Transcript
Darin Tingey: All right, we are on with another episode of the Islands Podcast. Super stoked today for a new guest, Neil Falk, who served on the Kittabas side of the mission. Neil, give a a quick background on you. Where are you from? Where did it all begin?
Neil: i I just love how you you say that, like exactly the same every time. It's pretty awesome.
Neil: Welcome to another episode of the Islands Podcast. That's great. Hey, yeah, Neil Falk. I'm from Turlock, California, born and raised in the Central Valley.
Neil: And
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: and
Darin Tingey: Small town?
Neil: i
Darin Tingey: Is that a small town?
Neil: For California, yeah, a small town of like 80,000 people, you know, pretty small.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Okay. Right.
Neil: We're out out more in the country now, moved out to a little town, but married, got five beautiful babies and incredible wife and life is is beautiful.
Neil: So i'm I'm a geologist, work out of Stockton here.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: So I get to look look at rocks and dirt and stuff a lot and it's fun.
Darin Tingey: Very cool. Yeah, that's unique. my My mom's from Central Valley as well. My mom's from Fresno.
Neil: Okay, yeah, down south a little.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, fun little connection. Yeah, yeah a little bit further south than where you grew up, but cool.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And let's see, when when did you serve in Kiribati? What years?
Neil: It was July 2011 to July is when i served yeah
Darin Tingey: Okay, so you got your mission call, so it would have 19 at the time that you went on your mission.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: So did you do did you do some school first, or did you go work or...?
Neil: yeah yeah Yeah, I did graduate high school and then went to two semesters at BYU-Idaho. That was a super cool experience there.
Neil: And that's that's where I submitted my papers, got the you know big packet in the mail, had the best roommates. They were they were phenomenal, just helped prep me.
Neil: they' were all They were all return missionaries too. And so they helped prep me for
Darin Tingey: Oh, cool.
Neil: a lot of you know in some ways, you know as best you can prepare for a mission. and got a spiel about that but it yeah i opened my call there in Rexburg my brother there and and some you know all my roommates a bunch of friends came over i opened up and Marshall Islands Maduro mission just like and the thing I'm like what because I kind of read ahead and I was like what in the world like where is this place and so it was exciting never really I think I'd heard of it before
Neil: with like World War II stuff. I don't know, but it was, I was excited.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Did you do any research?
Neil: As anyone b it would be, a little bit.
Darin Tingey: Did you do any research on it before? Yeah.
Neil: I mean, yeah. I mean, you know that like, where's a map, you know? And then I like looked up where it was and then there was some, I bought myself a Marshallese Book of Mormon and stuff.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: Cause I was like, well, it said you're English speaking and you're going the Marshall Islands.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: So like, I didn't even know about Kittibus until
Darin Tingey: Interesting.
Neil: I don't know, it was to like the MTC, honestly.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: just, that was my call was English speaking in the Marshall Islands. And so i was all excited and had my like Marshallese name tag, I think, and everything in the MTC.
Darin Tingey: No way.
Neil: And then after some time they were like, no, you're going to, you're going to Kiribati is, is, kiribati
Darin Tingey: yeah Yeah, Cure Body.
Neil: business
Darin Tingey: You're like, where's that?
Neil: wait we
Darin Tingey: Probably, you know? You're probably like, i i thought I was going to the Marshall Islands. Where's Kitabas, you know?
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I mean, so even when I got my mission call, they had, you know, you're speaking Marshallese or you're speaking Kitabas, you know, going to the Kitabas region.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: But even then it was Marshall Islands Madra mission.
Neil: yeah
Darin Tingey: So all these kids thought they were going to the Marshall Islands. And I'm sure for you, it's even more like kind of all over the place.
Neil: yeah
Darin Tingey: Marshall Islands, English speaking, you find out in the MTC going to Kitabas, what the heck?
Neil: yeah
Neil: there might have been something in the, in the call that there's like two countries or something. I forget exactly, but yeah, that was, that was exciting. And, you know, like it was, it was just, I listened to your podcast cause you just did one and it was, it was really cool.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: And i've connected I connected it. was like, we're the same people. I'm like, we're the same person. Cause that notion of these, these elders, they're all like,
Neil: really obedient and hardworking and just amazing.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: And, and for the most part, you know, they, they really are amazing kids, but we're all like kids too. and But getting there, I get to the MTC and similar, like i didn't have the best experience. I love the food.
Neil: love the teachers. But it was it was rough. I was with a there. I'll jump into my mtc the MTC experience.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, please.
Neil: And there were a couple. There was four of us going to the Marshalls. And we were in a group with people going to Tacoma. So there was a bunch of us missionaries.
Darin Tingey: Right, because you were English speaking.
Neil: But it was me.
Darin Tingey: That's right.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: That's right. Okay.
Neil: yeah and so i think was really cool but in in a lot of ways but i'll get to that later uh is me elder tuihani who was my companion from oakland uh tongan from oakland and then elder bradshaw uh he's trent bradshaw's from from utah i think and then uh simpson william simpson was in our intake and we were i actually ended up being companions with Simpson and Bradshaw later on which is pretty cool but it was a it was pretty fun but shocking at the same time just like wait we're supposed to be obedient and we're not doing anything that's like there's so many things going wrong and I was really hard on myself in so many ways and I remember just being so confused like why isn't he doing you know my companion doing studies and stuff and
Darin Tingey: Cool.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: yeah
Neil: just like super emotional but I one day we're in class and this whole time i I hadn't really realized but he was reading the Book of Mormon like that whole time trying to get a testimony that my companion was to you I didn't really realize that I was like why aren't you studying like the the stuff you're supposed to be studying and one day like he just you know super emotional all of us it was just really powerful spiritual experience I can never forget but he just bore his testimony of the Savior and of Jesus Christ in the MTC and to this day one of the most powerful witnesses i was just like wait how do you how do you do that like you're not following the rules but the Spirit's with you and that was amazing and
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: It changed my perspective quite a bit. but It was just one of those really beautiful experiences to me that help me helped me a lot. And I just had a lot more you know respect and stuff for for my companion and stuff throughout throughout the mission.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: It was it was a good.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. i I totally agree with you on that. It's like, once, once you get to know someone a little bit more and they really open up, you're like, okay. I, I should probably have a little bit more, uh,
Darin Tingey: I don't know, grace, grace towards how I view you, you know, and everyone kind of has their own timeline and path.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: But it is just like when you start your mission and like growing up, I just always thought the missionaries were these amazing people.
Neil: For sure.
Darin Tingey: Like, you know, there's like so supposed to be out there obedient.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: But at the end of the day, you're just normal per people and trying trying your best, you know.
Neil: Mm-hmm.
Neil: We are all learning.
Darin Tingey: So I'm glad you I'm glad we connected on that, though.
Neil: Yeah, so it just in there's more more points down down as we continue on that I'm like, oh, that's the same for me, but. Before we left the MTC there, there were two sisters that we met, they were Kittabest sisters and they were like hey you.
Darin Tingey: So, okay.
Darin Tingey: Oh, cool.
Neil: All you've got to do, like, it's going be hard for a little bit, but all you've got to do is love the food. And like, as long as you like love and appreciate their food, like you'll be good. And so I was like, all right, I got this.
Neil: But then like, right before we leave, I catch something, get like this cough and like, just triggers my like gag reflex. And so anytime like, It was just kind of this weird illness anyway, but we traveled 53 hours Provo to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to Seattle, south Hawaii, overnight in Hawaii on Honolulu.
Darin Tingey: Oh my gosh.
Neil: From Honolulu to Christmas just passed through and Tui actually dropped off there. he he stayed there with an elder and then the rest of us I think it was actually just me and Simpson I think Bradshaw went to the marshals first or something but anyway he ended up coming back but we got to Tarawa uh again like I said like 53 hours after i think we overnighted in Fiji too and then and then that last flight into Tarawa and
Darin Tingey: Oh wow.
Neil: was That was pretty intense.
Darin Tingey: That's a ton of travel. That's nuts.
