So my area is Navatuyaba, Toga, Rewa. Pretty sure. Not really sure how to describe where we are - it's maybe 5k from the main road but a bus comes all the way in on a pretty decent road; there's 3 koros (villages) - one where we stay and where the chapel is, one in the middle, and one at the end; it's got electricity and running water and we have all the good appliances EXCEPT a warm shower (just some PVC sticking into the middle of the shower and the broken water heater laughing at us as we shiver); it's pretty civilized. I would say it's actually pretty stinkin' on-par with everything in Colorado - dirt roads and forest and not the fanciest but still some cars and power and a place with shops & good stuff a short distance away (Durango town there, Nakasi/Rups [rupes, roops, roupes] here). Also natural disasters (forest fires there, floods here! don't look up pictures)
And I'm still technically on an island - it's just this island is between two rivers instead of in the ocean.
So the Book of Mormon reading goes pretty well - the two biggest struggles I have are 1 - figuring out where "Lord" means Heavenly Father and when it means Jesus Christ and 2 - making it meaningful while trying to make the reading mark at the same time, in limited study time. But, I really do enjoy seeing all the marked references to Jesus Christ when I've finished a couple pages. I've noticed we read around 4-5 chapters a day, or about 9-10 pages. Improvements I've seen seem unrelated to reading the Book of Mormon but I've just had a couple cool realizations about the call and ordination to share the Gospel, especially relating to chapter 9 of Preach My Gospel. I've seen some perspective changes I think about the way we should go about our work. I think this comes from reading the Book of Mormon but also the things we've learned about its importance.
So we just got a phone call that we are going to the temple as a zone tomorrow! So we're going to finish up our emails here then just head back I guess? Either way I'm super pumped.
Actually tons of people know the Bible here - Brother Brower once said he never met a native Fijian who wasn't Christian. BUT we just found a Samoan whose husband is Fijian who is our investigator who has a baptism date of Mar. 3 who speaks English and we have to explain some concepts to her so it's super weird.
So yeah this is Elder Shumway's week 11 and we're both really proud of how far we've come from a practically closed area and our whitewashing before our 6 months. And we have a temple trip tomorrow too! I really hope this will be a great week, and even if it's not, that we'll be able to enjoy it the best we can and learn from it too. Hope things go great for you guys, and though I don't always have reliable pictures I hope you all keep them coming! I love you!
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