We got pictures!!

Hey,

So I don't have a ton of time but I will try and respond to your questions and stuff.

Yes it does rain a lot here. Today is the first day it has been good weather in about 2 weeks. We bike in the rain, and it isn't too much fun but we need to do it.

Don’t worry about the food here.  I get plenty of food and the Lord watches over the Missionaries and there is no need to worry. It is all good!!

My kid (new companion Elder Netti) is doing quite well. I think he is enjoying the mission and the area so things are good.

Great job Sarah on High School Musical!!  That is awesome!

If we get packages then things are good because they send them here from Tarawa pretty quick. The same thing happens with letters so please write. It is pretty close to Tarawa so people go back and forth quite often.

Things are way good here with our people and the work. We are working hard and we are seeing the change with our people and such.

Well, hopefully I answered a decent amount of stuff. I will hear from you more next week!

Elder Dinsdale

Strengthened by the Lord

Hey,

So things are all good here.  It sounds like everyone is busy at home working and such. 

Not everyone here works. And most of the people that work just collect coconuts and sell them and such. I believe work is a good thing. People here are super surprised when I tell them that where I am from if you don't work then you don't eat. Here people can find food if they are too lazy to work for it.

You asked me what I eat… If I eat in the morning or lunch I eat crackers with this spam stuff but a different brand of spam. And then if stores have banana's I buy them and have them. Dinner is as usual, fish and rice.  So pretty much I am living the high life out here. I am healthy so don't worry.

As for a description of our area, we live in Tuarabu. Our area is 30 minutes North and an hour South of our house. So it is good for the exercise.  There is tons of work to be done here but we have got it.  This week we biked to the edge of the island and worked there a bit as well.

Our area definitely had some issues before we came. Right now we just started our work in another branch in our area which we came to find out has just fallen apart over the past few months. The branch president just got back a bit ago. He told us only 9 people came to church the week before. We visited some people and did church there and we got about 15 people there. So now we are rebuilding. Also we have to re teach people stuff because people that were baptized recently don't know what they need to know. We are planning on working a lot down there now because before like 30 or 40 people came each week and now it is messed up. So we are rebuilding a branch and it is fun. The branch president doesn't have any councilors because nobody is worthy down there, so there is a lot of work to do. Also down in another village we are hoping to start up a unit or something. We had 7 people come to church so little by little we hope to make a new place there. Church services are very different from each other here. One branch here is good. The other one it is just one hour of church a week and the branch president conducts it. And another area we do the church.  We give the talks and bless the sacrament and everything.  So it is a new experience.

Originally it was really hard getting people to teach but now we have plenty to teach. Lots of less actives and a few investigators but it is good. People really like my companion I would say. It helps that he has no trouble talking to them because he is Kiribati. One problem (which isn't really a problem) is that if something needs to be done they tell him a lot of times because he is Kiribati but he is new and doesn't know really that much stuff. A lot of people are just scared/shy of white people.

To be honest, coming here and not knowing anybody with a kid (new missionary) that he doesn't speak English not knowing what I was doing or anything was hard. Also the lifestyle is different because there isn't really anything out here. But now like we have it. I don't think we will be baptizing a ton, but the area here is definitely being strengthened by the Lord now so it is really good.

So, yeah we have a lot to do but I agree that we will definitely learn a lot more from areas like this.

Well, that is all from me thanks for everything.

Love you all.

Elder Dinsdale

(I lost my sunglasses a while ago but don't send a package just for those. We have bike stuff here. Dad gave me a bunch before I left. The wrench bottom fell off though unfortunately so I do not have a wrench anymore to fix my bike.  If you do send a package Elder Neeti likes chocolate so please send some chocolate bars or something.)

Do you know any Mormons?

HELLO!!

1^st email sent from a phone

Hello,

   Here is a little about my life in  Abaiang.  My companion is Elder Neeti.  He is from Christmas Island.  He is 20 years old and he and his little brothers are the only members in his family.                                                

As of now we do not have any investigators yet but soon we are hoping to have some.

