Transcript
Darin Tingey: All right, we're on with another episode of the Islands podcast. Today we have a guest that I met while I was in the MTC. He was a teacher. I don't know if you know that, but we've got Winston Farley on today. Winston, give a quick background on you.
winston : Sweet. Yeah. So my name is Winston Farley. I served in Kitabas from 2013 2015. So it's been a while now.
winston : Then, yeah, like you mentioned, I taught at the MTC for a bit after. um Yeah, I grew up in Utah. um My mom is actually Japanese, so I'm half Japanese.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : and And my whole life, I thought, you know, I'll probably get my mission called to Japan. And I was always thinking, you know, maybe, you know, will will it be Tokyo or, you know, maybe I'll go to like the northern part of Japan.
winston : The whole, my whole life I just thought, you know maybe I'll i go to Japan, but and didn't go to Japan. And so,
Darin Tingey: The Lord had other plans for you, my friend.
winston : yeah but yeah, um and I got my call and then it was just kind of like, all right, we're going to, we're going to Kitabas, I guess.
Darin Tingey: No.
winston : So, yeah.
Darin Tingey: And now you live back in Utah, right?
winston : Yeah, I'm back in Utah now. I was um and went to BYU, graduated BYU. I lived in Virginia for a bit and then um got married, moved to l LA for a couple of years and then back in Utah now.
winston : So have two little kids, two little girls.
Darin Tingey: Cool.
winston : So lot of fun.
Darin Tingey: And it's fun because you married a sabbatica and i I know Taylor, your brother-in-law.
winston : Okay, cool, yeah, that's awesome.
Darin Tingey: It's kind of small world there.
winston : Yeah, yeah, funny.
Darin Tingey: but To give the listeners little context, i i moved back to Utah around this time last year. And I can't remember exactly when I ran into you, but it was wintertime for sure.
Darin Tingey: There was snow on the ground.
winston : It must have been winded. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And i was going to get kolaches in the morning and I ran into you and I was like, I'm pretty sure I still have your number, but let's double check. I want to start this podcast.
Darin Tingey: And you're like, yeah, for sure, dude. And then here we are like a year later. so
winston : Awesome. Yeah. and I don't know why I put, i for some reason I put Devin in my phone. and but sure. Not Devin.
Darin Tingey: ah Well, so it's kind of fun. So you taught in the MTC when I was there. And then also we reconnected a little bit after the mission in the Kitabas class at BYU.
winston : Yeah, that was the first batch of the class, I think.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, yeah yeah, it was.
winston : yeah
Darin Tingey: Which was so intimidating for me, only having served in Kitabas for four and a half months.
winston : I feel intimidated too.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : I was like, that was my last semester of school, I think, or second to last. So I was like, I'd been home for like five years and I feel like my kid abyss was so rusty.
winston : And then all these new kids are coming in with like fresh kid abyss. And I was like, oh man.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. ah Which is so funny. Like we we probably still feel that way when there's new missionaries, but the same time, like, you know what, who cares?
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I'm just going to speak.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I don't even try the accent anymore.
winston : Yeah. ah yeah
Darin Tingey: um anyway, so, and so you got your mission call. Let's start with that. Like, it seems like you were surprised cause you were like, you thought in your mind, oh, Japan is where I'm going.
winston : I was pretty surprised ah to be honest.
Darin Tingey: Uh,
winston : And it was my senior year of high school is when they changed the age for missionaries. So like a bunch of people started getting mission calls.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : A bunch of my friends were getting calls to Japan or a couple of them. And I was like, Oh, that'd be so sick to serve with some of my buddies in Japan. Yeah. And then I got the my call and like a bunch of people came over and I don't know what happened, but I read my call.
winston : and then i was like that i have no idea where that is and then people just kind of like mobbed me and my shirt was like ripped off my body for some reason it was like a crazy the whole experience i like this is something crazy but yeah and then i like you like open the the missionary book or whatever the envelope and it's like there's just like a map of the world and then like a little square the pacific and then someone was like dude it looks like you're going to antarctica was like i I don't know what map you're looking at, but people were like looking stuff up and like trying to tell me.
winston : But there was actually um um ah someone that went to my high school like four years before me that served in Kitabas, Logan Packer. So he was like telling me a bunch of stuff about Kitabas. And he's actually from Kitabas, was adopted.
winston : And then was called back there.
Darin Tingey: Oh, no way.
winston : So yeah, but yeah, he was telling me about it. And I was like, yeah, this is going to be quite a journey. So i was pretty happy though.
Darin Tingey: So did you go into the MTC that summer then?
winston : Yeah, I got my call in the spring and then I think I was like September because I think back then it was intakes were every 12 weeks instead of every six.
Darin Tingey: ah wow. Okay.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And you're, if I remember correctly, you were with RISC in the MTC.
winston : With risk, as with yeah, with risk and faucet, the three of us. And actually, i i had gotten my call and I was doing TRC for Japanese because I speak Japanese.
Darin Tingey: ah Okay.
winston : So I was doing TRC at the MTC and then the intake, I walked by these missionaries with like a Kitabas flag on there.
Darin Tingey: Cool.
winston : One of them was wearing like a Kitabas thing. And I was like, are you guys going to Kitabas? And they're like, yeah. And it was the intake before me that I got to meet. And it was like Maisie, Lo, Sion, Kim, all those guys, Sand and Smith.
Darin Tingey: ah cool
winston : like And I became pretty close with a bunch of those guys. But yeah, it was cool to see them and the MTC before I even went there. So yeah.
Darin Tingey: yeah well Yeah, that makes even more like likely that you were to go to Japan because you speak Japanese.
winston : Yeah, I thought for sure.
Darin Tingey: It's like,
winston : mike Yeah.
Darin Tingey: ah you
winston : oh Yeah, but...
Darin Tingey: that's actually crazy. They're like, nah, we're sending you to get this.
winston : yeah I was happy, though, honestly. when i When I was kid at this, I was like, yeah, I think Japan would be pretty pretty tough.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : But, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Okay, so small group in the NTC.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: ah which is probably kind of fun. You know you three probably got real close.
winston : was so fun. It was way fun, yes. We all got pretty close. We got way tight with the Marshallese. district as well and it was so fun other price and think elder um king elder 10th sister um chammings sister tafili it was so fun we all we all got pretty close and i i'm gonna go for it
Darin Tingey: Go ahead.
Darin Tingey: I was just saying was jealous of, because I actually, when we went they, what's what's the word looking for? They like shifted the schedule so that we'd come in, the marshals would come in, and then three weeks later, the Kitabas intake would come in, which i which have been would have been fun if we all came in the same time.
winston : Okay.
winston : Yeah, it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: but
winston : It was so fun.
Darin Tingey: um Okay, so let's, you go to, now you Kitabas. Let's talk about when you get to Kitabas. Like, was it everything you imagined it to be or different or?
winston : Yeah, I'm sure everyone kind of feels the same way. Like you, you like go to Fiji. and you like stay a night in Fiji and you have to like find some stuff to do And then you like, yeah, I remember just landing and I was like, this is like, so this place is so tiny.
winston : And like all the kids come to the fence and like you get off and it's just so hot. And there were a bunch of missionaries there at the at the airport waiting. yeah, it was just like quite a, I was in quite a shock, I'd say for the for the majority of the first few weeks.
winston : But yeah, we got there and actually, um,
winston : Yeah, there are bunch of missionaries there. I remember meeting like Elder Maisie. I just recognized him from when I met him in the MTC. And then actually the Whitby's, they lived with some people in my home ward for a little bit playing rugby.
Darin Tingey: I don't know where.
winston : And so I had heard about them from the from the people in my ward. And so I talked to them for a bit, but yeah, it was it was crazy. They took us to Moroni and the mission president wasn't there. It was just the senior couples and we just kind of had like a little meal.
winston : and little orientation in the nose off off to the area.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. ah And at that point, you probably said jet lag too. I just remember being so tired when you got there.
winston : I think
Darin Tingey: ah Mission president was where? Is that right?
winston : he was in Marshall Islands at the time.
Darin Tingey: President where? Sorry, but president where?
winston : Oh, yeah, yeah, President Weir. And he was um he's the best. He was awesome. Yeah, he I think he got there like maybe a month before I did. So we were like, ah or maybe he got there the the intake before us, but we were like the first one of the first intakes with President Weir.
Darin Tingey: OK, so let's let's run through your areas real quick, and then we'll start from the beginning.
winston : Okay, so yeah, my first area was Beso second, and then I went Abeyang for a bit, and then back to Beso third, and then I went to Onoto after that for a long time, seven months or so, and then after Onoto I went to Eita first,
Darin Tingey: OK.
winston : And then Eta first to Nikunao, and then straight from Nikunao directly to Beru.
Darin Tingey: Mm-hmm.
winston : And then I finished there. And I guess I finished in Beru, and then I came home to Bikinibu for like a week or two before I went home. But Beru was technically my last area, I guess.
winston : but
Darin Tingey: Dude, when you sent me, like, the islands you started, I was like, man, he had a good mission for Outer Islands. Like, especially now. Like, the kids, you know, Ware was really pro Outer Island, and then Larkin eventually got there, too.
winston : Yeah, which was awesome.
Darin Tingey: But... so
winston : I feel like when I got there, everyone was like, because in mtc the our teacher was like, yeah, you maybe go to one or two if you're lucky. And like we got there, and everyone was going like to several. And I was like, oh, this is gonna be this is awesome. like I want to go to as many as possible.
winston : Yeah,
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I mean, four is pretty dang good. i think Risk had you beat, but but
winston : I think risk went to like eight or something, or something.
Darin Tingey: ah you know now there's like and there's like new missionary living standards and it's kind of crazy. But I think they only have a few Outer Islands open in Kiribati.
Darin Tingey: And so it's lucky if it's lucky if you get one, you know?
winston : that's crazy. That's kind of sad.
winston : That's kind of sad.
Darin Tingey: and So we kind of hit it at the right time, you know, just peak peak time.
winston : Yeah, totally.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : Yeah,
Darin Tingey: Beso, starting out in Beso. I mean, that's ah that's an experience.
winston : yeah it was packed. It was just like It's just different in its own way. It's just so packed. I had Elder Mendenhall as my trainer, ah great dancer. But yeah, I was with Elder Mendenhall. He also trained Elder Maisie.
winston : um But yeah, he was a good guy. he was just he was just working hard and having a good time and really funny guy. um But yeah, he would wake up he'd wake up and just flop over and just bust out 100 push-ups right away first thing.
winston : And then he would just Yeah, he was just like an interesting... He was such a good guy, just a hard worker. But...