Neil: We'd get off and everyone said it. you know For me, it happened in Fiji, but really happened in Tadawari. You'd get off and it's like, good oh, I can breathe. It's okay.
Neil: Everything's good. That humidity just hits you hardcore.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: And then i get it <unk>t I think they've redone the airport and stuff now, but it was so shabby and everything, like the roads, And I was like, what is this place?
Neil: Like, I thought I was coming to paradise and it's not paradise.
Darin Tingey: yeah Yeah. i in In some instances it is, some instances it's not. It's not what you think it is for the most part.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: But yeah, I guess you probably had no idea really what it looked like or what it, I mean, you didn't have any teachers in the MTC telling you, yeah this is what kid-a-business is like.
Neil: No. No, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Because you were English speaking in the MTC and And then i i guess at some point they told you, oh you're actually going to Kitabas. You know, I exposed the elder you go to the Marshalls.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: You probably, man, you had no real expectations, nothing to set you apart there.
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: No. yeah
Darin Tingey: That's funny.
Neil: Yeah, so that was pretty intense, but we, I think like normal, went to Moroni High School, had like some lasagna with the senior couples, which is like the last time I would have that for a few years.
Darin Tingey: yeah that's going to say
Neil: It was pretty good, think. You know, again, I was kind of sick, wasn't you didn't have the best appetite. And then like, hey, you got to come try this drink.
Neil: You know, you know, I'm talking about the Karebe.
Darin Tingey: Yes.
Neil: And that was the initiation there into Kiribes. Missionary hood was going to get that Karebe. And I swear they gave us like a pretty nasty, oh man, dude, like the first time it like smells like flatulence and it tastes like yeast water.
Darin Tingey: What'd you think of it?
Neil: like this That's the best I can describe it. And again, my gag reflex. And so I'm like, oh my goodness, like, this is not good. Like, I think I got like a drink down. I was like, what is this?
Neil: You know? And then that night it was out of our area. Luckily they, I was in a threesome with me and elder Turner, was my trainer, another guy named Ben Andrel. He was in, we're in a threesome waiting for,
Neil: Bradshaw to comes. It was weird. I don't know exactly what happened, but went to dinner at a place by the by the airport in Bondi and they were like, hey, like, here's your drink.
Neil: And I like drank the cut even I couldn't take I threw it up back into the cup, which is so that walk like.
Darin Tingey: Oh, yeah.
Neil: You just don't do that. And I like in my mind, you know, a few days earlier, you just got to love the food. And then I'm throwing up back in their cups.
Darin Tingey: Yeah,
Neil: And anyway, I guess they were they were kind of not super happy about that. But what do you do?
Darin Tingey: who is this?
Neil: You know?
Darin Tingey: Who is this brand new elder throwing up the careve?
Neil: Yeah,
Neil: it was real.
Darin Tingey: I mean, I went to the marshals first. I had the Karebe, where they call it Chekharo in the Marshall Islands. I had that my first or second night, but it wasn't like an initiation thing.
Neil: Okay.
Darin Tingey: And then I went to Kiribati. I didn't have it, but maybe they still did. it maybe maybe I wasn't because i was I wasn't a fresh missionary, but I've heard from your time, from a few elders, that was the initiation.
Neil: It was in Elders. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: It was like, first thing, we're going to have Karebe.
Neil: That was a thing.
Darin Tingey: Right.
Neil: and the nastiest cup you can find. One that's like maybe...
Darin Tingey: Right.
Neil: Maybe borderline alcoholic, maybe. I don't know. No, I don't think it was that bad, but it was still like, oh my goodness, it is.
Darin Tingey: It's an acquired taste. It's an acquired taste for sure. i ended up loving it later, but the first time I was like, man, this is gross.
Neil: is. Yeah.
Neil: Yeah, I wouldn't say loving it for me personally, but like i I first learned how to drink without tasting, which was a miracle, straight up miracle that I could drink this stuff.
Neil: And like if I didn't breathe through my nose, I i couldn't taste it. It was this weird thing, but like I felt like it was this huge miracle because I was able to drink this careve finally.
Neil: And i was just felt so blessed from the Lord.
Darin Tingey: Sounds like COVID was was actually like a decade before we actually knew about it, but.
Neil: But yeah, later on.
Neil: yeah There you go, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: I learned how to lose my own sense of taste. It was it was pretty cool. But anyway, later on, a good warm cup of Kadere is not not too bad.
Neil: But you got to used to it.
Darin Tingey: So what was what was your first, I guess, run me through your areas really quick.
Neil: Yeah, it started out in Buota. Yeah. I was in Puota first and there for like a month or two, transferred to Christmas.
Neil: After that, I was in there for like five months.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: I was a little stint in Beso and then was in Abayán, emergency transferred over there. After a while there, I got transferred back as a zone leader Eita, so on that side of the island.
Neil: and then i got to go back out to medicaid after medicaid i was i was back in bota ended up there which is was really fun yeah
Darin Tingey: That's awesome. Sounds like every area change, you basically left the island. That was similar to me.
Neil: yeah i think so yeah that sounds right yeah
Darin Tingey: So what was your first kind of impressions of Kiribati and Boota and, you know, getting getting in on the mission there?
Neil: Yeah. So, I mean, I think that's pretty highly influenced by like your trainer. And it was so dirty just, and like we didn't have, it when we first got there, the senior couples weren't very strict on like keeping the flats clean and stuff.
Neil: And so it was nasty, like nasty, pretty nasty living conditions for a while.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: The boy the flat wasn't too bad, but it was,
Neil: that That was kind of my impression at first, like, just super culture shock, really different place than I'd ever imagined or seen or heard of.
Neil: But Boto was nice because it was more, it wasn't amongst like as much of just like the the tin and cinder block. It was more of like the the you know the native like coconut booyahs, the huts and stuff.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: So I liked that. And I really liked, but like, yeah, that's like the honest part of it, the glorifying memory of it. Like it was really cool to be able to walk across those inlets and see the tide change and stuff.
Neil: And we had just a pretty long area.
Darin Tingey: Mm-hmm.
Neil: And it, uh, it was, I don't know. You're learning a language culture shock. It was rough. It was rough that whole time of both.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Yeah,
Neil: I couldn't understand anyone, but we still had fun. ended up, you know, like climbing coconut trees. I think that was like a rule later on that you shouldn't do that.
Neil: Or maybe it was, but I ended up, I did a lot.
Darin Tingey: yeah yeah it was like after my time that they stopped allowing us to do that, you know?
Neil: Yeah. Yeah. So, but like, it was there that I re you know, I was super humbled and which was really good. And in my, my mission.
Darin Tingey: How so? just just just
Neil: you
Darin Tingey: Just from like the living conditions and not being able to speak the language?
Neil: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like I was really grateful to be able to speak with, you know, speak English and have an American companion and stuff.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: was really cool. but it was rough to just get used to it all, and and I just,
Neil: I wanted to share, because like my, the scripture, you know, usually it's an elder, you choose as a scripture, it's kind of a theme of your mission, or whatever, it goes on your plaque, Zether 1227, talking about, you know, and if men come unto me, will show them their weakness, and
Darin Tingey: Yeah, what was it?
Neil: if they humble themselves before me i mean weak things become strong under them and i i really you know i was humbled for sure and recognized my weakness probably pretty hard on myself throughout most of the mission but i I came to know Christ there. if I came to feel that, you know, he was more real, not only for me, but for the, you know, the people that I was able to teach.
Neil: And initially kind of getting back into the story of like Puota and stuff and learning the language and trying to connect with people. Like initially was just Elder Turner just wrote down lessons for me to just read. Cause I could get, pick up the reading pretty quick.
Neil: think it was like reading first and then I could speak it and understanding came last for me.
Darin Tingey: Sure.
Neil: Some people, it's I don't know how was that how it was for you, like were you able to understand things a little more before you could speak them?
Darin Tingey: And then,
Darin Tingey: I would write, i would write phrases down as well. That's kind of how I learned sentence structure and words. I would just write a bunch of sentences and try to use them throughout the day.
