Its interesting the way the world is working these days, and how the moral values work out here. For instance, there is a Brazilian soap opera, translated into French, that is HUGE out here. 'Marina' - How mush i hate that show! You could be talking to someone and as soon as you hear that theme song, the conversation is over. its really hard trying to find people to talk to during those hours. grrr. Anyways, as we were teaching some people about adultery and why it is bad for the familial structure, they, finally grasping the concept behind adultery, said "Oh! Like on Marina!" Oh my goodness, they didn't even know the term adultery, and yet it was all over the things they watch and adore everyday. *sigh*

Took a hot shower last night. It was divine. Truly. Ahhhh the little things that I miss....

This week went by pretty fast. It consisted of the same old stuff, and i am sure that this upcoming week will be the same again. Oh yeah, have another baptism on Saturday! hooray!

~Tama

sorry about not posting last week. i ran out of time ;P

and yesterday, everything was closed. it was a national holiday yesterday, and seriously, our trip to the other side of Raiatea was a total waste, so we had to come out again today. oh well.

right now, things are kida difficult. we have a leader who is somewhat nul. and by somewhat, i mean he is the biggest hypocrite that i have ever seen. Not to mention everyone is busy with the month-long party that is July.

Things are moving slowly, but they are moving. The languages are coming, and we are discovering a little more on how to better our situation out here. other than that, its gorgeous, the people are nice, and the weather is great.

good news and bad news. well, alot of both news, so i'll start out.

We had our zone conference with our mission president, President Tarati. It was his last one ever as our president. It was pretty awesome. Our new president, President Smith, arrived last night with his family.

We got a car! No more riding those hills in the rain! It has already helped alot, it makes contacting alot easier, and now we can make a ton more appointments. Its awesome having a car.... seriously.

But the bad news, Elder Maoni and Elder Temarono came to live with us while their house is being redone. The maintenance guy first said, One week. later he told us 4 months. WHAAAAA???? Its tough being with Elder Temarono, and you'll have to ask me why later ;P no pessimism allowed here on this blog!!

Anyways, things are going great. Were making more contacts, and the languages are finally coming well, but this time of the year here is party time. seriously, all of July is one huge party. phew.

I hope all is well at home! I miss you all!

~Tama

Tama says:

"We live in Hotopuu baie, it's on the northern side, right on the water, and on the inside of the bay. It's really, just as close as you can get the the northern side of the inside."

We take that to mean that they live close to the head of the bay (all the way inside) on the north side.
There is a link to Google Maps in the link section. We don't know his exact house yet, but we'll update if we find out.

How gracious the Lord has been to us. I can hardly count the blessings recieved this week. Its been difficult, but we've had it all end up well. Its truly amazing instilling a sense of drive in these people. especially since they naturally live a simple life, and are simply content with it. Then when you inspire them to come closer to our Savior, they develop a sort of drive, and resolve to become better, to work harder, to develop.

We had a baptism this week. I performed it, and it truly was powerful. She spoke afterwards to us, and she truly felt gratitude to its highest degree. it was powerful.

Anyways, Its been great out here, but i have to go. time is expensive

Things are going good out here. its pretty rough sometimes, especially since im now on a bike, and it likes to rain out here. since, pretty much the only road follows the coastline, you usually get a pretty heavy blast of wind too. its pretty rough when it does that, but oh well. thats life out here.

the people are great here, though. most of them are sooo friendly that even though they wont want to talk to you, because youre wearing a white shirt and tie with a tag that says Jesus Christ on it, they'll talk to you anyways. and lots of them even offer to give you food. tons of times people have just given us some rambutan anyways.

nothing much is going on tho, and im running out of internet time. gotta go!!
~Tama

Tama is still on Raiatea. He is on the opposite side from where he used to be.

I can't make a link to Tama's new area because the website that showed his previous area inexplicably doesn't have any listings for the towns on that side of the island.

To see an approximately where he is now, look at the previous link, and slide to the east and south a little bit. He is on the south eastern part of Raiatea.

His area ranges from Avera to Fareatai. If you go into Google Earth, you can type in Avera Raiatea, or Opoa Raiatea, or Fareatai Raiatea and you will be taken to that area.

We will post the location of his house as we find it.

Well, now i've been transferred again, but now im with Elder Horton in Fareatai/Faaroa. Yup, things are good, but still hard. Now im in a very hilly area on a bike without hot water in the house, and theres tons of fleas in the house. its sooo hard to sleep sometimes with those things all over you. especially when all you have is a mattress on the floor. whew, good times, good times.
But anyways, things are great here, i love the people, and even though this secteur is pretty recent and theres a lot of work to do, theres some really great people here. REALLY great people here. the definition of light-heartedness, for sure. anyways, my internet time is running out, gotta go!