Darin Tingey: How was, um did you guys have a lot of people to teach? I mean, bass was so packed. I feel like it's,
winston : Yeah, I feel like I got there. he had just gotten there too. So we were trying to find some people, pretty sure. But we ended up finding people through referrals. And yeah, the members just like tell you... you know They just give you referrals and stuff. So yeah, it was...
winston : We just were teaching and you know working. and it was just The house was quite interesting, I'll say. It was like a it was quite um a shock to get to that house. I don't think they allowed missionaries in that house after, but it was quite run down.
winston : There weren't many, like and maybe it was just because I'd gotten there, but like I remember cats all night cats would be coming inside. and like trying to get our trash and food. And Elder Mendenhall would like put rocks next to his bed.
winston : And he'd just be hucking rocks at cats and chickens. ah was like, this is like this isn't the MTC anymore. but um it was a tour but it was like a There was just like a big gap above like the top of the wall and the roof.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, exactly. So no no door? Like, what was... there in
winston : um But it was a good good house. I remember it was like where everyone cut their hair. So i like there was just a room with a pile of hair But yeah, it was it was a good place.
Darin Tingey: the house at Yeah.
winston : if Really cool members.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. rats in the house at all
winston : I think so.
Darin Tingey: yeah
winston : Yeah, there were a few. and Yeah, Elder Mendenhall, he had a glove, actually, and he would catch the rats and he would just put them in the water.
Darin Tingey: Oh gosh, that's so good. Which is totally against the culture in Were you there for your whole training?
winston : Yeah, true. But yeah, that that area was really cool members. It was like a really... I feel like it was a perfect introduction to Kitabas in terms of like such good people there. And it was fun.
winston : um I was there for probably transfer and maybe, maybe two transfers, a transfer and a half or something.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : And then from there, I went to Abayang with Elder Atata from Vanuatu and it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: and
winston : Yeah, we went. So yeah, that was Elder. My trainer's last area was Baso second. And then, He went home the next day, I think, and I flew to Abayang with Elder Atata. And I think it had been closed for a couple of transfers or something.
winston : So remember, we landed in Abayang and we had to ask around for where the house was. And we passed, we kept walking, or we were walking and we like saw the branch president.
winston : And we're hey, do you know where the missionary house is? And he's like, no, I don't know. It was the branch president.
Darin Tingey: Just didn't even want to help.
winston : But yeah, he got, I don't think he was like happy for the missionaries to come back, but I think and it ended up being a good thing. We, we became pretty close.
Darin Tingey: Ah.
winston : He's a cool guy.
Darin Tingey: the the The previous missionaries kind of probably ruined some things on the island or something.
winston : I don't know. i don't know about that, but it was just, I think he was just happy to have me chilling there. And then, yeah, i remember we were just laughing so hard that he didn't want to tell us where the house was.
Darin Tingey: So you eventually found it, I'm assuming.
winston : We found it, yeah. We found it, and we had to like climb through the window. was like a chapel house, you know, in Abayán.
winston : But Elder Atata was like, I think he, think this was close to the end of his mission, too. So we were just like looking around for people, and we actually found some awesome families that we became super close with, and we would just, it was so fun. we he was He was really versed in like Kiribati's like the way of Kitabas living and like he's from Vanuatu and like outer island stuff. So like we were catching crabs and like he was climbing trees and like, I remember one time there was
winston : he we were we were just biking in the middle of nowhere and he tells me to stop biking he grabs a rock and he just hucks a rock at a tree and a bird just falls out of the tree to the ground and he just pinned it with a rock and then he just put the bird in his backpack and then the rest of the day we went teaching he plucked it we got home and was like cooking the bird when we got back it was so awesome yeah it was so fun with him he's he's a really happy guy.
winston : um i love that guy.
Darin Tingey: You're like, where am I? I'm on this outer island with this guy who is a Pacific Islander. We're just killing birds with rocks.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Did he speak any English?
winston : it was He spoke great English, yeah. But um yeah and i said yeah, the branch was doing great.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : A lot of people go into the branch. I feel like when we we first got there, we were just we had a lot of people in that main like branch. And then we would go to like the other end of the island like once or twice a week. But I feel like it's, it was hard to like, we were having good success in one spot. So we're like, let's just, you know, make this place like a strong area. And then i feel like I've heard that Ebyang used to have like four missionaries after that or something, but.
Darin Tingey: yeah they I think they even put six missionaries at one point.
winston : Yeah, that's crazy.
winston : I can't even, I can't even, that's crazy.
winston : Oh, wow.
Darin Tingey: um
winston : That's insane.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Well, so...
winston : That's cool, though. I feel like there would be good work out there. There was good work out there, I felt like.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, there's like... i mean, it's pretty populated, right? it's a lot of people on FAM.
winston : There's a good amount, yeah. Oh, yeah. And it's pretty big. And it's close enough to Tarawa that like a lot of people go there, I think.
Darin Tingey: What...
Darin Tingey: Right. Was the the main branch in like the center of the island?
winston : Yeah. It was was like 10 minutes from there, the airstrip like walking.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : it was close.
Darin Tingey: Okay, so you spent a lot of your time there. And i I totally agree.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Like when one area is bumping, you're like, we don't really have a lot of time to go to other areas, because it's so big.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: It's such a big island.
winston : For sure. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I always wanted to, but I felt like we had our work in the main spot. So I was like, let's just grow this.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : But
Darin Tingey: how How did your, did you notice like a big jump in your Kittabas language when when you went to an outer island?
winston : yeah, i felt like that's where I started picking it up a bit quicker. And Elder thought that was good at the language. So he was helping me a bunch. And just the mean amount of time you like hang out with members and your investigators and talk like it helped a ton I think yeah
Darin Tingey: Yeah. How was the work out there? Like, did you guys have a lot of success?
winston : it was pretty good honestly I felt like we found a few we found like this awesome couple that was one of the the wife was a teacher at the primary school and they were like we started teaching the daughter and the the parents were like kind of off in the corner and then the parents started listening and then We started teaching them and then like her sister family and then their friends. And it just turned into like this little web of like, it was so fun. Like they were coming to all the branch activities and it was just such a good time.
winston : worked out.
Darin Tingey: Did you guys do Te Cantiero at the school?
winston : We did, yeah. We did. And then it got crazy, I think. At the end, we were like, I think all the kids came to the to ours and it was just like, we I don't know about this. It was crazy.
Darin Tingey: yeah yeah I feel like whenever we did Te Cantiero, like all the kids would come to ours and it was just like to see the white guys, you know, like just hang out with Americans.
winston : Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
winston : Yeah. And I just remembered one thing. One time my bike, the fork of my bike, the front of it, just busted off but the axle of the tire. So we couldn't bike anywhere.
Darin Tingey: Thank you.
winston : So Elder Atata, we found like an old inner tube, and we cut it and made lashings. And we've we tied my bike together. the like the fork of my bike to the back of his and we made a tandem bike and we we were just cruising around and everyone was like it was like the talk of the town that the missionaries had this tandem bike that they were like it's one bike but there's two of them cruising around it was so funny it only lasted for like a like a week or so until the until the other one came but it was so funny
Darin Tingey: Hey, that's genius. That's awesome. And hey, if you ever wanted to not worry about missionaries losing each other on bikes, you just give them a tandem bike.
winston : yeah it was so funny
winston : yeah oh it was so funny it was awesome
Darin Tingey: That's so good. I mean, that's that's like Kitabas in a nutshell as a missionary. Like your bike breaks.
winston : yeah oh yeah just make something work yeah oh yeah oh yeah yeah I feel like I've heard my end is pretty big I actually went there once for like three days it was super random but
Darin Tingey: You got to figure out some way to fix it. Because... Our bikes were always breaking on Mayana and it was just such a pain.
Darin Tingey: And you know, the island's huge. So like, oh like
Darin Tingey: ah no way.
winston : and and so yeah It was it was so cool.
Darin Tingey: I love Mayana. I mean, that's really like the only place I saw in Kitabas besides a little bit of Tarawa. So I hold a special place in my heart.
winston : Oh, that's awesome. yeah
winston : Awesome.
Darin Tingey: um How long, how long are we going to be young?
winston : I was there for probably um maybe ah maybe two two transfers again.
Darin Tingey: Okay, so kind of pretty quick.
winston : Two transfers. Yeah. And then i left, and I think that was, I think sisters replaced us, and that was like the first time in a long time that sisters had been to Outer Islands.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I think, I still think it's nuts that sisters are on Outer Islands. I don't know.
winston : It was like, I think we came off, and then they replaced us, and it was like, everyone was like, they couldn't believe that it was happening.
Darin Tingey: It's just,
winston : And I i guess it happened like 20 years ago or 30 years ago or something. But then, yeah. And then after, yeah, I went from there. to beso third actually so i was training elder afetasi there so
Darin Tingey: Back to Beso.
Darin Tingey: Were you excited to go back to Beso or? Yeah.
winston : i was kind at first i was a little bummed just because i was like i wanted to stay like in ebayang for a bit longer and i was like i i really enjoyed like the way the outer islands where i was like i'd love to stay out here right i was thinking maybe go to another one but yeah i was like oh i guess i'll go back to beso and at first i was kind of bummed but
winston : Basel III was, there's some really awesome YSA that I became close with that they helped us out a ton. Especially because I felt like I was still pretty new with the language.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : So having Elder Afetasi, he was new too. So we were both just like, we'd get some people coming on splits with us. That was really helpful. But yeah.
Darin Tingey: So training and this is what like six months into your mission that you're training?
winston : Yeah, something like that. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Were you were you like pumped like this is my son, you know?
winston : I was excited. He's such a good guy, Alderafutasi. I was so excited, but I was just like kind of not sure what we were doing because we like we were whitewashing and just kind of like finding people. and It was kind of hard at first to find people, I'll be honest. and that I think that ASO 3rd is like notoriously like a trickier ward. um But um we found people, and it worked out. There was some awesome WSA there that helped us out in cool members, so it was good.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I mean, like I said, I can't imagine that you like don't find people in Bezo.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Even if they're not interested, like you have someone to talk to every day.
winston : Yeah, if you're walking. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You're walking around and people are like running after you like, hey, come over or something. But yeah, you find there's people. Yeah, there's for sure people.
