12/31/2017 Kaise hei, aur HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Kaise hei, aur HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (I beat you all to 2018)

Man, I COME HOME THIS YEAR! But who's keeping track?
Not a lot of time today, we're in Lautoka this morning because everything in Nadi was closed due to the holiday. I was only able to pay for one hour so I'll try to squeeze in as much as I can.

Yous have no idea how refreshing it was to see everyone's faces. It was soooo nice to see and hear from everyone, especially those I haven't seen since I've been out. Talking to you guys really put into perspective how soon I'll see you all, and it got me really excited. I'm also excited to start applying the new years resolution Elder Tui'one and I set as a companionship: to be exactly obedient in the time we have left together as well as with all of our future companions. I'm determined to finish with a bang.

The last week was good, a LOT of people missing from home due to the holidays but we did manage to find some good people. Halamehi, our baptismal candidate, will be interviewed tomorrow for her baptism next week Tuesday. She's SO ready, and I'm SO excited to see her make that covenant. 

This next week looks awesome, I'll be going on exchanges with the zone leaders tomorrow so that they can conduct the baptismal interview and check out how we're doing in our work here in Nadi.

Kind of like back home, nothing significant to report from the last week haha.

I've been thinking a lot about my calling as a district leader, and it's hard. Sometimes the responsibility overwhelms me and I doubt my ability to fulfill this leadership role. I want to ask President to allow me to just be a normal missionary, as I've learned that I'm much more effective a follower than I am a leader, but I've also learned something for myself that I've been hearing my entire mission: When He calls, he qualifies. When President received revelation to call me to lead the Nadi district, he qualified me for the work. I may not feel capable or confident in my ability, but I can be sure that the ability is in me to do exactly as President has asked.

Elder Tui'one shared something in district meeting last week that I liked, that goes along with Proverbs 3:5-6. "This is God's work, let God work."
It's a reminder to me to humble myself and to allow God to do his part instead of trying to carry the work out on my own. That's a big contribution to my stress as a district leader, but I know God has my back when things look bleak and he'll carry me through as I put in the effort.

My time's up, glad all is well back home! Have a blessed sabbath, an awesome week, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Aaplogke baut pyaar kare, khyaal rakna!
Elder Ishibashi 

1-21-2018

Kaise hei parivaar!

First off, HAU'OLI LA HANAU E KUʻU KAIKAINA A ME KUʻU MAKUAKANE MAIKA'I LOA!!! Maika'i no au i keia la, mahalo e papa! 

Appropriately, the men of the house. 

Thank you, dad, for the incredible example of hard work, perseverance, and brimming love for everyone around you that you've been to me and my siblings over all these years. In addition to my experience mom shared with you upon your release as bishop, there countless other things you've done for me and taught me as a father and as a bishop that you'll never know, because of how deep and sacred they are to me. As I went about my journey to becoming worthy to serve a mission, I felt awkward that the process had to be directed by my bishop-dad. I've thanked Heavenly Father countless times since for the blessing of having been able to apply what I learned on that mountain that day in real life, and I was thus able to witness and gain a testimony of the raw, incredible healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love you so much dad, and I appreciate the excellent example of a father and a husband that you are to us.

Best of luck on that new calling, and I hope you had an incredible birthday!!

Kala'i, I remember the last request I whispered into you ear before I got on the plane. "Take care of them." I remember very vividly the new sense of responsibility I felt as I watched 'Io get on that plane. It was suddenly my turn to be the great example to you guys; to be the priesthood holder of the home when dad was away at work or fulfilling his bishopric duties. I feel so blessed to know that the family is doing really well and even growing physically, mentally, and spiritually. I'm so blessed to know what a great example Lehia, Nina, and all your friends have at home. I'm so glad you've already made the decision to serve a mission, and right after you graduate! As I go about my mission, I become more and more certain that the experiences I've had will bless me and those I work around for the rest of my life and theirs. Just a reminder: Just because you're big, doesn't mean you automatically know how to fight. Just because your biceps are as big as my head doesn't mean you can knock me out, there's just a significantly higher chance of that happening when you actually hit me. I don't know if you're still tryna be able to beat me up when I get home, but remember that. Also remember that if you HAVE been boxing, I haven't boxed in a long time and you're a foot taller than me now so take it easy. I love you so much man, have a great birthday!!

Not a lot of time today, but that's okay because I don't have ALL that much to report. Man, the people here are SO nice, no wonder they call it the Friendly North. 

I'm loving Labasa, I've only ever met really great people so far. Our investigators and members are so pleasant to be around and make the work so much nicer. 

Yesterday we had our Labasa district conference, which was awesome. I couldn't understand most of it, given that most of the addresses were delivered in Fijian, but I understood and loved the talks given by President and Sister Higgins and the senior couple, the Czieps. 

