Scott's Seaside Mission: 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