (he's 23 and has a scholarship so it's kinda in the air.)

thouuuuuu burning sun with golden beammmmm

Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2017 5:56 PM (MDT)
           Monday, October 09, 2017 10:56 AM (Vanuatu)

yep. it's hot. hello friends! this week has been really great! i got to watch conference! in english!!! good golly gosh there was so much greatness in those talks. 

this week was really busy cuz we had zone conference for 2 days then had general conference for 2 days. so not a whole lot of walking around to the people of etas and eratap. but! i learned a lot of stuff! i didn't bring my conference notebook so i can't relate any of the details besides the talk that elder nelson gave. what a powerful talk about the book of mormon. made me think. if you were delivered the golden plates by an angel. the only copy of the book of mormon. what would you do? translate or sell? which is more valuable to you, the gold or the truths written on them?

we had 9 investigators come to the sunday morning session!! that is the most i've ever had i think! wow what a great day. im so grateful for the conference cuz now i can incorporate some of the words and teachings of those prophets and apostles into my teachings and testimony as a missionary and since the prophets and apostles literally speak the voice of the lord. i'll be able to share that with my investigators! what a blessing.

i gave a training at zone conference! it was only 15 mins but i prep'd stuff for like 30 mins so i didn't get to cover all that i wanted to... but besides me getting really bad stress sweats. it was great! i took a bunch of pix so i'll add those. probs be sending a ton of pix this day. 

there was 2 of our investigators who wanted and were ready to be baptized this Saturday but because of conference, it's gonna happen this week! and john persuaded his twin brother to come to conference and now he's reading the book of mormon and he attended 4 sessions of conferenceeee!!!!! wowowowowowow and jubilee's younger brother nelson who was at first quite aloof. came to a family house night with us on monday and he also attended 2 sessions of conference!!!! wowowowowow the lord really prepares people to feel the spirit and come unto him.

one thing that was said in zone conference i really liked. it was a quote from a missionary who served/serves in south america. he said. 'converting some one to the gospel is the easiest thing i've ever done. because i didn't have anything to do with it.' and that is so true. missionary work is really hard. but conversion is easy. because it's all up to them and the spirit. the spirit is the one that works on them and helps them to change and come unto christ. all i do is teach repentance and testify of christ. what a blessing. what a day. 

that's all for now.

elder hyatt vi👔😎

#service he that #thrusteth his bush knife with his #might

the artistic stylings of pikininis when a piece of proven drywall falls off a trash truck

when you get caught about to do something stupid. that face tho. 

it's my intake from the mtc! all in the same zone for the first time!!!!

our assistants motivating us. 

ready!!!!!

anddddd!!!!!

got him!!!!!

whoops...

my selfie game is too strong. 

conference!!!!

#englishroom squadddddd

they built a temporary shelter for more space for conference! so many chairs!!

new transfer new planner new beginnings!

Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2017 6:35 PM (MDT)
         Monday, October 02, 2017 11:35 AM (Vanuatu)

hello friends!

this week has been slow at times but also went by very fast! so some memories and stories of stiff that happened this week!

monday night we were invited to attend a family house night with the young men's president! but he had to go and drop some family off to the ferry as they were going back to malekula so my comp and i with our rc john showed up to a empty house and sat and played with popping bottle lids and singing hymns! it was a very individual experience and was #worthit. jubilee showed up after too and then the family finally showed up and had a fun lil family house night before it was too late and had to go back home.

im still a district leader! but now the members of my district. 4 out of the 6 that are in my district(myself included) have been on the mission less than 2 months. heh.. so focusing a lot on training and helping these new missionaries get up to speeeeeeeed! 

met a very interesting dude this week. usually as missionaries we're working on building up people's contact with god and inviting them to read scriptures and pray and such. but this fellow. says that he has a voice. that tells him what to do. he asked us if it was a evil spirit or a good spirit then watched us very intently how we responded. very interesting to teach him about the nature of the god head and how the scriptures describe the ministering of angels and the voice of the holy ghost. 

i dunno besides that all of the people we're working with are pretty normal. progressing or not. since the little shelter in eratap isn't gonna be built until the end of this month, we aren't spending as much time in eratap. but i really want to go and spend more time there cuz there's literally so many people there who have never heard the gospel and i really really wanna go and teach them! but they won't be able to come to church so i gotta wait! gahhhh!!

super stoked to watch general conference. im probs gonna have to watch it in bislama which will be ideal for everyone else in the ward and my companion but i wish could hear the actual prophet's voice. sighh....

the internet is being really slow this week so i'll send a bunch of pix next week. sorry. 

that's all for now! 

elder hyatt vi

i always think of a really good title in the middle of the week but then i forget.

Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:14 PM (MDT)
         Monday, September 25, 2017 11:14 AM (Vanuatu)

hi friends! 

this week went by pretty fast and a lil scatterbrained but her' goes! 

i went on exchanges! my old comp elder naikasau (longest comp too i was with him for 4.5 monies straight) is now a zone leader in my zone! so i got to have a 1 day relive the glory days exchange! he's such a great guy and it was great for elder imae too cuz he's really new and he was able to learn a ton from the other zone leader elder piol! 

john got the priesthood! dude it's so great and also a lil funny. there's a institute class held in etas. only like 6 or 7 people go. 4/7 are people that i have taught and baptized or reactivated. really good! but a lil funny heh. it's so great too cuz john is now sharing the gospel with his family and his twin brother and it's so great! he's such a bro. wow. 

transfers came!!!! and guess what!!!! i'm! staying. which is still good! at the end of the upcoming month i'll have spent 6 monies in etas. wow. what a blast. it's been quite a ride and it's not over! 

