E-mail Update

At the beginning of November, Elder Tulane was transferred to the middle of down town Nuku'Alofa. He's currently serving with Elder Paipa from Texas.

November 10, 2010
Things are going great down here. For the first time I wish I had more time left. I couldn't have asked for a better companion to finish my mission with. On Tuesday we had a mission conference and President Callister from the area presidency came. We had to practice getting the head of the household to pray. All the missionaries practiced on one of the zone leaders or APs, but since Paipa and I can both speak English, President Callister asked if we would practice with him. He said we did a perfect job and didn't think we needed any correction. It was awesome! For p-day we did a service project. We have some investigators that own a restaurant and we went and were waiters there all day long. It was really fun. This family is awesome. One of the sisters is married to a noble so it would be huge if we could baptize her. Well, I hope you have a good week.

November 17, 2010
Hey its been another great week. We had a baptism on Tuesday. We also got permission to go to a village on the other end of the island to teach Paipa's grandpa who is not a member. He said wants to get baptized but will only listen to Paipa so they said we could go. we aren't done teaching him yet but so far its going really well and we have a couple of other people ready to be baptized, too. Well have a good week. I cant wait to see you. Love ya.


November 24, 2010
We are friends with a palangi guy and he made us Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday because he leaves the country tomorrow so we don't have time tonight. Things are still good. We won't baptize Paipa's grandpa but he has three cousins that want to, so that's cool. Today was the first elections in Tongan history. From now on, people vote for office rather than the king just picking whoever he wants.

More Vaini Pictures

Vaini

Elder Tulane served in Vaini from June until the beginning of November.

June 30, 2010

We had transfer on Monday and I'm pretty happy with the results so far.  I got moved to a  town called Vaini.  It is right next to my first area Holonga and I did about 2 weeks worth of comp exchanges here while I was working in Holonga so I already know the area a little bit and some of the members. It's a lot busier and populated compared to what I've been used to the past 6 months or so.  My comp's name is Elder Vaha'l from Vava'u.  He has been out for 10 months, and is really nice.  President McMurray finished this transfer and his plane leaves today I think.  I really didn't want to see him leave, but it's okay.  I think he is going to go home and become a Seventy!

July 8, 2010

We had a new guy named Elder Thompson stay with us for a week while he waited for the boat up to Vava'u and it was awesome talking to him and getting his perspective on everything.  He reminded me so much of me when I first started and it felt so good helping him understand the culture.  I don't know if I ever wrote to you about a guy named Elder Lyon helping me a ton at the beginning of my mission, but talking with Thompson was the same thing.  Only, this time I was the polished veteran helping the new guy.

July 14, 2010

I checked my weight last week and I was 150 pounds!  Now I'm down 50 pounds from when I left the MTC.

  

July 21, 2010
(responding to an e-mail about the different summer camping trips the Tulane family had been on)
Hey sounds like you had a good camping experience.  I really miss that even though my living conditions aren't much different than camping (haha).  After a year and a half here, I think I prefer mountains and pine trees compared to beaches and palm trees.  I'm doing great.  We had a baptism this week and have started teaching another promising investigator.  I'm having a great time but am still very excited to be coming home in a few months.

Oh, I got my first boil last week on the side of my leg below my knee.  I had heard that they hurt but I was still surprised at this thing.  There was one day when I was losing feeling in my leg and couldn't walk.  It gave me more respect for the guys here that get them all the time (haha). I think it's pretty much done now.  It still  looks ugly, but it doesn't hurt anymore. 

August 11, 2010

I've had an interesting week. We had transfers on Monday and I'm staying in my same area, but I am training! I'm way nervous about it, mostly because I'm not confident with the language and am worried my comp will get fed up with me before too long.  His name is Elder Uasila'a and he is from Feletoa, Vava'u.  He is pretty cool so far, but we've only been together for one day.

August 25, 2010

We had a baptism on Saturday which is my 16th.  This means I accomplished my goal of averaging at least one every transfer so I'm feeling good about that. 

September 29, 2010

District leader isn't too bad.  Nothing else really new, sorry I can't think of much to write.  I'm doing great and am trying as hard as I can to make the most of these last couple of months.

October 13, 2010

My birthday was really just another day.  The only difference was that we went to one of my favorite members and they fed us and sang happy birthday for me.  We had interviews with president this week and mine went good.  He said he could trust me, which is good, but is scary because that's the kind of thing you tell someone right before you give them a new assignment, ya know (haha).  I also got to do my first baptismal interviews as a district leader.  Nobody had any major sins to confess so that was good (ha).

November 3, 2010

Hey, yeah, I got transferred for my last six weeks.  I am right in the middle of down town Nuku'alofa.  It seems so big and crowded to me (haha).  My companion is Elder Paipa from Texas.  He has only been out for three months and he loves to work so he will keep me from getting trunky.  Almost everyone speaks English and we get fed really well because everyone has jobs and money and there are lots of stores and restaurants.  We live in a rental house that has a fridge, stove, couch, washing machine, and hot showers.  I kind of wanted to go to a more primitive place to finish but this is cool, too.  Maybe it will prepare me a little to come home.  Love ya!