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Episode 30: Seth Ward - Kiribati - Marakei, Tarawa, Kiritimati, Tabuaeran
56 Plays26 days ago
Seth Ward was called to serve in Kiribati from 2013 - 2015. Upon arrival in the islands, Seth was sent directly to the outer island of Marakei for 6+ months and he would never meet his first mission president before he was released. Seth's mission transfers would take him from Marakei to Tarawa and then eventually out Kiritimati and Tabuaeran (Fanning Island). Amongst a mission full of miracles and adventures, Seth also managed to get in a citizens arrest while wearing the name badge... something most missionaries can't claim.
#MarshallIslandsMajuroMission #MarshallIslandsKiribatiMission #Kiribati #Tarawa #Kiritimati #Tabuaeran #TheIslandsPodcast #theislands #PacificIslands #PacificIslanders #Micronesia
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Transcript
Introduction and Seth's Background
00:00:00
Darin Tingey
All right, we are on with another episode of the Islands Podcast. Today we have Seth Ward on. Seth, give a quick background on you.
00:00:12
Seth
All right.
Life in Arizona: Upbringing and Family
00:00:14
Seth
um I am an Arizona boy, just like you, actually. Do where Safford Thatcher area is?
00:00:20
Darin Tingey
go.
00:00:22
Darin Tingey
Yeah, yeah, totally.
00:00:24
Seth
Yeah. So I was actually, i was born in Fort Thomas, but I was raised in, sorry, sorry. Oh my gosh. I was born in Safford. I was raised in Fort Thomas, Arizona, and I went to high school at Safford.
00:00:36
Seth
So kind of, yeah, super small town.
00:00:36
Darin Tingey
Okay, yes, a smaller smaller town.
00:00:42
Seth
Um, yeah, all my life was in little, little Fort Thomas and, uh, know, I played football and wrestling and I wrestled in high school and then, uh, yeah, it was a good time.
00:00:54
Seth
Great place to grow up.
00:00:54
Darin Tingey
ye
00:00:55
Seth
lot of, grew up on a farm. So a lot of, a lot of hard work was done over there. So
00:00:59
Darin Tingey
Totally. So Kitabush was nothing for you.
00:01:02
Seth
yeah, right.
00:01:03
Darin Tingey
a
00:01:04
Seth
It wasn't nothing.
00:01:05
Darin Tingey
the And then where where are you at now?
Marriage and Family Life
00:01:08
Darin Tingey
Okay.
00:01:09
Seth
I live in St. George, Utah. So after the Mish, I got, i was one of those guys that got married pretty quick after the mission. And so I, I've known my wife for a long time.
00:01:25
Seth
ah The first memory I have of her actually is i was a little kid. was like, I was eight. Her grandma, her grandparents on her dad's side were in my ward And my first memory of her was actually in our primary class.
00:01:40
Seth
And she's she she's three years younger than me. And so they brought her into our primary class because her grandma was my teacher.
00:01:49
Seth
And my first thought, because was like eight or nine, and she was like five or six. And my first thought, she's like, this is Kiera. You know, she's my granddaughter. She's five. And I was like, get her out of here, dude. She's not old enough to be in here.
00:02:02
Seth
Yeah. But, yeah, she – I got – about eight months after I got home, we got married, and, you know, we've been together for 11 years, four kids.
00:02:03
Darin Tingey
ah
00:02:11
Darin Tingey
Wow.
00:02:14
Seth
We're doing all right.
00:02:14
Darin Tingey
That's no wasted time for you. That's for sure.
00:02:17
Seth
No, none.
00:02:18
Darin Tingey
Did you, did you know her before the mission? I mean, I guess you did, but like, did you guys date it or anything?
00:02:23
Seth
No, not really. We didn't date. date. She claims to have always been in love with me, which – I don't know. i I feel like that's a fictitious story. But, you know, she definitely was very, very interested.
00:02:39
Seth
and like We wrote each other a couple of times, but it was nothing serious. When I left on my mission, she was, you know, she was few years younger than me. But when I came back, she was tall, blonde, and beautiful.
00:02:51
Seth
And, yeah, I don't know.
00:02:53
Darin Tingey
Locked her up.
00:02:53
Seth
but Yeah, hit it off. Hit it off.
00:02:56
Darin Tingey
so So four kids live in St. George.
00:03:00
Seth
Yeah.
00:03:00
Darin Tingey
And what do you do for work?
Career as a State Trooper
00:03:02
Seth
I'm an Arizona state trooper.
00:03:04
Darin Tingey
Okay. Okay.
00:03:05
Seth
Yeah.
00:03:06
Darin Tingey
So you're i going year' crossing that border every day or what?
00:03:09
Seth
Yeah. So I work the, uh, I-15. It's a 29 mile stretch of the gorge. i don't know if you've driven through there, but that's, that's where I work.
00:03:18
Seth
So the space.
00:03:18
Darin Tingey
Okay.
00:03:19
Darin Tingey
Very cool. I love it. I love it.
00:03:22
Seth
Yeah.
00:03:22
Darin Tingey
Okay, so let's ah let's go back to when you got...
00:03:24
Seth
You just start sweating little bit. Does this feel like a, no, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
Mission Call and Family Reactions
00:03:32
Darin Tingey
ah Let's go back to you know ah when you got your mission call. did were you Were you right out of high school or...
00:03:37
Seth
oh yeah
00:03:41
Seth
no so i was right before right before the age change i i remember i put my call in and then it was like that october they had announced the age change like right after i put my call in and i was kind of bummed i was like dang dude i can freaking wait a year it's like
00:03:58
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:03:59
Seth
But it was all right. ah I entered the MTC in January of 2013. And we actually had a pretty, oh, back to my call. Yeah, let's talk about that.
00:04:14
Seth
ah Cure Body, you know. Yeah, I opened it and I was reading it. And yeah, it's like the most embarrassing video ever that my family has of me. I'm like, you're called to serve and like,
00:04:29
Seth
Marshall Islands Majerial Mission, and you're going to speak the language of Curie body, and I was like, I have no idea what that is, it was pretty embarrassing, but, uh, yeah, you know, it pretty standard, you know, I got good parents, and they, uh, they, you know, opened it, and opened it with the family, you know, nothing, nothing crazy at the house, uh, but yeah, it was, uh,
00:04:49
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:04:54
Darin Tingey
So you entered...
00:04:54
Seth
miss I remember actually it was interesting about that. I remember before I opened my call, I remember feeling like I was going to get a call to go serve on ah on the islands.
00:05:05
Seth
It was pretty, it was pretty real.
00:05:06
Darin Tingey
Really?
00:05:07
Seth
Yeah. Because don't know. i was watching some documentary about, sharks and whatnot. And I was like, I think going to go serve on an island. I even said it to my little sister and she was like, whatever, bro.