Sister Cziep's talk spoke to me particularly, she likened the story of the tortoise and the hare. We are often like the hare, thinking that everything is all good and we can chill and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die and not have to worry about the race because we can repent later. However, we know how the story goes. The hare gets a (literal) wake-up call when he awakes and realizes that because of his carelessness and arrogance, the tortoise beat him to the finish line. We need to be humble and prepared for the end, especially since we don't know when it'll come. "Now is the time for men to perform their labors."-?

The rest of the conference was awesome. Because of the conference, for which almost all the missionaries in the zone came down, we've been housing 16 missionaries over the last three days. Luckily, we have a really big flat. Unluckily, the house looks like Winston came back for round two, so we're setting a day aside this week to clean and beautify the flat before the landlord returns from vacation and inspects it.

Speaking of the nice people here, we had a dinner appointment on Thursday night with a less active family in an area called Saiberia. We got to the area a little early, so we decided to go for a walk down the road and have a language study before dinner. As we walked, we heard this lady saying "Eldas! Ao (come)! Ao!" from her humble little home on the side of the road. Elder Tavake looked more closely at her and noticed that she works at a breakfast spot they hit up all the time. We walked over and she invited us to sit with her on this big wooden platform thing built around a tree in her front yard. Elder Tavake took the lead and sat on one side of her, and she patted the spot on the other side for me to sit. I didn't want to make it awkward, sandwiching her between us, so I kindly just moved around them to sit next to Elder Tavake on the other side. What I didn't realize: That platform was obviously pretty old, and Elder Tavake and I are two pretty hefty guys. As soon as my butt began applying pressure to the platform, I kind of just felt the thing melt underneath me. And then the rest of it followed. In about three seconds the three of us were sitting in a pile of rotted wooden planks. Not one of my prouder moments on the mission, but she just laughed it off and invited us in the house. We're still waiting/hoping for her call for us to come back and build her a new platform. I felt wayyy bad but the family was so nice and pleasant to sit and have a laugh and lesson with. We'll be returning sometime this coming week. We also met with heaps of other people Elder Tavake and Elder Morgan met with before I came. Oh I don't know if I told yous, I replaced Elder Morgan here in this area, which sucks because it is the second time I missed him by just a few hours. I've already met countless people that loved him like their own son or brother, so I'm happy to be able to see his legacy here. Anyways, he did heaps of good work here and we're looking at a really good transfer! 

We'll be heading out soon, but know that I'm happy and healthy! I love this work and this district so much, SUCH a helpful, humble, observant, and hardworking district. I feel honored to be able to lead such a great group of elders and sisters. 

Please also give my love again to the Stephens family.

Thank yous so much for the pictures, so happy to know all is well back home! I love you all so much, have a great and blessed week! 

Ham aaplogke baut pyaar karta hei, khyaal rakna!

Elder Ishibashi 

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1-14-2018 Kaise hei hamaar pyaari parivaar!

Kaise hei hamaar pyaari parivaar!

First things first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

I love you soooo much and I'm SO glad you're safe and in good health right now.
You really are the greatest mom anybody could ever ask for, and I know you doubt that sometimes. Nobody's perfect, we definitely could've been better kids growing up haha, but nothing can rid me of my knowledge that you are exactly the woman that was predetermined in the preexistence to mother this family. Our family has unshaken faith in this true, restored gospel. You have two returned missionaries (one on the way [soon]), two married in the temple and sealed to their families for eternity, and a total of seven kids who know the love of a Heavenly Father. You've been my caretaker, my shoulder, my support, and my example for almost 21 years. This family wouldn't be what it is and I wouldn't be what I am if it weren't for the incredible, faithful woman that you are. I love you so much mom, I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

This has been a very interesting last week/ few days.

We got calls on Tuesday. Now at this point, I thought one of two things were going to happen.
(1) I'd be called back to Nasinu to whitewash train a new missionary in the Hindi Branch that was just organized, or (2) I'd be staying in Nadi and following someone up. I really wanted to stay because we've really been receiving a lot of referrals and seeing a lot of success that I looked forward to carrying on with. I just didn't want to go to Labasa, because it's so isolated from other missionaries and not a lot of English is spoken there. 

When the call from President came, the first thing he said was "Well, I'm sorry to inform you that we'll be taking you out of the beautiful Nadi Hindi area." (Well, shoot) "Now Elder Ishibashi, we need you to pack your bags, because we're gonna be sending you aaaaall the way-" (...no...) "-to Labasa!"
SO, I immediately began the always-sad vakamoce process. I loved the Nadi ward and Elder Tui'one, but my place is being taken by Elder Lee Chip Sao, who I hear is a great missionary, so I trust that Nadi and Elder Tui'one are in good hands. 