Darin Tingey: but Kitabas was interesting cause I just, I felt like I just didn't speak for a month.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I just listened cause I, it was the second time I was learning.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I was just thrown out to an outer island. So I just, I just like listened.
Neil: Oh, man. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: So I just tried to train my ears.
Neil: well Yeah. What else do you do Yeah. You start picking up on these little words. I think that one of the first ones, they were like, when they when you hear something, a word that sounds like panda, they're saying man manda, and that's how long.
Neil: How long have you been on the island?
Darin Tingey: Oh, yeah. Amanda.
Neil: That's one of the questions i always ask. Oh, like he just came. Yes, Baroco. Manda. Like, how long have you been here?
Neil: but I'd hear man panda.
Darin Tingey: it
Neil: oh that's that's how long? Manda. So.
Darin Tingey: That was my... i Actually, that was my first phrase.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: I'd always say, spoutop me my city you know, like, that was like, I just told everyone that I just came from the Marshalls.
Neil: yeah
Darin Tingey: I just came from the Marshalls.
Neil: Okay.
Darin Tingey: I told everybody there.
Neil: Okay. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: That's funny.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: That just took me back right there.
Neil: Yeah. It's my ES Paroco.
Darin Tingey: but overva me ma i said Yeah, I would say to your point, I probably understand.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: and actually, to this day, I understand Kitabas way better than I can speak it. My Kitabas is pretty bad these days.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: But i can I can still, for the most part, understand a lot more than I can speak. So I think that's probably where I'm at on the Kitabas side. But
Neil: Yeah, yeah. So many thoughts. I'm trying to on it best can, but it's hard. as best i can but
Darin Tingey: since Seems like you still got it.
Neil: really it's hard
Neil: Well, i can I think I can, again, i think I can still speak it. one of elder hawkha One of my companions, he called me up the other day and was speaking Kiribes to me and i wasn't expecting it.
Neil: And I hadn't like been studying Kiribes and like it was, don't know, I just, it was rough understanding him. And I was like, oh man, I'm really glad you speak English a little bit because I can, it was hard.
Neil: It was a bummer. And and it well it inspired me. I've been kind of trying to read a little bit more like in my QS Book of Mormon and stuff and trying to just do that kind of stuff to keep it a little bit more fresh.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: so But anyway.
Darin Tingey: So when you were in Buota, were there elders in Tarawayeta or did you guys kind of cover some of a little bit of Northern Tarawa?
Neil: Yeah. so I mean, we went, we went up a ways. think we went like two or three islets up.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: I don't know exactly how to, cause like you could cross the other ones. If it was low tide, you could just ride over the inlet that main run from, from vuelta to the next island.
Neil: I forget Abadal. think it's what it's called, uh, is pretty deep.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Neil: So we'd have to take the ferry sometimes and,
Darin Tingey: Did they have a bridge? Did they the bridge to Boota when you were there?
Neil: Yeah, they had the bridge over to Buota, but it was the next one.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: So the end of Buota going up north further, that's we would cross that quite a bit, just walk it sometimes.
Darin Tingey: Right.
Darin Tingey: Gotcha.
Neil: Sometimes it was pretty deep.
Darin Tingey: Swim it.
Neil: But was the only area.
Darin Tingey: Swim it with your scriptures over your head.
Neil: yeah
Neil: We didn't swim. What are talking about?
Darin Tingey: what What are you talking about? We didn't touch the water at all.
Neil: No, that was one thing that... I was going to touch on this because President Shah was the president. And before he came, think there was quite a bit of just stuff that was going on. It's pretty, pretty, thoughtwa pretty, just not good stuff with a bunch of elders, you know, just totally going off the rails. And so he had to come in and he was military.
Neil: it's fine. Like we can do this stuff. But like he knew at the same time. And so i think we just, we helped each other a lot and we became really good, good friends by the end of it. We, we both transferred from vuelta to Christmas. That was my next area. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: I transferred with him to Christmas. We emergency transferred there because a senior couple kind of had like a heart deal. They had to leave and it was Tui, my MTC companion and and his trainer on Christmas.
Darin Tingey: Oh, shoot.
Neil: and But there were sisters there too. So they didn't want just two sisters, just two elders. So sisters had to get transferred out. We replaced them. And after a while,
Neil: It was Tui and, well, his his trainer ended his mission on Christmas. So Tui had to go back to Tarawa and it was just me and and Turner.
Darin Tingey: No way.
Neil: And we had the van and we were just cruising up and down all the island and stuff. doing so just Just tearing it up. I loved it. it was It was awesome because there was lot more American influence there. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: In Christmas. And so like we would get like cheese and like stuff from Costco. They would fly a plane, get stuff from Costco. I think someone's talked about that and and fly it back.
Darin Tingey: No way. From Costco?
Neil: Yeah. In Hawaii. Yeah. And so like we had like one time we bought this big thing of kimchi and it was phenomenal. It was so good.
Neil: Just random stuff like that.
Darin Tingey: Of all things, kimchi. That's great.
Neil: It was so good. There was a bunch of random things, but it was it was good. so oh they They had the main, they had the main i think like a couple wards in like the London Dabaquea, I think that was the other place area and and the you know the nice chapel and stuff.
Darin Tingey: How big was the church on Christmas when you were there?
Neil: And it was, It was pretty good. The, the, the, was it banana?
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: Is the one that's on like the other side.
Darin Tingey: Oh gosh.
Neil: think that's what it was.
Darin Tingey: I have to get out my map.
Neil: Anyway, there was like, there wasn't, no, that's the one by the airport. Yeah. Bananas by the airport.
Darin Tingey: That's right.
Neil: There was like a little, little branch or unit that met there.
Darin Tingey: That's right.
Neil: And, I think one time,
Darin Tingey: Paris is another Paris is the other side. Paris and Poland are the other side of the island.
Neil: David Price- Poland, we went up there once and that was really weird because there was like one or two people, maybe that were kind of there, but we like stayed the night there once and it was it was just kind of different, but we were assigned to do that.
Darin Tingey: I mean, that's a... Yeah, if you if you and your companion were the only ones there for a little bit, I mean, that's a huge island to try and cover.
Neil: was yeah. But we we were we were busy. he like Turner worked really hard. i did what I could, and and he was doing really well with teaching me the the language. and By about four months, I felt like I was i was pretty decent at the gist of stuff and and teaching by that time was pretty good.
Neil: But we had a good time. i taught him how to drive the stick shift.
Darin Tingey: Oh, nice.
Neil: The stick shift, man.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Sticks up on the, on with the driver's side on the right side though.
Neil: Yeah, yeah, so you're you're shifting with your left hand.
Darin Tingey: That's, that's a, that's a whole nother skill right there to do with the left hand.
Neil: it was it it like, well, because I grew up driving a little manual transmission truck, and and then it didn't, it took a little bit getting used to, but it wasn't too bad. So yeah, they, none of my companion, because later as a ZL, and so I taught like four people how to drive stick.
Neil: with their let with their left hand and shifting and stuff. And it was cool. I was glad that I, you know, had done that so that we could use the vehicle or else that would have been rough.
Darin Tingey: well It's probably little taste of home. Like, hey, I know how to drive stick. I grew up doing this.
Neil: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We would tear it up all in down the other, like on the runway and stuff, on the airport runway.
Darin Tingey: That's awesome.
Neil: it was fun. we We did a lot of crazy stuff. but just taught a ton of people. we were really busy, did a lot of work. after After a while, there was a senior couple there.
Neil: So it was us alone for a little bit. We brought in a senior couple.
Neil: I love them and I can't think of their name right now. a Elder and Sister.
Neil: Oh man. I love, like, I totally know them. Anyway, I'll think of it later because they were amazing and I'll give them a shout out.
Darin Tingey: Okay. Did you ever go fishing on Christmas?
Neil: but
Darin Tingey: Like with the, for the,
Neil: Yeah, we fished all the time, like every P day and we'd pull up, like we'd pull up, that we'd just go out on the pier for the most part and we'd pull up these fish that looked like they should have been in the tank, like in Finding Nemo.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, that's so cool.