00:05:21
Seth
And then I got there and it was like, I just like, I told you, i was like,
00:05:24
Darin Tingey
and you have a witness. That's awesome. That's awesome that you told her that.
00:05:28
Seth
I do. Yeah, I do. She was the one that reached out to you.
00:05:32
Darin Tingey
Okay. Yeah. She, you know, we can talk about that for a second. Um, yeah, she, I love getting messages from people who listen to the podcast. Right. And she, she messaged me.
00:05:40
Seth
Yeah, for sure.
00:05:42
Darin Tingey
She's like, Hey, like found this podcast. I love it. I'd love to, my brother loved his mission. I'd love to have him be on the podcast.
00:05:49
Seth
Yeah.
00:05:50
Darin Tingey
i was like, absolutely. Like, this is, this is the fun part of eating the podcast.
00:05:54
Seth
Yeah, I said it.
00:05:55
Darin Tingey
So I'm happy she connected us.
00:05:57
Seth
Well, i the way I heard about it was through Decker, Austin Decker.
00:06:01
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:06:02
Seth
He was my zone leader, and we were just chatting. I called him up, and he told me that he had done it, and then he told me that Syeth had done it and Risk had done it, and you know I know all those guys.
00:06:15
Seth
And i was listening to Risks and he told that story about the smuggling a sandwich into Fiji for me. From Fiji. Yeah. And I was like, that is so funny.
00:06:27
Seth
By the way, that was the most disgusting McDonald's sandwich I've ever had in my life, but it was totally worth it.
00:06:34
Seth
it was like It was like a little taste of home at the time. i don't know. It was so it was pretty cool.
00:06:39
Darin Tingey
Absolutely. You're
00:06:40
Seth
was pretty cool. I think I'm one of the only people on the planet that's had a McChicken in Kitty I had to decided to send that story to everybody.
00:06:45
Darin Tingey
probably right. you're probably right that's That's probably true. doing the podcast because...
00:06:54
Seth
I sent it to my family and then my little sister reached out to you. It was pretty funny.
00:06:57
Darin Tingey
that that's good ah well it's fun it's fun doing the podcast because I get to meet other missionaries that were in the, served in the mission before me or after me.
00:07:09
Seth
Yeah.
00:07:11
Darin Tingey
And I like, it's not really a huge mission.
00:07:12
Seth
Right.
00:07:14
Darin Tingey
So like just the networking's been really fun and hearing everyone's story's been great. So anyway, I'm excited hear yours.
00:07:20
Seth
Yeah.
00:07:22
Darin Tingey
um
00:07:22
Seth
That's good. i got some good stories, man.
Missionary Preparations and the MTC
00:07:25
Darin Tingey
Well, good. Okay. So you get the MTC January of 2013.
00:07:29
Seth
Yeah. Yeah,
00:07:30
Darin Tingey
do Do you have a big group or is it kind of a smaller MTC group?
00:07:34
Seth
we had we had ah the reika Faulio, Grover, Trussell, Mamea, Leilanoa, and me.
00:07:45
Seth
And all of us went to Kitty Bess.
00:07:47
Darin Tingey
Wow.
00:07:48
Seth
And we had two elders that were Marshall Lee's elders. Elder Mickelson. don't know if you ever heard of him. But then there was another one that forgot his name.
00:07:55
Darin Tingey
that
00:07:57
Seth
He was a little... use a little uh hockey player up it from like minnesota or something like that and so they both went to the marshals and then all the rest of us went to kitty gus you know crazy story though sorry go ahead
00:08:03
Darin Tingey
OK.
00:08:08
Darin Tingey
And you had, going say, you had language training in the MTC?
00:08:13
Seth
six weeks yeah we were in the ntc for about six weeks and no but cool story though elder rica he's a fijian guy and
00:08:14
Darin Tingey
OK. All right.
00:08:24
Seth
um like Fijian National, like, you know, like he was in the MTC with us. He was our distributor, super solid dude. um But, you know, when the mission's over, everybody goes home, you know, you know, guys who are, you know, half a world away, you don't think you're ever going to see him again.
00:08:40
Seth
That dude's in my ward now. Like, yes I was, I came out of sacrament meeting like a month and a half ago and I'm walking down the hall and I,
00:08:42
Darin Tingey
No way!
00:08:52
Seth
I'm walking my kids to primary and I look up and I see this dude standing at the end of the, he's got a full beard, you know, I'm looking at him and I'm like, I feel like I know him.
00:09:03
Seth
And i I'm getting closer and closer and we like make eye contact and like, like I, like I look at him and I'm like, Maudie.
00:09:14
Seth
And he went, no, no. And I was like, no way. Like I literally tackled him in the hallway. It was like the craziest thing. He's married, has a couple of kids. He literally lives right down the street from me now.
00:09:25
Seth
And it's just like, how did you get here? That was crazy. But no, super, super solid, dude.
00:09:29
Darin Tingey
That is such a small world in the church, man.
00:09:32
Seth
Super solid. It can be, that's for sure. Right.
00:09:36
Darin Tingey
You never know how like someone you've you met in the MTC or even in the Pacific in the islands and then here you are years and decades later, seeing them again.
00:09:43
Seth
right
00:09:46
Seth
upli Literally a decade later and i said and he's my neighbor. you know That's crazy.
Cultural Experiences in Kiribati
00:09:53
Darin Tingey
So cool.
00:09:53
Seth
Anyway, yeah. were in the MTC for six weeks. you know MTC was over it pretty quick.
00:10:03
Seth
you know I just wanted to get out there.
00:10:03
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:10:05
Seth
was
00:10:06
Darin Tingey
I feel you. And so when you got out there, what what was the initial reactions for you?
00:10:13
Seth
hot. um no seriously my literally they're landing the plane and i'm like looking out the window and it's just water and i'm like what are they how are they gonna land this plane you know like we're all gonna freaking die and uh anyways yeah they landed the plane
00:10:31
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:10:35
Seth
And they opened the doors. I'm wearing my suit. You know, I got my shoes on still.
00:10:41
Darin Tingey
Full suit, okay.
00:10:42
Seth
Yeah, was still wearing the suit. got And they opened the door and I can just see the heat waves enter the plane. And as soon as they hit me, I'm like, this is coming off right now.
00:10:52
Seth
This is over. And yeah that was over over over and done with pretty quick. You know, I made the mistake of buying Keens, you know, those sandals. those didn't, those didn't hold up. i ended up switching to Crocs pretty quick.
00:11:06
Seth
Um, but, uh, yeah, it was hot. We were met by, uh, and, oh man, there was like a, I swear there was a dude who had some pigs too. Like, and I'm used to farm smells, but that like hit different for some reason. Like,
00:11:22
Darin Tingey
ah love thats that smells in your brain forever of like the pig smell.
