Week 44: Tahiti-> Toronto -> Calgary -> Lethbridge!

As they say in Calgary: Hello!

So as many may know or suspect, I got sent home from Tahiti at the very end of March due to Covid. I was happy to go and had a wonderful time at home, with family and friends. It was by far the easiest part of my mission and I'm gonna guess it will end up being the easiest part. It was very difficult leaving again, though, and I wasn't too excited, but I got reassigned to the Canada Calgary mission! I left last week, and have officially hit my one week mark here (10 months on my mission!)

My companion is from Nova Scotia which is hype as people love that we are both Canadian. It's rare. He is visa waiting for the States but has been here 8 months. I got in the car and asked where our sector was... 2 hours south in Lethbridge! My mom had predicted that exactly which is kind of insane. 

My first night was very challenging and I wanted to go home. The classic "what did I get myself into, why did I come (back)" but since then it's been okay! My anxiety has been sooo much better than in Tahiti and it'll continue to get better with adjustment. I'm less anxious after one week here, than I was 6 months in Tahiti! I think the at home reset, technology and culture make it way easier! Unpacking the first night also helped a lot.

As far as the area, not a lot is going on. We don't teach very much and we are really trying to find some new people. We've also been trying to visit members, old people and people that don't come to church as often.  It's hard with covid restrictions. The members I have met though are so awesome! The whole mission vibe and what we do is super different. It's been way more chill, but not time wasting which is nice. Every hour we do something good, just those things are easier lol. Days are easier here.  And we get fed every night just like Tahiti! So hype I still don't have to cook! We also are starting the French program in the Calgary mission, so we are trying to get that set up and I even taught in french to the hypest Congolese guy! I was so happy to use my french here and am excited to set up a language program in a mission! 

Some of you may be asking what we do in the day here? Well we study quite a bit, we hit people up, we teach, we go for walks (the Coulees here are beautiful and I find that bridge so cool!), we contact on facebook, make posts, and do lots of services! This past week we've volunteered at a food bank, soup kitchen, painted a deck fence, done some weeding, handed out Father's day treats,  and other smaller things. I've loved doing service and making people's lives a little easier. 

Last fun thing is that I had lunch with an elder (Kearl) who served in Tahiti! He was passing through, hit us up, and we had pizza in a park! 

The one sad thing is that I haven't been able to wish on any stars as it's still bright at like 10!

To conclude, I've been thinking a lot about the statement "I can do it." Everyone says this statement is correct and we can do anything but I don't think that's true. I think "I can do it" is wrong. I can't do a lot. The wrong part of the statement though, isn't the can or can't, it's the "I". I cant do everything. But luckily it is literally NEVER "I". With God, Christ, Angels, support from friends and family, it is always WE. So I've changed my way of thinking that statement to a way that is always true: "we can do it." And that's a statement I think is always true. I didn't think I could come.back on a mission which brought so many trials my first time.out. I didn't think I could do it. But with all those supports, I am doing it. And it's going pretty alright. 

I love you guys! Have a great week :)

Elder Fiore

1.President Keung, Elder Moses, Me, Sister Keung

2. Holding the lethBRIDGE

3. Zemenfes and ice cream sandwhiches

4. soup kitchen!

5. (Tying to) Change a flat tire

Mom's note: some more pics I thought I would include:

Arriving in Calgary:

Soup Kitchen 

His apartment :

Week 30.5: Roller Coaster

So I wasn't going to write a group email this week because I was assuming id be home by next week, but now im not too sure. This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions to say the least. 

So quarantine has been better and worse than I expected. I have been way less anxious and realized a lot of my anxiety actually came with how hard missionary work is and wasn't all about home and being far. Now that days are nothing, I dont wake up super anxious or have problems in the morning. But quarantine has also been hard haha. Days feel so long and I get tired of activities so fast. Studying is nearly impossible in these circumstances and I study less now than before. We try and play games, study a bit, and got our hands on a mini projector which has been clutch for movies I had on a USB that doesn't work on our mini DVD players.But multiple times a day we just sit and look into blank space, chatting a bit, and stressing. 

