Baptisms and hospitals! :-)

Upside: I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM!!!

Downside: I left immediately after for the hospital...

Upside: It was a sweet baptism and many patient and supporting ward members came! It was even conducted my our newly appointed Ward Mission Leader! Wahoo!

Downside: We happened to schedule it during a rugby tournament happening in our village in Wailoku. To which are investigator went and forgot about her baptism so we had to taxi down, walk (not me, my companion. I was in too much pain) across the muddy ruby field and get her for her baptism that was already late.

Upside: The hospital had really good food and I should be out tomorrow!! Yay! ( she was. ) 

Downside: I now know what it feels like to have an IV. They really start to hurt after 24 hours. 

*sorry about the picture. I was in lots of pain and my companion took this when I was first being admitted. haha

 

 

This picture is the baptism of Sharon Lovis. An indian with an austrailian husband. Only member in her family. So amazing and knows a lot about all the other religions and thereby knows this one is unique. :) Her baptism was heaps good. It was  all planned and prepared by our newly called bishopric and WML. It was great. We just got to come and enjoy it. unlike the last one which was stressful. haha

This picture is the baptism of Meresi. Her testimony is powerful. Her spirit is contagious. She had a sincere heart and real intent and the result is the amount of joy she is experiencing. Very inspiring. I love her. She is already preparing to serve a mission. 

The Rest of my week: 
I got a new companion! Sister I'aulualo finished her mission this last transfer and went home to Samoa! Crazy. I got my follow up trainer on thursday! She is awesome! I love her! Her name is Sister Fiu. She is from Samoa as well. A real hard worker and very dedicated. She was an answer to my prayers for this area that I love so much

the transfers were crazy. The whole WEEK was crazy. This picture is of the Tamavua Sisters that I was a trio with while waiting for my companion to fly in from her last area on a northern island. I love them. They are way fun and we learned very much from eachother. :) They're names are Sister Teupoorautoa (from tahiti) and sister Taufa (a Tongan from Australia) 

Service and Dress ups

August 8^th

I OFFICIALLY LOVE FISH.

The work is AMAZING.

This week has been amazing. I don't even know what to say. I am glad I made recordings earlier because I just don't know what to say. haha 

oh, I got my Fiji drivers License! I almost didn't pass the test. haha because I haven't really had that chance to practice and then I drove with the instructor and everything is backwards here and they don't have a lot of traffic rules. haha so it was hard and scary but in the end I passed! haha YAY? 

Sister Layton ( the mission president's wife) Joined us for a day to experience missionary work and it was awesome! It was super sweet and we had some amazingly powerful lessons! She also brought cheesecake that she made and I seriously cried as I ate it because I miss it SO MUCH. It was the BEST. 

I slipped again. But this time into a GIANT puddle. So I got wet. Luckily, we brought a member present named Lucia and she was wearing a sulu. She gave it to me to wear because I didn't want to go back and change because we were almost to the house. The funny part was that it was a Methodist sulu and had big crosses on it that you could still see even though I turned it inside out. hahaha 

Me and brother Esava! He is super funny man who always speaks in Fijian to mean and has me repeat it so that I can learn. He is great! We had dinner with his daughter this week. :)

Rachel August 16 2015

Service at Sister Lovis'. SoO much fun! Cutting her grass with machetes! :)

I have pictures! haha Here are some pretty ones you can send :) I am really going to miss Fiji. 

One of our STL's got sick and it this hospital and I am the only other sister in the area with a license so my companion and I joined the other STL to take on two areas and drive sisters to and from places. It has been quiet the adventure and we are always moving. I kinda miss the quiet peace of just having my companion and I in Wailoku. 

Drinking from a coconut just pulled from the tree and cut open. SO YUMMY!!

Playing dress up with a new and amazing investigator Sister Lovis! She pulled out some Saris for us to try on and then another traditional dress with pants (I forgot what it is called haha) 

P-Day August 1st

me doing laundry :) we are blessed to have a washing machine and then we hang dry everything. It is fun. haha

traditional Fijian Stove in our area :)




Oh, I ate raw Fish yesterday! We had a really big traditional Fijian feast yesterday to break our fast with the Bishops family and to say farewell to a senior missionary couple that is leaving. It was good. Dalo, Roro, chicken, fish, noodles, and potato salad (crazy random american...haha). It was good, not quite used to some of it yet but I tried the Ota. Which is raw fish soaked in and served with coconut milk, cilantro, and some more stuff. It was actually my favorite. It was super good! But we aren't really supposed to eat it but I felt like it was safe and I wanted to try it. haha

