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