LET ME WALK UPON THE WATERS: May 1, 2014

Dear Family,

Malo e lelei means "Hello" in Tongan. I'm not sure about exact translation but I know "Malo" means "Thanks" and "lelei" means "good".

Sister Riss, Me, Elder Ortiz, and Elder Carbone, make up the Tongan class/Tongan district. We are currently the smallest district in our branch, because there are just four of us! There are many people going to Fiji in our branch, and Samoa. The other districts in our branch have no people in them, but I think The Marshalese (I don't know how to spell that) Islands are getting a new district this wednesday.

Sister Riss is from Pleasant Grove Utah. Two days ago she was complaining about a pain in her mouth, and asked me to look. Turns out, she had one of her sockets where her wisdom teeth were collapse, and we had to call the missionary clinic after hours. The doctor told her to take some pain medicine until she could come in the next day. Whatever she took didn't agree with her, or something, and she was throwing up all night long. We finally went and asked some Elders in our branch to give her a blessing, which they did, after the SPRINTED to the phone to get permission from our Branch President. (There are very strict rules regarding elders and sisters, and Priesthood Blessings) Finally, yesterday we left MTC campus (which was weird) and went to her dentist where he prescribed her some antibacterial medication. Her and I were in and out of the clinic all day, so we didn't go to class! This makes me uneasy because this means we missed a lot of material. Sister Riss is pretty cool, though. She told me the first day here that she doesn't cry, and she won't sympathize with me if i do...... however, she cries more than me! So whenever she tells people "She just doesn't cry" I smile a little inside. We have our differences in personality, but overall, she is an amazing girl! In one of our Tongan lessons the investigator asked a question we weren't prepared for, and she started Spitting out sentences in Tongan that we didn't know! And what's weird is, I understood her! She wasn't grammatically correct with her words, but the spirit told her what to say with the knowledge she had, and she helped the "Investigator" (our teacher, sister Fotu) understand the message we were trying to give.

Our name tags have our real names on them, but our teachers all call us by our "Tongan" pronounced names. This turns Riss, Wunderlich, Carbone, and Ortiz into Lisi, Unitalisi, Capone, and Otisi.

Sister Riss and I are on the top floor in one of the older dorm buildings, but I do not remember any plate face. We will explore upon our return to our residence halls.

Iniki is just the name of a Tongan friend of Sister Riss'.When I asked what we should name it, she named it after her friend. I'm not sure what Iniki means, but most tongan names mean something so I'll ask my teachers tomorrow.

There are basically no chip bags or packaged foods in the cafeteria, so chips aren't popped very often. HOWEVER. At least one meal a day, somebody drops and breaks a plate. and yes. Just like in elementary school, all the missionaries go OOOOoooohhh. No joke. XD

I got Tate and Cohen's Cards! They made me laugh, and they're now hanging up in my room, next to the pictures I brought of all of you. I have written letters back to them, and I will put it in the mail today when I go to lunch.

I got all freaked our when I read about uncle Mark. I am so glad he is ok! Sister Riss and I will remember him and his family in our Prayers.

We have our first TRC tomorrow. This means we're teaching real people, not just our teachers! I am TERRIFIED. Because guess what? I don't know Tongan. The other districts told us they didn't do TRCs until week three, but we're doing ours at the beginning of week two! Yikes!

Also, the people we are teaching are most likely going to be sister Fotu's parents, because not many people around here know Tongan. So really, it shouldn't be that different, because they'll still report back to sister Fotu about what we did. Sister Fotu is one of our three teachers. She scares the mimi out of us. (Ask Tate what that means when he gets his letter) She is kind of crazy, but is really spunky. She is a great teacher, but she is absolutely terrifying! We are all afraid of her. Even the people that aren't in our district! I have never been more afraid of someone in my life! But because of this, she's the most effective teacher we have. She's not mean, just scary. I decided I like her. Most of the time.

Ok. I have some more e-mails to write, so I'll talk to you later. I love and miss you all!!

Sister Wunderlich