Week 14: Got a little cocky

Hello,

So this week was good. Same as always as far as work but I feel like we are grinding a little bit more which is great. I saw a dead cat too. The city area is great.

I sewed my pants too which was a first. I also bought material and am learning how to make ties.

I got devastating news that tevas are actually not allowed. Oops. Now i wear crocs instead. So much more professional. There's a small win in the loss.

So about the subject... We watched a practice cock fight fior like 40 min one day and learned how to train and maintain fighting cocks. It was so cool and really bad as far as animal rights. He had like 20 cocks in his house and we saw the whole procedure. Post pre and mid fight. It was top as they say in french. They are scary though. 

In actual sad news, not just footwear, we had a horrible experince with someone we were teaching. I cried. My first day here I had taught my first lesson to a woman and it was super powerful. We engaged her to baptism. We had a few good lessons too. We went to visit her and her sister one night and as we were walking up she started screaming and swearing at us. She threatened to kill us if we came closer and was going crazy. I have never been yelled at more. I was honestly scared and she started coming at us a bit. Our car was stuck too and someone had to come pull us out, so we hid behind the stuck car out of sight as she calmed down. She has been progressively getting worse in worse with drugs, so that's why she was like that. I learned in that experience that with all the highs and joy of missionary work and helping people, come the true lows of being able to do nothing at all. I want to help her so badly. I know we can. But we cant. We were helpless.

We had a miracle happen too yesterday. Long story short we repeatedly called this mom and she didn't answer until our final random effort days after any contact. We came to teach and right off the bat she said she wants to be baptized and the obstacle that had always prevented her is solved. There's a lot more to the story but I truly saw it's not me who does anything or changes people. It's God. He prepares people and we are just instruments in His hands. We need to act on the promptings, but it's not us who does the work. It was a true miracle but I don't have time for the beauty.

Oh we also finally went to Papeete in the market. Advantage of FA'AA.

i love you all and thank you for the continued support.

 Mom Note:

Zach shared more details of the stories from his email when we spoke with him. It was a much better connection this time! 

Every week I go into his google drive and copy all the pictures onto our computer here at home. It's fun to see all his additional pictures -  and try to guess what they are and who they are. Sometimes we see a picture (or video) and know that he took it for one of us (or all of us and it's a family thing:). For example:

Other pictures , I just love seeing parts of the fun they have :

What he's eating:

And the daily stuff:

The sunsets:

Missionary life:

Learning and studying:

Pdays:

And calls home:

Misc chicken stuff: 

The unique and the cute:

Week 13 : Not many lessons but experiencing Tahiti

Hello,

Not much happened this week. We had a lot of lesson cancelations which is apparently the Tahitian way. Like 10 lessons cancelled in 6 days. And when iIsay cancelled I mean that they just don't show up or aren't home. They don't call to cancel or anything.

Some fun things are that I saw some big eels in a ravine thing,  I shot a pellet gun with an inactive member at mangos, I heard a Lumineers song at a store, and I saw a dead dog.

Another fun happening was that I climbed a fence of a house that wasn't answering and made such awkward eye contact, but just called her over. She came over as I was hanging from her fence and we got her number. We are gonna start teaching her next week. Bold missionary work pays off. i cant find the explanation mark lol, I would've used it for some excitment in the story.

Fasting here is also so so hard and I've done it a few times. Every day I fast we end up eating at 730 which is rough. In the sun all day walking and teaching is hard too. I've had literallly no lessons inside which is crazy. Makes for nice views. 

A fun scripture I found was Acts 27:25 which talks about being of good cheer for Paul believes God/ an angel he saw. I realized that I needed to be of better cheer and trust God too. Trust his words we are given through the scriptures and prophets. i need to believe God and truly listen to the comfort and council in the scriptures. There is load and I'm  not believing it enough. The Lord thy God is w thee (Joshua 1.9)... the Lord is actually with me. i can be of good cheer and believe that. Every scripture is more significant when you think, wow this actually applies to me now. That's what they're for.

We also went to some banger mountain views oi fthe ocean this week but I can't download pics this week so sorry. I had some nice photos too. Well, we always have the next 80 weeks> explantion mark

Love you all and thanks again for the support. Sorry i cant really respond well.

Week 12: Gonna Get Fat

Hello

So this week has still been super hard but I want to thank everyone for their support. Every email, every letter and now (the ones) I brought with me; they've all brought so much comfort. Thank you all so much. Sorry I can't respond every week or well, but I appreciate it all so much and take pics (of the emails) to read them later.

This week has been more of the same. Mainly visiting people and trying to set up lessons. teaching some lessons too which is so great.

