12 CHICKENS, 2 CATS, and a NAKED LITTLE BOY: October 25, 2010

Dear Family,

We finally got Brother Atche to let us baptise his daughters. Every time I think of him I remember the first time I saw his huge half naked body walking across his yard towards us with 12 chickens, 2 cats and a naked little boy following obediently behind him.  The mission is super awesome.   I really really like it.

Love Y'all

Love Elder Cosby

TAHITIAN DRUMMING LOGS AND ELDER PAITIi: October 18, 2010

Dear Family,

Oct 18

I've found lots of intriguing people here in Tahiti. Yesterday at church an old man with sunglasses on came up to me and said "I'm gonna break every bone in your body" and right after he said "I love you" and walked away.  I think that might be the only English he knows.

Also there was a man who looks exactly like one of those little troll dolls with the hair that sticks straight up and this was his entire talk translated: "Hi kids! Everyone should go on a mission. and we can prepare for our missions right now," and then he sat down.

My new companion is Elder Paiti.  He is a big jolly guy.  We are three now.   Today we are going to our bishop's house and he is going to give us Toeres  -- Tahitian drumming logs, so tonight we will be having a jam session.  

Dogs hate me.  They never go for my companions, they always go for me.  We have done several experiments to prove that theory right.  All the dogs here are disgusting and everyone here has red eyes because everyone here has conjunctiveitis.  I feel like I am in the movie I Am Legend.

We found a random guy on the street who was taking out his trash.   We saw him and passed him, but for some reason we felt super strongly that we needed to turn around, so we did and talked to him.  He was super interested because he went to the temple open house here and he loved it so much he went again.  So  we are going to start the lessons with him. That's about it.

Love y'all

Love Elder Cosby

YOU CAN READ ABOUT NEPHI BUT YOU CAN HANG OUT WITH TONY: Oct 11, 2010

Dear Family, 

This was a good week.  Elder Oldroyd and I will be getting a Tahitian companion Tuesday which is good.  I will be able to learn French and Tahitian better now.  

Our house has a lot of ants.  When we spray them with poison the whole colony comes out.  It is awesome.  So we kill all of them, but somehow there is like 7 colonies so far.  Also we had a random flying ant attack thing the last 2 days.   Out of nowhere a zillion flying ant bugs covered our entire sector for an hour each night.  Then they would disappear and then they would come back the next night.  They got in all my clothes.  As we would ride our bikes it was like it was raining with them bouncing off of our helmets.  That was exciting.  

Yesterday we had a wedding and then a baptism right after.  (That happens a lot here because alot of people just live together until we tell them not to.)   The wedding music was awesome.  I'm pretty sure that it was from the Mario Kart soundtrack. 

The other day we met Tony.  He is the coolest guy ever in the world.  We randomly found him while searching for a reference.  We see him at church but we'd never talked to him.   He invited us in to eat after an unsuccesful reference and I am convinced that he is the most righteous man on earth.   He told us that he was having a lot of trials and that he prayed to know why and God told him he couldn't go to the celestial kingdom unless he had trials.   Now that I write it out it's different, but when it came from him it was super powerful.  They were all super simple questions and super simple answers, but I just can't explain how awesome he is.   And after he would just kind of laugh and say cool right?  You can read about Nephi but you can hang out with Tony.

Love y'all,

Love Elder Cosby

I CAN'T REALLY EXPRESS HOW AWESOME IT IS TO BE HERE PREACHING THE GOSPEL

STARFRUIT & PAKAI

Dearest Family,

It's not as easy to get to email here as it was before. Sorry.  This sector is amazing.  Our week is literally just full of lessons.   This is the biggest biking area in the mission.  It's like 20 something kilometers of the main road and a bunch of super long roads that go up the valleys.  Also this is the rainyest area from what I hear.   It rains every single day.   It's awesome.  

So many people here have awesome names.  Our neighbor's name is Sky King (translated).   Our mission leader's name is Blacko and he is black.   Also,  there is a guy we keep on trying to take the lessons named Billy Boy and during one of our baptisms he started to sing really loudly.  That was fun.   Also, we are teaching a deaf guy whose name means "love of boogers."   It is super difficult to teach a deaf guy.   I always thought that I had a cool name, but now I see that that is not true.   Also,  one of my good friends in my old area is named "Poop of the Fire God" but we just call him Poop for short.   I say this because I think we should start getting a little more creative with our names.   I think we at least need to forbid one syllable names in our family. 

