Week 15 - Kiritimati (Christmas Day - Skype Call)

Week 14 - Kiritimati

Email 21 December 2015

Hey Family,

All this change sounds so exciting! the new house sounds so sick, you guys are living like kings, but so am I! Elder Afatasi and I are living in the senior couples house in Kiritimati, it is possibly the sweetest house in Kiribati. We have two air conditioning units, a nice kitchen, big mattresses and hot showers. But to be honest I cant wait to live in rough living conditions. 

Seeing the pictures of Rhys in New Zealand is making me so jealous, it sounds like such a fun trip they have planned. and Vaughan! please do something cool.

This week in Kiritimati has been a really good one, it started slow because we had Senior Couple duties, of course. I had to do a lot of scanning of tithing slips and weekly disbursement for all the branches to be sent to Tarawa. But after we got that all done we had some really successful days, taught a lot of lessons, 3 new investigators and 5 investigators prepared for baptism for December 26th. 

We were meant to have a whole family baptized but Tatonga fell, he got drunk. We came to visit after Margret, his wife, told us the news. It was really good to talk to him with his wife and kid, Rooti. He was telling us he had no desire to drink again and was truly sorry and he really wanted to baptized, so we are pushing his date to the 2nd of January, but his family will still be baptized on the 26th. I felt really bad having them baptized on different days, however, after thinking about it more, I think having him see his family be baptized will really strengthen his desire to change and work towards a eternal family.
 

On Saturday, there was a "fat" party/dance at the chapel. All the branches from the district have been practicing for weeks for this dance. Elder Afatasi learnt the dance for our branch a couple of days before so he was dancing. It was a really good activity and we had lots of our investigators attend, but things got weird. 

In the Kiribati Dancing culture, they get really into it, especially the people singing for the dance. They get so into it that they believe a spirit takes them over and they can't control them selves, so right in the middle of some of the performances there would be ladies who were singing, start screaming and shaking so hard until it looks like they're about to pass out.
 

It was a crazy day, but it finished on a really good note. Our investigator, Fred, who had been taught since Elder Openshaw was here, got baptized. His uncle, who is also the District President, baptized him and it was such a great moment, he is so prepared and I can see him receiving the priesthood soon. To make things better the sunset was perfect, but my camera is out of action.

My parcel has not arrived but we got an email from Tarawa saying there are a lot of parcels going to Tarawa that are meant for Kiritimati, so it's probably in Tarawa waiting for me. For the camera battery stuff, ask Elder Osborne's mum how she posted her parcels because they all made it to him.
 

Skype should be good, power might cut out sometimes and internet is sketchy but should be good.
 

Love you guys heaps,

Elder Berends

Week 13 - Kiritmati

Hey guys,


This week has been a lot more successful, we actually had a couple of full working days with out banks and bills getting in the way. However, we were not successful with the bills, they are now 1 week over due. We were unable to get the money because Elder Afatasi doesn't yet have his name under the accounts to be able to sign cheques so we are just waiting for that confirmation from Tarawa.


Sounds like you'll be leaving the ward at exciting times for your YW's mum. How is Red, is he apart of the family yet? Have you planned any hunts for Red yet? I haven't been counting the weeks but it must be around week 13 because I heard the new intake from the MTC arrived last week. 


My crocs are going great, Elder Afatasi says he's had his crocs since day one and he only has less than 2 months.
.......

Okay well power just died and I was using basic HTML so that it runs faster but that also means that it doesn't save drafts automatically. So when the power died I lost everything I hadn't saved... which was a lot, sorry. But basically I was talking about all the success we had, 8 investigators came to church, several less active as well, 2 baptisms are going down this Saturday for Kaboruru and Reite, and at least another 4 will be baptized on 19 Dec, including Tatonga, his wife and child.


People have been saying I'm getting the language really fast but I feel I have a reeeeeaaally long way to go. Sorry that it's not a very good email, but there are people waiting for their turn so laters.







Love you au Utu

Love Elder Berends

Week 12 - Kiritimati

HEY!

Sounds like it was a fun week besides packing. And those cakes look the bomb! (We had a ward activity, a cake auction. Members make and decorate cakes for judging, participating in activities to earn monopoly money and then we auction off the cakes at the end of the evening. It was lots of fun! And we had over 20 investigators, friends and non-member family attend.) 


Kam bwati n te kuka! 






And it blows me away that people at work are still going on about me, I feel like I didn't do anything to deserve all their kindness, but tell my St Vinnies crew I love them.

