4-1-2018 So excited!

Kaise hai, parivaar!

Incredible week, as I feel so greatly blessed to have become the usual report.
So busy, in fact, that I can't immediately recollect what happened exactly...

Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal visiting days, we were able to set several baptismal dates and find several other people to begin teaching.

President and Sister Higgins popped by for a surprise joined companionship study on Wednesday morning! It was sooo pleasant to have them with us. I love having them over for companionship study because I see it as a golden opportunity to receive insights as to what we as a companionship can do better to carry out the work.

I love President and Sister Higgins SO much. I have utmost respect for them and I sustain them as powerful individuals called by the spirit of the Lord to lead this mission.

President Higgins is a very sweet, loving, and genuine man. Always constructive and very pleasant. What impresses me most about President Higgins, however, is how sensitive and obedient he is to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. It seems that every single decision that he makes is inspired by the spirit. He always knows exactly what to minster to someone according to exact needs that that individual has, whether they were shared with him or not. Every bit of criticism is given constructively and with love.

Sister Higgins is the perfect example of a loving mother. In fact, she reminds me of you, mom, in certain ways. She's such a sweet and gentle woman, and you know just by talking to her that she genuinely cares about your personal well-being. She's a very, very bold woman, which I love. She will tell you to your face exactly what she knows you need to hear in exactly the way she wants to express it. To some people her bold and un-withheld remarks are taken as rude, but I've come to appreciate untamed and uncovered honesty. She has no shortage of personal life-changing experiences that resulted from having been brought up in the gospel, and shares them freely. Her testimony is rock solid and so powerful, as is President's. We were blessed to witness their teaching abilities and bearing of testimony firsthand.

On Thursday morning, they accompanied us in a lesson with an investigator that has a lot of good questions. Brother Poese has been baptized into every church that exists in Fiji and has even tried Hinduism and Islam to find where he'd feel closest to God. He was particularly hateful towards the LDS church, despite his whole family being members, and rejected the lessons multiple times. After several experiences that not only prompted him to learn more about the church but impressed that he needed to join it, he accepted the lessons. He still has problems with the Book of Mormon and living prophets, but President and Sister Higgins were able to answer all of his questions exactly as he needed to hear them, and he loved having them there. The spirit in that lesson was almost physical, and I learned so much just listening to President and Sister Higgins minister to this soul-searching man. We're looking forward to seeing him again this week, hopefully with Brother Maiwiriwiri (Uncle Sonny).

We had HEAPS of plans for Saturday and I was really stressed about all the things that needed to be done, but fortunately and by the Lord's tender mercies, we were able to accomplish all the things we set out to do. We had an early morning lesson (which went beautifully), had same errands we had to run in town, a baptism to attend, several other lessons and referrals to follow-up on, a dinner appointment, then a wedding celebration. OH. I met Sister Daulton! Elder Hess, a few other missionaries, and myself were doing our shopping on Monday when I heard another Elder call my name behind me. I turned around to see him standing next to two little Indian women. Since I've been here for so long and have spoken to and served around so many Indian women (and because my eyes still suck), I couldn't identify her until she stood right before me and I recognized her big, Indian smile. It was such a sweet reunion! I thought it was a bit funny that as I approached them (Sister Daulton and her sister), I realized they were speaking English to each other. I learned while speaking to Sister Daulton that she hasn't spoken Hindi in so long that she's much more familiar and comfortable with English at this point. I was glad at least that she could understand, even if she'd rather respond in English. I REALLY want to keep up with my Hindi, which is an additional reason I'm excited for school. I know of several students at BYUH now that I hope will allow me to keep it up and improve it. Anyways, she was in Suva for her niece's wedding, and her sister strongly suggested that we come, even if just for a minute to eat. What I love about Indian functions, unless strictly religious, is that they're very open. No matter who you are, if you're a friend to a friend's friend, if you were invited, come on in. No fuss is made whatsoever. If two foreigners from a different church came to a Hindu wedding and said "I've never seen an Indian wedding, but I'd like to.", they would warmly push them to the front so they can meet the bride and groom then to the food line. Indians are amongst the most hospitable and welcoming people I've ever met, it's awesome. Anyway, we went to the wedding for just a minute after our dinner appointment to say hello, and left. Dinner was also incredible, it was with a Samoan family. Quick question: How easy is it to get my hands on a block of koko samoa, because I'm in absolute love with it now and I need some when I get home.

Yesterday was interesting. We woke up to ridiculously heavy rain. We got dressed and went to church to discover that following fast and testimony meetings, everyone should return home. We went to our next ward only to be told that church had been cancelled due to a cyclone currently hitting Fiji. No prior warning reached us, so this came as quite a shock. We were then alerted by the mission that easily-flooding proselyting areas needed to be evacuated before bridges flooded over and exit would be impossible. We informed Naitasiri to pack their things and come down to our flat and we were able to pick up Navatuyaba just before the current over the bridge got too strong. Because of our emergency rescue mission for Navatuyaba, we had to leave or third ward ten minutes before it began, and because they live quite a ways away, we were too late for them to partake of the sacrament. I feel so blessed, and what a great tender mercy it was that we were able to partake of the sacrament in our first ward. We had all the elders over last night, which was interesting, and they'll be out of their areas for at least another day or two because the tide has risen significantly and all the bridges have flooded over. This is also transfer week, so it's going to be ridiculously busy. I'm curious and excited to see what happens in the mission tomorrow.

Anyways we'll be heading out soon and I have several emails I need to respond to, but I'm glad all is well!

I'm SO stoked for conference! I heard about Elder Gong and Elder Soares, about Elder Wakolo speaking, and just that it was an excellent conference. So excited!

I'm so glad that everything back home is doing well, not very long before I'll be in the water with you guys, no worries!

Please give all my aloha to the ohana, and wish them all a happy and blessed Easter!

Keep the savior in your hearts, not just today, but always. Because He rose, so will we, and how glorious that day will be. Think about the new beginnings we can execute as we strive daily to become a greater disciple of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

I love you all so much, have a great and blessed week!

Khyaal rakna,

Elder Ishibashi