Darin Tingey: Do you get fed a lot in Bezo?
winston : Oh, yeah. Yeah. Pretty much every. you Yeah. Just every night. Every night.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Every day. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: It's just like house to house. You're like, I know, thank you. I've already eaten like five meals.
winston : Yeah. There's so nice there. Such a good word. But.
Darin Tingey: Okay. And then, so, so back on that, ah back on Basso for a little bit, was it a while or another quick stint?
winston : I think again, it was two transfers or maybe even less. Maybe it was one transfer. I don't remember it being super long. I think it was maybe two transfers actually.
winston : And then Elder Afatasi went to Makin and I got Elder Seguine from Christmas. And Elder Seguine was like a fluent, he was like four months in the mission and he was just so fluent.
Darin Tingey: No way.
winston : and he had been on Christmas and they don't have a lot of, you can't get packages there, at least back then. And he had like 20 packages and he was going, he was, we were going to be together for like four days and he was going to go to Abayang actually.
winston : And so I got to go back to Abayang with him. We drove the speedboat there with all of his packages and I got to like show him around Abayang for like three or four days and then,
winston : like come back and then he was going to go back there with his companion. So it was super cool to go back to Abayang.
Darin Tingey: That's so sick.
winston : Yeah, it was so fun go. And I feel like at that point I was a little bit better at the language and I could like talk to people. It was so fun.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I mean, I feel like every missionary wishes they could do that. After they serve on an out-round, like go back for a few days.
winston : Yeah, it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: Like that's so sick.
winston : It was perfect. It was so fun. Yeah, it was so fun to see everyone and they didn't know we were coming and we just like got off the boat and it was so funny. But yeah, i just got to talk to all the old friends and
Darin Tingey: it He took all his 20 packages with him.
winston : Oh yeah, we loaded up the boat and just filled that house, that little chapel house with like all this canned food and like all of his packages.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : It was so awesome. He's such an awesome guy. We were actually companions later on. I'll talk about it, but yeah, it was fun.
Darin Tingey: Okay. I thought you were going to say that you got to keep all of his packages because he went down.
winston : Oh, I got, he's here to me, yeah. But yeah, so then after i went to there just for three days three days to show him around and we both flew back. And then I think the next day I went to Onotoa, pretty sure.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Maybe once or so.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : and maybe Oh, actually, no. He came to Abayang to pick me in Elder Atatab. He came in the church speedboat.
Darin Tingey: no way.
winston : And we rode the speedboat home. And on the way home, there was a storm. So we just had an anchor. And we just sat there for like two hours in the storm. And we we caught a huge fish, like a giant trevally, I think.
winston : And it was like massive fish. And it was such it was so funny. We were with we are just all like so hyped when we caught that. It was so funny.
Darin Tingey: I love the Kiribus. The church has a ah speedboat in Kiribus.
winston : Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Like the marshals, we didn't have that, which kind of, I wish we did. Like just, i don't know, maybe maybe our president would have gone around to more islands, but it sounds like the on Kiribus, they went around speedboat all the time.
winston : Yeah, it was so cool. Yeah.
winston : Oh, yeah. They went on that a few times, actually. I think they used it quite a bit. But, yeah.
Darin Tingey: So cool.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: ah And going fishing with the mission president, like.
winston : Oh, yeah, it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: So fun. Okay, so Ono Toa, are you reopening again or or are you replacing somebody?
winston : Oh, so Onontawa had just been opened for the first time. Elder Monson opened it with other... Elder Bontemann or Elder Masada? I think it was Elder. ah can't, no, I think it was Bontemann first and then Elder Masada was right after him. and Elder Masada.
winston : So I, so Elder Manson opened it with Elder Bontemann and then I was, and then Elder Masada and then I replaced Elder Manson. I think he was going home.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : And then I was with Elder Masada and he was so awesome. he He helped me out so much with the language and the culture and like, it was so fun with him.
Darin Tingey: How would you describe Onotoa?
winston : The Onotoa is really unique. Like, i think there's a really cool culture there with, like, guests, Iruwa, and also, like, like work.
winston : Like, I think, I'm sure you've heard, but it's, like, Te Ebenimane, and there's, like, everyone has, like, their storage that they... Because it's so far down south that the cargo doesn't reach. So it's, like, a thing to have, like, your your side house.
Darin Tingey: Right.
winston : It's called a betta, and they just put, like... they store that with like potty and like all sorts of stuff for like storage and everyone there like takes pride in like like you know how like you know like the atame they put like the coral rocks on like as gravel for their house that was like the only the island where every single house had that like every house had like a rock wall around it with like the like it was just like everyone was like really into like
Darin Tingey: Interesting.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
winston : like building and like working and like yeah yeah yeah yeah but yeah it was it was pretty different from ebayang because i feel like ebayang is pretty close to the main island and there's always cargo but like monoto was like cargo would rarely come and it was like
Darin Tingey: making their house look nice and interesting.
Darin Tingey: Right.
winston : I remember there was actually a drought there. didn't rain for a long time. And the coconuts were like shrinking. And they they needed the coconuts for bin and other stuff.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : So there was a time where we were like just boiling well water with kamaimai. And that was like the only thing we had to eat for like for like a long time.
winston : It was getting pretty rough.
Darin Tingey: ah and No way. the Did you guys, you know, so I feel like this mission is notoriously known for like having to fish for your food.
winston : that
Darin Tingey: and
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And I'm always like, you know, depending on the island and the timing of that you were on that island.
winston : Yeah. I feel like we never had to like for the daily meal, but like we definitely, there were times well like with Elder Maasada, we were all, we had like good cargo, I feel like.
winston : um And he was really good at about like getting, like he was helping, he was taking care of us. Like we were getting meals and,
winston : things like that. But then after Elder Masad, I left. i got Elder Whitehead. i trained Elder Whitehead there. And that's when we were like struggling for, no like people couldn't fish.
winston : because it was just like a drought, like even fishing, like people were eating their like tari from their houses. are Like we don't have that. So we were just eating, we were, remember one time Elder Whitehead was like, was just like, I'm so hungry, bro.
Darin Tingey: what would you guys say?
winston : He's like sitting there and I'm like, I feel so bad. I'm like trying to help this guy out, but there's, but yeah, we had so much fun together. I love Elder Whitehead. But yeah.
Darin Tingey: That's where you learn to pray and fast a lot.
winston : Yeah, no, the members, and like, I felt like it was just breakfast and lunch. We would just not eat anything. And then the members, we would get fed by the members. They were so awesome. There's such an awesome little branch there. But yeah.
Darin Tingey: I felt like you know the story is like, oh, i had to fish for our food.
winston : ah
Darin Tingey: I was like, every experience I had is the people always fed fed us. like they would
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: They would give you food before they ate.
winston : Oh, yeah. They're so nice. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Cool. but
winston : But yeah, we lived with the family, which was really fun. Like we had our own little like booyah that we slept on and it was right like 20 feet away from this family.
Darin Tingey: cool
winston : And it was, they were so fun. It was like, it was like such an ideal situation. It was just like, you wake up, just just ride on the beach and then you have like your little booyah.
winston : And then it's just like this family next door, they would share all their stuff with us. We'd share stuff with them and we'd like, it was so fun. It was just, it was awesome.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, getting getting close to a family is is fun.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: You just learn the culture a lot more when you're with them, and they probably help you with language, and you help them with their chores, ah and you feel like a real like true kid of this person when you're...
winston : Yeah. That was so fun. Yeah, was so nice. Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah.
winston : Yeah, oh, that was so fun. Yeah. They were the best.
Darin Tingey: what Was the church... So if they had as the missionaries before i reopened it, like was the church pretty new, or as they had they reopened it and they're...
winston : It was pretty new. It was, no, it had been, i think that was the first time it was opened because there was no branch or anything going on. And then i think Elder Mons and Elder Bontum and Elder Masada, they found a bunch of people and there were like 30 people at the branch.
winston : It was pretty awesome.
Darin Tingey: That's incredible.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, that's way good for just starting it up.
winston : Yeah.
winston : Yeah. And then we started going to like, there's like a long causeway there that's like super long and you go to the other side and It was cool. Yeah, it was cool.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I'm looking at it on Google Maps. So,
winston : It feels like it felt like it's way drier there. There's not as many coconut trees, not as much like shrubbery, like the ground. There's not like undergrowth for the most part.
Darin Tingey: okay.
winston : Yeah. It felt like way more remote. There's yeah, then at least. But
Darin Tingey: What about people wise, like just like a lot fewer than Ape Young or?
winston : yeah, a lot fewer. There were there were less people. But they were so like the it was a really interesting. like The way they like treated guests was so cool. like It was so important. it was like like Already, Kitabas is like such a cool place for you know taking care of guests and visitors.
winston : But I feel like Onoto was like even more.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : It was crazy. I'm
Darin Tingey: Give me the evidence, a story or an example of that, of like, ah out of Botox or something.
winston : trying to think. It was... I remember one time this like, oh, yeah, we would go to those and it was still pretty new. So like if you go to a new village and like give a medodo, they were like, they couldn't fathom.
winston : They were like, they were like, like smack in the ground. Like, I cannot believe these people are like speaking Kitibis. Like it was crazy. But even like there was a minister, like a Protestant minister, and he was such a cool guy. He would always invite us over.
winston : when we drove by, he's like, come to sit down, have a drink and eat some stuff. And that was like unheard of on Onotoa for like ministers to do that. I felt like at the time um there was like a, I don't know what the guy above the minister is, but he was like,
winston : following us around when we would go somewhere and just kind of like say, hey, don't listen to those guys. We actually, other white had an idea to go track to his house and he just like chased us away.
Darin Tingey: Hmm.
Darin Tingey: Hmm. Hmm.
winston : But yeah, um yeah, that minister would come over and he was like, yeah, come. He's like, he's like, come eat at at my place anytime. He's like, and I'll find some time to come to yours. was like, you don't want to come to ours.
winston : One day he was driving by and he we were like studying or something and he's just like hey, he's like, monikatas and it was the minister and we're like, oh, we don't have anything. So we're just like, pull some food out of one of someone's packages or something. And we're just like, yeah, come sit down in our house. And it was just, it was funny. But yeah, it was so cool.
Darin Tingey: Here's some Swedish fish my mom sent me.
winston : But it was like a thing where they would bring...