00:11:24
Seth
yeah, like that, like I was like, like it smelled like like right off the plane, like literally the dude had pigs just like right adjacent to the airport. That was the first thing I smelled when I got off the plane, I got off the plane was that dude's pigs.
00:11:37
Seth
So.
00:11:38
Darin Tingey
The poor kid of his pigs are just, you know, tied to a tree their whole life.
00:11:42
Seth
Oh, dude. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's quite a life for those little animals, man.
00:11:44
Darin Tingey
Their whole life.
00:11:46
Seth
I feel bad for them, but you know, they, they gotta eat. So um yeah, we were picked up by the elders.
00:11:51
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:11:55
Seth
I think it was, Elder Mickelson and Elder Whippy were in charge. and Yeah, they were they were like the West Zone leaders. They picked us up. And then Elder Thomas, and I can't remember the other dude's name.
00:12:07
Seth
I didn't write it down anywhere.
00:12:08
Darin Tingey
Sure. They take you to Moroni High School?
00:12:12
Seth
Yeah, they took us all way over to Moroni. I remember on the way over, um i think we were in like Bikinibu, and there was like a dog fight happening in the middle of the road.
00:12:25
Seth
And there was like 15 dogs just going at it in the middle of the road. And I'm like, what is going on in this place? It was insane.
00:12:33
Darin Tingey
yeah
00:12:34
Seth
It was insane. But yeah, we got over there and they were like,
00:12:41
Seth
i i was the only one in in the intake that went straight to an outer island.
00:12:45
Darin Tingey
Yeah, let's let's talk about your, walk me through your areas real quick and then we'll start at the beginning.
00:12:46
Seth
And
00:12:50
Seth
Sure. Yeah. So i was in Medicaid for six or seven months. Um, once I was done at Medicaid, I was in VESO for, was less, it was quick. It was like less than a transfer.
00:13:03
Seth
and then to my coup, I was in to my coup for a long time. Uh, probably about another seven months. I was a zone leader. was probably like the shortest tenured zone leader of all time.
00:13:17
Darin Tingey
ah
00:13:17
Seth
la
00:13:18
Darin Tingey
Efficient. Efficiency is what they call it.
00:13:19
Seth
I don't know about that. President Weir is like, this guy sucks. Let's get him out of here. ah No, that's not what it was. But anyways, and then I went out and finished my mission on Christmas and that went wrong.
00:13:32
Seth
So, yeah.
00:13:32
Darin Tingey
ah Okay. So, and mission president was Shaw when you got there?
00:13:37
Seth
Yeah, I never met him. I remember he wrote me a letter and he's like, you're the only one I didn't meet. And I, okay. He's like, I didn't even know you.
00:13:47
Darin Tingey
ah
00:13:47
Seth
and Yeah, he like wrote me a letter. He's like, I'm sorry, we never got to meet. but You know, was like, yeah, whatever.
00:13:54
Darin Tingey
Because you landed and they're like, hey, you're going to Medicaid. Were their missionaries already there?
00:13:58
Seth
Like literally day later. Yeah, so I went out there. and My trainer was Elder Falk. So he actually called himself Elder Bookie because he hated it when Kitty Buss people pronounced his name for obvious reasons.
00:14:12
Seth
um He was such a good missionary, though. Yeah, yeah I needed that guy at the beginning of my mission. you know He was very very patient, very very good you know very good missionary. He taught me a lot, for sure.
00:14:31
Seth
Yeah, I don't know.
00:14:32
Darin Tingey
What, so, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:14:32
Seth
Time in Medicare was tough, though. That was a tough part.
00:14:36
Darin Tingey
So like you get there and they're like, hey, Edward Ward, you're going to Outer Island. Were the other Outer Islands open at the time or was Medicaid one of the few?
00:14:47
Seth
I man I think Tarruieta was dude I honestly don't remember because I was so new you know didn't really yeah literally I yeah like I was so new i knew there were a couple of islands of island islands in the south that were open i think Abayang was open teri all the northern islands
00:14:53
Darin Tingey
Yeah, you're like, i you've like Medicaid, where's that, Yeah.
00:15:06
Darin Tingey
Sure.
00:15:09
Seth
Those ones were pretty consistently open. Like the Teddy Teddy, I buy young, Medicaid. I know I'm a was open pretty consistently, but not, not too much outside of that.
00:15:21
Seth
So when showed up, when but I changed this before, while, and after I was his own leader, you know, president where was, he was on all of that stuff.
00:15:21
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:15:23
Darin Tingey
OK.
00:15:30
Darin Tingey
Yeah, he changed yeah ah he changed the game.
00:15:32
Seth
Yeah.
00:15:35
Darin Tingey
ah Okay, so so like ah you're going to Medicaid. Did you go by boat or did you go by plane?
00:15:40
Seth
No, they flew me up there.
00:15:42
Darin Tingey
Okay. And was this like a day after you got there?
00:15:43
Seth
Yeah.
00:15:45
Darin Tingey
Was this like a week after you got there?
00:15:47
Seth
Yeah, it was quick. It felt like the day after, honestly. i couldn't I can't give you an exact timeline, but literally it was like I was in was with the zone leaders for a night. They're like, pack your bag.
00:15:58
Seth
Yeah. You're back, you know, leave all your stuff at the elders, at the senior couple's house, like your suit coat and all that other stuff. And then you're flying out.
00:16:08
Seth
It's time to go. So, oh yeah, dude, especially when I was flying in, i was like, again, like every time they landed a plane, I was like, they're going to crash.
00:16:09
Darin Tingey
Yeah. Were you nervous?
Life on Medike: Challenges and Adaptation
00:16:18
Seth
Like it felt like we were always going to crash because, you know, we were over water the whole time we were landing. um
00:16:25
Darin Tingey
yeah
00:16:26
Seth
I landed, i don't even remember who I replaced But, i you know, Elder Falk picked me up. Medicaid is an interesting place because they, you know, super like they believe in ghosts and like Tabonea, stuff like that.
00:16:42
Darin Tingey
Yeah, uh-huh.
00:16:43
Seth
And so, yeah, we had to drive around the island. i think I i had ah like ramen, like yum-yums. We bought some yum-yums at the store.
00:16:52
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:16:54
Seth
And I was like putting them in the little places where they wanted me to put them.
00:16:58
Darin Tingey
That's what you use as your offering to the idols. Yum, yum.
00:17:00
Seth
yeah Yeah. Sorry. shouldn't say that. It was, it I remember feeling that way though. um, um I remember like looking back on like it was like the east the east the East one, and there was a little kid that literally like grabbed it almost immediately after I put it in there.
00:17:20
Seth
and I was like, these kids are just want candy, dude like you know there yeah it was It was good, though.
00:17:25
Darin Tingey
The scam.
