Prior to coming here, I was preparing to eat a lot because I had heard that eating is a big part of the Islander culture. I can tell you right now that there is no way to prepare for the sheer quantity of food that we get here. I love the hospitality that all the Tongans and Samoans show us here. Below, I have attached a picture of (only) the left over beverages we were sent home with from dinner at Brother Nauto's (keep in mind there were only five of us, we have meals most nights, and I didn't even get a picture of the leftover food). I talked to Sam Parrett (famous rugby player and elder's quorum president) and he recommended trying to eat mostly meat and greens so I don't pack on too much weight. Elder Petchon said that at the last baptism he had, the whole ward showed up and brought food. The missionaries got sent home with so much food that they couldn't close the trunk. We had a ward party on Saturday and they had this really good drink that I want to try to replicate, but I didn't get the recipe. It's probably 50/50 water and milk with shredded watermelon, coconut, and pineapple. There's enough stuff in it that you have to chew it.
In other news, Australia is really cool! Our ward boundaries include a significant portion of a national park here, so we went on a short hike last P-day. We saw a kangaroo (in the wild!) but I didn't get a picture of it :( I could have sent a picture of a dead one on the side of the road, but I think I'll wait for a better opportunity ;) Our ward is really awesome! It might be slightly smaller than the one at home, but the members here are awesome! The bishop's wife asked us to come into Relief Society yesterday and bring 10+ copies of the Book of Mormon. One of the sisters shared her story about giving away a Book of Mormon and it inspired the rest of them to come grab copies for their friends.
The work here is a little bit slower than most other places. I still haven't taught a lesson yet :( Most people here just aren't interested. The Australians either hate us or don't care. The Islanders on the other hand, are super awesome! It's fun to walk down the street because pretty much any Polynesian person you see will wave/give you money for food. I've heard that anywhere from 50-70% of Tonga is LDS, so if they aren't a member, then they generally have good feelings toward the church anyway. They also have a deep respect for missionaries, so we receive all sorts of gifts. And refusing food/gifts is considered rude (they don't get mad at you, they just won't invite you back), so we end up having to throw away lots of food.
I'm going to format the last part of my email a little differently this week because I just wanted to tell a little bit about my companion's backstory. Elder Simanungkalit is seriously super cool.
So he grew up in 3rd world Indonesia. He reminds me a little bit of Challin (my cousin). He loves dangerous animals (but not spiders) and grew up wrestling crocodiles (he says something about using a rope). He currently has one as a pet back home that's 5 metres long. He caught it when it was (only) 3 metres. The largest he's ever wrestled is 7 metres. He said its mouth was bigger than his torso and head. Anyway, he gets his call to come to Australia, but his visa is delayed, so he can't leave the country. Since the closest MTC is in the Philippines, he gets reassigned to go straight into the mission field in Indonesia. Because of some disobedient missionaries, his home stake has some problems with trusting the missionaries and the work is going really slow. So his mission president assigns him to serve in his home stake because the people there know and trust him. Because his dad's in some stake calling, they end up seeing each other and working together quite a bit and even has dinner with his family. While at dinner, his girlfriend shows up to his house. After about 4 months of waiting, he finally gets his visa. So he flies out to the MTC in the Philippines. In the Philippian MTC, they don't have any missionaries learning English. So he spends 3 weeks with the native togalog speakers (he doesn't speak togalog) learning how to be a missionary. (at this point, he also receives his first copy of PMG). After his 3 weeks in the MTC, he then comes to Australia, having never spoken English before (this was in March). In the intervening time, his father (a translator for the church) promises him that his English will improve if he finishes Jesus the Christ. So he tries twice, but gets stuck in the middle both times. He tries a third time and finally makes it through. He finished it a few weeks ago and he says that his English has improved. haha.
Also, his name is pronounced see-man-ung-call-it.
I'll try and answer some of your questions, Mom:
What are some Australian holidays coming up?
Christmas. They celebrate all of the same holidays here for the most part, minus thanksgiving and the 4th of July.
What new foods have you eaten?
We had carne asada on top of fries covered in cheese with barbeque sauce and the sweet and spicy sauce that I really like. That was pretty good. The Tongans and Samoans here hate salad/anything green, so we get a lot of different meat. Also, KFC is really big here with the Islanders, so a lot of times, they'll drop off a bucket of wings for dinner.
What is your companion's, and the other missionaries' in your apartment, conversion story? (personal or family)
Elder Petchon is from the Philippines (the church is exploding over there). His family was converted when he was really young, but he said that they originally kept having the missionaries over because they entertained the kids with magic tricks.
What are your neighbors like?
Neighbors honestly never talk to each other here. We've met one guy, and he lets us borrow his lawn mower every P-day. Not many people are interested in religion, though.
Tell us some Australian phrases.
Crikey (use instead of wow)
Chips (instead of fries)
Macca's (McDonald's)
Did you pack everything you needed? Do you have to scramble and buy anything?
Not really. I'm doing pretty good
Anything you overpacked?
Same.
What is the weather like? Do you miss winter?
The weather's actually been really nice here. 75-85 mostly. Everyone says that it's super unusual though, so it's about to get really hot. It's also drier here than I thought. About the same as LA
What is something funny that happened this week?
Elder Simanungkalit and I changed our ringtone to the recording "from the conference center in temple square..." that makes us laugh anytime anyone calls.
Is there anything/ anybody you would like us to include in our prayers?
Just for people to soften their hearts here. Nobody sees the need for religion.
That's about all for now!
Elder Nelson
1. My area. to the left of my finger is all national park, so we don't go out there. Up and to the left is Sydney
2. The national park
3. The national park and Elder Simanungkalit
4. Lots of apple juice. I also forgot to get the 2 bottles of Sunkist in that one as well.
5. What the houses look like here (this is a pretty rich area)
6. Name your own Vegemite Jar!
7. Australian drivers only use roads as a suggestion. People park on their manicured lawns regularly. This picture is in more of the ghetto area (still not that bad) but notice that those are sidewalks, not roads. The nearest road is a good 100 yards away.
P.S. There haven't been any truly massive spiders yet. Just moderately big ones. Elder Petchon (also grew up in a 3rd world country) has zero fear of spiders. He plays with them (with bare hands) and tries to get the spiders to fight, but apparently, the spiders here aren't as aggressive as in the Philippines.
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