Darin Tingey: Here you go.
winston : Yeah, seriously. But they would bring like a... remember this nurse from Australia came. and And the whole thing was like... She needed to be like... She was like a special guest in every village for like a week.
winston : so Or like a couple days. Where every village would like bring her in, do a botak. And it was like massive. And then she would go to the next village. But it was like... It was like the whole place shut down just for this nurse that came from Australia.
winston : And was like, this, it was like different than like other places. It was crazy.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : but
Darin Tingey: What's cool about the Outer Islands is like the island can really shut down for something like this, right?
winston : Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Darin Tingey: There's no work that someone has to go to work at a store, right? it's It's everyone's living off the land basically.
winston : Yeah, yeah.
winston : And I remember for fun, we were trying to find like, We were just trying to do like all the kidibus stuff. i like I remember like when the but like the jellyfish would wash on the shore on Tandake side, we would go get like fill buckets with jellyfish.
winston : and because the they would eat them there and the and the people there thought it was like so funny that we were like trying to do like kitabas stuff so then we just like it would like spread so quick and so like we were trying to like find ways to like talk to people and I don't know people were just laughing about all the stuff we were trying like fishing and like going to like collect stuff for people and it was so fun
Darin Tingey: Yeah, they just you you guys were the talk of the town, the the stories that they just telling everybody, these white guys over here.
winston : Yeah. It was fun too. Cause I was there for so long that like, felt like I knew everybody by then. it was so fun. Just you could go stop at anyone's house and talk to them in the main village at least.
winston : But
Darin Tingey: So did did you guys live um close to the airport?
winston : it was probably like 40, like a 30 minute bike. If you're looking at it, if you're looking at the map, there's like two horseshoes and then there's like a big long strip in the middle.
Darin Tingey: What's the airport? Yeah, I'm sure about it.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : We lived at the very end of the first horseshoe.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, there's actually even a, it says the Church of Jesus Christ, a lot of these thingss little pin for the church there, which is cool.
winston : Oh, really? Oh, that's funny. Yeah, as a member of Maniebe, it was such a cool spot.
Darin Tingey: It's so crazy.
Darin Tingey: um How many villages would you say are on Otoa?
winston : feel like that first half side, the first horseshoe side from the airport is kind of like four or five big ones. And then like on that other far side, there's just like two or three.
Darin Tingey: Uh-huh.
winston : And then if you go all the way to the other end, there's like another causeway and there's like another Esmocoro there. And that's, I actually think we weren't supposed to go there for some reason because someone had like threatened.
winston : I don't even remember the story. I remember there was some, one old ex member was getting mad that they weren't letting us go there. And so they like banned the missionaries or something. And then he like threatened to like,
winston : fight the main uni mana or something and it was like super crazy i remember because i remember we went to teach there one time and there and like five people were like hey you guys can't teach here anymore you guys have to go like leave but i've heard people have gone back there since i'm sure it was fine i think it was just so new that it was like yeah yeah tab order it's called
Darin Tingey: Yeah, this is the furthest south. ah Yeah, yeah, I see it tab
winston : we'd go up We'd go over there. we tried to There were a few people that other Monson and Masada had found that we were trying to teach over there. But yeah.
Darin Tingey: see So that main car that main causeway, is that a man-made or is it actually?
winston : The branch was super
winston : close. I think it's mixed. It was mostly land, but there' is like it's so pretty right there. It was unreal biking right there.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, i bet.
winston : It was so cool.
Darin Tingey: I mean, the lagoon itself looks just gorgeous in this.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Was it a pretty shallow lagoon?
winston : oh it I love that place. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that place was so good.
Darin Tingey: So like when a tide would go out, could you walk out there for forever?
winston : Yeah, we used to go on P-Day and go, like, dig for kwekwe, those little shells, and eat those.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Those were so good. We just get, like, a few members and just have a picnic, and it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, the picnics.
winston : But yeah. So fun.
Darin Tingey: Oh, the picnics were so good on the mission.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Everyone come play some beach games.
winston : Oh, and everyone brought stuff. Oh, it so fun.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, oh that's a good time. ah So, I mean, if you were out there for so long, were you were you the one running church at the branch there?
winston : Yeah, there it was still a branch. There wasn't a branch. I don't even still, I don't think think there's a branch even now, but yeah, we were just doing church every Sunday and we would teach, we'd have like song practice to teach people hymns and like church was usually like 20 minutes long.
Darin Tingey: ah group, whatever it's called?
Darin Tingey: so Sacrament.
winston : But yeah.
Darin Tingey: Both missionaries give a little talk and then it's over.
winston : And then there was ah one, we tried to do church at two more villages. And that was there were like only a couple of people at the other ones. But the main one, there was probably 30 people. It was super fun, really close.
winston : Everyone was really funny. And we all got pretty close with them. They were so amazing. ah
Darin Tingey: when you When you would do church in the morning, I'm assuming you did it in the morning in the main village, did everyone know when to come or did you have to go around to all the houses and say, hey, we're starting church soon?
winston : Yeah.
winston : For the most part, I feel like they'd see us biking. I remember one time I was like, Elder Moss said, was like, let's go ask people if they want to, or i was maybe was my idea. But then we were talking about it and we're like, this feels like we're like infringing on their agency a bit.
winston : like We're kind of like forcing them to come. So then I feel like we stopped doing that and then would just try to start on time so people would come on time the next time. But I mean, it was, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Well, the other churches, they like have a bell. And I was like, that actually would be kind of nice to have a bell.
winston : Yeah. yeah True. Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And we don't. just remember always like going to every house being like, we're starting church, so come.
winston : Yeah. I remember there was this guy in the branch that was super giggly and he and we would um he tried to give a talk one time and everyone was just laughing for like 20 minutes. And I was like, okay, we you know be let's try to make this feel like a little more real church.
winston : But yeah, it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: Did you have any baptisms there?
winston : We had a couple, I think. It was pretty slow work, I feel like. I feel like we were just trying to find new people. We had a couple of baptisms, but i think for the most part, we were just like, let's try to find people to teach.
winston : I feel like after the initial wave, it's like you find the first batch of people and then it's like, it was kind of hard. I remember it got pretty hard towards the end. I feel like at first we were still having a lot of people to teach, but by the end it was pretty tricky.
winston : I remember would just try to find people every day.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : then we started having a lot of people to teach on the other side like that. the further side of the island, which was cool. But yeah.
Darin Tingey: did Did you ever wrestle anybody while you were there?
winston : I tried to I made up my own wrestling technique and everyone thought it was so stupid. I'm sure i as a joke, but yeah, I would try to wrestle people. I remember this one guy, i was like, just try, I was like, just try for real once. I want to see.
winston : and I was on my back in like one second. He hugged me to the ground. We were actually there for the Sudai and it was so sick.
Darin Tingey: Uh-huh.
winston : It was like every village was in like the, they were like in the woods.
Darin Tingey: ah
winston : of like there's like the main council field and every village was like in their like groups like in the in like the in the field in the trees and they would call someone out and then like a guy would run out of the bush to like go face his opponent and they took it so seriously like everyone came to watch the Beaumane and it was like insane like people were like throwing like actual like it was so cool to watch it was so sweet and we had like front row it was so cool
Darin Tingey: and Did they ever try and call the elders out? Yeah.
winston : No, there's no way. I think they were like elite at it.
Darin Tingey: a
winston : It was crazy, but it was so sweet. They were just like, there was like a giant bracket and it lasted for like four hours. and And then the guy who won was like, everyone was like, he was like famous for like the year. It was so cool.
winston : But yeah.
Darin Tingey: That's awesome. i would I've seen a few videos on Facebook of the Beaumontics.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I never saw it while i was there.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: and there's ah Maybe they did this on that round, but they're like they're wrestling in their base. It's literally just their base.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: and Those things would get yanked up.
winston : Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Just these naked dudes wrestling each other.
winston : Yeah, oh, it was so cool. they were so Yeah, i was like it was cool to watch that. But they were like, oh, I love Donalto.
Darin Tingey: That's so good.
winston : It was so fun. Yeah, good place.
Darin Tingey: So seven months there, eight months?
winston : Yeah, i was with Elder Masare for probably two transfers, and then was me and Elder Whitehead for like ah maybe four months after that or so.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Me and Alderwey had got pretty close too. I felt like we were just, there were some hard times out there. We got pretty close, but yeah, he's so awesome. had a lot of fun. um And then I was, yeah, I was supposed to leave. supposed to leave, but I couldn't get on a plane because they had it was too full or something.
winston : So I remember we went to the air, I said we had like a farewell karaoke and then we went to the airport the next day and I couldn't get on. And flights were once week and everyone was laughing like, oh, that's funny. Like you get to stay another week. And I was like, oh, sweet.
winston : So then we waited the next week and we went there again and i and I couldn't get on again for some reason.
Darin Tingey: Had another missionary come and replace you so there was three of you guys?
winston : but then we went back we went back another week and then and a missionary came and i couldn't get on maybe this was maybe the second week so there were three of us for a week there another pool of fauna actually and so there are three of us and then finally i think the third week i got on but yeah it was funny just how it goes over there yeah
Darin Tingey: Yeah. yeah But you would think you would think that the Iroha would be able to get on the plane over somebody else.
winston : yeah but i it was crazy i remember we went there a few times and by the third time i was like okay um I love this place, but I think it'd be good to go back. Go back somewhere else.
Darin Tingey: They probably charge the church every time, too. Yeah, it starts with the same ticket.
winston : Oh, for sure.
Darin Tingey: So after starving on Onotoa, you were probably a little excited to go back to Tarawa and get some food.
winston : yeah i was like Yeah, but it felt like I was there for so long that i felt like sad to leave, honestly, like actually sad. And I felt like it was just felt weird on Tarawa for a bit.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Yeah.
winston : But yeah, i was there with Elder Davis and Ata, and we had a truck, which was cool. You got to drive all around.
Darin Tingey: Okay, so were you in leadership then?
winston : And then, yeah, Elder Davis and I were zone leaders for, think they were just, at the time, it was just for, there was just one zone.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : think they combined the east and west zone for a little bit.
Darin Tingey: It's always so weird going from like extreme outer island, riding your bikes, living the outer island life, coming, yeah, come at it while you're in a car.
winston : Oh, yeah, and then you have like a car.
Darin Tingey: You're like, what is this?
winston : I honestly felt like guilty. It was weird. Felt so weird.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, it's totally different mission, you know, from islandland island to island.
winston : Yeah. But yeah, Eita was like, that ward is just such a good ward. Like, Eita was just, the members.