00:17:28
Seth
It was it was it was good. you know got to see the whole area right when you got there. you know it was
00:17:34
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:17:35
Seth
it was good but ah man it was It was tough. Like, cause you go from the MTC and you know, back in, back in the day, you can only really write your family once a week, you know, but when you go to an outer Island, it's all snail mail, you know?
00:17:51
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:17:52
Seth
And, uh, at the time, president Shaw was trying to cut back on some costs with our mission. And so they weren't even sending us our letters from the main Island.
00:18:04
Darin Tingey
No way. so
00:18:05
Seth
dude it was tough i didn't i didn't get it huh yeah 100 yeah i got a while i was out there um i think i had been out there for like two months and uh we finally got letters you know they sent us a big i had like a fat stack of letters and uh yeah it was like
00:18:07
Darin Tingey
It gets lonely quick. It gets lonely quick out there the Outer Islands.
00:18:29
Seth
one of my leaders growing up, he ended up, he was a young guy. He got Hantavirus from a mouse and he passed away. And i was just like, it was like, it like hit me in the moment, but it's like the, the letter was like a month and a half ago, you know?
00:18:44
Seth
And so it's just like, he's already like, it was weird.
00:18:44
Darin Tingey
Mm-hmm.
00:18:47
Seth
You know, it's like kind of puts things into perspective, you know, when you're in a different part of the world and kind of how things used to be when all you had was snail mail, you know, it was unique.
00:18:56
Darin Tingey
Totally.
00:18:59
Darin Tingey
With ah you know starting on Medicaid, right you already had the the initial shock of Kiribati when you went to Tarawa, and then you had you know the second wave of outer island life.
00:19:07
Seth
Yeah.
00:19:12
Seth
That
00:19:12
Darin Tingey
ah I know they have a chapel house. I'm assuming that's what you lived in, but what was what was that like?
00:19:17
Seth
was nice.
00:19:19
Darin Tingey
what was the How would you describe the the life on Medicaid?
00:19:22
Seth
Yeah. um It was slow. you know Nobody was ever in a hurry. Yeah.
00:19:33
Seth
you know The work in Medicaid, as I remember it, you know Elder Falk, he was a hard worker. and he put that in He got that instilled in me pretty early on. I always liked going out and teaching a lot of lessons and and just being with the people all day long.
00:19:51
Seth
and That was kind of his style. you know We'd show up and we'd try to meet with as many people as we could. But again, it's it's tough when you don't know ah language and you don't know yeah I remember like watching lizards catch flies in the middle of the lesson and just not having an absolute clue what was going on and it's hot and you're uncomfortable and the food is literally rice and fish. And I grew up on fricking steak and potatoes.
00:20:22
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:20:22
Seth
And so it's just like, and you, you know, you,
00:20:23
Darin Tingey
Mm-hmm.
00:20:27
Seth
couldn't hear your family. You know, it was at the time it was raining a decent amount. I definitely got pretty homesick while I was out there. Um, I remember we were on our bikes one day and I, it had been raining and, you know, a tribute to like elder folk right now. Like it had been raining and I caught like, you know, the roads get pretty deep ruts in them.
00:20:53
Seth
And, uh,
00:20:53
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:20:55
Seth
I caught an edge on one of those ruts and I busted my knee on one of those, i don't know, was like a big... a big coral boulder that was kind of in the road.
00:21:05
Seth
And like, I was, for a moment there, I was like, I want to go home. You know, like, I just am not getting it, you know. And we went over down to the beach just to let me cool off for a minute. And, you know, Elder Falk was very patient with the new missionary.
00:21:24
Seth
And I always really appreciated that about him. And, you know, he...
00:21:30
Seth
Yeah. And gave me somebody to look up to, you know, somebody I could be like, you know, I could be like that guy before, know, before this, before this is all said and done, I could be like that guy.
00:21:36
Darin Tingey
Totally.
00:21:39
Seth
And so,
Stories of Faith and Sacrifice
00:21:40
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:21:40
Seth
yeah, he was a great elder anyways.
00:21:43
Darin Tingey
It's good to have a role model at beginning your mission. You know, someone...
00:21:46
Seth
I'm sure. Yeah.
00:21:47
Darin Tingey
And the interesting thing about our mission is, like, you know you have the mental toll of learning a language of you know rejection as a missionary, preaching the gospel, you're constantly thinking about your investigators.
00:22:02
Seth
Yeah.
00:22:02
Darin Tingey
But then you also have yeah also have the physical burden of of an outer island not eating a lot or, a you know, what you're used to.
00:22:12
Darin Tingey
And then the loneliness of not being able to email your family or write your family within like, you know, get letters within a week or two, just like boom, boom, just hits you all at once.
00:22:18
Seth
I
00:22:22
Seth
don't know, though.
00:22:23
Darin Tingey
And it's like, good luck, Elder Ward.
00:22:26
Seth
hit hit hard i don't know that the The not eating was never a problem for me. I've always been a good eater. You know, oh kiddding all the kiddie best people are like, oh, cool boy. You know, you eat a lot.
00:22:38
Seth
And I was like, I do, man. And not eat two or three plates a night. Those people loved it, you know. And yeah, interesting experience with, the you know. Back to why I like really looked up to Elder Falk.
00:22:55
Seth
I remember one night, I can't,
00:22:58
Seth
We were sleeping, right? And this is like, you know, Kitty Miss people really, and the Outer Islands, they kind of rely on um missionaries for lot of church stability, you know? like And Medicaid is unique on an Outer Island because they actually have a pretty solid branch out there.
00:23:10
Darin Tingey
Right.
00:23:15
Seth
They got a decent amount of members. They always show up every Sunday. They have a branch presidency, everything.
00:23:21
Darin Tingey
right
00:23:22
Seth
but you know not all the members could travel and so we would still bike around the island and like do do two or three uh meetings uh sacrament meetings on the you know the opposite sides of the island and uh and one of the places we used to do it um there was a guy who lived out there his name was beya right and uh they, uh, biked in the night all the way over to our house. Cause you know, one of the members of the community was really sick over there.
00:23:51
Seth
And, uh, he's like, called us out of our house. And I was like, what's going on? Elder house, was like what's going on? and Elder folks like, Oh, somebody needs a blessing over, over there.
00:24:02
Seth
And so, you know, we got on our bikes and was right through four miles, biked all the way out there. uh, I remember showing up at the house and immediately i was like, oh, this guy's drunk.
00:24:16
Seth
You know, like he drank way too much alcohol. He was banging his head, dude. And so, but, you know, Elder Falk was, again, incredible missionary. And I remember Elder Falk placed his hands on the guy's head and gave him a blessing.
00:24:33
Seth
And he just said, hey, you need to repent and go to sleep. And the dude was out, went right to sleep. It was like one of the most incredible, like, i was like, wow.
00:24:44
Seth
You know, anyways, that was an incredible experience for me. Again, you know, it was a testament to the power of the priesthood and a testament to you know, a kiddie-based person's faith.