Neil: Look at the stuff. And we're this is phenomenal. I'd love to go back and like scuba there and and go out and
Darin Tingey: Did you see a lot of tourists in Christmas Island? Because, its I mean, it's really well known for fishing.
Neil: There was a lot more. There was a lot more. We'd always have this joke, like any anytime we'd see a white guy coming by <unk>re like walking, we'd be like, dad? it' Just like stupid stuff like that.
Darin Tingey: You should have said...
Neil: Or like we'd say kiddo this, is that you, dad?
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Yeah. You should have said, you should have said, gomana and then he'd been like really confused, you know, you know, they always like are passing each other.
Neil: And the kid is super be like, wait, what?
Neil: Oh, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Oh, you know
Neil: yeah yeah it was it was fun so that's what i remember of that
Darin Tingey: yeah that's funny. as I see, uh, what about, did you get any boils on Christmas?
Neil: oh yeah dude the whole mission i don't know it the water something they're like and you you don't understand job until you get a boil
Darin Tingey: Yeah, that's true. The whole mission you get boils. Yeah.
Neil: And then you're like, this guy was covered his whole body with boils. Like they're so pain. You got a boil or two or more.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah.
Neil: Yeah. Turner had this thing where he, he like wanted his mission to be hard. And so he'd like go out of his way to do stuff. and Like he used the same razor for like, don't know, his whole mission, but like at least half his mission.
Neil: Just like, is is I'm like hardcore. like du You don't have to do that.
Darin Tingey: Oh my gosh.
Neil: But he had this thing and and there's you know, 19 year old boys, but wife points. Did you guys, did you ever hear that?
Darin Tingey: No, what's wife points?
Neil: Like the more you suffer, why the more you suffer on your mission, the more attractive your wife's going to be. And so in the back of my journal, i have this like wife points of like sick days and number of boils and like amount of times I like totally threw up and like diarrhea days and that like little tally marks of like days I just straight up couldn't work.
Darin Tingey: a
Darin Tingey: That's awesome. I should have kept that. That's great.
Neil: But I don't know. like Anyway, was just kind of a silly thing, but I thought that was kind of funny. I suffered on my mission.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: I'm hardcore.
Darin Tingey: Oh, I feel like honestly, in our mission, that was, it was kind of a thing. it was kind of a competition. It felt like of who had it harder, you know you know, whose outer island was more ebook whose outer island had less food, you know, like, like it felt a little bit like that.
Neil: Sometimes. Yeah.
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: wasn't Yeah, I wasn't too keen on that. like I wanted to wanted to do the work and not you know be able to focus on that.
Neil: where you know And if you have boils all over your legs and arms and neck and face, like it's hard to hard to do that. But anyway, that's that.
Darin Tingey: Well, I think it's... One more thing on that, though.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: i feel like people always, you know, they hear about the mission. where'd you serve your mission? Oh, served Marshallian's kid. It was, wow, i heard you had to fish for your food out there.
Darin Tingey: And I heard you had to, you know, it was just crazy. And I was just like, I just tell them, yeah, I starved for two years.
Neil: Yeah, yeah. It was. No.
Darin Tingey: No, but I think... The stories are just a little exaggerated by some missionaries. Yes, I fished for food.
Darin Tingey: Did I need to fish for my food every day? No, I did not. i never felt like I was hungry.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: The island definitely had not a lot of food on it, but I never went hungry because everyone fed me.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And, you know, people took care of me.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: There are some missionaries that did experience droughts on on islands or... Very minimal food. So I get that. But it's just funny, especially to the moms, you know, like my kids on this tiny island and he's fishing for the people for his village.
Darin Tingey: It's like, no, he's not. I promise you he's not.
Neil: Oh, no. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: if That's not the case.
Neil: If anything, they're fishing for them. they They're, yeah, that's a real, that's a real thing. And that's what I love about kitty. but Like there's, I never saw anyone that was like hungry emaciated because they didn't have enough food or anything like that just wasn't a thing because you could get your food.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: And I just, I thought that was really cool about it. Something that,
Neil: they just, they have, they have enough and they're so happy about it. It's so cool. I just, they're content, very content culture.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, the community and the community is fantastic.
Neil: and
Darin Tingey: They take care of one another, you know, so.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah. So,
Darin Tingey: So you're Christmas for a while.
Neil: Yeah. I do have to rewind. I was reading this. We transferred through Fiji, Turner and I, and we were there for like five days. And I have to thank him because he was, just because of the way flights were, but we were with the airport elders for like five days and we got to go bat hunting in Fiji.
Darin Tingey: Holy cow.
Neil: I just have to, it's one of those things that like, who does that?
Darin Tingey: Bat hunting?
Neil: Yeah. Yeah. They like literally go out at dusk and they have these sticks and they just go out and like throw sticks at the bats, to the huge fruit bats on Fiji.
Neil: And they throw sticks at them and they eat them and stuff. We didn't like actually end up like getting any, but we went out and we saw them and we, you know, tried to get close to them, but they were kind of, we got out a little late. So they're already kind of waking up. Yeah.
Neil: but it was still like, we did that, that was cool. And like like it's not something i totally would have never done, but Turner was more like, yeah, I gotta go do this.
Darin Tingey: That's way cool.
Neil: And so that was that was that was kind of a fun deal. Anyway, for real.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Once in a lifetime opportunity. I always think about for like missionaries, like to take advantage of it, you know, like you don't need to break all the rules or anything, but there's experiences that you'll never have,
Neil: Yeah. No. Yeah.
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: no
Neil: yeah
Darin Tingey: with besides being on your mission and doing fun stuff, stuff like that, you know, that that's, in my opinion, that's totally fine and encouraged.
Neil: yeah Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: so
Neil: Yeah. agree. it's it's It's still a balancing act and and in some ways, but I think that you know there's that phrase like obedience springs blessings and perfect obedience brings miracles.
Neil: I think about that a lot and it never sat really well with me.
Neil: And I think i think what what i would what I would add to that is like, you know obedience brings blessings exact obedience to the spirit brings miracles and i think that that's that's really what you have to do got to have the spirit with you and he'll help you know what what to do to to be successful so i just i thought that was some thoughts so yeah
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Did you want to touch Tocaneta? Tocaneta?
Neil: tocon thatta Yeah, really quick. she was She was this girl. i think like her family, they were they were kind of interested, but she was the first one to get baptized. And we got a teacher, and she was really amazing.
Neil: She was like 12 or 11 or something. Her brother ended up getting baptized after her with the with the elders that replaced us on Christmas. And then her parents got baptized, I think with the sisters that came on as we led, they switched us out as the sisters and it was just this really cool family and they got to go to the temple and she ended up serving this mission.
Neil: And this, like, I just, I've, I've talked with her you know, a few times since then, but I just, I loved, I just loved that experience with it with little Tocaneta and her faith and bringing her family, know, being that pioneer for her family was just such a beautiful experience.
Neil: To see, you know, I didn't see it all right then, but as the years passed, you were able to experience that. And just that's the joy of missionary work is is bringing that peace and faith into people's lives.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. And then to see them go serve mission and do the same thing for other people.
Neil: Yeah, yeah. I love that. Because that doesn't always happen, you know.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, totally.
Neil: But so.
Darin Tingey: So then you, so then you get transferred off Christmas and you go back to darawa
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: Yep, yeah. And I got paired with that.
Darin Tingey: originally.
Neil: Yeah, Elder Banks in Tarawa for like three days. It was only three days. And then I was a merchant. She transferred out to Abayang. I forget why. But I went out there and we whitewashed it.
Neil: with It was me and Willie, Elder so elder Simpson, Will Simpson. and He was in my intake. And so that was...
Darin Tingey: Was everyone not mad at you that like that you came from Christmas and went straight to Abbey Young, basically?
Neil: probably were...
Darin Tingey: i I'm sure everyone i thought I was like, who is this guy?
Neil: Yeah. Like we don't even know him and he randomly.
Darin Tingey: yes he gets to go to Outer Island after coming out for Christmas.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: That's not fair.