What kind of new work opportunities are you looking for mum? And the change will be fun and scary and stressful, but fun! It doesn't feel right give you advice mum because your 101x wiser than me but, just go with the flow and learn something from it.

I'm back in Tabwakea this week because Elder Afatasi got back from Fanning on Tuesday. On Wednesday it rained HARD the whole day, 70% of Kiritimati must have been under a couple of inches of water (this is not a fact). Elder Afatasi came to pick me up from London and we spent that wet day moving into the senior couple's house. We got news from President that the Siemons (previous senior couples on Kiritimati, Elder Siemons needed surgery) weren't returning and that Elder Afatasi needed to be in the SC house to do SC duties. So on top of Elder Afatasi being District Leader we are also Senior Couples/Office Elders/Airport Elders...and none of the Bills are paid (due today) and there's lots of reports and scanning to be done.


So this week has been kinda lame, we have only taught 5 lessons since being back in Tabwakea and the Baptisms that were meant to happen on the 28th didn't because of the Fanning trip. I can not wait for all this paper work to be over so we can get investigators prepared.

We did, however, end our week on a very good/happy note. On Sunday, investigators Tatonga and Markreta got married! We had a nice little service in the Chapel for them, had lots of member present and there was a Bootaki (gathering) with so much food! They have so many friends from the church now. Next step will be a Baptism for them and their oldest daughter on the 12th of December, then a trip to the temple hopefully. I have no idea how we can get them to the temple, plane tickets are so expensive, but hopefully one day.

We had 8 investigators at church as well, which was such a surprise because he hadn't had lessons with most of them yet. But that just goes to show that they're ready for baptism.

Well hopefully next week I'll be able to see some more action. I love you guys! Have fun on your Kiritimati holidays!

Love Elder Berends

Week 11 - Kiritimati

What's up Fam

Hows it going? I feel like that moving house is going to be really tough considering that down stair is a mess. how is the storage in the new house?

My poop problems are still occurring... I hope as well that it doesn't happen for my whole mission. However, it is not effecting my work at all which is good. It cant be the Kiribati food, I do eat raw fish occasionally but an easy meal people make for us will be chicken, rice and noodles. 

This week has been really good, I actually worked in London the whole week with Elder Darm. I have improved in the language so much, as I couldn't rely on Elder Darm to say everything as he has only been out a month longer and is still learning too. So instead of just bearing testimony I actually had to teach and ask questions in all the lessons. My conversation skills with people is getting a lot better as well.

When I heard that I'd be working with Elder Darm I was worried because how limited our Kiribati was, but we had really good lessons and are progressing well with some new investigators. One of them is Mirarin and have been really successful with her and she is progressing so much. We've taught her God is our heavenly father, prophets, restoration, Book of Mormon and Plan of Salvation 1st and 2nd lessons. 

I'm just blown away that God would trust Elder Darm and I (greenies) to teach investigators these important doctrines and we have, no doubt, had the help from the spirit.

Even though I'm enjoying working in London I do miss Tabwakea and I worry for our investigators. There's only Elders Johnson and Hungai working in Tabwakea 1st every other day. I just hope that they're doing okay and are being well prepared for baptism. 

By the way, I baptised an 8 year old Atenti in London, his parents are members but for some reason they like to get the missionaries to baptise everyone. It went really well, I did the baptism pray in Kiribati and it was an ocean baptism.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, I just forget to take pictures because I'm working hard.Only been burnt badly once and that was when we went fishing with AP's. Akea kanganga ma mosquitos (none difficulty with mosquitos). sleeping is good, clothes are slowly get less and less white but nothings broken yet. 

I hope you guys have a really good week this week and have fun moving.


Love Elder Berends

Week 9 - Kiritimati

Danien wrote a long email, but lost it when it didn't save to drafts. So while waiting for his companion to use the internet he hand wrote everything he could remember from his email and took photos of the pages and put them in dropbox for us with some photos from the week.

Mauri!

[writing what I can remember from the email I wrote that didn't save as a draft]

So good to hear that Youth is going really good (Felicity is the YWs president and recently had a convert baptism into her YWs group). And send my congratulations to Emily and Mark (his cousin and her husband who had their third child last month) as well as Andrew (a friend who recently became engaged).