00:24:54
Seth
They could be absolutely plastered drunk and, you know, still rely on the, you know, the blessings of the priesthood.
00:24:58
Darin Tingey
This guy needs a blessing. Yeah. Heck yeah.
00:25:03
Seth
It was pretty good. It was pretty good. I liked that one. That was pretty good. But yeah, was in Medicaid after Elder Falk because he, that was one of his last areas and he was almost ready to go home.
00:25:14
Seth
And then after Elder Falk, we had, I had Elder Vakal. Elder Vakal ended up having some issues and he ended up having to turn around and go back. And then I got Elder Leilanoa and he was from my intake.
00:25:28
Seth
And that was a challenge in the sense of like, neither one of us were super good at kitty best.
00:25:35
Darin Tingey
Yeah, that's where the real growth comes though.
00:25:36
Seth
Yeah. Yeah, man, we were stretching it hard. I was every, you know, I was memorizing as much kitty best at the time as I could. And, uh, elder Leila Noah, he was, he's thonging like straight from thonga and, uh,
00:25:52
Seth
you know He always had a pretty good grasp of understanding what people were saying because they would say something and I would look at him then he would tell me what they said and then I would respond. you know That was like that was like yeah that was like the best I could do.
00:26:03
Darin Tingey
Good teamwork there.
00:26:06
Seth
and he is like i I knew a lot of words and he knew what they were saying. so It was pretty funny. Or he was guessing and I was responding inappropriately. I don't really know. and was pretty funny though.
00:26:17
Darin Tingey
did Did, you know, with there being a branch there and a decent amount of members, did you guys ah have a lot of work in the sense of members giving you people or was what was the work like on Medicaid at the time?
00:26:33
Seth
ah I never felt like, I mean, Cadibus unique place in the sense that you could almost walk up to anybody and say, hey, you want to have a lesson?
00:26:44
Seth
And they'd be like, yeah.
00:26:44
Darin Tingey
Sure. Sure.
00:26:45
Seth
So we never really, like, Medicaid was pretty good about that.
00:26:45
Darin Tingey
Sure.
00:26:49
Seth
Like, we never really struggled with meeting people. It was always pretty solid well while I was there. I mean, it wasn't like, elder low or, you know, elder risk out in, out in the Southern islands where they were like, you know, baptizing 10, 15 people a month, but it was steady, you know, it's a great, it was a great place to start.
00:27:07
Darin Tingey
Okay.
00:27:09
Seth
So.
00:27:10
Darin Tingey
Yeah. Did you do a lot of, like on P days, did you do, did you go fishing? Did you embrace the culture that way?
00:27:15
Seth
Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
00:27:17
Darin Tingey
Okay. Yeah.
00:27:18
Seth
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You know, i i remember trying to go out and there were some, our neighbors right ah right across the street from us, they had some some good short trees that I could climb.
00:27:29
Seth
I tried, you know, a little coro careve and, you know, was out there singing, singing, singing a little.
00:27:32
Darin Tingey
Nice. I was gonna say, did you sing while you were doing Quora Quareme?
00:27:36
Seth
Of course, you don't want to be a freaking weirdo, you know? Like, so, yeah, you have to get up there and I was like, Coro Carave, and I was singing a little ah little George Strait while was up in the tree, you know, just trying my best.
00:27:53
Seth
But it was awesome.
00:27:53
Darin Tingey
That's so good.
00:27:54
Seth
I loved, I loved working in, doing service projects. There was a guy, his name was Tin Tabiawa, and we did service projects with that guy all the time. We both, and he would just do stuff for other people. So it was like, it was almost like, I think he was our ward mission leader. I don't remember, but he was, uh,
00:28:13
Seth
or our branch mission leader, he was a he was always helping us with that stuff and setting up service projects and stuff. That was always probably one of my favorite parts of the mission was building booyahs and cleaning wells and the physical labor.
00:28:23
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:28:26
Darin Tingey
Totally.
00:28:29
Darin Tingey
Did you guys go to a lot of botakis, lot of parties?
00:28:32
Seth
Oh, dude, boy, doggy. I... I remember, uh, yeah, yeah, we went to quite a few. Um, I, so in the beginning of my mission, I really struggled with sitting cross-legged.
00:28:44
Seth
Yeah.
00:28:44
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:28:45
Seth
That was so hard for me. And I remember when I landed, it wasn't very long after we had a bull talk and, uh, Oh my gosh. I, elder Falk was like, you have to sit, you have to sit like that the whole time. and he's like, you can't point your feet towards any, towards the center of the room or anything like that. And I was, I was like almost ready to cry or so bad, but we did it.
00:29:08
Seth
And they would go for so long and you couldn't leave. oh my gosh.
00:29:11
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:29:12
Seth
That was so brutal. That was so brutal. Yeah.
00:29:15
Darin Tingey
Sitting cross, crisscross applesauce for, yeah.
00:29:18
Seth
and remember just i remember I was like holding my knees and I was just like shaking and they were like i know they were making fun of me I know all the kiddie kids people were laughing because they were like this freaking emethon can't do it you know he can't sit like us
00:29:22
Darin Tingey
yeah
00:29:31
Darin Tingey
My favorite's like when I try and stand up after a long time, I just like couldn't walk because your feet or your legs were just totally asleep.
00:29:35
Seth
oh yeah oh yeah it was brutal brutal brutal
00:29:39
Darin Tingey
You know, you couldn't move at all and you just like hobbling away. um Yeah, that and and then you get the calluses all on your feet and your ankles and your and your knees because sitting like that, you're for two years.
00:29:50
Seth
Oh, yeah.
00:29:54
Seth
Yeah.
00:29:56
Seth
Yeah. I got pretty good at it, though. You know, after two years of doing it. Yeah.
00:30:00
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:30:00
Seth
had some big old golf ball-sized calluses on my ankles, but, you know, it was worth it.
00:30:04
Darin Tingey
Totally.
00:30:05
Seth
It was worth it. I remember coming home and, like, showing my family, and they were so grossed out by those things, and I was like, I earned that. You know, like, I earned that.
00:30:12
Darin Tingey
Yeah, they were a sense of pride. It was a sense of pride for sure, like a sign.
00:30:16
Seth
Yeah.
00:30:16
Darin Tingey
Like I i was able to do this for two years.
00:30:18
Seth
That was... that was the best part of my mission right there. It isn't for you coming home with my calluses. It was awesome.
00:30:26
Darin Tingey
um So Medicaid for seven months, it's a really long time, especially for your first area.