Days are also filled with lots of speculation, news updates and gossip. I can confidently say that our mission hasn't handled this well. Their strategy of silence for the full first week of quarantine hasn't been my favourite. Ive heard all my news from my mom, other missionary moms, other elders, and members. Ive been receiving and passing news like crazy. Its kinda fun but so stressful. So much news has been indicating home, and then calls that say otherwise, and then a news article that seems to confirm home, and then a text that points away from that. Its been horrible.

Some mission updates:

-Tahiti restarted a more serious quarantine for 15 days on top of the 5 we had already started. They predict it'll be longer

-All outer island missionaries here (30) got flown in this weekend and are staying at temple housing

- All missionaries going home April and may are leaving this week

- Some french sisters are stuck

- We still have to get dressed up in white shirts, get up at 6 and shave daily (as if. I laughed when I read that in a text we got)

-Tahiti went from 3 to 11 cases in a day and started a panic

 

So I think, based on a call that caused a mini panic attack, we are waiting out the Tahiti quarantine for 13 more days, and then waiting out the planes being cancelled for 15 more on top of that. So stuck in our apartment. Dont know how we will do it haha i hate this. I just want to go home at this point instead of staying in this torturous state. We are all struggling hard. At least its not just me I guess! 

Im still hoping (and praying) we will just be sent home asap instead of "waiting it out". I don't care about being "safer" here. What a joke.

But as this is meant to be motivational ill end with a cheeky spiritual thought. We were all stressing hard and decided the only thing to do was a house Book of Mormon read. As we read I felt a peace come over me I Hadn't felt at all in a few days of stress. Heavenly father gives us things to help us through difficult times and the Book of Mormon is one of those tools. It has been hard, but I've been able to find a little bit of comfort through the little bit of BOM study I manage. I know the book is true and brings comfort and peace. I also finished the book this week and had been highlighting references to the Godhead (God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost). Out of 531 pages, only 23 had no highlights. The Book of Mormon truly testifies of Christ and is a book centered on Him and God. I quite like that book.

Anyway, hope everyone has a fantastic week probably chez vous. Enjoy wifi for me and ill enjoy my camera I take pics of emails with. the elder who owns all the houses games is leaving too so that should be fun (not actually).

Love 

Elder Fore 

Week 31: I'm coming home

After much stress, games,a projector found, movies watched, sitting in boredom... we are coming home . It was a tough week honestly and we did nothing. I'm coming home this week with all other foreign missionaries in Tahiti. It was a very stressful week I'll be honest. Lots of calls back and forth between missionaries, and lots of freaking out.

But its all good now we got the call

Love

Elder Fiore

Mom's Note:

It has been a roller coaster of a week. All the waiting. We finally got word late last night that Zach is on a flight on Saturday night (March 28th) and will be home March 29th (flying through San Francisco). Unfortunately only 30 missionaries have  tickets for this flight. They said they are only getting  flights to those who's connections they can confirm. However there are another 50-70 missionaries that need flights.  I feel blessed for Zach coming home, but my heart breaks for those still waiting....

Week 30: I puked and freaked out. Unrelated.

Hello,

Might as well start with the craziest bit of info that I'm on quarantine for the next 2 weeks meaning I won't be able to leave our missionary apartment. Remember that we have no technology or wifi or anything. It's gonna suck. 

So it all started Wednesday. I ate fish that had been in our fridge for 4 days. I had some stomach problems with it and then puked. So yea I got food poisoning. I was out a few days and it was horrible. Wilk was sick too so we were just chilling at home feeling sick. As we were at home we got a panic call from another Elder about how we can't teach sick people and touch people and stuff. We then got the call that church is cancelled world wide. So yea, two sick missionaries at home with no distractions, nothing to do. We started  FREAKING OUT about all these scenarios . I literally started picturing a dystopia where I can't do school and work after coming home early from my mission. I literally started packing. We freaked out. Our baptism even got cancelled. She made us two blankets each so we got  those. So the freaking out lasting a day or two and then I calmed down. Up until now and I'm freaking out again due to quarantine. So the chill lasted a day.