Neil: So with that, we took a we took the wah, the big the big like double
Neil: double raft canoe. I don't know. like is the big
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: Anyway, we they called it the wah. We took that Abayang. and
Darin Tingey: That was like, is like a weekly, a weekly boat or to Abba Young or whenever a couple days.
Neil: I think so. it was just kind of it was kind of a mid-sized boat, and there were like a ton of kids going back to school and stuff and things like that on there.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: So we we we took that over, and it wasn't you didn't really get experience like open ocean. I didn't getting to take the Liahona back after I became his own leader.
Darin Tingey: Oh, cool.
Neil: And that that's something else, like to see hill-sized waves like on either side of you, and like it just... You're like, whoa, I'm in the ocean.
Neil: it was, it was, that was one of the only times on this tiny boat on the Liahona, you know, it's probably like, I don't know, 30 feet long.
Darin Tingey: on a tiny boat.
Neil: It wasn't really anything crazy. Maybe less, i don't know how long it was, but it was, that was crazy. So, but yeah, yeah, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Kind of scary, but cool at the same time.
Neil: So, but Abayang was, was, at that point with the language where I could kind of speak to people, but like I was on my own now and so I wanted to be like obedient missionary and I was really emit them on that island and I think because of that I didn't get along super well with some of the like branch leadership out there, to to put it pretty pre bluntly, just because i wanted to, and you know, we're going to sleep, we're getting home when we were supposed to get home and
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: this is how the church is supposed to get run. and
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: but they're they're supposed to do that.
Neil: But, you know, different different personalities and stuff. so
Darin Tingey: Was there, so there was a branch on Abbey Young and just one branch, right?
Neil: But... but
Neil: And I think there was like another unit on the other side of the island.
Darin Tingey: mean a group or unit. Okay.
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: Yeah. So... I remember we covered the whole island for a little bit from what i remember. But just, I guess, some cool things that I remember from there. Obviously, there are a lot of really cool people that I got to meet. But remember teaching them like hymns from the Kiribis hymn book. They were like selections.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: And they didn't know some of them. And so it was really cool to teach them like some, a few songs. I would just sing a few lines and, you know, we're all just in that stick chapel and then they would sing a few lines and it was just cool to be able to, to connect with them that way and help, help teach them some of the hymns, you know, their story gospel is, that was a fun, fun thing.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Yeah, that is cool.
Darin Tingey: They either it's the little book, the little, i don't know if you had a little book of hymns, but Yeah. Okay. Same thing.
Neil: It was just didnt didn ne na and in da daar tara mari selections of hymns from from church, something like that.
Darin Tingey: that a Maori? Yeah.
Neil: So, yeah, but
Darin Tingey: Yeah. It's fun when you hear it in a different language. Like, oh, that's really cool to hear that hymn in Kiribati.
Neil: Yeah, for reals. And they sing so beautifully. i just, I love, I love their voices. It's just one of the, you know, really beautiful memories that I have from there. and
Neil: So yeah, Ana Bayang.
Darin Tingey: how big was How big was the branch? Sorry.
Neil: forget i forget i can't tell you i think there were probably like around 40 people that would come to church pretty regularly but then we do church down the island so we'd ride and do sacrament at these different different places which is really cool be able to to do that uh just in you know the these local communities that couldn't travel but we had bikes and so
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: you know that's that's kind of how it it ended up being which which was a a neat experience to be able to do that like three or four times on not a day of rest though i think most missionaries can agree that sunday is not not a day of rest but
Darin Tingey: No. a Not at all. exhaust It's the most exhausting day, I think.
Neil: it really is uh yeah but we you know these roads are dirty you're getting mud and stuff all up on your back and so we'd go and like jump into the into the lagoon after we'd get home just to rinse everything off and rinse off with the well water get all salt off and then we go and like change and so after it rained and stuff that was those are some funny memories but yeah
Darin Tingey: That's awesome.
Neil: What are some other stories? what What was that?
Darin Tingey: Did you guys have a lot of success as far as baptisms and stuff on Abba Young?
Neil: i think I think so. I felt like it was pretty good. We were able to reach some families and then some other individuals. And I think it was good.
Neil: I had Elder Simpson, he was there for like a month or two. he got it he had to get a emergency transferred off because he got super sick, like fever of 103.
Darin Tingey: shoot
Neil: So he just it was it was pretty bad for like a couple days. So he got jumped on the plane, replaced. I got, he was supposed to train a kitty best guy, but he got sick like right after they came.
Neil: So it was me. Elder Theda and Elder Kakao and they were they were so funny, Elder Theda. Oh my goodness, his English. He helped me out.
Darin Tingey: Both Kiribati elders?
Neil: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they're both from Kitty Vest and so yeah, just me and I'm like, whoa, okay.
Darin Tingey: fun. You were on Abbey Young with two kid of his elders. That's so cool.
Neil: David Price- Full on I don't have anyone to speak with you know that the cocoa could speak some English, but you know a couple weeks at least a week, it was just us three going around teaching and stuff elder mills came out and and took elder cocoa and they went to the other part of the island and so.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: David Price- It was hard. Abayang was hard just because of that and and just overcoming some pride personally.
Neil: and But sat there about month 10 and I feel like that's when it really just like started taking off for me in the mission because just making those weak things that were part of me become a little bit, you know, strong and strengthen the language and be able to teach and connect with people.
Darin Tingey: the
Neil: that was That was where i feel like Abba Young was a big turning point for me in the mission.
Darin Tingey: Was there, was there outer island food on Abayang that you had to get used to or anything that you didn't like?
Neil: to get used to all the food.
Darin Tingey: Because you mentioned the hareve, but then the food.
Neil: had I get to get, oh dude, I think you always ask like the favorite favorite food, worst food though.
Darin Tingey: well we can save we can save the favorite food, but yeah, yeah.
Neil: Yeah, no. So worst food, I think, I think was on Abayang.
Darin Tingey: Really?
Neil: I forget exactly. But was it was actually turtle, which is weird because a lot of people have said they really like turtle.
Darin Tingey: Really?
Neil: But I think they stewed it for like multiple days.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: And it was, it was so bad.
Darin Tingey: oh
Neil: Oh, that was the only like that I remember was just like, this is, this is rank. This is not good for consumption. But that was that. So yeah.
Darin Tingey: Did you get sick at Onabeyang, or did was your health pretty good by then?
Neil: a ya yeah i was sick all the time.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: i was i was sick a lot with just random things, colds a lot, but then like stomach bugs and whatever, probably worms and stuff. the One time Simpson and I bought this fish off this guy. He was just carting it down the road, you know, right next to our chapel house. and We're like, hey, we'll buy one.
Neil: So we bought this fish and we cooked it up with these those little peppers that they grow. you ever Do you remember those?
Darin Tingey: Okay, yeah.
Neil: Just these little yellow peppers.
Darin Tingey: Uh-huh, yeah.
Neil: They were pretty spicy, but I was a spice junkie. Like sweet, we chopped these peppers up and cooked them with this fish.
Darin Tingey: I forgot about those.
Neil: And we like ate it. we ate so much fish. But like that night or next day, we were regretting it hardcore. It was, don't know if the fish was bad if it was just because we ate it with like, that's all we ate, but...
Neil: Man, that was rough. And I left Abayang super skinny. Oh, and the other hard part about Abayang was I didn't get any letters and I couldn't email for ages, which was unique.
Darin Tingey: Mmm.
Neil: And we later out ended up finding out like Mills somehow or something found out that we there was internet on the island. after like three months and so then I like get back on and all these crazy things that happened over those three months I really had no contact with anyone and so again like that isolation and no one that like gets me as as an American for the most part.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: And, but it was a beautiful, i just, of those things that you have to go through that kind of stuff to grow even though it's so hard. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: No, absolutely. Yeah.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Having the kid of us elders is probably like great for your language and culture understanding, but it's probably pretty lonely for you at the same time, not being able to speak English, not emailing your family or getting letters or i you know, I, you're isolated it and at,
Neil: yeah yeah
Neil: hannah Yeah.
Darin Tingey: times it's very beautiful. It's a beautiful thing that, you know, you'll never experience ever again in your life.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And then the other side is this sucks.