Missionary Work in Different Areas
00:30:31
Seth
Yeah, it was. It was good though. Um, yep. Elder Leilanoa. I got replaced by a kitty bus elder. And then I went to base. So I was in base. So for about a month, I was in a trio while I was in base. So, um,
00:30:46
Seth
I don't remember too much about it. I remember, I think Elder Burrell was our district leader. I was in a trio with Elder, ooh, Karakitake, and another another guy that we were training, but he wasn't going to be with us. forever He was another kid of a seller, but he was going to get transferred out. He was going to...
00:31:05
Seth
up in the guinea so yeah he he was with us for a short time and me and el dakota kataki were working baso together and that guy was always sick and uh but that dude could score a goal on freaking on freaking p day that was crazy yeah yeah
00:31:22
Darin Tingey
but i I had definitely had a pain like that sick all week and and crazy healthy on P-Day I don't understand it
00:31:27
Seth
yeah yeah Dude, I was freaking drumming nuts, man. He's a good guy. Like, you know, he's a good guy. i like He was, you know, he's very, he's good at cutting hair. you know, everybody loved him.
00:31:40
Seth
Always, tummy always hurt, you know, when we needed to work. And then every P day that guy could look into a backflip soccer kick and score a goal. So, but, you know, he did good.
00:31:51
Seth
He was a good elder, you know. But,
00:31:54
Darin Tingey
I mean, it's a big shock we from Medicaid to Beso. I mean, you weren't there for a long time, but that's totally different ballgame.
00:31:57
Seth
oh my gosh. i When I got to Baso, I spent all my money on freaking popsicles, man. Holy cow. um like Because in Medicaid, they didn't have any...
00:32:07
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:32:10
Seth
Because Nekat Damon was the shop owner in Medicaid and her freezers didn't work.
00:32:17
Darin Tingey
Hmm.
00:32:18
Seth
So they had nothing cold in Medicaid. And I remember when I got out to Baso, I was like freaking cold drinks, cold juice, cold... like I could get... I don't know.
00:32:29
Seth
They were pops.
00:32:31
Darin Tingey
The ice, what about that?
00:32:32
Seth
Yeah, the Ices. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Those were so good.
00:32:37
Darin Tingey
Isn't it weird after like an extended period of time, like seven months, no cold water, and then like drinking that cold water for the first time? It feels so weird in your mouth.
00:32:46
Seth
It hit different, man. It hit different. Even Cold Careve, like, that was that was trippy.
00:32:51
Darin Tingey
So good.
00:32:52
Seth
I was like, whoa, this stuff. yeah I don't know. Kadeve was weird for me. You talk about an interesting drink. like who Sometimes you get a cup of Kadeve that was like really fresh and good, and other times you get a cup of Kadeve and you're like, that's like almost me.
00:33:10
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:33:11
Seth
like If I had a few more of those, I might i might be a little tipsy. That was pretty funny.
00:33:16
Darin Tingey
Totally,
00:33:17
Darin Tingey
Outer Islands, you, uh, you know, technically not allowed to to drink, right? You have to make your own make your own alcohol, whether that's fermented ah coconut sap drink, the karewe, or, you know, using yeast to make whatever.
00:33:24
Seth
technically yeah oh yeah
00:33:35
Darin Tingey
I remember a girl getting beat up by her dad because see she'd gotten drunk the night before with some guys. It was just, you don't do that. That's just not allowed on outer islands.
00:33:46
Seth
yeah no they still did it though you know they found a way yeah they found a way
00:33:49
Darin Tingey
Oh, totally.
00:33:51
Seth
um and I don't know. It was an interesting experience. but Again, really short time in Basel. I don't remember a whole lot of it. Once I finished in Basel, though, I went out to Tomiku with Elder Thomas.
00:34:05
Seth
He was an Australian guy, and he ended up going home while we were together a little early. He was having some stuff go on. And after Elder Thomas, I think that's when Risk actually showed up into the mission.
00:34:20
Seth
And I was training. I trained Elder Fawcett.
00:34:23
Darin Tingey
Okay.
00:34:24
Seth
And I don't know. I think he was an AP, but he was probably gone before you showed up.
00:34:29
Darin Tingey
Yeah, yeah, I didn't meet him.
00:34:31
Seth
Yeah. Anyways. um
00:34:34
Darin Tingey
But you trained him into my crew?
00:34:35
Seth
Yeah, we again, we weren' he and I weren't together for very long. he ended up going out to do an emergency transfer
00:34:45
Seth
I want to say Ameme, and he replaced replaced another elder, Elder Smith, because he got really sick while he was out there. um and I got Elder Smith, and we worked together for a little while.
00:34:56
Seth
I remember when Elder Smith came off the plane, I was like, this dude's going to die. Like, like he was so skinny and um he came into the house that we were living in and he just kind of like sat on the bed and like, he was like so tired.
00:35:17
Seth
And like, I remember his neck, he he's kind of a taller guy, skinny, and he had a pretty skinny neck. And it was like, there was like almost a crook in his neck. Like he had like nothing left. And I was like, golly, that's poor guy.
00:35:29
Darin Tingey
Welcome to Kitabas, Elder Smith.
00:35:31
Seth
Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:32
Darin Tingey
this This isn't the guy that was in the...
00:35:36
Darin Tingey
There was an elder that served in Kitabas that was in one of the church bullying videos. Is that Elder Smith? I'm trying to remember if it was him or not.
00:35:44
Seth
No, but I trained that guy. He's a different Elder Smith, but I did train that guy.
00:35:47
Darin Tingey
Okay, okay, okay.
00:35:50
Seth
um Yeah.
00:35:53
Seth
aye
00:35:53
Darin Tingey
Okay, we'll get to that.
00:35:53
Darin Tingey
We'll get to that. but Okay.
00:35:54
Seth
yeah Yeah, that's down the road.
00:35:56
Darin Tingey
Okay, to my group, I didn't spend a lot of time on diamond tarawa, so it's helping for me. How would you describe to my group?
00:36:03
Seth
ah Outer Island-esque with a little bit more modern convenience as far as like Kitty Bus could handle, you know.
00:36:10
Darin Tingey
Okay.
00:36:11
Seth
Again, Tomaiku was awesome. It was more spread out. You know, Bezos, like, everybody was stacked on top of each other. But Tomaiku is, like, almost on the – it is on the opposite end of the island as far as, like, you know, where that road goes.
00:36:23
Darin Tingey
Mm-hmm.
00:36:25
Darin Tingey
Yeah, closer to the airport.
00:36:27
Seth
Yeah, close to the airport. um And, dude, I loved Tomaiku. Like, that's where I, like, as a missionary, I hit my stride.
00:36:37
Seth
When I was with Elder Fawcett, we were... um Dude, this is one of my favorite stories in the mission. and it makes me emotional when I tell it. ah
00:36:49
Seth
There was a woman out there that we taught. So...
00:36:53
Seth
Take step back.