July 29 2015

Fiji is crazy different. They drive on the left and steering wheels in cars are on the right. (P.s. pray for me because I am getting my Fijian license next mondaymorning. I got my learners this morning so I could start practicing this week... )Homes are made out of sheets of metal that are stapled to wooden frames. Everyone lives by simple means. Very few have TVs and they are just starting to get touch screen cell phones but there isn't really wifi and everyone has very limited calling and texting. I keep laughing when everyone runs out because people would never live like that in America.  haha The religions are strong here but the people are SO welcoming. No matter who you are or your religion, as you pass someone's house, you will be invited in to eat. It is just the culture. The culture is also very relaxed. No one really set's times our makes affirmative answers.  But none of that stops the work from progressing. The Church is still true and Christ is still changing lives. haha it is great.
121-Ratu and my companion reading from the Book of Mormon in Fijian
122-124 is me telling stories.
ps. I recorded them throughout the week so I kinda forgot when they say... haha

Planting Flowers

July 26^th 2015

I have yet to stop being amazed each time we teach with the Spirit. It isn't us. This isn't our work. It's God's. and He is the one teaching. If it were me trying to convince people that this is true, I would be now where. I don't know everything. Luckily, the Spirit is the one teaching and I am humbled to my knees each time I get to see the Spirit work within someone and they begin to understand and grow in greater light and knowledge. You can really see it in their eyes and it is the most beautiful thing in the whole world. The mission is amazing. I am also extremely humbled to be blessed to be seeing so many with the light of their potential. Their Spirits are truly bright and powerful. All of us are as God's children. It is amazing to see. My companion and I spoke in our ward yesterday. It was great and felt God sustaining my words and testimony as a missionary. I had given a similar talk many times before but this time, there was a power and boldness behind it that I can only conclude as the office that I am in as a set apart Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. I love it.

Loloma Yani,

Sister Singleton

 

The picture above is of me and sister Shankaran. The one below is of my in the shelter of a banana tree. The one at the top is me holding the cut open cocoa pod. We ate the white stuff covering the cocoa seeds. It is super good. Then we took the seeds and roasted them :)

 

For lunch we had Dalo and curried tuna and potatoes! It was yummy! Then we headed home for studies. :) It was super fun! While we were working, it raining for about a minute and I discovered the best tree to hide under is a banana tree because they have giant leaves! haha We also did our service with Bulou. The girl that is preparing for a mission. She is the one that did most of the cooking. haha

We had a fun service this week, helping plant flowers. Planting flowers here is fun. You just trim an existing plant with a machete and then stick that branch in the ground. It will then begin to grow over a period of time. haha We did a ton in only an hour! haha We did it with our awesome neighbor Sister Shankaran! She is from South Africa and married an Indian. She is the one who took care of me when I was sick. A truly amazing woman! :) After service we all helped make lunch at that house. We had home made cocoa. Picked the pod, cut it, sucked the coating off the seeds, roasted the seeds, pounded the seeds until smooth and then mixed it in hot water for a tradition Samoan hot cocoa! :)

Mud, Mud and more mud

I love my area. It is such an adventure and the people are amazing! We one of the only areas in which the areas are fed every night. It is wonderful! It has been crazy cold here though. haha Wailoku is said to be one of the coldest areas too. I am very grateful for the one blanket that I have that manages to keep me warm not only while sleeping but during studies as well... haha It also rains A TON here. Because of all the rain, it is also very muddy..

We were laughing super hard the other day when we were walking in 10 inches of mud to go visit two less active members. At one point, we were standing on a slope and laughing SO hard as we found ourselves slowly sliding down it in the mud without even moving. We went a good 6 feet before stopping. It was funny!

July 18

We have a really awesome Indian family in our area. They feed us every Sunday and have really taken us in as daughters. The mom gave my companion and I our own Sari and so we have fun trying them on again with our Sister Training Leaders who were visiting for exchanges!

Io (yes) from left to right goes, Sister Isoa, Sister I'aulualo (my comp.) and me.

Exchanges with Sister Isoa in Samabula! It was fun! Ate 3 dinners, lots of fish, and taught some good lessons. Also, Learned how to pray in Kiribati. :D

LOL. I finally slipped. It was inevitable. Especially with all the mud. Well, one night, we were coming down from a Less Active member who's house was way on a hill in the bush and they way to get to it very steep. We went to it when it was light outside and when we came out it was dark. We started walking down but soon got lots and found ourselves laughing really hard as we stumbled through the forest until finding the mud path again. Lol. We were in front of another less Active's house when we both slipped and couldn't really get back up because it was super muddy. The kids were laughing from inside. haha We got up and walked home to change really fast before heading to dinner. It was a grand adventure. hahaha

Kaitolo: Is said about someone when they come from a bush area in to the city and everything is so new for them.

