BONNE ANNEE!!!!

Good Afternoon! It's Elder Winget.. As usual. Sorry I didn't write last week, I didn't have time or kilometers to get down to Paita to do internet. Also our car was dead-- It stalled and then died (I can't remember if I told you guys that) And we had to push start it to get it going. It worked fine if we push started it but it wouldn't start on its own. But we went back down to Noumea and got it fixed-- it turned out it was just the battery. We got the battery replaced and it works like a charm.

Well the biggest news is that Elder Ulivaka went home today, so there are transfers. I will be staying in PK7 in Noumea for the next week with Elder Seiko and Elder Flanagan. Then I'll be going back up into exile to bore myself with another mini-missionary from Riviere Sallee. His name is Elder Blucker- the brother of the Elder that Sister Page saw in the MTC. He's 18 and he's really nice. I'm sad that he has to serve his mini-mission in Tontouta and Boulouparis because it makes mission work seem like a drag--- nothing ever happens and it seems like we're not working very hard even if we are. So it's kinda just like that. But I hope that he likes it anyway. Elder Ulivaka had a great time and he thanked me for being his companion. He said he was really worried he was going to be stuck with an over serious boring stick in the mud of a companion and he said that he was really happy that I am normal and that we were able to laugh. We did laugh a lot/all the time. We should have been more serious, which I feel bad about.. But at least he got a decent taste of mission work and he wants to go on a mission. I think I taught him a couple things and he feels the desire to strengthen his branch and his family and progress the travaille missionnaire. So I'm happy. His mom is also happy. So that's good. She was thankful that I treated him well. :)

On what you said about kids--- I agree. Sometimes it seems like adults are so "childish" while kids are "childlike".. huge difference. I see SO much of that here as well.. I wish the adults would just calm down and grow.. up? down? Me and Elder Ulivaka talked to some kids on the road in Boulouparis. They were really nice and I was happy. Most adults we talk to reject us before I can get one word out of my mouth, but these kids were genuinely interested and curious about what we did. They asked us who we were and we're like well we're missionaries and they asked us what that meant, and we more or less gave them a crash course on Christianity. It was really interesting, they didn't have preconceived ideas of who we are so they listened intently and genuinely. They asked us who God is, who Jesus is, and what prayer and repentence and all that is. We responded simply and they listened. One kid was less interested and didn't listen as much but one kid (his name was Antoine and he's 11 I think) was genuinely concerned for his soul... Reminds me of what Joseph Smith says about himself when he was 14. He asked us, well what do I do to be forgiven and clean? And I'm like well, repent. Pray. And he's like does God really listen when I pray? And I said yes. He said he'd pray and ask for forgiveness. He was more genuine than I've ever seen in any adult.. And I was really happy to talk to him. We gave him our phone number and asked him to ask his mom if we could talk to him more. He said he'd call... I hope he does.

Other than that we did service for Mamie Mo'o and Yvan (I think I told you about that on the phone). For new years we made steak (which was aaaawesome!) and mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans and french fries and it was oh so good. We watched church movies until midnight and then we went out and looked at the fireworks. It was cool- everyone had those ones that are illegal in the states (and probably here too) that shoot up in the air like the professional ones-- and they were everyone. Everyone drives through the streets with music really really really loud and screams BONNE ANNEE!!! It's cool and fun. We yelled bonne annee at a few people too. It was fun. Bourail elders weren't able to come down for New Years but we had fun anyway. The last part of Christmas was alright-- we went to a baptism and ate with the family Blucker. Good stuff.

You asked me about Soane and Vaea- they are blocked by some sort of paper. Soane was born in Vanuatu and the name on his birth certificate doesn't match the name on his passport.. or something weird. So they're waiting on papers. I don't know much else. But they might as well be active church members, although unbaptized they act like members of the Lord's true church more than lots of members do. They're great.

Other than that, not a huge amount of things have happened. I'm happy and life is good. I'm hoping to get transferred someday to somewhere where I can do real mission work but until then I guess I'll sit tight up in the north. I'm still sort of vexed because of the lack of information that gets passed up there-- I didn't know I was coming down to PK7 until Saturday when it was too late to go up to Boulouparis to get my stuff-- so I'm unprepared. Oh well that's life.


Well that's all I guess- I'm excited to see y'all in a few months. Thanks for all the emails- sorry if I missed a question or forgot to comment on something because there were many emails.. Tell me if I miss anything, okay? Thanks for all the emails and I love you all even if I don't have enough time to reply to everything. I hope your holidays were all great and if you need anything tell me. Thanks for everything- I love you all. Have a great sunday.

Love,
Elder winget