Sunday in between the freaking out was also wack. We served sacrament 6 times and did it with many members and were both pretty homesick, especially because it was wilk's birthday. It was kind of sad. We just thought of home. I've been thinking about home a bit more because it was feeling pretty close with the virus. I was hoping  to just get sent home and come back later, but nah we are staying. Its gonna be a long 2 weeks. 

So good luck everyone with what's going on. We will be out here studying and playing games all day which will get bored pretty fast. I just want wifi to talk to home haha but that's okay. Sacrifices for the Lord, eh.

Love Elder Fiore

Mom's note:

As doomy and gloomy as his email sounds, he was in decent spirits. It will be a trial being isolated for the two weeks. We came up with a list of things they can do - thank goodness he loves the guys he is with. This is certainly a trying time in life as well as a trying time in his mission. God speed to all the missionaries and people struggling through this Corona virus.... 

"And now I do not know all things but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come: wherefore, he worth in me to do according to his will" Words of Mormon 1:7.

Week 29: Went to Catholic Mass

Hello

So this week had some interesting events and plenty of cancellations! 20 lessons cancelled! That made the days go by a bit slower but I'm glad I'm in a situation where 20 can be cancelled.

One fun convo I liked was with one of our amis who was waiting a judgement, which was his baptismal block. He wasn't sentenced to two years jail so now we can keep going with him. So we went to his house for a lesson and asked what he did that day. He said he took his dogs to the beach. I said "you have two dogs?" Then he said, "well not anymore, there was an accident at the beach". So his dog drowned and he described it as the " slightly negative part of his day." I love this guy tho actually.

I also contacted a couple kissing on the side of the road. We stopped to answer the phone and they were making out across the street. Wilk dared me to do it so I awkwardly went over and interrupted. I got a phone numbers from it!!

We also went to the house of an ami, who tried to cancel the lesson cause he had too much work. So of course we offered to help, and took off our ties and everything to show we are ready. He warned us it would be tough and was worried, but we went anyway. We did dishes for an hour. He hyped it up way too much. We did it with laundry detergent which was horrible.

So the most fun part of the week was going to a Catholic church with Mami Anna and Terehau. They said Terehau would fully commit to our church if we came once lol. Terehau said it was her last time going so she wanted us there. Terehau is who we are baptizing this weekend. She wore a white robe and carried a huge cross leading 20 others in white robes and did the sacrament. It was wack she's being baptized this week but she's ready. Mami Anna also gave us xxxl coke shirts which is hype. We ate with her 3 times this week.

The sector is popping off still which is fun. Mornings are still hard. We also had 4 people come to church this week for the first time!!!! There are advantages to city. It's less beautiful though. We did a full tour of the island today and Tahiti is sooo beautiful I had no idea. I saw many beaches and mountains. Maybe I'll talk about that more next week when I have more time since it's technically in week 30. We will see.

Hope everyone has a great week

Love

Elder Fiore

Week 28: Mission was extended :(

Saturday was tough cause it shouldve been March smh. An extra day of the mission kind of. Felt like it. But it was actually a good day. Just extra.

Best part of the week was meeting a sculptor who specialized in making wood pigs for some reason. His reason was because he likes pigs. So I bought a mini one and gave him a Book of Mormon (and money). My pigs name is Axton. Acts 10. Who understands? It's so funny. I like Axton. 

We also did a hype service project in the pouring rain cutting down a palm tree that half fell. It was so fun. Twice members just picked up coconuts, cut it with a machete and gave it to me to drink. So Tahiti . There's no chance I would've gone to a service like that with that weather at home, so I'm glad being on a mission opened that door.

