Feeling Better

September 24, 2017

Thank you EVERYONE who sent me emails this last week - so many people and so many kind words! Looking back on the things I was experiencing leading up to last week's email I've realized that I was making a huge mistake by forgetting this crucial aspect of Missionary work:

Love those you serve.

I was told by my mom that someone commented that it was wise I remembered that so eary (MTC early that is), but I was very unwise to completely forget about that during that first week. Since that realization I think I've learned a lot. Of course there's still a lot to learn, but having that at the heart of my service will definitely help me overcome my obstacles and make these two years great.

So, that said, last week was pretty wild.

As a foreword, Levuka is a truly wonderful place - if you don't see it with the right eyes you'll miss out on a lot of great things. This place is ANCIENT (there are flyers everywhere advertising the 140th year since the declaration of Levukatown) so there are a lot of really old things to see. The Levuka area of the Fiji Suva Mission actually covers Levuka itself and a few 'nearby' villages and settlements - I use nearby loosely because a couple of them take an hour or so to reach by walking, though usually we try to catch a taxi or crazy truck-bus to travel. There's even an outer island called Moturiki that we go to once a month by a little boat. 

This area is a crazy mix of city and bush, so I see a lot of pretty interesting things: chickens and their little chicks and even a few cows towards the bush and village areas, power lines and technology and huge industry settlements by the bay towards Levukatown, mountains and rocky little cliffs and the ocean with all sorts of small-medium boats are visible from pretty much everywhere.

  

- Also dogs. Dogs everywhere. Two hang out by are flat and are great and super annoying/misbehaved at the same time. All kinds are here but usually garden variety medium-sized, and pretty unhealthy - stray Winslow-style. PETA would have a conniption.

  

In the distance you can see more little islands and the clouds are always low, hugging the mountains near Baba (Bahmbah, a little bush village behind [west of] Levuka that we see often). Many times we will walk right outside our flat and get a mango or two from the tree nearby and eat them with breakfast. Each day we go to a different one of these villages to see the people, which can be exhausting but it's great.

  

Last week I had quite a few firsts, mostly because those firsts would've been in my first week but we were going to Mission Tour so we missed them. I rode a "crazy bus" (my nickname for the pickup trucks with army-wagon style canvas and seats in the back). 

I got sick for the first time also - Thursday morning I went through the regular schedule until like 9:00 when I threw up in the bathroom. Diarrhea'd, threw up again, called the mission nurse who prescribed simple foods rest and water as well as a pill for diarrhea, threw up twice more after only drinking water and some re-hydration powder, then everything settled down and I was able to walk into town to see the boys and help a tiny bit with unloading the supply truck. I also threw up yesterday morning but it didn't hold me back from going to church or anything.

That reminds me - the boys. There is a large group of young men aged near 21 that we go to the qito (nGeetoh) field with and see. I still can't quite understand what they say but Elda Rakatia tells me he's been seeing/fellow-shipping with them for quite a while and sharing gospel thoughts with them and that they've changed a lot from some bad choices they've made. Another thing about Levuka is that sometimes the work is slow (everything is so relaxed sometimes several of our appointments/plans fall through in just a day) so we struggle to find things to do to use time effectively. One thing we've found is that we can help unload the big supply truck that comes a few times a week in the evening (imagine a big waste-management sized truck filled with bulk produce and flour and stuff). The boys are always there too and we have a good time serving doing that.

All in all I truly have a lot to be grateful for here. The people (members especially) truly are super nice and want you to be happy, always asking if you've eaten enough or if you want more. I find myself getting down in the mornings whenever I think of my shortcomings and how long the mission is - but I always find that once I remember my purpose, focus on loving the people, and find ways I can improve myself and learn for the day, the three months I'll be spending in training in Levuka (though I may end up staying a bit longer afterward) and even the whole two years of my mission start to feel short.

Thanks again everyone who emailed me, I love everything you had to say and still have to say. I will try my best to email you individually but with all this love coming in I've truly got more on my hands than I may be able to take care of!

I love you all - and always remember that so does your Heavenly Father.

-Elder Hatch