Dad! Be careful, I want to be able to go on some hikes with you without having to carry you on my back! (Mark tore a calf muscle/ligament/tendon? Last week, the third time in 6 weeks)

I'm praying for you guys that the house situation won’t be too stressful (after 10 and a half years we are moving house). Hope all of you are happy by the time it’s all over.

How was your week???

This week has been full of sickness.

On Monday night I ate a partially uncooked Hot Pocket not knowing it was a bad idea. On Tuesday I woke up vomiting and pooping so I didn't feel too great. However I was able to push myself to do 7 Lessons before I had to return home.

On Wednesday Elder Afatasi and I picked up the APs from the airport and then I went on splits with Elder Johnson, which was fun.

Oh, and we got hit by a motorcycle! Out of nowhere a motorcycle going 60 km/h hit my, and Elder Johnson’s, handle bars as well as Elder Johnson leg, ripping his pants open. It was a miracle no-one was hurt.

On Thursday Elder Afatasi got sick and vomited so that day was spent nursing him.

Friday and Saturday I got sick again so not many lessons done.

On Sunday I still felt like poo. And to make things better I was asked 1 hr before church to speak in sacrament meeting. I spoke about “Nakoa ni Ibonga” (Priesthood). I didn't go too badly, but was struggling to think in Kiribati.

Monday! APs took us on a fishing trip. Elder Hungai, Peeti and Openshaw caught some really big “Urura” and the APs, Openshaw and Davis, both caught themselves a shark! I gave it a go and had something really big on the line but the line snapped. But it was a great day!

So, overall, not too bad a week, was good to have the APs around. Sickness was a real pain, all I want to do is get stuck into the work. So I can’t wait to be healthy again so I can be 100% while teaching the Lord’s gospel.

Week 7 - Tarawa

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Week 7 and Elder Berends has completed his training and has now left the MTC, and arrived in the Kiribati Islands. Prior to leaving the MTC we had arranged for Danien to call us when he arrived at Los Angeles airport (LAX). Felicity and I had finish work early on Wednesday in order to be home for his phone call, several hours later and we were watching his flight progress on the FlightAware app crossing the pacific bound for Fiji and a connecting flight to the main island of Kiribati, Tarawa, no phone call, and one very disappointed mother, especially when she was hearing via Facebook that the other missionaries in Danien's group had spoken to their Moms.
To make the experience even better, we get the following email from our missionary:


Mauri!

Just a quick email to let you know that I'm in KIRIBATI (island of Tarawa)! I'll be serving on Christmas Island (Kirimati). I leave and fly via Fiji on Monday. Sorry I didn't get to call yesterday, i didn't get a chance in LA.

I tanariko am utu!
Love Elder Berends


Well, that email was well worth the wait, we can only hope his writing improves?



Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Kam na bane ni Mauri!

Okay, well a lot has happened in the past week. Just so you know I'm currently in Fiji writing this email in this sketchy internet café. So im not yet in Kiritimati (Christmas Island), my flight is midnight tonight so we (Elders Afatasi, Peeti & Osborne) have the whole day just wondering around Nadi, Fiji. Our flight out of Tarawa was yesterday afternoon, so we got to spend the night in a really nice hotel which Elders Afatasi and Peeti were freaking out about because they hadn't seen mountains and a nice bed, etc. for months. 

I better start from the beginning though...

The last days at the MTC were nice but I'll skip right to getting on the train in Provo to head to the Airport. MTC buses dropped 14 of us off to the train station and pretty much said, "here are your tickets, good luck". It was a mission coordinating 14 missionaries with 2 suitcases of luggage each, but it was good fun because I love my MTC district. We got to the Airport, checked in bags and got something to eat and all the American Elders and Sisters made their phone calls, I was going to but ya'll would have all been at work and school.

Quick funny story:

Elder Ellis and I were asked by an older couple at the airport where we were off to. We replied with "Marshall Islands serving in Kiribati". Then they said, "Who did we just have go to that Mission?" and then as if it were scripted Elder Christensen comes out of no where yelling, "Uncle Richard!" it was so perfectly timed Elder Ellis and I laughed so hard!

Plane ride from SLC to LAX was nice, LAX international airport is huge! We got through security and that's when I was supposed to call home but there was a bit of trouble. Sister Eubanks got a bit nauseous (it was her first time getting on a plane besides SLC to LAX) and we weren't sure if she was going to be able to fly. So 5 minutes before boarding Elders Ellis, Christensen and I went in to a corner at LAX and gave a blessing of health and comfort. And right after the blessing she stood up shook my hand and got on the plane. She did vomit once right before take off (i was sitting next to her... i lost my apatite for that whole 11 hour plane ride) but other than that she was absolutely fine, eating every meal Fiji airlines gave her. So that's why I did not call home, sorry family. 