i found this mama in teoma who is a wizard with fabric (like makes and sells dresses and shirts and such at the market) but she got fed up with going all the way from her house in the bush to town every day to sell her stuff. so now she just stays at the house. so i gave her some fabric and she's gonna make me some sicckkkkk neck ties. wow. it's gonna be so grand. 

there was a primary program on sunday! and a bunch of less actives who send their kids to church but just sit at home themselves for whatever reason. came to church! our lil church was packed! but the microphone didn't work so we couldn't hear what the lil kids were saying but they sang a bunch of primary songs and it made me think of all the primary programs and such that i was in back in the day. wayyyyyyyyyyy back in the day. wow im old. 

dude! conference is next week! what!! dudee it's gonna be so legit! i hope i get to listen to it in english! while the translators are amazing, it's just not the same without the voices of the apostles and the first presidency. #stoked

guys. i am currently in the lil baby books in the book of mormon. ya kno enos jarom and omni. and what the fetch! there's so many legit scriptures in there that i've been pondering about and treasuring this past week. literally gold scriptures. (heh) highly reccommend if you fellas haven't read those lil books recently. they're like only 2 pages each and they are amaze. read themmmm we're so busy whenever i do get time to study it's so great cuz it's like i have a chance to recharge my testimony and spiritually feast as i read and ponder and pray.

(one question i've been pondering recently is: what is the connection between the heart mind and soul? spiritually speaking. cuz in scrips it says. my soul hungered. the words sank into my heart. my mind was troubled... any thoughts??? please send a email my p days are so boring.) 

since i only send this letter to my dad and a few friends i actually have no idea how many people read this every week. so, if you read this fellow family members, send me a lil email maybe?

dude this week i've been marveling at the idea of missionary work. there is nothing else like it in the whole world. only in missionary work do you cry with people, laugh with people, see the light and love of god light up in people. go into the world and pull people out of the pain and anguish. it's literally so amazing. if only i could hug all of my investigators. oh well. a firm hand shake will have to do. 

can i just say. this church is true. it's not something that is in question. it is a fact. and all the truths that are attached to it. joseph smith. the restoration. the plan of salvation. the resurrection. the temple. the priesthood. it is all true. there is no way it's not true. and if you (whoever is reading this far into this email) want to know of the reality of that fact. read the book of mormon. think about it. pray about it. what are you willing to give up to know it's true? to know god. 10 minutes? 20? it's not necessarily easy. but it is 900% worth it.

that's all words wise. woot. 

that's all for now. 

elder hyatt vi👔😎

oooohhhh sunsettttttt

multi tasking

breakfast

stake baptism! (none of them mine but i performed some of the baptisms for some sisters in my district)

#district

this lil toddler is literally the best. her name is simah. she walks around the whole village like she owns the place. thumb in mouth and bottle in the other hand.

lizards are the best. #davidvsgoliath. 

people carry all their freshly washed laundry from the river back to the house on this path. #toogood #skill

#mirrorselfie

how to make a road. scrape it flat then drip water on it to stop the dust and it hopefully becomes a pothole free dirt road with minimal dust. 

dude! so many things!

Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2017 8:23 PM (MDT)

         Monday, September 18, 2017 1:23 PM (Vanuatu)

if i had to describe my life right now. it's like the last lap of mario kart where the music speeds up and all the super big awesome items start dropping and it's so much more fun and awesome and at the same time you gotta focus like crazy cuz anything could happen at any moment.

yep. that's me.

so! this tuesday president granger gave us a impromptu training for like 2 hours after district meeting and wow. what a man. what a guy. really good at encouraging and progressing the work and will of the Father. wow. anyway. as a result of that training. a even greater fire was lit under our collective butts as missionaries in etas and we had 31 lessons this week! wowowowowow broke my record. 8 lessons in one day. wowowowowow. holy goodness. and we also found a couple solid new investigators!

dude! the church is gonna come to eratap! it's been talked about for like 5ever but it's actually gonna happen! in the relatively short future! i hope! there's so much potential there and so many people want to have a lil shelter to church at there but there hasn't been enough members to warrant said construction until family william! yassss it's gonna be great. i just hope i'm there to see it.

john got baptized! and jubilee has a home teaching assignment!!!!

had a lil ward baptism and a bunch of people came out to support and it was so great. i love it so much when the members fully adopt and befriend and care for and look after new converts. it's so great. wow. and the significance of the home teaching assignment. home teaching is something that has been discussed for like 7ever but no official assignments approved until this sunday! and only like 10ish dudes got assigned some families cuz most dudes are not worthy or too lazy or other stuff. but!!!! jubilee!!!! my mew convert of just over a month!!!! got a assignment!!!! wowowowowowowowow oh wow. what a day. 

i don't really have that much else to say just pix and such to share. so. yeah! this week is the end of the transfer!!! oooohhhh who's gonna go?!? who knows?!? i'll find out on friday!

how to make an elastic(sling shot) all you need is a good strong piece of wood, some rubber tubing, a old bicycle tire and an old leather shoe! wow!

custom medicine! your body hurts? cut it open! the 'rabis blad' (bad blood) comes out and it's all ok! remember to keep it covered! cuz if a fly sits on it you're not gonna be happy!

my 'clean' white shirt (thems stains neva comin out)

heheheheh bunny ears. 

baptism! 

whoops who broke that. 

it was me. i broke it. im fine thooooo nothing hurts or broken don't worryyyy

people give us island food like all the time now. i think it's the fact that there's a islander now not just two white guys like it was before. 

cut it up and boil it in coconut milk! 😋😋

oooohhhhhh wowowowow bush oven! bread! they gave us some! so good!