Darin Tingey: It's got to be one of the best on Tarawa, right? Like that's from every for everyone I've talked to.
winston : Oh, yeah. there were The ward had like 300 people in it.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : And it was like, you go from like doing church, giving like six talks a day at church. And then all a sudden you're like, you can just sit there and do nothing. And I was like, you can just go sit with your investigator or something.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Like it felt so weird, but
Darin Tingey: Boy, it's so nice, though, too. Like, it's pretty exhausting to run the church on Outer Island.
winston : yeah. I mean, yeah, it was so, it was nice to go back to, was a good Ineta. And then like the members were all like the meals they were cooking, like real meal, like crazy meals. And like, it was, it was awesome.
Darin Tingey: And...
winston : It's just fun being in that area, like my own eye and everything.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Yeah, Moroni High School is a fun area, fun vibe.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And...
winston : Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I mean, Moroni is, like... I feel like it's the coveted school in Kittipus.
winston : Oh yeah.
Darin Tingey: Everyone wants to go to Moroni.
winston : Oh yeah. For sure. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: um
winston : was a good area.
Darin Tingey: Being a zone leader, was that, do you feel like you spent of your time like dealing with missionaries versus actual missionary Yeah.
winston : I feel like we tried to teach as we tried to like keep our area going, but I mean, there is always some, there is like if something was going on, but yeah, I mean, I felt like we were, maybe it was just like a quiet time. I mean, I feel like we were able to teach and do something. We'd have to like do some stuff in the evenings and and in the morning and stuff like that. But yeah.
Darin Tingey: How many missionaries would you say were on the Kiribati side of the mission at this time?
winston : I honestly, don't know, maybe like 50, Maybe more.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : They're probably like 50 to 70. I don't even know. Maybe they're 75 or so. But I felt like everyone was on outer islands.
Darin Tingey: Hmm.
winston : So like the main island always felt kind of quiet. I felt like they're only like, when I first got to the mission, there I felt like PDAs were like insane. when There were always a ton of missionaries. But then I felt like they started opening so many, like things were getting open left and right that it was just like,
winston : all I think all the islands were open at the time, except for a few. but So there weren't a ton of missionaries on Tarawai, I felt like.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, which is honestly probably good, you know, like sometimes Tarawa, I could get and same with Madger on the Marshall Island side, just like so crowded that missionary work like kind of stops a little bit because people are just hanging out.
winston : Yeah.
winston : Yeah, yeah.
winston : And I think they were trying to open a ton. and they were trying i think there were like more missionaries Tarawaieta and like they were like oh They had like a few new areas and stuff. I felt like it was like everything was just like getting opened, I felt like, at the time.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, where did the incredible work with that?
winston : Yeah, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Just open it all.
winston : That was awesome. He's so awesome.
Darin Tingey: did just Did you get close with him since you were his own leader? And I mean...
winston : Yeah, I mean, I was only 8th for like maybe even one transfer, I think. I wasn't there very long, I don't remember. So, I mean, I probably saw him a couple times when he come down, but um yeah, he spent a good amount of time in Kitabas, which was awesome.
Darin Tingey: So you were...
winston : He was awesome.
Darin Tingey: yeah
winston : He was like going to visit outer islands. I remember him and Sister Weir were going to outer islands, like in, they were just like visiting all these places.
Darin Tingey: That's
winston : And actually that's what my first area in Beso when I was getting trained, I was doing a split with the zone leaders And there were like, at the time there was like an outer island zone leader position that you would just, basically their job was to just go to every outer island to see if it was ready to be opened.
Darin Tingey: the coolest thing.
winston : And I remember one of the outer island zone leaders got sick or something. And this one, and the other zone leader that I was doing a split with got sick or something. And so I was like a couple weeks in the mission and the zone leader's like, hey, we need to go meet with president. Like the outer island zone leaders are going to Mayanna with the mission president.
winston : And then i was like, okay, I'll just come along for the meeting, I guess. And then they were like, oh yeah, we need to figure out like, who's going to go to Mayanna now that the zone leader's sick. And then they were just like, oh, let's just bring Elder Farley, I guess.
winston : And was like i I was like, oh I'm down. Like I had no business going to Mayanna, but they were just like, they needed, I just was like, got super, I was in the right place at the right time.
Darin Tingey: yeah
winston : So that was like, for a couple of days, I got to go to Mayanna. And that was when Elder Clatt and Elder Lowe were there and they were just crushing. And it was just like, it just been open and they were just going crazy there. And it was just like, was like, after I saw that, i was like, I want to be on outer islands as much as possible.
winston : That
Darin Tingey: That was your first transfer eright first or second transfer?
winston : was in my first, that was in my first like three weeks. I got it.
Darin Tingey: Oh my gosh.
winston : It was so lucky. I just got to do that. was so random. It was just like, let's just bring this new missionary there for no reason. Like it was so cool.
Darin Tingey: Did you stay at the elder's house there in?
winston : Yeah, that house that the main, I think that house, that stick house that the missionaries live in now was being built.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Yeah.
winston : Because I remember we got to go there and they're like, yeah, this is going to be our house. And I'm like, you're going to live in that? I'm like, that's so cool. But then, um yeah. And then I remember after that little couple of days, I was like, I hope I get to go to other outer islands.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : but
Darin Tingey: I remember those missionaries put their name on the house. I remember that, in the poll.
winston : Yeah, yeah.
Darin Tingey: I got a picture of it somewhere.
winston : Oh, cool. Yeah. Cool.
Darin Tingey: um So in Eita, you're whispering in President's ear or something. They sent me to Niku now.
winston : yeah I remember, yeah, because Nikuna was like the last one that hadn't been opened ever. And I remember, other than like Tamena Narore, but those are like off limits.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Nikuna was like, there were like whisperings that like maybe Nikuna would get opened. And I remember one time, i don't remember if was me or Elder Davis, but we were like, i I was always like, I want to go to Nikunel so bad. I want to go open Nikunel so bad.
winston : Then I remember um we had a baptism at Eta Chapel and the walls, they're the senior couple and they're the best. But the walls come over and they're like, hey, the transfers are up if you want to come look.
winston : And I was like ah like, is anyone going to Nikunel? And I think they're like, yeah, yeah. Someone's going to Nikunel. You might want to come check out who it is. And I was like, no way. And so I go over to check the transfer thing. And it was as me and Elder Seguine, who I had spent that couple of days with in Abayang.
Darin Tingey: ah Yeah.
winston : So we were like, we already knew each other well. And I was like this, I was so happy. I was like, I was so excited.
Darin Tingey: if yeah
winston : I was so excited.
Darin Tingey: What's funny is i don't even remember how I, maybe it was when I went to Kiribati or what, but people would always be like, oh yeah, Elder Farley went out to Niko now and just crushed that's i That's the legend.
winston : Well, the thing that happened, I don't know.
Darin Tingey: So I don't know.
winston : But what happened was we found out we were going to Nikunao. And I remember in I had like two weeks left in ETA. And I just, any person we talked to at church or a member investigator, was like, hey, do you know anyone in Nikunao?
winston : And I just made like this massive list. And so i made this list, and I think Segwayan did the same. And then we went to like, it was like the day before we were going to fly to Nikunao, and we just packed like five big bins of like pots and pans and like mosquito nets. Because we really, there was no, we had no connect, like way to communicate to Nikunao.
winston : And it was like, we're just going to go show up there.
Darin Tingey: Mm-hmm.
winston : So we packed like a bunch of bins and like, We're like, we're just like going in blind. And so we packed up some like pots and pans and like mosquito nets and stuff. And then I remember, yeah, we just got dropped off at the airport and they're like, all right, like, but I think president was like, we're gonna come out in a month to see how it's going in Nikunao.
winston : So I remember we were flying to Nikunao and like you stop in Tab North and then you stop in Beru. And I was like, man, this is like really out there. We were like, it took like three hours to get there.
winston : And I remember we were just like, the whole journey, i was like, man, this is like, what are we gonna, like, where are we even gonna sleep tonight?
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Where are we gonna stay? And I remember the whole time feeling a bit anxious. um But yeah, we landed in Nikunao and Nikunao is like the only the island that's not an atoll, at least for, I mean, yeah, to manying not day but yeah, it was like, you were like flying in and I was like, it's like an actual like island and it was like pretty high up ah above the ground.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Same. Yeah. Oh, really? Okay. yeah
Darin Tingey: oh really okay
winston : like you like the beach is really steep. And so i was like, we were flying in. I'm like, man, that looks way different. Like it looked pretty different. And then remember we landed and it was like the airport was also like a stick house.
winston : And I feel like most outer islands, it's like a cement. And we got to Niquanau, was like, man, this feels like really primitive.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
winston : And I remember we landed in Niquanau and i'm I kid you not, like maybe not even five minutes after we land, this lady like comes running up to us. And she's like, elders, are you guys going to stay here? Because I guess like every once in a while, an elder would transfer off Beru. And then they'd have like ah layover in Nikunau.
winston : So we land in Nikunau. And she was like within five minutes, she's like, hey, are you guys are going to be missionaries here? And we're like, yeah. And she's like, you guys can sleep at our house. like You can sleep at my house. And I was like, oh, perfect. and so then And she was flying the Tarawa at the time.
winston : And so she gets on the plane. And she she was getting on the plane that we got off. And she's like, all right, I'll be back in a week. But you my husband's right there. he'll He'll pack your bags on his motorcycle and just follow him.
winston : And I was like, OK, that's perfect. like It was just like a miracle, honestly.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : So she she flies off. And then her husband grabs our bags and just drives off. And then me and the wine were like, all right, let's just start walking. So we just walked from the airstrip down, maybe like 30 minute or maybe 20 minute walk or something.
winston : and then we we just kept walking and then we heard the guy call over to say hey he's like come over here elders we go over there and there was a booyah like a nice one that i kid you not they had moved it there like four days before we had gotten there without any idea that we were coming and they had just felt like they wanted to move their like one of their fathers or someone was sick And so they were like trying to make like a compound.
winston : And so they had just moved that buoy there. And they're like, hey, you you guys can sleep here. And it was like, it couldn't have gotten any better. It was like, we landed there. And within with literally within 20 minutes, like I think the plane hadn't even taken off yet.
winston : And we were we had a house. And I was like, that's just how cool kiddos people are.
Darin Tingey: That's,
winston : like Right away, we had kiddos so cool.
Darin Tingey: yeah.
winston : But yeah, that family that family ones amazing.