00:36:55
Seth
There was a family that... Like, Tamayaku has a really nice chapel. And so there was a family that lived right next to the chapel. um And we got word that the Unaine, the old woman that lived at the house, she wanted to have lessons because she was a KBC member, but she couldn't make it to church. It was too far.
00:37:18
Seth
And so she's like, I'll just go to this church. It's literally right next to my house. So we were like, okay, cool.
00:37:22
Darin Tingey
Yeah, classic.
00:37:24
Seth
Yeah. So we went over there and, uh, her name was, uh, Nate, carrue and we started teaching Nate, everything was going great.
00:37:35
Seth
Nate, her, her son was baptized. Um, but her daughter-in-law was not. And so her name was Nate cut the ice.
00:37:46
Seth
And, uh, Yeah, that was, she was like one of the, like, Neckatiais was like one of the top investigators I ever, ever had as a missionary in regards to just being very faithful and very studious, you know?
00:38:04
Seth
I remember by the time I finished, she had, tore the Book of Mormon apart that we had given her. Like, her favorite thing in it, like, I taught her how to, like, do footnotes and stuff, and she was cross-referencing the Book of Mormon to the Bible.
00:38:18
Seth
Like, we gave her the Baybara, you know, the Kitty Bist Bible.
00:38:21
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:38:23
Seth
And we had given her the Baybara, and she just ate it up.
00:38:27
Darin Tingey
No way.
00:38:27
Seth
And, yeah, it was, it was, and she, she asked, what you know, because, like, in, like, a typical a lesson, Like, you know, you teach it and then they'd be like, do you have any questions? And they'd go no.
00:38:41
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:38:42
Seth
Yeah. You want to get back?
00:38:44
Darin Tingey
God, God, right?
00:38:44
Seth
Yeah. yeah
00:38:46
Darin Tingey
yeah know that
00:38:46
Seth
Yeah. Yeah. It was like, what yeah you want to get baptized? They're like, yeah. You know, was like, they, they just couldn't tell you no. And they never had any questions, you know? And, but it's just, kiddo's people are so, so kind.
00:38:56
Darin Tingey
Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:59
Seth
they and They never want to hurt your feelings or anything like that. But, uh,
00:39:02
Darin Tingey
yeah
00:39:03
Seth
She was one of the the few that I just remember being like, really, like, this is amazing, you know, in what she was learning. And, you know, it came time to to baptize her.
00:39:18
Seth
And Nate Got the Ice at the time was like full on pregnant. we As a mission, we President Weir wanted to do a white Christmas, and so he wanted all of us to save our baptized baptisms in the month of December for a Christmas Day.
00:39:35
Seth
And i was like really stressing out because she was going to have her baby like any day. And so we did schedule it for a Christmas Day.
00:39:42
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:39:46
Seth
And I just remember being like so stressed out about it i went up to her and I was like, Nick, cut the ice. like I don't. I don't want you to you know be stressed about being baptized and having your baby. like Everything's going be really, really close. cause like i don't know about you. like Baptizing people in the ocean, like um like on the lagoon side, typically it's fine.
00:40:11
Seth
Tomaiku is kind of far away from the lagoon. and then you know cuba tatawa It's not super great baptizing people in the lagoon.
00:40:14
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:40:18
Seth
Tomaiku, it had a font, but we never had enough water for it. Right? And so it was always like, if we did baptisms in Tamiku, we typically would do it on the ocean side and the waves would get big and you're literally screaming the baptismal prayer so they can hear you.
00:40:28
Darin Tingey
okay
00:40:36
Seth
And then you baptize somebody and you have to like time it with a wave and then you can get them all the way under. And I, I never really liked doing baptisms in the ocean. If we had a font, I was like, we're using the font just cause it, I always felt like it brought a spiritual aspect to it. And so,
00:40:51
Seth
But we we had, to you know, i was like, I am not baptizing this woman in the ocean. You know, she's nine months pregnant.
00:40:59
Darin Tingey
yeah
00:41:01
Seth
I'm not baptizing her in the ocean. I showed up early the day of the baptism. well no, no, sorry, take step back. And I asked her if she wanted to postpone, you know, her baptismal date on December 25th. And she looked at me and she was like, is it my choice? And I was like, yeah, it's your choice.
00:41:17
Seth
She's like, then I would like to be baptized. And I was like, but your baby, and she's like, Elder Ward, you said it was my choice. Why are you, why you fighting me over this? And I was like, but okay, I'll be quiet.
00:41:29
Seth
And so, yeah yeah, the day of her baptism, we showed up early. We filled that font as high as I could get it because I was only going baptize her once. And yeah, it was a pretty special day. Yeah.
00:41:44
Seth
a successful, obviously. I pushed her all the way to the bottom. And she came out, and I mean, I swear, she was glowing.
00:41:54
Seth
And yeah, she was just a really special person. And she actually, and they they had a little boy. They actually named their little boy after me.
00:42:04
Seth
And so it was a pretty special, pretty special family.
Leadership Challenges and Reflections
00:42:07
Seth
And I wish I could keep in contact with them, but they ended up going to an outer island after that. And I never saw her again, but she was awesome.
00:42:15
Seth
She was awesome. She ended up connecting with some elders out there and she helped them out a lot with the work. um i think it was no I think it was with Elder Lowe in the nose. But yeah, it was a pretty awesome, pretty awesome number.
00:42:30
Darin Tingey
yeah what Sounds like a you know just ah ah really well-prepared investigator. and and you know and In the Kitabas Islands, I wouldn't say they're very studious when it comes to you know reading the Book of Mormon.
00:42:37
Seth
very no no
00:42:46
Darin Tingey
and stuff like The footnotes thing is out of this out of the world like out of this world as far as a person who's really prepared to learn the gospel and go in deep because i feel like I just had a struggle getting people to read and they weren't great readers.
00:43:03
Darin Tingey
um And I think I had one investigator who just ate up everything I gave him as far as and studying different books in the Book of Mormon, just loved it.
00:43:15
Darin Tingey
And those were just the most fun um and most impactful investigators and converts to me, which obviously it was for you as well, ah which is so cool.
00:43:26
Seth
Oh,
00:43:28
Darin Tingey
I mean, like, again, like you said, just the footnotes, the repression, the bite button, like, dude, that's nuts. That never happens.
00:43:34
Seth
yeah. Never, never. I did have another one like that. But I didn't end up baptizing him, but we'll get to him later. He was another good, you know great story as far as having just one of those.
00:43:46
Seth
and best He ended up getting baptized, but not by me. But it was another one of those like just very powerful, very powerful.
00:43:49
Darin Tingey
Okay.
00:43:54
Seth
i only had it a few times, but, you know, when it happened, it was pretty special. so
00:43:58
Darin Tingey
Absolutely. Absolutely. ah So, Tomaiku, seven months. So, again, like you're really getting to know everybody there, all the members. You know the area like the back of your hand, probably.