One of the people we are teaching didn't come to church tho which was sad. Mission life.

We eat so much carbs here. One dinner we had rice, so I put a bunch on my plate, and I opened the pot which included the topings for the rice... and it was noodles. We had noodles on rice. Bread in the middle too that we started with. Dessert was crepes. SMH. It was good at least.

We visited this one guy around 5 times this week but he was never there. On our 6th visit he was there! We started the lesson and found out his mom died  3 weeks ago. We started teaching about the after life and stuff and gave him a blessing, which is using God's power and authority. We blessed him and the spirit was so strong and he just stqyed on his knees and bawled for a few minutes into his hands about his mom. It was the hardest thing I've ever seen. I started crying too. This man is going through one of the hardest trials possible anyone can face, all alone; with no knowledge of the gospel, the plan of salvation (after life and eternal families) or Christ. It broke my heart and does every time I think about it. This is why I'm here. To help people like him.  It was a powerful reminder. 

Have a great week everyone

Mom note: 

We were able to talk to Zach for a few minutes. It's always quite rushed and busy with so many other missionaries talking on other computers and waiting to use the computer. Hence why he has little time to respond to people - he needs to make sure everyone has their time. He was able to call us back later as he went to a family's home (our tender mercy family who send us pictures and emails). We were able to talk with him more which was so good. He is so honest with his struggles and I'm so proud of him. The growth in him has been incredible. Missions are hard - he is in the refiners fire....

In case anyone is interested in sending him a letter or card - his address is :

Elder Zach Fiore

L'Eglise de Jesus-Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours

Mission de Tahiti - Papeete

B.P. 93

Papeete, 98713

French Polynesia 

More pictures:

I love looking at his pictures and wondering why he took them - what he thought was beautiful, what he doesn't want to forget. I especially loved this one - as I knew exactly why he took it. The ship is from Hamburg - where his great grandmother was from and where we visited a few years ago together on his 15 trip:

For his little brothers I'm sure - and the excitement of seeing soccer!

Teaching in church:

Our weekly call: 

Week 11: Unopened gates and one slammed door

Hello everyone,

This week was better than last but I am still feeling very overwhelmed and homesick lol. That has sucked. But its getting better/

Since I didn't really describe Tahiti last email I'll do that now.

It is insanely hot especially in pants. I can't wear shoes -  it's too hot. Sandals are the play. It's humid and sticky too. Hasn't been that bad.

My area is in the mountains so that's pretty. Lots of good views of the ocean and Moorea, another island. The water is nicer than i thought too. Lighter blue. It's beautiful. My area includes the airport though, so i think it's the ugliest area. 

Contacting people is tough cause everyone has a giant fence. We don't knock, we just yell "iorana" (hello) and wait a while. Some people come out, some ignore, some hide. I jump to peak over the fences to try and make eye contact with people to get them to come over. No doors makes things hard. The one apartment area we found is a bit easier. Although, one guy opened, grunted, and slammed the door in our faces. Fun times.

Food here is incredible. Every meal is great. I imagine it's unhealthy though and that's why it tastes so good. We have a dinner every night almost too. One night we didn't and we got steak frits. A member saw us though and paid. So hype. I also didn't have enough money for the groceries I tried to buy, so they gave them all to me for free. Blessings come with the work. That's 50 in food free not including all the dinners and fruit we are given.

I have really learned a lot as a person here and have changed I think. I've been broken, and I'm starting to be rebuilt.  I have truly been humbled here and have had to rely on the Lord through prayers and scriptures. I have learned to appreciate home and family, who i miss every single day. I have really been brought closer to God through these many trials. I've never had trials like these, and I've really grown my testimony and come closer to God through them. 

All I want to do is just hug my family. Appreciate them while they are around lol. I've learned that the hard way.

Mom's note: 

It was so nice to talk to Zach today. It's a highlight of the week, every week! Although he is still struggling with homesickness, he took comfort in the emails and messages that everyone sent. He was overwhelmed with the love and support, so thank you! I love that he is sharing these struggles, and he said it's been hard as the missionaries he is with can't really relate - I guess every person is different, and he (and I ) appreciate all those who have shared their personal struggle stories. 

He has been touched by the kindness of people there (as he mentioned in his letter). (And don't worry - he does have money and access to money but the store didn't take his credit card and he had not been to the bank to take cash out!) 

We have been so touched by a particular family in Tahiti who invites him over regularly and sends us pictures every time. They are always asking how they can help and have been so so kind. There are such good people in this world. 

We had some extra time to chat on messenger and I think it was so helpful to both of us.... 

Here are some additional pictures:

 Reggie? What are you doing in Tahiti????

A little bit of home!