Darin Tingey: What a miracle. Like, hey, we're just sending you out there.
winston : Yeah, it was insane. And we got, and then that family was like, yeah, like you can stay here. and I remember it was like, like 60 kids came over. Cause everyone was like, Hey, there's like these missionaries that came in. Like it was P day. And so all these kids came and like, we're just like playing on the beach. And I was like, this is so cool.
winston : It's like, we're just like opening this place. And like, we found this place to live and like, oh, so amazing. But yeah, we, we basically, um, Yeah, their house was so cool. It was like a buia that had three walls.
winston : And so like we had our own little like nook. And then we just lived with that family. And then we basically we started the next day. had that list of people that I had.
Darin Tingey: Mm-hmm.
winston : And Seguine had his list, I think. But we basically were just like asking people, like hey, do you know where this person lives? And then like within like within like two days,
winston : we just had full schedules for the week. It was like people were like asking to have lessons and it became this thing that's like hey, you might be on this list. Like i yeah you might be on this list. So watch out.
winston : But then I remember too, it was actually crazy timing too. The the minister, the main minister was Tarawa for two weeks for a conference. Actually, i think like most of the ministers were.
winston : So for like two weeks, it was like, unhinged we were just like we'd go to a house and be like hey bring your friends tomorrow and we'll be back tomorrow and i kid you not we'd pull up to a house there's just like 15 people in the house and it was like it was like it was like crazy and then for those two weeks i remember we were just teaching like a bunch of people and then i think the ministers came back and then it was like no like you guys cannot listen to these kids these kids are like insane like don't talk to them and then it was like
Darin Tingey: Wow.
winston : and got crazy but um yeah it was so awesome yeah
Darin Tingey: Just the crackdown. and just have the thought of going back to your your story of finding the house, like the guy taking all your bags.
winston : yeah oh yeah yeah and you can i was pretty small yeah yeah nikuna was pretty small too so it was
Darin Tingey: Like you're kind of lucky that he only lived a 20 minute walk from the airport and not all the way down the island.
winston : I remember the first week we didn't have like bikes yet and we, yeah, it was like small enough that you can walk most of it pretty.
winston : Yeah. But I remember, um,
winston : Yeah, it was just, I remember the first few Sundays, we didn't have any supplies, even sacrament trays. So we would just like have the, we'd all just pass one cup around and take a sip. Yeah, it was like, it was, the beginning was crazy.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : it was like the first Sunday, it was just like us and that family. And the crazy thing that, so that lady that told us we could live at her house, she was actually a member from Tarawa like long ago. And her name was, her name was Ne Tarawa.
Darin Tingey: yeah
winston : And her her family was so awesome. they were like They were doing FHE all the time. And like I remember the reason President Weir wanted to open Nikunau, I think, was she was in one of the wards in Tarawa.
winston : She had flown from Nikunau just to pay tithing, I think. And so President Weir was like, yes, there's people like that out there. We've got to send missionaries there.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, absolutely.
winston : And just like a week before we got there, another family, had a member family had moved from Beirut. So it was like it was just like perfect timing, honestly.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, just stars aligning for you guys to get there.
winston : couple couple miracles in a row yeah yeah
Darin Tingey: Yeah, no, absolutely. and to i mean, to open an outer island is like ah ah big task and probably a little daunting, but then just to have those like first few miracles probably would just like pump you up like, all right, let's do this, you know?
winston : oh yeah oh it was so good yeah and i feel there wasn't really time to like it was seriously like we would be teaching until like, there is a there's this awesome family and this guy, Beattie, who's actually now the branch president there.
winston : And he was like, think he was the first guy we found. Cause we got to, we asked that family we were living with, we're like, hey, do you know anyone? And they're like, yeah this guy, he just left the Protestant church because he felt like it wasn't like centered on Christ enough.
winston : And I was like, okay, so we go there. And it was like so new that if we if you were teaching people, it was like, it was almost like mayhem. It was like you the ministers would come during our lessons and like chew us out.
winston : And so people started wanting to be taught at night, I remember. i remember we'd, from like six to 10 was like lesson time. I mean, we'd be teaching all day, but it was all like people like, hey, can you come at night? Because they didn't want to see, it they didn't want their neighbors to see that we were teaching them.
Darin Tingey: Right.
winston : And man, we had some awesome times with Beatty and his family just in the dark. Like he he was the first guy we baptized. And then, Yeah, he's the branch president now. But it was actually super cool. um His son was probably like, what, eight or nine when we got there. remember baptized him and his family.
winston : but we So his son was nine. And earlier this year, I got to pick him up from the airport and take him the MTC to go on his mission, which was cool. so
Darin Tingey: That's such a cool thing.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Wow. Just see 10 years later and...
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: wow this
winston : It was cool.
Darin Tingey: just see it ten years later and
winston : Yeah, it was crazy. But yeah, so that guy, I think he's the branch president now and there's like a healthy branch. But yeah, it was the first few days there were like, it was insane. Like it got to the point where like people were like, I think right after I left, maybe this happened, but they blocked off the road to the south part. So like we couldn't teach there and like,
winston : By the end, it was like kind of crazy. Like many times ministers would like chew us out in the lessons and like, there was like this guy that wanted lessons and he was like a like ah insider for the KPC. He was like the minister's right-hand guy and was just like absorbing everything we taught him so he could tell the minister what we were teaching.
winston : But it was like,
Darin Tingey: Wow, this this was a real scheme to take you guys out.
winston : it was crazy honestly.
Darin Tingey: Did...
winston : Yeah, but the members were so awesome. like we'd have so like We'd do FHEs, and it was like so new that we would teach them songs at church, and like every I like every time we would sing a hymn, it would turn into Count Your Many Blessings. No matter what matter what we would start with, it would turn into that tune. It was so funny.
winston : But yeah, it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: Did, when you'd have a baptism, did the whole island like come out and like look and watch?
winston : the first It was crazy. The first one I remember, everyone would like laugh and they're like, oh, look at them, look at them. And like I remember we got and we rented a truck and we went to like the other side of the island because it's so like it's pretty wide.
winston : So I remember it was like crazy trying to get the truck and like figuring out the baptism.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : And it was like the first one we were doing. But then it turned out to be like the super cool day. Like we just had like a big picnic on the other side of the island, like all ourselves and like did the baptism and like, oh, it was so cool.
winston : It was super cool.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I served on a small island, similar size, and when we had a baptism, the whole island came out and watched.
winston : Okay. Yeah.
winston : Oh, really? That's cool.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I mean, ah they were all kind of like, oh, this guy's getting baptized. They all, you know, it was kind of that.
winston : Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: It was like some people were there from the church.
winston : Yeah.
winston : Yeah.
winston : Yeah, but I...
Darin Tingey: it was ah It was kind of funky. I was like, whoa, like I didn't expect everyone to come watch.
winston : Oh, yeah. Totally. do we Yeah, totally. But yeah, I mean, like, I felt like I learned from, like, Onotoa, like, there's that initial wave and then it slows down a bit once, like, you find pretty much everyone that's initially interested.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : we We tried to like find like we try to just keep finding, even though it was like we had our people to teach and we tried our best to like find new people. But it was crazy. like It was basically you'd wake up, study for a second, and then it was like all day was just people.
winston : like I don't even remember a single day after the first day that was like, let's go, we need to find someone. There were just so many people that were like, was, yeah, yeah.
Darin Tingey: It's just ready. it was just ripe. How many people would you say are on Nikunau or how many villages?
winston : um it's probably like five five or so maybe six yeah yeah yeah and it was like every
Darin Tingey: Okay. So, yeah, not not i mean not very big. Like, turkey pretty small. I mean, we haven't talked about Nikunau on the podcast at all, so...
winston : it was so cool everyone was like it got word got around pretty fast that like we were there and like you were either like ah you were like pro missionary or anti-missionary and then they had like big meetings and And there was this super cool dude that stood up in like a big Bowie and like ah of the council and was like, hey, you can't, you can't prevent missionaries from going to someone's house. Like everyone, everyone can choose for themselves because they were trying to prevent us from going certain villages. And it was like, I remember that guy, I think his family ended up getting baptized later, but they were, yeah, it was like,
winston : It honestly felt like high tension between the churches there at the time. ah Yeah, it was like when the ministers got back from that like conference, it was like crazy. But...
Darin Tingey: were were ah Were there any botakis that you went to that the ministers like really showed like disrespect to you guys in within the party? or
winston : Not really. Not in person, but we didn't get invited to the main stuff at first. they were like I remember we went to one Botek, everyone like found out we were just like normal guys that just trying to, you know. And then I think people started softening up. But I feel like it was just like initially they were like kind of threatened or scared that, because we were just like trying to teach a bunch of people. So I felt like and it's understandable that it's like these random people come in and are trying to like take their members. but
Darin Tingey: Right. Was it mainly the Protestant church that was there or there were there any Catholic churches?
winston : yeah
winston : ah Catholic was strong, really strong there.
Darin Tingey: Really? Okay.
winston : Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, it was like, I remember they were like throwing stuff at the house. Someone ripped up a Book of Mormon or something and threw it at the house or something like that.
winston : Maybe that was when Segwine was there. But yeah, it was insane. Yeah, it was it was so crazy.
Darin Tingey: With... them
winston : no Yeah, that... Oh, sorry, go for it.
Darin Tingey: No, I was just going to ask with with the islands not being an atoll where there's like a lagoon, right?
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: You got the waves on all sides. Like, did people still fish a lot or was it?
winston : They would all fish on their their canoes.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : And it was only tuna mainly because it was deep sea like right away.
Darin Tingey: Interesting.
Darin Tingey: Interesting.
winston : So we had we had a ton of tuna, a lot of octopus. And that was like the main. It was rare to get like little fish. It was always like big tuna, big like something.
winston : Like it was cool.
Darin Tingey: Gotcha. So you're eating well, fresh tuna, man.
winston : Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: That's nice.
winston : Oh yeah, we ate so good. And then we lived with that family. it was like, it was so fun. It was like every day we'd come home and eat with them and just like hang out with the kids and just like, oh, it was like, you're just like living with a family.
winston : was so cool. And then like once BD and his family like joined or few other families, it was like, everyone would just come hang out there at night and it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: Did...
winston : It was so fun. Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Did... Did you guys get a lot of cargo NICU now or or not really?
winston : So the family we lived with had like the store of the village and it was so sad.
Darin Tingey: Ah, nice.
winston : I remember people were telling the Protestant and Catholics said, don't shop at their store anymore. And it was like, I just felt so bad for the members that were like, just, yeah, they took some hits from, yeah, it was sad.
Darin Tingey: Suffering.
winston : I remember they didn't even let us do Te Acontearo at first and then until they realized like we were just trying to be normal guys, and then we got to do it.
