No Rats here!!!

Hello,

      Well, things are going well here.  I was able to baptize 2 people this past Saturday.  A little girl named Ana, and another lady (Nei).  It  was really good.  Next week Elder Whitehead should be baptizing like 5 more people.  We had planned to baptize more this past week but things fall through so easily in Kiribati.  The Island people just delay things and don’t really worry about much that goes on anywhere; they are great and very relaxed.  So, the work is going good here.  Elder Whitehead said that no one over the age of 25 has been baptized here for 6 months, and the Mission President told us he wanted us to get more Priesthood holders.  We set a goal at 10 baptisms this week with 4 of them Priesthood age men. 

Here is a little about my life here.  Our house here is chill.  No air conditioning, but I guess it is one of the few houses without rats so that is nice.  We have fans that we sleep with so it isn’t horrible.  Even though I feel like I am sweating almost every second of the day it isn’t too bad.  The bugs aren’t super bad, but I get bitten by mosquitoes all the time.  Today I got peed on by something and it feels like a wasp sting.  Not the best experience but I got over it.  As far as food you can buy  some soda, hot pockets, and just a bunch of random stuff.

I watched the first session of the Sunday session this morning (Monday) at 6:00am.  We went over to London (on Christmas) and watched it at a member house that had TV.  We actually went and slept in Tabwakea and then went over to London to watch it.  I was way excited for conference.  I learned that we need to focus on spiritual stuff and rely on the spirit to help us make all our decisions. 

Here is an experience I had this week.  We met a guy (Tetidai) and we went and talked to him and asked him if he wanted the lessons.  He said he would but he didn’t want to hear anything about the Bible.  So, we taught about Joseph Smith and the restoration.  We also taught him about prayer, it was really good.  The next day though we had the Book of Mormon lesson and we didn’t know what to do.  We decided to just go for it and teach the lesson.  So, we get to the lesson and asked him if he had any questions about the previous lesson and he sat there for a second and thought. .. He then responded that he wanted to hear about the Book of Mormon.  It was legit!!  It turns out he used to be like a Magistrate here and can speak some English.  He said he has really been searching for the truth.  He said he had tried other religions but something was missing.  He came and watched our baptisms last week and also came to church and said that he enjoyed it. 

Well, things are going really well here!  Hopefully things are going great at home!

Love,

Elder Dinsdale

Here is my address:

Elder Scott C. Dinsdale

Moroni High School

P.O. Box 278

Bikenibeu, Tarawa

Republic of Kiribati

Central Pacific

 

This picture was taken by the Senior Missionaries as Elder Dinsdale and Elder Darm stepped off the plane on Christmas Island.  Just another tender mercy!!!  Elder Darm is in London and Elder Dinsdale is in Banana.

Pray and Rely on the Lord

This is a combined Email effort.  The internet kept going down when Scott sent the family email but we feel blessed to know that he is safe and well.

Hello!

This is the third email I have tried to send so hopefully it works. But it will be short again because I have no time. I will share with you a few things quickly.

President Weir was here last week and he took us fishing.  It was good to spend time with him since the mission homes are in Tarawa and the Marshal Islands.     

We bike probably an hour and a half every day because we live 30 minutes by bike away from our area.  Everyone else (I am thinking that he means Missionaries) on  Christmas Island live 30 minutes away by car so we only go there once a week for District Meetings.

People here love dancing.  They are great!!  I have taken pictures but they say that some computers will delete you SIM card so I will show them to you in a couple years haha. 

Food here is good!  We have a store by us and that is the only store on Banana that sells American stuff, so we buy some when we can!  With the people we eat only fish and rice. I really do like fish and rice though so it isn't too bad that my entire diet for dinners is that.  I haven’t been sick yet and I am very much trying to keep it that way. 

People here say that I sing well, so of that I am glad.  I haven’t found any pianos on the Island though so I haven’t been able to play but it all works. 

So my day consists of studying, biking 25 to 30 minutes to my area, teaching all day, and then biking back.  I better be fit when I get back. 

Since I have been out here I pretty much feel like I have to rely on the Lord, so I say a lot of prayers.  The other day when we were teaching a lesson I realized that the rock key chain on my shoulder bag had fallen off somewhere.  So after the lesson I prayed, and then we went and looked for it and found it! What are the chances of finding my rock in Kiribati! Now I carry it in my pocket!!