I flew out Friday morning and landed on Vanualevu 45 minutes later. Being here, I'm really excited because I'm certain I'm gonna come off with wayy better Hindi and the people here are wayy nice. I also thought nobody here would know who Herbert is, given he's never set foot in the North, so this would be my first area he's never really served around. HOWEVER, Herbert apparently cast his legacy TOO FAR I was wrong. My companion told me that when he told one of the members that I was coming, she said "... to be with you?" Yeah! "... but he speaks Fijian." Nope, he speaks Hindi, and he's coming up tomorrow to be my companion. "No, he went home a long time ago" I served around Elder Tavake in Nadi, so he knows about Herb, so he corrected the woman and she understood. Given that she was brought up in Labasa, hooOOW does she know Herbert?? Herbert planted way too many seeds out here, I'm telling you. 

Anyways, I love Elder Tavake. He's from Draper, Utah, and is my fourth Tongan companion in a row. My Tongan is better than my Samoan at this point. He's wayy crack up and is super dedicated to the work. I'm really excited to work with him here for the next transfer or two. His mom was brought up in Waikiki, I don't know if you know any Mataeles from that area but I reckon it's worth a shot asking if yous might know her haha.

The last few days have been consistent of visiting members and investigators, all of which are awesome and I love them. I'm here leading the Labasa district, which consists of four areas: Nakawakawa, Seaqaqa, Labasa Sisters, and Labasa Hindi. I still haven't met with the Nakawakawa or Seaqaqa Elders yet because they weren't able to come down for district meeting yesterday (yes, district meeting is on Sunday here due to travel complications), but everyone will be coming down this weekend for district conference on Sunday. 

I'm serving in my first branch, and the Labasa branch is great. The members are all really sweet and were so warm and welcoming yesterday. SO stoked to be here and work here for the next four months before I finish. I reckon this is my last area. 

Nothing else to report really, this has already bit a long report haha so I'll start responding to other emails. I love you guys, SO HAPPY you guys are safe! And SO HAPPY for RACHEL! How lucky is that?? I know she's just up in the clouds right now, but why is everybody leaving RIGHT before I get home? They're leaving when they're supposed to, I guess. Give her my love! 

Know I'm happy and healthy here in Labasa! I love you guys so much, have a great and blessed week! 
Khyaal rakna,

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I wrote this first but I didn't want my letter to start on a bad note haha.

I got the biggest scare of my entire life. 
I got three emails notifying me right off the bat that Hawaii had received a missile warning. 
I am aware of the nuclear threats that have been made recently between the American and Korean leaders, and I have low key been fearing active execution.

I was praying before I even opened the emails, but all confirmed that the warning was a false alarm. 
I can't imagine the hysteria and the fear stricken into everybody's hearts in that moment of panic. I also can't help but be a little upset at the carelessness of the Civil Defense for allowing something like this to happen, but it must have been a blessing in disguise. Proper preparation is SO important. This is something beyond a hurricane or a tsunami. Please be prepared. I love you guys so much.

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1-7-18 Always follow God

Kaise hei, hamaar baut julum parivaar?


To be honest, this has been a hard week. A lot happened that got me down in the dumps, but I have an unbreakable testimony of Ether 12:27. What I found a little funny, referring to that particular scripture, is that I went to the Lord in prayer more than I have in a long time over the last week, and that happened to be precisely when the Lord began to hit me where it hurt. I again relate the analogy of calluses. Learning to play the guitar, you'll get blisters and sores on your fingertips. Playing will hurt, but as you persevere and play through the pain, those blisters will toughen into calluses. I lost several people I care deeply about in more ways than one. 

Recap of the week:
I went on exchanges with the zone leaders on Tuesday so that Elder Eberspacher could conduct Halamehi's baptismal interview that night. Before the interview, we met with several part-member families and discussed our teaching their non-lds family members. Sister Pillai, one of the longtime members of the Nadi ward (she's 82) has been asking us to teach and baptize her granddaughter Abigail for the while. Abigail is 11, and there's just one problem. Missionaries have been trying to baptize Abigail ever since she turned 9, but her mother (a less-active member) for some reason is adamantly against Abigail being baptized. We've been trying to meet with her for months but she's never available. We talked to Sister Pillai on Tuesday about Abigail's legal guardianship. Seeing that she's staying with her grandmother, if Sister Pillai was her legal guardian and financial support, it would be her decision whether or not Abigail is allowed to be baptized. However, we learned that Abigail is still legally under her mother, and Sister Pillai's financial support is coming from her daughters. We're trying again to meet with Abigails mother on Wednesday, so hopefully we can let her understand how important it is that Abigail is baptized as soon as possible. We also met with Nasau, who asked us to start teaching her husband. He's always been way supportive of their conversion to the restored gospel, but is just way shy to meet with us. Apparently he isn't that involved in his Hindu religion at all either, so I'm excited to start teaching him. Halamehi breezed through her interview, she's so ready and I'm so excited! 