Darin Tingey: Hmm.
winston : But we had to we didn't get to do it at the school, I remember, at first. We had to do it at the big maniope across the street, like away from everyone else.
Darin Tingey: ah
winston : that
Darin Tingey: I mean, you guys really shook things up in the the small island of Niku now.
winston : Oh, yeah.
winston : It was so fun.
Darin Tingey: ah
winston : And I remember, so yeah, president was like, hey, we're going to come in a few weeks to check it out. And I remember we weren't even sure if they were going to come that Sunday that they were going to say. so we rented a truck anyway. And we're like, I wonder if people are going to come to church even. It was like, this was going to be like one of the first Sundays where we like had a big group.
winston : And I remember we like invited we got a truck and we invited like all of our investigators. I wonder if people are gonna come today. And I wonder if like the plane will even come. And so I remember we just got the truck, drove to the bottom, and then we we started we stopped at one house that and this family got in.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : And I remember like look we stopped at this place and I looked up the road and I could see like a few families that we had been teaching were just waiting there. And I was like, no way. think people are going to come today. And we we filled that truck so full that like people were like hanging off the side. And like it was so cool.
winston : was like That was like the coolest Sunday of my life, honestly. we got we got to So we we stopped and dropped all the people off at church. And we went up to the airport to see if the president was going to come.
winston : And I remember he had just landed, like the propellers were still spinning. And was like, it was this was like the first day that like everything timing wise like worked. And like, we I remember we picked up President, like, hey, do you think you got any, like, do you think there'll be a good size of people at church? and I like we'll see.
winston : And I remember we just pulled in and it was like a straight up, like everyone had brought like food and like so many people were there.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : And it was like, I remember that like a ton of people like had like little, like miracles that day that they were like, oh, that's when I knew like I wanted to join that church was that day. And I think, and I think BD, he was, he was cutting coconuts for president and he's had a feeling that he should discard one of them or something.
winston : So oh this one's no good. And then later he opened it and it was like moldy inside. And he was like, that's when I knew I was going to join. He's like, is so cool. But um yeah, um ah like the,
winston : Yeah, it was insane. it was so cool when they they came to church with us that day.
Darin Tingey: And President Ware probably was just like, wow, elders, you guys are crushing it. And you're like, everything came together perfectly for this.
winston : Yeah, it was so awesome. Yeah, and that was like the craziest day. But then I remember president was like, hey, um we like had our meetings with him or whatever in our little booyah. And he was like, hey,
winston : Like, this is like awesome. and I know you love it here, but like you need to, we might have to take, have you go to Bedou after this or like in like two weeks. And I was so sad. I won't lie.
winston : I was so sad. I was like, oh, I, like the work was great. It was like me and Sagwain were just getting along really well. And I feel like we had a really good system. So I was, I was pretty sad to leave honestly, but it was so cool. It was a special place, special time.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, i mean, it's like your island, right? You you opened it.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: you know you You built up the church there with you and the other elder, and it's it probably felt like your baby, and those people were your family.
winston : Yeah. It did.
Darin Tingey: They took care of you, especially in a time where people were disrespecting you guys, probably, and they were like, hey, no, these elders are awesome.
winston : It did, yeah. Yeah, it was so fun.
Darin Tingey: and But...
winston : Yeah, the members were so good there. they were They became so close, and it was so fun to have little activities. And it was sad to leave, honestly. But.
Darin Tingey: So you go straight to Beirut.
winston : Yeah, so I got picked up on the charter from Nikunao, and it's like a 10-minute flight to Beru, or like a 15-minute flight, I think.
Darin Tingey: And were you replacing somebody?
winston : But it was so different. Yeah, i swapped out, I don't remember, maybe Elder Marks or someone. I got to Beru, and ah it was way different. It's just because like you go from like atoll, like island to atoll, and it felt like pretty different. like And the house the missionary house in Beru is pretty in the middle of nowhere. like you You bike pretty far to get there and there's no one around.
winston : You're pretty isolated. it was like, yeah i went from like living with a family and like, it felt like ah from going from like a home to like, you're just like in the middle of nowhere. And that house was rough, I won't lie.
winston : That house was like, just and a cement box with like, remember the bathroom was rough. Like it was just like a, the conditions were different. Like you go from living with a family that's taking care of you to like, just like middle of like remote wilderness.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I always feel like the cement block houses were like abandoned on Mayanna because they were so hot.
winston : but
winston : Yeah. Yeah. It was like one of those.
Darin Tingey: No one wants to live in those.
winston : Yeah. It was just like that. Oh, man. But it was fun. I was there with Elder Hungai from Vanuatu. He's awesome.
Darin Tingey: Oh yeah, he x I think he got transferred to Marshalls at the end of his mission.
winston : lot of fun.
winston : Yeah, i heard I heard he did.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : yeah with Elder Hungai. He was really fun. We had a lot of fun. And then i think we were only together for one transfer. And then um Elder Salanoa from the Marshalls came over.
Darin Tingey: Oh, yeah.
winston : And I feel like at the time, that wasn't really a thing that you would like switch between Kiribus and Marshalls. So everyone was like, you're getting Elder Solano from Marshalls. And I was like, no way. like That'll be cool. And he was so awesome.
winston : we had so much fun together. Yeah,
Darin Tingey: Wait, this is actually fun to talk about because, you know, him and I had similar missions, I guess. Oh, no, and I did.
winston : yeah. Yeah. yeah Yeah, he came straight from Marshalls to Beru.
Darin Tingey: um
winston : And I remember he was like, what? He was like, um it was like no one had done it yet. So he was like i have to learn Kitabas. And like, it was so fun though. Cause was like, you're with, you're like training some, you're not training.
winston : He already knew everything, but it was like, it's just like, you're showing someone fresh Kitabas, but they like, they're like a missionary. So it was so cool.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, yeah, it's like, he's probably been in the mission for like a year or whatever, and he' but he's relearning.
winston : It was so fun.
winston : Yeah. Yeah. And he is so funny. So fun.
Darin Tingey: How did, what did he, I mean, how was it teaching him Kiribati, given that he had, you know, learned martialese at this point?
winston : I feel like he picked it up quick, I thought. He was learning fast. Yeah, he was he was so funny. We had a lot of fun. He picked it up quick, and i feel like we... but it was a pretty tricky place, I won't lie. Like, the work is kind of hard, and it's like...
winston : The branch is kind of hard. it's no one's like There's four places for church, but the branch president, good guy, but he had been there for so long that it's like no one really like kind of took took what he was saying to heart anymore. And it was just like, it was hard to get people to church, so many less actives. and But we got we like we had a lot of fun and got a decent amount back. But um yeah, it was it was cool.
Darin Tingey: we We haven't talked about Berua on and the podcast at all. So, and I'm looking at maps, like another pretty small island.
winston : Pretty small, yeah.
Darin Tingey: um
winston : you can that's You can bike that pretty fast. And the way it's shaped, it's like there's like the atoll side and then you can like cut through the back.
Darin Tingey: ah
winston : So it's like it makes it pretty short. ah You can bike everywhere pretty quick.
Darin Tingey: Gotcha.
winston : There's some really fun members there.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : it was There's some new members that were recent converts from Elder Maisie's time, I think. But there were some cool guys and families and people there.
winston : was cool.
Darin Tingey: the The island looks pretty bare. Was it also kind of dry? Like a...
winston : It was pretty dry. There's not a lot of like growth. It's pretty like south. So it's kind of like not a ton of cargo. Yeah, it's it feels pretty. It's pretty. It's pretty remote, I i would say.
winston : felt kind of like it felt like kind of onotoe like in terms of like the shrubbery and things like that.
Darin Tingey: A lot of Protestants or Catholics or?
winston : um Yeah, Protestants, I'd say. Good amount of both.
Darin Tingey: Sure.
winston : But it was similar. I feel like the South is pretty, you know, and the South has a strong religious culture of like, it's more of the culture than the religion. And so it was um it was hard to find.
winston : I feel like Nikuna, Onoto, and Peru were all similar, where it's like, it's pretty hard to find, like compared to like Abe Young, for example, it's like you can teach anyone. But I feel like the the South was a bit tricky with that.
Darin Tingey: who
Darin Tingey: And when you got there, there was already a branch there.
winston : Yeah, there're I think Beru has been open for a long time, like like early days of the church.
Darin Tingey: Interesting.
winston : like there are there There was a branch, and then there was one main branch and then three other units, so church was four spots that you'd do throughout the day. And then yeah the other three villages had unit leaders.
Darin Tingey: so So would you as missionaries do lead the church in the other three villages?
winston : So yeah, Beru was like, I think it was one of the originals because there was an established branch. But it was so crazy too, because it was like, you go from Nikunao, that was like fresh, then like to Beirut.
Darin Tingey: the they
winston : And it was like, there are some really good members, but also it was just like, everything with like the branch, it was just like people had been, like, I feel like the flame was kind of dead, you know?
winston : Whereas like Nikunao is like still fresh. So it felt like ah quite a transition to come over straight from there. But yeah i will be honest, like the,
Darin Tingey: Yeah, better use like we've had missionaries, we all know.
winston : The first like two weeks, I was just kind of like in a rut. I was just like, you know, because Nikuna was so crazy. it was so fun. And then I just had to kind of like get know over myself, I think.
winston : and be I was like, you're gonna you're here. let's let's Let's get to work and just like, you know, have fun. and And so, yeah, but the first two weeks were a bit hard just because it was like, oh, I wish I could have finished in Nikuna.
winston : But Beru was cool.
Darin Tingey: Well, I mean, it's because you're comparing everything to Nikunao, right?
winston : I liked it Yeah.
Darin Tingey: You're like, well, Nikunao, yeah, this, so, yeah you know, it was like this.
winston : Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and then I felt bad. feel like I was just so hyped on Nuke when I was like, not being a nice guy. just needed to change a bit.
Darin Tingey: Were both of these islands, Nikuna and Peru, I'm assuming ah no internet or anything.
winston : But...
Darin Tingey: So were you writing letters home and trying to give them to the pilot?
winston : think peru had I think either Beru or Nikuno had internet. I forgot which you one.
Darin Tingey: No way.
winston : Yeah, Onotoa did And I remember that was the long one without internet. But then I think Nikuno or maybe Beru was spotty with it. It was like once a month or so.
Darin Tingey: It always blows my mind that like Kiribati, you might be living in a stick hut, but they've got internet. Like it just always blew my mind.
winston : Yeah, yeah.
Darin Tingey: I'm like, what the heck?
winston : But Beru was fun because it was one of the islands that had the radio. So you'd jump on the radio and and talk to everyone. was fun. But yeah, it was fun with small mother and other Hungai.
Darin Tingey: Did,
Darin Tingey: yeah.
winston : It was cool.
Darin Tingey: what a What were Nikunao and Beru known for? I forget.
winston : Nikuno is the flies.
Darin Tingey: and
winston : And it was so insane. and There were so many flies. It was insane. It was like 10x anywhere else I ever went.
Darin Tingey: No, why is that? Why do they have so many flies?
winston : I don't know. I think had something to do with like the, there's like three natural lakes on there.
winston : And they would just, ah it was just like a breeding ground for flies. But it was like, you could put your hand over your cup and it was like 30 flies in it. It was insane.
Darin Tingey: No way.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: So like like house flies kind or like mosquitoes or both?
winston : Just like house flies.
Darin Tingey: Huh.
winston : And know I remember used to get pretty cold at night because it was like it's like higher up, like the elevation. it was like 30 feet above the the sand.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : So I felt like it was always like pretty chilly at night. And then Beru was the boca boca, the boca boca there, which was like an algae.
Darin Tingey: That's right.
winston : It wasn't bad. It just tasted like and just tasted like um bread, like gooey bread, I guess. yeah Yeah, it was.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
winston : there Yeah. It was, i felt like Beru was, that house is, it makes, that place feels like pretty remote and isolated. Just because the way you the way you live, there's no one even within like a few minutes of your house.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Which is so interesting, given that there's four places there's church, you would think that you would be living
winston : Yeah. Yeah. I think actually after I left other Solanoa and Who was after me? It was Bueller. i think they went I think they moved, which I'm happy they moved because that house wasn't ideal.
Darin Tingey: Oh, man. Yeah, that's... Did they have a church? Did they ever build a church shop for out there for them?
winston : In Peru?
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : It was just like a stick chapel. It was like a yeah. But yeah, no like actuals no actual church or anything.
Darin Tingey: um
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Okay. It's so interesting, though, that, like, Peru was, like, established with church, and then, like, ah like a 15-minute flight to Nikunao, and...
winston : Yeah.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: It was brand new.
winston : It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. It was interesting.
Darin Tingey: So.
winston : It was way different. But it was it's cool though, because i you know everyone's gone to the main island and there's always like a few members from the main island. And so like even Nikuna, there were bunch of people that were like, oh, I went to, there was actually a guy that went to Liahona.
winston : And in like he was like, before Moroni, i was a member and I went Liahona in Tonga for a little bit. And I was like, dang, yeah, he's in Nikuna.
Darin Tingey: And then he was back in Hikunao.
winston : And that was one of the guys we were teaching. But yeah, it was insane.
Darin Tingey: That's crazy. Well, ah so from there you go back and you finish in Tarawa.
winston : but
Darin Tingey: The squad.
winston : yeah Yeah, and then i I flew from there to – we stopped in Tab North to get Elder Risk, which was so cool to see Elder. And Elder Fawcett was on the plane.
winston : it was so cool to be back with the MTC. um Yeah, it was cool.
Darin Tingey: The squad.
winston : We just met up in Tab North. That was the first time, I think, our whole missions we were together. And then um we went back to the main island. It was like – we had two weeks. I think me and Risk were in Bikinibu.
winston : And it was really fun. Elder Afatasi, who I trained earlier, was the zone leader. And then Elder Fawcett was the AP. So it was like, we got to see all. it was really fun.
Darin Tingey: So fun that you had like a week to say goodbye.
winston : and like thinkly Yeah, it was so fun. And then I think, yes, there's like, Sister Vilea was finishing with us. Because she was, and she came with Elder Afatasi. So it was like really fun to like, see everyone again. It was so fun being back with everyone.
Darin Tingey: ah I mean, that's just an awesome mission, right? Just like four outer islands and to open a ah new outer island and just have so much success.
Darin Tingey: ah So cool. um You know, the last few questions that i always ask everybody, but I'm to throw a new one in there. I'm trying to throw in some new questions here too.
winston : Okay.
Darin Tingey: um Let's see here. what What was the best thing you brought to your mission?
winston : Brat?
Darin Tingey: Yeah, kind of a random question.
winston : That is an interesting question. I'm trying to think of anything good I brought.
Darin Tingey: Like, for example, I know an elder that, like, he he brought a waterproof backpack, and he had that his entire mission. He was like, that was the best thing. Like, he just kept all my stuff super dry and whatever.
winston : Yeah, I don't even know.
Darin Tingey: And maybe, maybe it
winston : Maybe, ah yeah. I guess my backpack was, I had a backpack that lasted me the whole time, I think. And it was like ah it was like a camping backpack. It was like a backpacking backpack that was like small.
Darin Tingey: ah
winston : And that thing, yeah, lasted the whole time. But
Darin Tingey: Didn't smell. Didn't smell bad at all at the end.
winston : I'm sure it did. I'm sure it did. I didn't know what smells were at the end there.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, it's true. That's true. ah I think I'm going to start putting that question in because sometimes a lot of moms will message me like, what should they bring?
Darin Tingey: you know And I'm like, I don't know.
winston : A good backpack, some good shoes, sandals, like or like Crocs or whatever.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : But yeah, feel like you basically, you don't really need much. Everyone, the people just take care of you.
Darin Tingey: That's so true.
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: So true. Or here's a good one. Here's one that I was so grateful I brought on. was itch cream. Like for all the mosquitoes that just wrecked you.
winston : That's a good one. That's a good one. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I'd be up all night just itching my legs. It was awful.
winston : Oh, yeah. Oh, you'd get destroyed. You'd get destroyed.
Darin Tingey: Okay, so.
winston : And then, like, open wounds on your legs.
Darin Tingey: Oh, yeah. get infected and, ah but it's just part of being a missionary Kitabas.
winston : Crazy. Yeah.
winston : Oh, yeah.
Darin Tingey: So, all right, final three questions. What was your, your favorite food, uh, uh, your favorite area and your favorite thing about Kitabas?
winston : That's tricky. Favorite food i loved. This is probably unpopular, but I liked... There was like the tari that was like only a couple days old. That was like half dry.
winston : and it was so good for some reason. We would put that in like vinegar. um remember that was like... so tasty. We just, it was like, it was like only in two days or like a day out maybe.
winston : So was like still kind of like raw and that was so, it was like salty with like just some, oh, so good.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: little squishy a little bit still.
winston : Yeah. Oh, it's so good. Yeah. I love it.
Darin Tingey: and i it's put I liked it too. I mean, it was easier to eat than the super dry Dottie, I thought.
winston : And I also liked, I remember like Rabono, the eel was like dry, was not good. But if it was like fresh, it was pretty tasty.
winston : But I remember one time off, sorry, real quick, off Onotoa, I got like three or four eel taris that were like massive, like seven foot long eels.
Darin Tingey: yeah so Yeah, go ahead.
winston : And I brought them back to Tarawa. And I remember at church, I like found a member and I was like, hey I have some eel tari if you want something. what? And I remember they like sent their kid over and they were like, why does this like kid have a rabuano tari?
winston : But it was i ah yeah it was so funny. But yeah, they it was yeah I liked that stuff too.
Darin Tingey: Was that common to make tari out of robono?
winston : In Onotoa it was. Like on the south part, like the eel traps were, it was like the thing to make eel traps and to be good at it. It was so cool. Everyone had them. Everyone was setting up eel traps.
Darin Tingey: That's crazy. You would think too that they would run out of eel, right?
winston : Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Like they're just fishing them every day.
winston : Yeah. Oh yeah. There were huge ones.
Darin Tingey: That's
winston : They were like, I saw one that was like eight feet. was like, that's insane. It was so crazy. But yeah.
Darin Tingey: nuts. Okay. ah What was your favorite area?
winston : It's pretty hard. um feel like maybe between Nikunao and Onotoa. Onotoa was just there for so long that I'd like to get so close with the people. But Nikunao was just like,
winston : Nikonau, like those people that you, like, I feel like we just went through something together, like with those members, like we like endured like those, and Suguen was there much longer than I was, but in the time that I was there, it was like you endure, like you just get close to people that you go through stuff with. And so and I love those people there.
winston : ah
Darin Tingey: All right, so if you had if if you went back to the Kitabas and you could only visit one of those islands, which which one would you go to?
winston : I don't know if I can answer that honestly. ah can into
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Oh, it'd be tricky.
Darin Tingey: Okay,
winston : Maybe probably Nikunao. Probably Nikunao. But Onoto would be cool for the guest experience, like getting taken around. But um yeah, maybe Nikunao for sure.
Darin Tingey: all right, fair enough. And then last question, oh is your what was your favorite thing about Kitabas?
winston : favorite thing that's hard I think for sure it's the way the people like the the purity in which they live life like it's just you know they focus on they're just happy people that love their families and having fun and being with like people they love like the way they ah like that approach to life is so simple and beautiful that like it's It's hard to have that anywhere else, especially in the States. like Everyone's so caught up in their own stuff that doesn't matter. It's just cool to see like the purest form of like the way life should be lived. I love it.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, absolutely. The island life is just, I mean, the island life, it just, the island gives you what you need and you live tight knit community and everyone just, they just have such a good time with it.
winston : Oh, yeah.
winston : Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Darin Tingey: yeah You can look at them and be like, oh, they're one of the poorest countries in the world.
winston : It's so fun.
Darin Tingey: But yeah, they're the happiest country in the world. They love their country.
winston : Oh, yeah, the way they live is just so pure. Like, just having a good time with their friends and family. Like, I love it.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, absolutely.
winston : So cool.
Darin Tingey: It's a good, it's a good reminder for all of us to just live like that.
winston : Oh, yeah, for sure.
Darin Tingey: Well, um,
winston : for sure.
Darin Tingey: Winston, this was awesome. i i don't I haven't told this to anybody else, but I made a list of ah people when I was first thinking about the idea of starting the podcast.
Darin Tingey: And I made a list of people that I wanted to have on. And I made a Marshall Island side in the Kittabas. And you were number one on the Kittabas side.
winston : Oh, wow.
Darin Tingey: So, which is this is crazy. i don't know if it was the timing of us seeing each other, but you were on the list.
winston : It is the timing.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : There's so many good, there'll be so many good ones. i can think of so many, but yeah, it's this is so cool that you're doing this, man.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
winston : Thanks for having me on.
Darin Tingey: I appreciate it. And yeah, this was another great episode of the Island's Podcast.