We landed in Fiji 11 hours later and we were all so jumped that we were almost in Tarawa. While waiting for our flight in Nadi Airport we bumped into Elders who just came from Christmas Island which was really cool. Their pants were really dirty, white shirts were kinda yellow and stained and they were in crocs. They were on the same flight as us to Tarawa so we got some more insight on what to expect.

Flight from Nadi to Tarawa was nice, we were all so excited. I was stuck between Sisters Baldwin and Eubanks again which was super cool got to know them a bunch, we talked a lot about hiking and traveling, etc. Landing in Tarawa was so exciting, Tarawa is so skinny I'm surprised they were able to fit an airstrip. Right after landing the plane did a u turn and we could see how much strip was left and there wasn't even 100m left which was a bit sketchy but it just added to the excitement.

The heat hit us pretty bad, and the arrival part of the airport was a shed with a tin roof with absolutely no facilities and it was soooo hot. The luggage was just handed through a hole in the shed so we had to hunt through a mountain of luggage on the ground to find our luggage. We went through "customs" which didnt consist of anything and we were met by 8 or 10 Elders and President and Sister Weir. There were also atleast 50 Kiribati children waving yelling Eldas! and Ematang! (foreigner) we loaded our language into some Rangers and Hiluxs and off we went, along Tarawa's only road.

We all found out our first areas and Companions/Trainers/dads. I'm serving in Tabakaia 1st and my dad is Elder Afatasi from Utah. I will talk more about him next email but he is sooo cool and I'm super excited to serve with him. Our first dinner appointment was cool. Weird because the family sit and watch you eat and wont eat with you till you leave. But I love the people so much! They are so fun to be around and the my Kiribati is extremely limited but I've got my introductions down and I can share a spiritual thought. 

I've been on splits with several Elders so far, I've been on splits with, Elders Smith, Whitehead, Openshaw and of course Afatasi. 

I'm sorry I'll have to end the Email there I've got alot more to say but this internet cafe is expensive. I'll finish this email tomorrow hopefully. 

Love you fam,

Love Elder Berends

Week 6 - MTC Provo

Mauri Au Utu! 

Last week in MTC!

Mum said I should be making the most of the food at the MTC before I hit the Islands where the diet will be fish and rice, and also whether I was getting sick of it too?  Sometimes I get sick of the food but to be honest its not bad at all, some night its really good! And yes there is a pizza day (Saturday) and ice cream day (Wednesday).

Every week we have service duties and my service every week is cleaning our residence building. I usually do the rubbish, recycling and vacuuming. And I got to welcome new missionaries this Wednesday, its called Hosting and you help new Missionaries with their luggage, help them get their books, show them to their residence and classroom. I really enjoyed meeting several new missionaries but it was awkward standing there as they say their goodbye and you have to tell them to hurry along.

Also this week we had Infield Orientation, which was all about how important members are in Missionary work so I'm happy to hear you are helping the missionaries in your ward... One of the greatest miracles is seeing somebody being converted to the Lord and you could be apart of it!

Had another TRC Skype lesson yesterday, which was fun for about 5 mins until the connection in Tarawa went bad so we weren't able to continue video chatting but we did try teaching him through text. 

Favorite Kiribati word for the week is the word for Air Plane: "Wanakibu" which translates to "Flying Canoe". 

Sorry not much else from the MTC , just really excited to be heading to Kiribati! There is a possibility I'll head straight to an outer island because of how big the wave of missionaries is, so if you don't hear from me, I'm alright. 

I am sending my suit home so expect that in the mail some time. Photos from this week are in Drop Box, I promise these will be the last photos of the Provo Temple.

Okay iI'l write again on Tuesday Morning. 

I tangariko au utu! 

Taibo 

Love Elder Berends. 

Week 4 - MTC Provo

"...Their Mothers had taught them."

MAURI AU UTU (Hello Family)!! 

I just thought I'd let you know that this is a family email (AU UTU is "my family") as I don't have time to write to everyone individually...

Answers to Questions... 