Neil: Yeah. is It's really true. It's really true. But it's...
Darin Tingey: what What was probably your favorite thing about Abbey Young?
Neil: I'm going with it.
Darin Tingey: Like what, when you think back of your memories on Abbey Young, like what was like the best thing?
Neil: There there were there was this family like this these two girls and this brother, and then they had like a cousin or friend. They all kind of lived in this village called Borosan. And I loved them. we ended up getting being able to to baptize them. And they wanted to go to Moroni, which is fine, you know, and I i think that's fine.
Neil: But they were so cool and they were real. And They were kind of closer to our age, too. They were like late teens, like 18, 19. So maybe not. Maybe they were past that. But I just... They...
Neil: them and their dad and stuff. And we just, it was just this really clean, like some of their properties are like really clean and nice. And that was one of those places that you just went there and it was just, it felt so good to be there.
Neil: And like, I ended up just loving that, like the rest of my mission. I was like, a guy nabayan kind taka i boughtam like i'm I'm from Borosam.
Darin Tingey: A nice, yeah.
Neil: Like, yeah, so. you can't do I eat soap. That was the joke for Abayang people because,
Darin Tingey: Yeah, yeah. yeah
Neil: Like the cheese and then the English cheese.
Darin Tingey: Did you ever try it
Neil: So
Darin Tingey: Just to really be kind, Abayang.
Neil: maybe as a joke one time I took a picture or something. No, I don't think I ever did.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I think to to really be kind, Abayang, you got to try it, dude. You got to try the soap.
Neil: I'm sure I licked it or something.
Neil: I don't know.
Neil: I don't remember.
Darin Tingey: Oh, that's funny.
Neil: Yeah. So that was all by young.
Darin Tingey: That's good.
Neil: It was a beautiful kind of, I guess, a turning point. And then from there, I left to become a zone leader. They transferred me and they're like, you're a ZL. I'm like, I don't know anyone.
Neil: but
Darin Tingey: Yeah, yeah're like i haven't been on Tarawa for like a year at this point, probably.
Neil: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So i was four months, I think four months on Avayang and they transferred back to Eita. So was there, Eita was in charge of the eastern half of the island and then like all the outer islands, I think.
Neil: So we were kind of, it was weird, sort of like zone leader AP sort of thing, just so much administrative stuff and ministerial stuff. But I was there with,
Darin Tingey: Because the aps APs were in Marshalls at this point, correct?
Neil: Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah. And so we had to kind of, you know, with the help of senior couples, obviously, but we had to kind of run that half of the mission and transfers, emergencies, bringing supplies around, getting elders on and off islands.
Neil: So many crazy stories with that. Radios, you know, because that's that's how they communicated. when we had the cell phone, like the prepaid ones.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: So like all the... missionaries on the island would have those for reporting and stuff but that was that was a good experience i was with elder Elder Bradshaw like I said from myant from my intake and with Turner actually for just a little bit he was a he was a zone leader at that time for like a threesome for some reason but then it was me and
Darin Tingey: OK.
Neil: Bradshaw there and like I said we were so busy as zone leaders but we just we still wanted to be missionaries so we still we were still teaching and there was this one week I think we sloughed off some of the administrative stuff but just as kind of like stats go, i think the sister missionaries would usually get like 40 to 50 lessons a week.
Darin Tingey: Oh my goodness.
Neil: and i remember I remember one week we got like 40, over 40 lessons, and that one week they'd only gotten like 38. And so Sister Balanathangi was her name. She was from Fiji and she was just the most incredible missionary because people loved her and she just had the spirit. but We were like, we were like, haha, and Bradshaw like rubbed it in their face that like we got 40 lessons this week and you you got less than us and every other week they're like totally blowing everyone else out of the water.
Neil: But I just remember that being kind of a funny, funny thing. is
Darin Tingey: 40 to 50 is nuts. Only on Tarawa does that happen, I feel like.
Neil: Yeah, yeah, yeah, they didn't they didn't.
Darin Tingey: Which is crazy.
Neil: Yeah. But that was that was cool. I think normally we're closer to like, you know, 10, 20 as a zone leader, especially just because you're taking care of all the other stuff.
Darin Tingey: yeah you're dumb Yeah, you're dealing with so much
Neil: but
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: and administrative work and moving missionaries to and from different places. And, you know, you said you were over outer islands.
Neil: Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Darin Tingey: What outer islands did you guys have open when you were zone leader?
Neil: I should have written that down. Peru, Jaranuca, Mayena Tabatuea, Merakei Abayang, and there might've been one other, but I know that those, we had those six open at least.
Darin Tingey: Okay. So decent amount. Yeah.
Neil: Yeah, and I think for the most part we communicated, not all of them, because some of them had cell phones or something, I forget, but it was ham radio. We'd go into the service center and we'd we'd call these people,
Neil: which made it really crazy for like emergency transfers and like this this one elder got sick once and I wrote down that I don't think we have time to share that story but it was it was pretty crazy just going to like all these different places like went to the hospital the police station because we needed this guy to get on the plane and like switch out and they weren't sure what was going on and he ended up getting back and it worked out but the lord was in it all so much
Darin Tingey: You need, you needed, wait. way You needed that one elder to get on the plane.
Neil: hi
Darin Tingey: but i feel like we have to talk about this. would yeah the police station.
Neil: i got it I've got to read this one.
Darin Tingey: What's up with that?
Neil: Okay, so this is A Day in the Life. is So I actually, this is a couple companionships later. I Elder Norman for a little bit, which was really fun with him. And then it was Elder Faust, who who this is like later in my zone leadership. But yeah.
Neil: This is January 17, 18, 2013. It's like four in the morning or no, it's later. Faust and I pick up President's sister Shah and we get them situated.
Neil: And then like our phone rings. It's this weird number, but then I call them back and it was the kid of this police telling us that we needed to talk to our elders on Beirut. at noon over the radio. So we rescheduled a meeting that we had with president because he just come on the island.
Neil: There is terrible reception, but this miracle was that there was a a man on Pebotauea. Must have been a member or something.
Darin Tingey: Bye.
Neil: We're like, okay, I got that figured out. So we continue on our day. And then we get a call back from the nurse saying we need to get him back on Tarawa. Like he really is sick. So i'm I'm thinking like this is an emergency now. So we went to Air Kitavis.
Neil: We get a flight for the next day. And then we needed to let them know that he needed to get on the flight. There wasn't really a way to tell him. And so we go to the communications company, TSKL, try and get them to get it. And we go to the police station. We go to hospital, trying to get someone to let...
Neil: the elders on Biru know that he needs to get on the plane and we ended up putting it on the radio. So like the radio station broadcasted it.
Darin Tingey: Oh, cool. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone listens to the the radio and kid of us.
Neil: the
Darin Tingey: Everybody.
Neil: Yeah. So I'm not sure exactly what worked, but it ended up that, you know, and my prayers at the time were like, if, we can't do this heavenly father. Like if, if he needs to get on that plane, like help him get there. We did all we could, you know, if it's, if it's like, we'll make it happen. And so the next morning 4 AM we get up to get, uh, Elder Lopez was switching him off.
Neil: and elder Burrell, who's the guy coming off of, of, uh, of Beru. And, we sent Lopez off. We got him on the plane, sent him over to Beru, the airport.
Neil: and the workers at the airport were telling us that Borel couldn't get on the plane. So we're freaking out like what's going on and we had a scheduled appointment on the radio with Beru at 1030.
Neil: So we went there and we could hear them that time. I don't know what happened but kind of a miracle we could hear them from Beru and We ended up, we found out that he had gotten on the plane. So we speed back to the airport and he gets off the plane and he's like, Hey guys, how's it going? I'm like, dude, you're supposed to be like death sick. like turner to get you back But it was, that was what, you know, i think it needed to happen because it did. And God wanted it to happen. And that was one of those just, that was the story, you know, the whole thing.
Neil: stay in the life of his own leader, you know, like just trying to figure stuff out.