We taught Mami Anna a word of wisdom lesson, and got offered iced tea to take home immediately after finishing.  It was awkward telling her she can't have that anymore. She understood kind of. She tried to convince us she doesnt know it's iced tea so she can keep drinkng it, but we had to explain since now she knows she shouldn't. Mami Anna is always confused. 

We also had a fun movie night with church movies my mom sent. It was a Sunday night which made me feel like a home Sunday. It was great. We hit our 10 hours of work in the rain then headed home to watch movies. I can't explain how nice it was. Blankets and all.

My morning anxiety was a lot better this week for the most part. That was super good and I'm extremely grateful for that. Turning to Christ has worked thus far. I'll keep trying.

Love 

Elder Fiore

Week 27: Baptisms are great! Amai right?

Well well well

So it's been 6 months on my mission. 25 percent done. 1\4. Crazy. I literally never thought I'd make it here. Looking back at journal entries I genuinely thought I wouldn't. But here I am. Wow. It's been fast and slow.

So the week started off with a tough morning anxiety wise but then a last minute emergency split to Erima! It's all in mountain so the whole day we were biking up hill to each next lesson, with an initial 30 min uphill bike to the sector at the start of the day. It was a nice change for the day. We also went to go fill up water bottles at a member's house and ended up having a huge lunch, then cake and ice cream; Mami says we can't say no at her house. Classic Mami Lucy I hear.

We had a huge hospital miracle this week too. A few weeks ago we blessed a guy before his surgeries. He had 5 that all went bad and they called us before the 6th and said they need an absolute miracle because he was having many health problems. When we asked him when he was expecting to get out his answer was just "not for a long time". He chose me to give the high pressure blessing, and it was the strongest spirit I've ever felt giving one. He's not a member but has been taking lessons for 2 years and had no baptism planned btw. In the blessing i blessed him with good health and that hed enter the water of baptism. So that was two weeks ago. This week, while visiting someone, we bumped into him taking a walk looking way better. He said the day after the blessing they went to give the last operation but the problem had miraculously healed and they didn't need the operation. He was being released in two days and was completely better out of nowhere. He said the day he gets back home to Tahaa he plans on seeing his bishop and getting baptized because of the miracle he's seen and the help from Heavenly Father. I was shook. Him being from Tahaa just added to it, where my grandfather served. So that was crazy.

I also had my first baptism this week! Well, first person I taught from the start who got baptized. His name is Amai, so that's where the hilarious subject comes from. He's hype and was so ready for the gospel.

I also gave a talk in church yesterday Church starts at 9:30 and I was asked to give the talk at... 9:30. So i talked about Christ!

This week I've been struggling a lot w anxiety in the mornings and had been applying so many strats and thought work and stuff but it wasn't working as well as I hoped. I was doing so much of it, I was having no time to grow my testimony and study spiritual stuff. I had the realization, with the help of my mom, that I needed to use the best strategy of all; Christ. To rely on him and His grace. I need to come closer to Him, and still continue the strats and all my thought work. It's only after my efforts, and his Grace that'll be okay So I'll see how that goes this week. Christ makes the difference. 

Hope everyone has a good week! I'm staying with Elder Wilkinson for another 6 weeks in Pare! Finished the transfer with 57 blessings! Many miracles.

Love

Elder Fiore

I hope the photos work eh

Mom note: 

Zach was happy to stay in the same area as he loves the people and his work. He loves his roommates too - so that is good. With Grammy passing away, he struggled a lot with anxiety, so it was a rough week. He is growing so much; amazing how it is in your trials where you grow the most and find Christ. 

He was finally able to upload a bunch of photos, so I will add some here and go back and try to add where I think they fit  (and will add some separate photo posts!)

The baptism:

The big lunch the Mami served:

The 6 month mark! Ceremonial switching of the toothbrushes lol

I think this is his hospital friend:

And some other hospital visits: