It's only January here!!

Hi mum!

Mauri! I nang kukurei bwa e reke ngkai au tai ni koroboki teutana n tamaroan te bong aio, ao imwaain N na waaki N na kamauringkami ni kabane, kam na bane ni mauri!

Well, I hope you liked my letter about my week last week (in Kiribati) I guess that is it from me today. Have a great week!

Just kidding this last week has been good!   We have been really busy.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't teach a single lesson.  Not because of being out of it just because we have been busy doing other stuff!  We have been doing transfers with the mission president and we have had so many meetings that we just didn't have time to teach.  After that though we have been having more time to teach so that is good.

We got 5 new investigators last week so that was good!  Here in Kiribati most people will agree to have lessons if you chat enough with them and you ask in a good way.  It has been good.

So I gave most of those books that you sent to that lady that has the preschool and she was super grateful to have them.  She told me to tell you thanks for them!  Her preschool is going to be checked by the education today so it was perfect timing to get them to her before they are going to come to check her house.  I kept the star wars books and gave them to Kaiea (one of our recent converts) so that he can become a star wars fan. He always goes to the library and gets books to read so I figured he would really like them.  Now I am just trying to find someone who I should give the Dr. Seuss books to.  I gave the bracelets and some of the stickers to the primary president in our ward and she was excited.  A ton a little kids kept coming up to me and telling me how they like their bracelets.  They were pretty happy!

A couple of our investigators have been doing good!  Nei Nimwanoa wasn't really progressing, but the other day we talked about her baptismal date and she really wants to get baptized.  She came to church yesterday and she is really close to being ready to be baptized!  Her husband is still less active but we are working with him.  There are a couple less actives I have visited a bunch here, and I feel like one of them is really close to coming back to church.  I am pretty sure he hasn't been to church in many years but he looks like he is about to come back.  If he doesn't my last Sunday I am going to get him and wait for him till he gets ready and I will go with him to church.  That is my goal.  I know so many people here and I am going to try and help a bunch of them before I leave.  The time is short and I am really busy with other stuff, but I am for sure going to try. 

I liked the picture of Sarah with my countdown chain but I don’t understand why there are only a few chains.  It is only January here and I still have 7 months.  Haha  time is going way to fast here. 

So to answer some questions, when you get called to be a Zone leader or a District leader or an AP you don't get set apart by the laying on of hands.  You just get called and whenever the day comes that you are to be that you are it.  

Right now we are trying to plan another trip to go to an outer island, but it looks like we might only get to one more before my time ends.  Hopefully we will get to 2 if I am lucky but I am guessing only one.

Nei Teraimoa in my ward made me a way sweet lava-lava so that is cool. She has made me a bunch of cool stuff while I have been here.  I really should be trying to find everyone in the family cool gifts but I really haven't had much time to try and find stuff.  

Things are going really good here. I love being a missionary and doing this work.

Have a great week!

Elder Dinsdale

PS  You asked what I would miss about Kiribati.  I will miss everything but one thing is I will miss the breeze but also in Utah there isn't much humidity there so that should be nice.  An Elder just came back from America last week and he said he is just sweating so much here and he doesn't like it, and he is from Kiribati.  So it will be nice to not be sweating all day in America.  By the way Happy Birthday DAD!  I forgot to tell you last week but I hope you had a sweet party or at least you had some cake.  

Slept in a Hammock

Hello,

So once again we don't really have much time to write as we have been really busy today, but things are going really good here.

This past week we went to Tarawaieta and it was great. We only spent 2 days out there but I got to sleep in a hammock so that was really fun. Elder Parry is working with Elder Hansen that just came over about a month ago from the Marshall Islands.  They are both doing well! It was fun seeing Elder Parry again and just being out in an outer island again.  I have to admit it was really hot biking around but it was good.

This week we will not be going anywhere but within the next month we will be heading out to Butaritari so that should be good.

I got my package!!  Thank you!!!  I opened it Sunday morning (on my Birthday) and it was really fun!  For my Birthday I bought myself a cake that said Tekeraoi ngai (good luck to me) and then the Elders at my house bought me another cake that said happy 120th anniversary so that was really sweet. I love cake.

So yep, July 10th is when I will be heading home!  I was pretty excited to stay longer but I guess it will be good to get back. I do love it here though. 

Have a great week!

Love Elder Dinsdale

I'm an uncle!!!

Mauri,

It was great to Skype last week and it is way sweet that I am an uncle!!!

 We are going to be heading out on Thursday to go work in Tarawaieta with Elder Parry and his companion so I am pretty excited about that.  After that we are not sure where we are going next. 

To answer your question about how help someone to prepare to serve.  One idea is have them live a couple days like a missionary. I know some places have done it but it doesn't seem like what an actual missionary does.  Working all day everyday doing stuff that you are told to do and no communication with friends and family would be hard for most people but it’s what we do as missionaries.

I have just one cool experience.  In my first area when I served with Elder Whitehead in Banana we baptized a named by the name of Buiona.  Well, last week at a Stake conference there he was!!  It was way sweet seeing him and knowing that he is still active!!

Well, I don't have much time, but I am very grateful for all you do for me.

Have a great week!

Elder Dinsdale

I'm off to Tabiteuea!!

Mauri,

  

This week has been great and tomorrow I leave to Tabiteuea but we will only be there a couple days.  We are flying to Tab South but we are going to try and hop off the plane at Tab North and we will boat down to Tab South.  We are going to help the missionaries out there as well as help find out if 2 branches (one in Tekaman and one in Tab south)  will be able to be set up out there.  It will be sweet to go there again. 

This week we have been working with the second councilor in the mission presidency who is Kiribati to help us go out and set up branches on the different outer islands.  So in the next couple months we hope to have 10 or more branches set up that are new in Kiribati.  I am pretty excited to help out with this. 

We have been really busy with AP duties so sometimes we only have an hour or two each day to teach but occasionally we have full days of teaching time so that is really nice.  We still teach Tourakai and he is doing pretty good.  He fell back into smoking and has been having a really hard time quitting so we are helping him out with it.  His dad is getting better though little by little so we think he should be good.

Funny story: Elder Shumway came and woke me up this morning and the house was flooding. So that was exciting.  We turned off the water and then we spent about 30 or so minutes trying to get rid of all the water.  Not sure what happened but all it good now.

The best thing this week was that at church yesterday we had over 30 Melchizedek Priesthood holders at church!!  Hopefully this will help our wards and we will soon be ready to split.  We also had a lady come to church with her husband.  She has never come before to church but she came and loved it so that was way sweet.   

So for Mother's Day I actually decided since I am coming home so soon it would be better to just talk to you when I get home and so I won't be Skyping. Ha just kidding yeah we will be Skyping sometime Mother's day!!

Have a good week; keep doing great things with your life!

Elder Dinsdale 

PS  Elder and Sister Jenks just came home and should have pictures and letters that I sent with them!!