Darin Tingey: my gosh
Neil: And classic, you know, communications in QVS at the time. I think they have like,
Darin Tingey: Yeah, it's gotten a lot better. But that is the the risks of putting missionaries on outer islands with very little communication is they can get deathly ill.
Neil: and stuff. Yeah.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And it sounds like he seemed fine when he came back. But I remember when for when I was a missionary, and I can't remember if President Larkin talked about it on his podcast that I did with him, but he talked about having to...
Darin Tingey: uh get this one elder off of i think it was either fanning or washington so can't first terena or tabuera but they he was like super sick they thought it was appendicitis and uh and uh
Neil: That's cool. Yeah. wow. Yeah. but aina thatna please mess i
Neil: oh then
Darin Tingey: The pilot was like now he was on vacation or something. Anyway, they paid an insane amount of money to pick him up, to go pick him up. and and The church told the president, like you can't have missionaries on that island anymore.
Darin Tingey: It's like then one of the most difficult places for the church to send a plane if if that was like the last resort.
Neil: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Darin Tingey: and It's kind of a bummer, but... yeah You think about all these missionaries that served like forever ago, and they just you know they just sent them, like, hey, you're going to this island.
Neil: For real, that that is one way up.
Darin Tingey: like Good luck.
Neil: Yeah, yeah, yep.
Darin Tingey: and I don't know. It seems like for the most part, God god takes care of his missionaries.
Neil: No, he does. He really does.
Neil: Doesn't mean that it doesn't make it hard, but it's true.
Darin Tingey: Man.
Neil: so
Darin Tingey: Sure, sure.
Darin Tingey: Uh, and, and Shaw was your mission president the entire time you were a missionary.
Neil: Yeah, it was like the last two weeks that Elder Weir came, which is cool.
Darin Tingey: Is that right?
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: So, yeah. But, yeah, just yeah and you
Darin Tingey: So after being his own leader, go ahead, go ahead.
Neil: no, it was going to move. Yeah, so I got to go back out to Medicaid after that, which was so cool. Oh, man.
Darin Tingey: And was this like a, hey, president, send me to an Outer Island type but type of deal?
Neil: I'm sure i'm sure there was a little bit of that.
Neil: And it was like between that and Aranuka.
Darin Tingey: oh
Neil: And I remember like praying like I probably should go to Aranuka. It's like not as nice, but I'll go there. And Bishop was like, no. And he sent me to Medicaid. And I was like, awesome.
Darin Tingey: yeah
Neil: I love it. I love it. And so that was a it was so good out there. I got paired up with other Puleku and you know, I had the mission i had the language down. i had a lot more of the culture down. was able were to connect with these people.
Neil: And we just did so much amazing work out there. And Puleku was phenomenal. Like, just always wanting to do things to make life easier for me. He wanted that game. But, you know, because that was what I wanted to do. And I wanted what can I do to make life better for my companion?
Neil: And I think he, he beat me at that one.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: He was just, just so good at that. And he, just, we worked really hard and and did a lot of, well, well, I think we, we helped kind of pick up a lot of stuff on that Island.
Neil: and, and just a fun, I don't know, like like I said, you were there. i was used to the language and was able to just help find some really just choice people there and that just loved the Lord. i don't know.
Neil: It was a fun, fun island.
Darin Tingey: It's cool to go to an outer island at the end of your mission, you know, after you've experienced Christmas, Tarawa, and Abayang, and then you get to go to another one where you know the language, you know the culture, and and now it's just...
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah.
Neil: Mm-hmm.
Darin Tingey: really get like really love the experience a little bit more and worry less about language and understanding culture and being a missionary you knew how to do all that it's it's almost like all right now i get to go to this area and just really absorb it all and and take it in and just have a good time and be a great missionary
Neil: Mm-hmm.
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: Yep.
Neil: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah. A couple of stories from that island. There was this Seventh-day Adventist, the Isibong, that's the Seventh-day Isibong.
Darin Tingey: Which is so funny. i love in Kitabiscus.
Neil: yeah
Darin Tingey: <unk>
Neil: They were this Unimani. He was just so cool. And i think we just clicked right off the bat because, again, I could speak it and he probably was like, wait, what?
Neil: But you know I go up there and I'm talking, I remember writing this in my journal later on and he's like, hey, I'm Maudi. I go up the house, Maudi, Maudi.
Neil: He's like, oh, go what i how are you? And I'm do on a yam which means a little bit below you. Just you know kind of an icebreaker thing that you would say, but he just like,
Darin Tingey: yeah
Neil: he's like man this guy's cool and he'd like we always go over there and we'd argue and you know all these things but he like taught me how to tie flies like the kidibes way the hooks and stuff with like feathers and that was really cool and we ended up his son ended up getting baptized which get his name dude i wrote it down
Darin Tingey: oh very cool
Neil: because they their last names are the dad's name, right?
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: So his dad's name's Maneateata, and his son's name was Isimaroroa. So Isimaroroa Maneateata, that's a mouthful there.
Darin Tingey: Oh my gosh, that is crazy
Neil: He was a fun guy. so it just, and I remember him and this other guy who was a member, because he was just, he was just this really cool guy that these two onimani would go and like in the evening we'd go and, you know, hang out on their, on their booyah and they would sing these Kitty Vest songs, like Kitty Vest folk songs, you know, not like the like weird stuff that, that you know, like kind of techno sort of.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, not not the titty boy, whatever his name is.
Neil: yeah No, like these old guys and they're singing these...
Darin Tingey: Elijah
Neil: Yeah, no, I don't even... I was never into that, but the... the the these old guys would get out there in the evening and in my mind still like that's just the tip of island life. Just these two old guys out there singing their songs and harmonizing and it's nice and cool in the evening and just kind of relaxed.
Neil: And still like that that feeling and that song are still in my mind of just they don't have much but they love what they do have and they have each other and just that feeling of of unity and zion you know is is there and i just i love that that was just a cool thing
Darin Tingey: yeah I miss that too i i it just It's just not our culture in America and to just at night be out all together, know, just playing the ukulele singing and while the rest are just hanging out and enjoying the breeze.
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And i i I miss that about the islands for sure.
Neil: I think. Yeah. Yeah. I think there's, there's ways we can kind of incorporate that a little better. if i think that we could, but anyway, i was moving on here.
Neil: I was with Elder Puleku and then I ended up, Elder Ward, Elder Seth Ward came out and and he i took a podcast. He did a podcast with you earlier there and he was, he was awesome.
Darin Tingey: yep
Neil: He's, you know, way bigger, stronger than I was, this wrestler dude. And he got us into like working out morning and evening and, you know and i'm trying to teach him the lessons and stuff and something interesting because he came out he he was one of the first people to do like language training in the mtc and at first i was like cool you can say things you know a little bit they sound terrible but you can do that you know but after a while i was like
Darin Tingey: yeah.
Neil: Yeah, no, I think it's better that they just come out and get get in it. For a language like Kitty Bess, where you really don't need that.
Darin Tingey: I agree.
Neil: Like, I was breaking habits that he'd made in the MTC.
Darin Tingey: Yes.
Neil: Like, no, that's wrong. Don't do that. So, uh-huh.
Darin Tingey: I totally agree. i totally agree. i think I think it creates bad habits in the MTC. Yeah.
Neil: with with With a language that's a little bit different, you know, it's not as, you know, quite as simple, you know, Japanese, Korean or something like that, like where it's completely different.
Neil: just a lot more structure and grammar and stuff i think that that i can see that being useful but in qtbz where just get in it and you pick it up and i think that that's that's one thing i realized but anyway warden and had a lot of fun and
Darin Tingey: yeah
Neil: you know kind of hard for him adjusting and stuff but he was super teachable and he loved being out there and I was so jealous because he was able to eat the food he ate like crazy and I was like dude remembering back to when I came and I couldn't eat anything and I was like that's awesome I don't think that yeah don't think you
Darin Tingey: You're like, he's going to do well. He's going to do great on this mission.
Neil: Yeah, for reals. he I knew that he was going to do fine. So he did. I just, I love, we did a lot of good work together.