This is me every time we come into town on P-days to email and play with our Zone. haha The photo is of me sitting on the couch at another set of sister's flat. It was a nice couch and I was freaking out about it because we don't have a couch and I was excited to sit on it. Lol

I am in FIJI!!!!

Rachel's Mission Address to the Island:

Fiji Suva Mission

GPO BOX 215

Suva, Fiji

June 30

Our Mission President and his wife.

July 5
So, the flight wasn't too long. Just about 12 hours from LAX to Fiji. I slept (or at least tried to) for most of it. The first day in the mission home was kind of crazy and full of confusion that when I finally got my call to my area, I was crazy relieved. haha

Well, for those of you who know Fiji, my first area is Wailoku! My trainer, Sister I'aulualo and I are the only two sisters in it with no elders. It is a little valley just on the other side of Suva. Many call it a rain forest because It is usually raining and muddy. It is its own little world. The people live in simple means but are so amazing!   Haha I love it though. Words cannot describe how much my mind and heart have been blown this last weekend. I am still confused on a lot of things (a lot being when they speak Fijian to me haha) but I am loving it.

July 4th

happy 4th of july! Thanks for the necklace! I gave the white strand to my companion and we wore them on our wrists all day. Then at one house. It was a mom with 9 kids. (Most of the families have a bunch of kids and all really close in age. haha I am not quite sure if they have birth control.. haha) anyway, it was a normal house. dirt or wood floor with a straw mat, rusted metal walls, one room, a thin matrices for them to sleep on. the father gone to work. Well, one of the adorable little girls kept looking it mine and mentioning it and stroking it and so I gave one to her. It was super funny. 

 I am experiencing so much. It is so crazy different. It is very similar to a lot of Glen's stories of him in the bush. I love it though. My hair is crazy, I don't wear make up, and everyone stares at my white skin. But oh how exciting it is. And oh how the people that live in these circumstances inspire me. 

New Samoan and Marshallesse District :) they are awesome! It is great to have new people in our small zone!

Our sisters :D They are super sweet and It has been amazing to be their sister training leaders!

 Being Artistic

 

 We were bored... and we really

miss TV.... so we gave in to watching.... . . .

THE VENDING MACHINES... they are super tempting and life is just super hard when you no longer have money on your MTC card. :( hahahA!

We try to have fun among all of our studying and crazy stuff.

Wow. This last week was crazy, last p-day we moved into a new building that was super nice. We were excited to move there because it was So much nicer than what we were living in. Then the MTC starting prepping for the New Mission President Conference this week. The whole MTC has been on lock down. We can't even look into the main building. So far, no one has been able to even get a glimpse of any of the general authorities. Pretty much the only cool thing that has happened in relation to that is that each of the new mission presidents met with a district and practiced teaching for an hour. We got to meet the new mission president going to Denmark. That was nice. The craziest things that happened was na beka talenoa(the bat story). So, we had a crazy day, my companion and I were supposed to go to our departing orientation all day on thursday. We went for the first half, then after lunch we had to go meet the new mission president that was going to teach us. So we went to that, got out at four, went to go back to the orientation again but all the sisters were ushered into a giant meet. They wouldn't tell us what it was about and there was a lot of officials and leaders walking around. So, of course, we all assumed that one of the visiting members of the Twelve decided he wanted to meet with all the sisters and told our leaders to make it happen. We sang songs waiting for them to start what they were going to share. (inviting the spirit in anticipation for what we were hoping would happen... haha) Then one of the MTC presidency members said that would change our lives immediately. (this for sure convinced us.) Then he said that 2 bats were reported and found in the building that 97% of the sisters lived in. (this being the building I had just unpacked into..) At first we all laughed. Then he said he was serious, and that for safety, health, and whatever other reasons, every single one of us would have to pack, and move into another building. This was pretty frustrating but we took it as an adventure. haha We had to get new keys, pack, and move in an hour because we had class at 6 and we had to be out before that night. It was chaos. We had a hurried dinner, went to residence, threw everything into suit cases, and the Elders waiting outside our residence helped carry all our stuff to the new building. It kinda felt like EFY.. haha We moved, ran to class, skyped a Fijian for a lesson, finished class, unpacked, went to bed, got up early this morning to go to the temple, and began to pack again for Fiji because I leave on Monday. hahaha  Crazy! It was a fun adventure though! I am super excited to leave Monday! I can't believe it. Missions are hard. But I can't help but love it. haha Anyway, that is all I can think of. Just think. My next post will be from Fiji!! AH! 

Love, Sister Singleton