The weather here is the same but so far there is a little less rain.

We get around by biking as usual.  Our bikes are pretty broken though.

There is not too much food here like there was on Christmas but they do eat a lot of bread. I did bring some random stuff from my packages so that is good.

I sent some shells home with Elder Afatasi.  So any of my friends that want shells can go over to the house and get some!!  I hope you will be able to get the pictures.  They should be fun to see.

I am doing good here. The internet is done on a phone.  So that means my emails will always probably be shorter messages.

Love you all

Elder Dinsdale

2^nd Email

Well mom,

We did all our emailing on our phone and stuff and the other Elders (Carrington and Lega) went back to their area. Then my companion Elder Neeti (pronounced Ness) told me when he emailed it didn't even work.  So now we are at a Catholic school and we are using a laptop so I can actually write a decent amount and I will try to answer some of your questions!

What happened when you left Kiritimas?

So Elder Hungai and I left Kiritimas for Fiji on Wednesday and slept in the hotel. We woke up early the next morning, went to the airport, (same time as the new intake and my companion coming from the New Zealand MTC) and we flew to Tarawa. When I got to Tarawa they told me I was going to the Island Abaiang for sure with a kid. (A person that is new).  

Were there been Elders in your area before you?

Elders have been here but the last ones here before worked only a little,  One was ending his time and they ended up screwing off and so we came here with literally no people.

How did you get to Abaiang?

We took a boat from Tarawa with a bunch of us (including Whitehead (my trainer) which was super sweet to talk to him) and we went to Abaiang. They dropped us off, and everyone left. We got ready, tried to rest a bit, we cleaned and then we went out. We just bicycled around. We had no idea where we were going; we didn't know a single person. We stopped at some house and asked them if they knew any Mormons. They knew a guy so we went to his house and chilled the rest of that night till we went home. On our way home someone yelled to us and we went over and we met the Branch President. It was chill. The next day was church though so it was good that we got to meet people a little and figure a little more out.

Do you have any investigators?

As of now, we have a bunch of potential people that we are trying to teach but none that have worked out yet. So right now just less actives and people that got baptized by the Elders before us.

Where do you live?

We live in a house, it is small. They said before us it was way nice. Now the pump and battery and tank and stuff are broken so I never got to see it when it was nice.

Is there water to drink etc?

We boil our water to drink. Bucket showers, bucket flushed toilet, hand washed clothes (that isn't fun), no American food so it is interesting but we survive.

How is the area?

The area is a lot bigger here than my area in London. 25 minutes one way and about an hour the other. We haven't gone too far because our bicycles keep getting broken. But we are working on it.

Tell us about your new companion.

Elder Neeti got baptized a couple years ago and is from London in Kiritimati. I remember I dropped him off at the airport when I was serving in London and he was going on his mission. He doesn't really speak any English but I don't really have an issue with speaking in Kiribati. It is nice though every time the Elders come up though from the other side of the island. I very much enjoy speaking in English to them.

Are there other Elders on the Island?

Yes there is Elder Carrington, and he is from Bonneville or the Ogden area and Elder Lega from Australia.

Well, I hope that helped you a little bit since it is hard to write on a phone.

I love you a ton mom, thanks for a wonderful Christmas and always supporting me in all I do.

Elder Dinsdale

Baptism on Fanning Island with Elder Afatasi

Enjoying some great and wet times in the back of a pick up truck!!

Fanning Island!!

Abaiang is my new home!

Hey so I am now on the Island Abaiang.  I am serving with a Kiribati Elder that is just starting his mission.   We don’t know anyone or what we are doing.  Today we are trying internet on a phone so I am not going to be able to email people.  I sent SD cards with Elder Afatasi so I hope you can get them.

I got my packages!!  Christmas was the best!  I loved all the letters.  Thank you everyone.

So, yeah love you all.

Sorry I can’t write.

 Elder Dinsdale