Neil: Got to baptize and and see a lot of people, you know, into the church. And there's this 70-year-old lady.
Darin Tingey: Did you live in the chapel house?
Neil: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we lived in the chapel house right next to the chapel, which is super weird for an Audi to have a nice chapel like that.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: But like they had a phone too that we could use to call and stuff.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, it's it's interesting which ones are like more developed than others for random reasons.
Neil: So. Yeah, it was. Yeah. Yeah. And we, another story, we baptized this 70-year-old lady. Her name was Nate Dai, which is son, Dai.
Neil: And she was 70 and she got, that I just loved that. She was really fun to teach. And you just never know, you know, when people are going to be ready and and wanting to to make those changes.
Darin Tingey: Totally.
Neil: But
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: yeah, we'd go fishing there a lot.
Darin Tingey: How long were you on Medicaid?
Neil: What was it? I was there for like five months, I think.
Darin Tingey: Oh yeah. That's a good amount of time. That's great.
Neil: Yeah, because I only had, I got back and I had like three months left. So i didn't I didn't finish my mission out there, which I think was really cool.
Darin Tingey: Was it, was everyone impressed that you were climbing coconut trees on, you know, pre climbing these coconut trees on out outer islands and just showing everybody like, Hey, I can do this too.
Neil: What's up?
Neil: Yeah, as best I could. i mean, obviously, I don't think I climbed ones that didn't have steps in them. I wasn't that, I wasn't that rad.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: up cause theyd they'd They'd cut the steps into them, you know, and then it's it's not really that dangerous because you're just, it's like walking upstairs.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. What's funny, because no, it's funny.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Marshall Islands, they don't really cut the steps in, but in Kitabas, they do a bunch.
Neil: no
Darin Tingey: Yeah. And I always thought, I was teasing everybody.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: i like, in the Marshalls, they actually climb trees. Kitabas, you know, and just tease them. Because know they can, but.
Neil: Yeah, yeah. No, I have pictures of me way up in these huge coconut trees. that It was fun.
Neil: I love that.
Darin Tingey: So you, so you, uh-huh.
Neil: And we'd go fishing and stuff a lot. What's that?
Darin Tingey: So i'm saying you, you were on Medicaid for about five months and then you transferred back to Thaddao before you ended your mission.
Neil: Yeah, yeah, I did. i went to, What to both and it was cool to end.
Darin Tingey: Fun. The first area. That's cool.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah. And I think there were a couple people that I'd kind of remembered that I was able to, Hey, I speak it now. I speak Kitty Vest now. And that was really fun to, to be able to do that with them.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: and just to be back in the island, lots of people, you know, go into cultural performances, the huge botakis and just, you know, playing volleyball and stuff again. was, it was, those it was cool to finish out there. And i don't know, I, I don't,
Neil: remember a whole lot from that last area.
Neil: And, but I, like Elder Whippy, Josh Whippy, you had, i think you interviewed Jared or something.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, Jared.
Neil: Yeah, his brother.
Darin Tingey: You had Josh, though.
Neil: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Josh was, I think, my last companion and he was fun. we had a lot of fun and and got to do some really good work up until the end.
Neil: And
Darin Tingey: that's That's cool. You got to finish them both.
Neil: yeah, it really was.
Darin Tingey: I always wanted to finish my first area, too. Just to...
Neil: Back in the, did you, and did you go back to the marshals at the end?
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Yeah, I finished.
Neil: Okay, yeah, yeah, but just not the last, the first area,
Darin Tingey: I... am Yeah, i didn't I did get to stop there briefly, though, because I stood on an outer island close to my first area.
Darin Tingey: so i So my first area was Ebi, which is kind of like the Christmas version of the Marshalls, like another kind of main island.
Neil: Yeah.
Neil: Yeah, yeah, okay, mm-hmm.
Darin Tingey: And so on my way back from my outer island, I got to stop on Kwajalein for a little bit and i got to see a bunch of people and that was really fun to, you know, to talk to them.
Neil: That's cool.
Darin Tingey: You know, you're like, i I talked to you previously, but I was terrible Marshallese and now we can talk.
Neil: Like, oh, you're you're and we can communicate.
Darin Tingey: So I'm, yeah.
Neil: Yeah, it's true.
Darin Tingey: it's It's fun. Well, last last three questions, as you know. Let's start with the first one.
Neil: Yep.
Darin Tingey: Favorite food.
Neil: It would have been crab on Medicaid.
Darin Tingey: Okay.
Neil: This lady had this crab that was phenomenal. And suonime.
Darin Tingey: What's so the soup?
Neil: It's the breadfruit soup that they mix with sugar and coconut.
Darin Tingey: The breadfruit soup? Is it like in coconut? Yes.
Neil: Yeah, coconut cream and like some raw sugar and the breadfruit they like boil.
Darin Tingey: Yes.
Neil: i remember one time I was like, this is better than ice cream on it.
Darin Tingey: Yes.
Neil: I think it was on Abhayong too.
Darin Tingey: So...
Neil: It might've been, medic i no, yeah, that was on Abhayong. remember doing that. I was like, man, this is phenomenal.
Darin Tingey: Yeah, I had that on Mayana and I loved it. Yeah, and I don't have very much and I could never, I i forgot that they just called it May Soup, you know, soup in May.
Neil: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Darin Tingey: Because I love that stuff. I want to make that. I like, there's some things that i crave and that's one of them that i was like, dang, I had that forever ago and I don't think I ever had it again. All right, fair enough.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: Crab and soup in May.
Neil: Yep.
Darin Tingey: Favorite, favorite area.
Neil: Yeah, I again, we kind of already talked about it just because I was able to feel like I was really in the way. Medicaid was so cool.
Neil: It was just just leave it there.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: loved loved Christmas quite a bit, but I love Medicaid. That's my favorite.
Darin Tingey: So if you went back to Kitabas and you can only go to one place, would you go back to Medicaid?
Neil: probably not.
Darin Tingey: and
Neil: No, actually, I... I have to just mention this because this is a cool kind of story probably to end on here, but there as a zone leader, i have dreams of going back to Kitty Vest like really pretty frequently.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: it's so weird because every time I dream I'm like I'm really here like this is so cool i'm like I really made it back you know I haven't been back since but And and I'm always trying to find this this Obena and Tehuata. They're this this couple that we got to teach there. and Their daughter was on a mission in Oklahoma and their son I think was at Moroni, but they just weren't ready, weren't interested.
Neil: And we were able to contact them and and it was a struggle for a while, but he knew a lot of members and he any he loved them. And because of their example and stuff, he was able to overcome like smoking and and some different things and they were able to come back to church and he ended up becoming bishop of the eighth award for like a really long time and i still i'm just like i want to get back there he's not getting younger i don't know you know and i just i would love to go back and see my friends openin dewaha and i i would just love that so
Darin Tingey: Very cool.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: It's hard to say you know a favorite area is, but that's that's that
Darin Tingey: Fair enough.
Darin Tingey: All right. And what what's your favorite thing about Kiribati or the mission?
Neil: that. The faith of the people, their their love of and their contentment, know if that's a word, how content they are with what they have.
Neil: and
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Neil: and the joy that they have in in gospel and in in their community.
Darin Tingey: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: They are. They're amazing. And you... sounds like you had an awesome mission. I think your dreams are a sign that you need to go back soon. So start saving up, uh, cause it's going to cost you an arm and a leg, but it's going to be worth it.
Neil: Yes.
Neil: Oh my goodness. Again, if the Lord wants it to happen, he'll help that happen.
Darin Tingey: Uh,
Neil: and And think that that would be a beautiful thing. So.
Darin Tingey: Yeah. Well, cool, Neil. this This was incredible. I loved your mission story. I think it was very cool to hear the similarities that you and I had on our missions and and even even the similarity of just transferring a different island based on every every transfer, which is really cool and unique.
Neil: Mm-hmm.
Neil: Yeah.
Darin Tingey: you know No, this is great.
Neil: Yeah. Yeah.
Darin Tingey: And it was another great episode of the Islands Podcast.
Neil: Thanks.