I really enjoy the scriptures now so much they are way good. We are pulling 38 lessons this week and it feels good to work hard.  I know the Lord is here in the work. 

I don’t have an address yet but I will try to get one for next week!

Well, things are good and I will try and share experiences and stuff next week!

Elder Dinsdale

Banana week 1

Hello,

I literally have no time to email because the day was crazy.

Things are going good here, and I haven't gotten sick.  

It is hard to understand stuff but I am trying. People here are cool and everything is good! I will tell you more next week when I have time!

Love you all,

Elder Dinsdale

I'm back in Fiji

Hello!

Well, I am in Fiji chilling.  I leave to Christmas tomorrow night at 11:45pm.  I am not sure what time that is in Utah but it is very different.  Elder Darm and I will spend an entire day in Fiji tomorrow and we have no idea what we will do.  We are pretty much sure it is against the law to preach in Fiji unless you have a permit, which we only do for Kiribati so we will just study.  Good stuff!

Funny story, while in Tarawa Elder Darm and I were on splits in which the first house we went to the grandma offered Elder Darm and I her granddaughters to marry, haha  we declined. 

The people here are way cool though.  When I first looked at the people here they looked a little scary, but I just waved and smiled and they always seem to be happy to say hello!  So, it is really good.  While in Tarawa I taught with the Zone Leaders, but once I get to Christmas then I will finally be able to be with my trainer Elder Whitehead and meet the people I will be serving for the next 3-6 months or however long they decide to keep me there.  People say it is hotter in Christmas than Tarawa though, and I thought Tarawa was very hot and I got to travel around in the Zone Leaders air conditioned car.  I will be biking in Christmas with hot weather...So, it will be fun!  The flights have all been good though, and the airbus thing or whatever was nice.  We have been flying at night so everyone has been sleeping but I was in between two people so it was hard to fall asleep.  It works though. 

I can’t wait to send home pictures so you can see how people live.  It is crazy.  The nicer houses are probably the worst houses you would see where we come from.  Of course Tarawa I guess is a dirty place compared to Christmas.  Christmas is probably the nicer of most of the islands, but the people who have been there say that most people still live the same as in Tarawa, so pretty much either cinder block walls with metal roofs, or cement floors on occasion with leaf roofs.  They are actually cool over all.  We all sit cross legged wherever we go.  We sit on these little mats called kei.  They are pretty comfortable, and I have found sitting cross legged is easy for me.  All good fun.

So as far as food they pretty much eat fish and rice, but we also got some chicken as well because Tarawa has a little nicer food variety compared to other islands.  I hear that on Christmas though they have a store that gets some stuff from Hawaii so I may be able to have American food on occasion!  And they say there are tons of crabs there, so I guess I will try crab and see how it is!

So, I hear that the people here like to party as well.  Their parties are quite different though.  They say you just go and sit for hours at a time.  I talked to an Elder serving on Tarawa and he said on outer islands you will go to these parties and sometimes you will just sit there and do nothing for up to 10 hours at a time, but it is disrespectful if you leave.  So I will have to let you know how that goes.  I love partying and all, but they party slightly different than what I am used to.  It will be good though.

Well, it seems like everything at home is going good and I am glad.  I will email you next week when I am finally serving in my area.

Love you all.

Elder Dinsdale

Here I am and it is HOT!!

Well, I am here in Kiribati!

 First thing first, it is very hot here! Good stuff though.

 This is pretty much the poorest place I have ever seen in my life. But way cool! McKenna will enjoy this, there are pigs just chilling along the roads and such! (McKenna raises pigs all summer and then takes them to the county fair)   There are also dogs, cats, chickens, and naked kids running around with just the regular Kiribati people in the streets.

 I am safe and everything is good. I will fly back to Fiji Monday and stay the night there and then I fly to Christmas Island.  I will be serving in Banana with Elder Whitehead as my trainer. Elder Whitehead is from South Ogden and in Dave and Val’s ward.  Christmas Island is not really considered an outer island because it is probably as nice as Tarawa the capital of Kiribati. But I will see.  I believe the Lord is testing me to see if I will truly work as hard as I can wherever I go. I am ready to work and I trust in the Lord. 

Well, that is all I can write.

 I love you all, and I will email actually Monday or Tuesday depending on what happens!

Elder Dinsdale

From Jen:  Here are some pictures that I found of Banana/ Christmas Islands.  I think Scott will be able to get some email and would love to hear from you if you have a minute to email him.  I know he would also be thankful for your prayers.