1. What is your schedule at the MTC? My daily scheduled except for Fridays and Sundays is wake up 6:30, breakie 7:10, class 7:40, GYM 10:50, lunch 12:10, class 12:50, Dinner 5:10, Class 6:00, return to residence 9:30, lights out 10:30.
2. Who are the missionaries in your District? Missionaries in my district, Elders Graham (Minnesota), Larsen (Utah), Tomlinson (Utah), Christensen (somewhere in US), Hoskins (Georgia, US), Johnson (Utah), Osborne (Washington), Ellis (Temple View, NZ!!), Powell (Utah) and Sisters Vuvute (Fiji), Wamura (PNG), Baldwin (Utah), Aubanks (somewhere in US).
3. Have you meet any other Australians in the MTC? There are three in my zone all heading to FIJI and 2 of them are from Logan & Ipswich. But there is only 6 other Australians at the MTC at the moment! 
4. Will you get to watch General Conference? Not sure how we are watching general conference yet but I've never been so excited for it.
5. Are you getting itchy feet (wanting to head to Kiribati)?Yes I definitely am getting itchy feet, I can not wait to meet the people they sound so nice and funny. there is one Kiribati Sister left at the MTC which we speak to at lunch. Its so cool even though the conversation is always the same.

Thanks for the box of Candy, U.S. Cadbury chocolate has nothing on Aussie Cadbury. I also really liked the brown and light blue striped woolen tie, not really a fan of the polka dot ties.  

Fun fact about language: "Simple song" translates to KUNA MAATATA. how cool is that! 

Highlights of the week: On Monday the MTC watched the live broadcast of RICHARD G. SCOTT's funeral which was nice.

On Tuesday nights the MTC has Devotionals where someone usually from the Seventies comes and speaks. This week we had CLAUDIO R.M. COSTA of the Seventy speak and he had some really cool things to say. The thing I like most was that he helped me realise that coming on a mission isn't a sacrifice but an honor. And I am truly Honored to be apart of Gods army and the gathering of Israel. 

The rest of the week consisted of eat, study, eat, study, eat, study, sleep and repeat. And today (P-day) we went to the temple, had a nap, now emailing, lunch, volleyball, basketball or kickball (baseball but you kick it), laundry, study then dinner. p-day ends 6:00 and we go back to class. 

That's about it for this week. Alright, I look forward to hearing from you! till next week! 

TANGIRIKO! TIABO!

Love Elder Berends. 

Provo Temple

Week 3 - MTC Provo

MAURI AU UTU!!

This week has gone by so quickly but the days have been so long. its a weird sensation. 

Kiribati District - Provo MTC

An update on the language: Elder Graham and I are now teaching 15 minute lessons in the Kiribati language with out notes and we are finally feeling like we are teaching with the spirit. Elder Graham has crazy photographic memory and I am having to work extra hard to keep up with him but we are both feeling really good about our progress. Definitely feel like the gift of tongues is real. I don't know if I've told ya'll but I really love this language, its so metaphoric. For example the word for sorry is KABWARA AU BURE which translates exactly to "untie my sins". Its so cool!

Thank you for all the Birthday wishes it was a nice day, my district sang me happy birthday for breakfast and lunch, and the sisters made me a "candy" necklace and a card which was really nice. Unfortunately I didn't get my Crispy Cream Donuts and TimTams until Thursday but it was nice to enjoy some Vegemite toast this morning and teach everyone how to do  a TIM TAM slam. 

Something I thought Mum would like to know is that one of my teachers who served in Kiribati is now deaf in the left ear because of an ear infection he suffered from in country, so plenty to look forward too ;) 

Don't have much more news, days are really repetitive at the MTC so if there is anything in particular you want know about ask me and I'll try and tell you as much as I can. 

Something I've learnt this week is how much we are blessed for being obedient with exactness. When we are doing what's right with exactness I definitely am able to speak and understand the language better and feel the spirit more. 

The photos attached are from our Sunday walk which was really nice! We as a district sat underneath the shade of a tree and listened to some YSA playing the violin.

Sorry about the lack of detail in Emails, Elder Graham types 3 times faster than me! 

Okay till next week!

TIABO NGKAMI!!

Love Elder Berends

Week 2 - MTC Provo

Christus Statue, SLC.

Its Danien's second week at the Missionary Training Centre in Provo, Utah and its getting a little easier for Dad who is missing his son severely, the first week was a write off at work, couldn't concentrate without something reminding me of him, whether it was a plane flying overhead, a song, or the picture in my wallet. It has been physically and mentally draining, however, this second week has been a lot better and we now look forward to Saturday mornings when emails start arriving around 4am. What a great start to the weekend.