We switched back on Wednesday and had a pretty normal day of finding and visits.
I received a call from the zone leaders first thing Thursday morningthat our dear prophet, Thomas S. Monson, had passed away Wednesday night. Studies over the last few days have been about the late prophet and the incredible legacy he left behind. I learned a LOT of remarkable things about President Monson that I never knew before. If you haven't already seen Remembering a Prophet of The Lord: President Thomas S. Monson on lds.org, watch it now. It's a wonderful tribute to him. 

It's been a great opportunity to strengthen the ward and reiterate the significance of a living prophet on the Earth today. 

When we visited Halamehi on Friday, she shared how her family couldn't figure out why she was so heartbroken over the passing of someone she didn't even know. She shared with them that she knew who president Monson was and what he did, and that the world just lost a very influential man. It was another great opportunity to teach Halamehi how the church works and how the new prophet is called to lead it. She has a great testimony of the restored gospel and modern-day revelation. 

The plan for Halamehi's baptism was as such: She'll be moving back to Nausori on Friday, but she really wanted to be baptized around people she knew and was comfortable with, so we set it up for her to be baptized here in Nadi then confirmed in Naulu ward in Nausori. However, I received another call from the zone leaders on Friday that baptismal candidates need to be baptized and confirmed in the same ward (which makes sense, I just hoped they'd let it slide for the sake of being able to witness her baptism). After talking it over, she decided to be baptized in Nausori on Saturday and sealed the next day. Though I would have loved to see her get baptized, and maybe even help her into the water myself, to know that she'll be baptized brings me comfort in itself. 

Elder Tui'one's bible character of the week is: Job. He has an unbreakable testimony of the gospel, has very real intent, and is completely covered in boils. His boils got so bad that on Saturday, we were recommended by the mission nurse to go to the medical center in our area. They patched him up, prescribed all the medication he'd need and we were out. He's on the meds now, and all the boils are already looking significantly better.

Yesterday was a great first sabbath of the year, OI LEI HAPPY NEW YEAR! Many great blessings to come your way in the coming year (including me, yeet). Anyways, Sunday was a good and busy day. It was supposed to be busy, anyway. A few of our new investigators came to church and told us to come by after church. After our appointment with Nasau's husband fell through, as well as several others, we asked if we could visit them earlier. They said they'd be busy the whole day, and since it had just started pouring ridiculously hard, we decided to have a study/planning sabbath instead. This coming week is transfer week, so we find out tomorrow what happens to the Nadi district next transfer (who I'm training).

The news I received this morning, however, hurt the most. I still don't really know how to react, it's just kind of hard to believe he's left. Please give all my aloha to the Stephens family, I can't begin to imagine what they're going through. It brings me a lot of comfort to know that the kids are strong at this time, comes to show what a great testimony they have of the plan of salvation and the restored gospel. Memories of our camp trips and his awesome Sunday school lessons flood my heart. I personally am gonna miss him heaps, and though it's sad that I won't be able to see him at my homecoming, I'm glad to know I'll be able to see him at my heavenly homecoming.

It's also a bit sad hearing about the return missionary’s pride in being disobedient in the mission. Kala'i, please lovingly let the other youth know that that is not a good example to follow. No matter where you serve or the culture of that particular mission, be obedient. Always follow God and not man, for blessings come not from man but God alone. 

This coming week is gonna be a very interesting one, I could stay here in Nadi and I could go. At this point, the odds are equal. 

Thanks for the letters, I'm glad to know all is well at home. We're off to give a blessing soon, but you all have a blessed and incredible week! I love you guys! 

Ham aaplogke baut pyaar karta hei. Hamaar ban kare se pahile, ham khali mangta raha apaan gawahii share kare hamlogke zindagi ke bara me. Ham janta hei ki mar apaan zindagi ki aunt nahin hei, khali apaan agle zindagi ke suru hei. Ham janta apaan purha dil se ki ham apaan pariwaar fir milega iis zindagi ke baad. Ham janta hei ki khali Ishi Masih aur apaan balidaan ke dwara iis saab chiij hoi sake. Uu aur apaan pita, hamlogke Pita Parmeshwaar, hamlogke baut pyaar kare. Ham iis susumachaar baut pyaar kare, himaat karo.

Khyaal rakna hamaar julum pariwaar, baut pyaar! 

Elder Ishibashi 

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