 There are all kinds of crazy awesome delicious fruits here, and they just grow everywhere.   Everyone here says "cool the life."   Preaching the gospel and eating starfruit and pakai is the best.   Some priest from the priest quorum came to learn about the mission but they had these tiny BMX bikes and he got super tired, so I rode a tiny BMX bike for like 10 kilometers.  It was not a fun experience at all.   Also, the other day we made a random visit to one of our investigators and everything seemed all fine and good until she just broke down and started crying and said that she was just about to commit suicide when we came to her house because her husband beats her.   Somehow 2 goobery 19 year old white guys who can't really speak French (with a lot of help from the Spirit)  got her to be smiling after that terrible experience.   I now know why so many missionaries say they don't have a testimony until after their mission because it is true.   It is impossible to get a testimony by working at Hobby Lobby and playing video games.   Your testimony becomes super strong when it's one of your only tools against addiction, violence and all other bad things.  I can't really express how awesome this is being here preaching the gospel, so I won't. Love Yall

Love Elder Cosby
Dear family,  I forgot to tell you that Elder Oldroyd is Duncan Fetner. His name is even Robert. He is literaly Duncan. Everything he does convinces me more and more that this is Duncan Fetner that I am preaching the gosple with.  (Ed. note for those who don't know Duncan Fetner.  Duncan was one of Seth's best High School buddies.  He is a wonderful, unique young man (not LDS). We often heard Duncan stories at the supper table from the time Seth met him as a freshman.    It is hard to imagine two Duncan Fetner's in the world, but apparently Elder Seth Cosby attracts them.  He truly is in heaven if he is preaching on a paradise island with a Duncan Fetner personality).  

COMING ALONG: October 4, 2010

Here are some pictures.  My camera was dropped and the zoom and focus were affected so some are blurry.  (Ed Note:  Many of the pictures Elder Cosby sent have been dropped into his past emails/blog entries.)  These are other pictures that I took in my first area [Faripiti], before I was sent to the pink house in Flower Town [Hitiaa].

 Part of the park we ride through and Moorea across the ocean.
 A Va'a race about to start . . .

Va'a is the Tahitian word for canoe. Canoe racers from Tahiti, the Tuamotus, the Marquesas, New Caledonia, Hawaii and France are the best canoers in the Pacific and in the World.  The Hawaii Nui Va'a Race is a major sport event in Polynesia:  this outrigger canoe race is organised every year in October,  where for 3 days,more than 100 traditional canoes compete between Huahine and Bora-Bora.

The first day brings the 2000 racers from Huahine to Raiatea 44.5 km away, after a 4-hour crossing. The second day is a speed race inside the lagoon between Raiatea and Tahaa, in less than an hour and a half. The third day is the most spectacular leg of the race:  a 52 km race across the ocean to reach Matira Beach in Bora-Bora, for more than four hours.

Preparation is intense, the show is also with the many supporters cheering the teams from fishing boats, outboard motors and official boats and with all the spectators cheering at the finish line.

A picture I took of a Va'a race/preparation in my first area.

Dear Family,
I'm glad everyone is doing well.   I hear my package is here on the island but my zone leaders haven't gotten it to me yet. I never thought I would get a better companion than Elder Punu but Elder Oldroyd is awesome. Also, the language is coming awesome.  I can understand and be understood in French pretty easy.  I wouldn't say fluent yet.  In Tahitian I can talk alright,  but I can hardly understand 'cause they talk so fast, but everything is going awesome. Happy Birthday Mom.  I'm sorry I didn't get to email you before your birthday.  It's not as easy to get emails done now that I'm not in the middle of the city.  I hope your birthday was excellent.  Keep being an awesome Mom.  I Love you.

Love, Elder Cosby

A picture of the scenery from the 3 Falls hike I took on my first p-day here in Hitiaa with Elder Oldroyd.