MAURI DAD!

...Say hi to all my St Vincents family for me (work colleagues at St Vincents Private Hospital Brisbane where Danien worked the past 13 months to save up for his mission)! Tell them I miss them and that the visa card has been a great help...

...P-day (day off) is Friday for our district. I' ve taught the whole district the "Aussie Oi" chant because every one is American except for 2 sisters, one from Fiji and the other PNG, and an and Elder Ellis from Temple View, New Zealand who went to school with Ezra (Daniens Cousin)...

...Also for my birthday could you send me a couple of cool neck ties? I gotta step up my tie game (I told Danien before he left that he needed more ties as this would be the only part of his dress he could vary from day to day, didn't listen and now what does he want?)...

Our district was talking to 4 sisters from Kiribati heading to the Philippines. They're so lovely! I cannot wait to be serving in Kiribati. They think its hilarious when we say "I KANI MATE" when they ask how we are. The exact translation is "I desire to die". It was one of the first phrases our teacher taught us. I love their sense of humour...

...The language is coming along nicely. I'm praying and bearing testimony in Kiribati now. Elder Graham and I have now taught 4 lessons in Kiribati now, the fourth we did without any notes so we had to listen to our investigator (our teacher) to know what he needed to hear. It went surprisingly good!...



Elder Berends & Elder Graham outside Provo Temple

... I heard this cool quote. "Christ turns outward to others when the Natural Man would turn inward". For example after Christ Atoned for our sins AND had been betrayed by one of his apostles, he still turned outward and healed the man who had his ear cut off which is amazing! I cant imagine enduring all that pain and suffering then still desire to help others...

 TIABO, Love Elder Berends.





The District - all Elders & Sisters going to Kiribati





Week 1 - MTC Provo

Elder Danien Berends - Salt Lake City Temple

We received Danien's first email from the MTC today, been hanging out for it all week ! Here are some excerpts from his email:

"...(on the 13 hour plane ride from Brisbane to Los Angeles) I was super righteous, didn't even touch the screen in front of me once (for those friends of Danien's, once you start your mission you give up a lot of your normal habits and interests, this includes movies and television). I didn't sleep, it was the longest day of my life, It must have been 36 hours without sleep. Once I got to Salt Lake City (SLC), Aunty Val and Uncle Mike were there waiting for me at the airport...

...Val and Mike took me on a tour of SLC, driving on the left hand side was weird but SLC is so cool, you are surrounded on all sides by mountains and everywhere else is so flat...

...Talk about Mormon Central, while driving on the highway you can spot soooooooooo many Mormon chapels and I at least spotted 6 temples...

...Visited Temple Square as well (see attached pictures) its amazing I'm pretty sure everyone who visits, member or not, must feel the spirit...

...MTC is super busy, still haven't had time to feel home sick, especially learning the language. Fun fact: Kiribiti alphabet only has 13 letters and the reason its pronounces Kiribas is because "ti" = c. Today I already taught my first lesson in Kiribit!! and its only day 2 of learning the language! We have a great district who are all heading for Kiribati and we are all trying and praying so hard to learn the language. Our language classes are all taught  entirely in Kiribati and we have to ask permission in the Kiribati language to ask something in English which is pretty hard but it will force us to learn quicker.
I'm 1 of 2 Australians that I've heard of out of 2000 missionaries which means I might be picking up an American accent.

...Sooo much food as well! its just like a giant Sizzlers including soft drink machines and kinda subway bar and salad bar.
My accent is already going weird. I catch myself pronouncing words like, tomato differently. My Companion is Elder Graham from Minnesota, he's pretty cool and really enthusiastic, loves working out and is trying to convince me to work out with him to get "Yoked".
My Australian Accent seems to be pretty interesting to everyone I meet, oh and on my first day I had to hang out with the Fijian speaking elders and sister because all the other Kiribati Missionaries where coming the next day, so I got to learn some Fijian and sing hymns in Fijian which is surprisingly easy. Just this week 600 new missionaries arrived at MTC and they have over that many every week which is insane!! sorry this email is a mess but I'm just unloading everything that comes to mind. I'll get better haha.

Tiabo!

love Elder Berends"

My address at the MTC is:

Elder Danien Gabriel Berends

OCT20 MRI-MAJ 

2011 N 900 E Unit 237

Provo UT 84602

Inside the Tabernacle, SLC

Salt Lake City Temple