So yeah, it really is though. Back in Utah you can always hear the rain on the ground, but here it is much more misty. It still kind of throws me off. It's been raining a lot here recently, probably because there are a couple cyclones right nearby, but neither of them is supposed to have much of an effect on New Caledonia except for some higher surf. We had a lot of wind and rain over the past few days though. The lightning and especially the thunder have been great. It's quieter here than back home, and the thunder just echoes and rolls across the hills here.
So, a few more things to know about New Caledonia and Noumea and then some stuff on the work. First off, Noumea really is like a city from the French Riveria just stuck in the middle of the South Pacific. There are some obvious differences, like the foliage, but the vehicles are all European, the sports are European and Pacific (mostly soccer and rugby), the roads are European (roundabouts, roundabouts everywhere) it's crazy. Weird thing about New Caledonia though, there are a lot of pine trees here. Yeah, pine trees. They're different from back home, but still pine trees. I hope I have some pictures to send, if not I'll take some. The cars here are interesting. Almost everyone drives either a small European car like a Peugot or a Renault, or a big Ford truck. Most of the missionaries have Toyota Hiluxes, which are small diesel pickups or Nissan Rogues, which fall under the "tiny European car" category.
So, before I got to Noumea I actually spent about 5 days in Vanuatu. I was able to pick up a surprising amount of Bislama, to the point where I could follow a lesson, give small thoughts, and even offer the first half of a prayer. Given that it's a simple language based primarily on French and English, that's not too surprising. A lot of people there also speak either French or English, and the Elders I was staying and working with would always let me know if they spoke French so I could practice. Vanuatu is beautiful, but you can tell that it still hasn't recovered from the cyclones it has endured, which is sad, but the culture and the people there are beautiful and wonderful. I think I like New Caledonia better, but that's understandable given my mission call.
So, the work. I don't remember if I mentioned that I'm on foot, but I am. I actually kind of enjoy that, it makes it easier to talk to people, and people here are almost always willing to stop and chat. Our area is probably about 4 miles across, but it's really not that bad. Plus someday I'll have cool worn-out shoes as a souvenir. :) We have three main investigators right now. The first is Robert, an older gentleman whose wife is a inactive member. He believes the church is true, but I think he's afraid to leave his Protestant congregation. The next is Merveille. She's a sixteen year old girl whose been taught all the lessons and loves the Church and keeps all her commitments, but her parents don't want her to be baptized, so we're trying to talk to them. Finally we have Henri, a fairly new investigator who we've had three great lessons with, but he works on Sundays so we're trying to figure out a way to get him to church. There are a few others, but those are the ones we see regularly right now.
There's definetly a lot of work to be done here, we just have to go get it done. I really love being a missionary, it's tough, really tough, but wonderful.
See you on the flip side,
Elder Miner
No comments:
Post a Comment