00:44:06
Seth
Yeah. Oh yeah.
00:44:09
Darin Tingey
play
00:44:11
Seth
In and out, man. In in ins and out to that place. Pretty, pretty familiar. yeah, trained Fawcett. Um, I had Smith for a little while. He and I had a good time. He was a great missionary. And then I, uh, you might've met him.
00:44:25
Seth
Did you ever spend any time in Beso?
00:44:28
Seth
Ah, okay. Uh, and then I was, uh, companions with, uh, Toruman Taras. Uh, You know, Triple T, like, yeah, his dad runs that company out there.
00:44:40
Seth
And, you know, he's a special dude in my heart.
00:44:40
Darin Tingey
okay
00:44:44
Seth
we We together, Elder Tadas and I together, like, once we were companions, I don't think we, like, left each other's vicinity.
00:44:55
Seth
like we were either companions, we were zone leaders together. And then we went out to Christmas together. he was my district leader. Like we were always within each other's vicinity. And, um,
00:45:03
Darin Tingey
Those ones are so fun to have. I had a few missionaries like that. We're just always serving in the roughly the same area, which is so fun.
00:45:09
Seth
Oh, such a good missionary too. Like that guy's my, that dude was my best friend as a missionary. And, uh, yeah, we got a lot of work done together. He was a great, great guy.
00:45:20
Seth
Um, But, yeah, we – don't think I got any other good stories in Tomeco. But that was a special place. It's one my favorite areas. and Ata, yeah.
00:45:28
Darin Tingey
And that's when you got transferred after that to Atha?
00:45:32
Seth
I was the zone leader in Ata. And, dude, I think I was only a zone leader for, like, maybe a transfer. And we whitewashed the area. So, I don't remember – Exactly how I know Sias.
00:45:50
Seth
So Decker went up and was an AP, right?
00:45:52
Darin Tingey
Yep.
00:45:53
Seth
Sias. Sias was a zone leader for a little while Palaiku. I think Palaiku went home. Maybe. i don't remember. And then Sias went up and then we just whitewashed me and all the, just whitewashed as zone leaders.
00:46:08
Seth
And, uh, Man, I don't know. I was one of the few missionaries I hated being a zone leader. I hated it so much. I felt like a glorified chauffeur, you know?
00:46:21
Seth
Like, missionaries needed a lot more attention than I had ever anticipated, and I wasn't...
00:46:22
Darin Tingey
Yeah, totally.
00:46:29
Seth
ah i You know, maybe it was my own immaturity at the time. I'm like, what's wrong with these guys? Like, why aren't they tougher? You know, like, like, like toughen up, you know, but, you know, we were also in charge of the airport and that drove me insane.
00:46:43
Seth
um If you didn't show up to the Kitty West airport three hours early, like you might as well not go, you know, like it was wild.
00:46:51
Darin Tingey
Just because of the time, just because of like, you never knew when the plane was going or.
00:46:55
Seth
It was just, you just had to get there early, man. Like, like there's a couple times we showed up. They're like, yeah, your plane's about to ready to leave. You know, it's like, we're an hour early. What do you mean? it's like, but yeah, it's, yeah, you had to show
00:47:08
Darin Tingey
i feel like, feel like the kiddos people just go, if they have a flight that day, they just all go in the morning and spend all day there until their flight goes out.
00:47:13
Seth
Yeah. No, straight up. yeah that's exactly what they did and so if they had 90 of the flight was there and it's like oh it's an hour early let's go you know like that's just how they were and yeah i we almost missed a couple of fights as a zone leader i was pretty stressed out um when i was his only there we had to go get elder risk off medicaid and uh
00:47:25
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:47:40
Seth
I got to ride the Liahona out there to go get them. i I remember thinking being so excited. I was like, this is going to the best time ever. you know like We're going to go ride this boat all the way out to to Medicaid. I'm going to get to go see everybody.
00:47:52
Seth
And we did, but a four-hour boat ride on the Liahona with the waves. Oh, man, I was not. Oh, Oh, man.
00:48:02
Darin Tingey
Busy puke?
00:48:03
Seth
Almost. It was terrible. It was terrible. Just wave after wave. The boat ended up stalling out and I was like, what's going on? And they're like, oh, give it a second.
00:48:14
Seth
And then he got it going again and we finally made it back. But I was like, I felt like we were going to die after a while. so
00:48:22
Darin Tingey
It's not a very big boat. Like it's not that big.
00:48:26
Seth
It's really not.
00:48:26
Darin Tingey
and And you're going out and open water where you can't see any land, ah which is scary.
00:48:32
Seth
Nope.
00:48:35
Seth
That was sketchy.
00:48:36
Darin Tingey
But probably pretty exciting to go back to Medicaid where you were at for seven months. Like, did you get to actually spend any time on the island, really?
00:48:41
Seth
Yeah.
00:48:45
Darin Tingey
Or was it kind of?
00:48:46
Seth
I ran over to a couple of members' houses that, you know, I was pretty friend pretty pretty good friends with. And one of my investigators, I stopped by his house too and got to see him again.
00:48:58
Seth
Ishimororoa, he was probably one of our best ones out there.
00:48:59
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:49:03
Seth
And so... Yeah, I remember his dad.
00:49:05
Darin Tingey
That's fun.
00:49:06
Seth
We actually got in contact with Isi Mororo on Medicaid because we were teaching his dad. And his dad, again, not paying when you're a brand new missionary, you're not paying attention very much.
00:49:17
Seth
And I was trying to catch a fly on the buia we were sitting on. And i got chastised by – his name was Mani Atiata. Mani Atiata was like, that's disgusting. Why would you do that?
00:49:29
Seth
And I was like, no, I'm not.
00:49:32
Darin Tingey
Sorry, sorry.
00:49:33
Seth
Yeah, yeah, he got after me. i was like, I'm so sorry. You know, it was ah pretty funny. But, you know, yeah, got to go see Ishimororua, picked up Elder Risk so he could get his tooth fixed.
00:49:48
Seth
He went out to Fiji and brought me back to Mr.
00:49:50
Darin Tingey
right.
00:49:50
Seth
Memwich. So, brought me back.
00:49:52
Darin Tingey
That's right.
00:49:53
Seth
I was just, I was like, because before my mission when I was a wrestler, Like, and I would have to cut weight. I would just eat like one McChicken for some reason.
00:50:05
Seth
i like loved them. And I was like, Elders, you have to go get me a hot and spicy. They were hot and spicy. I was you have to go get me a hot and spicy in Fiji. And he brought me back a McChicken. And I was like, i don't care.
00:50:16
Seth
I'm eating it, you know. And it was pretty funny. Yes.
00:50:25
Darin Tingey
Okay.
00:50:26
Seth
ah No, no, I didn't actually. It's just, you know, when you're in charge the airport, you know, all the missionaries, the sisters, you know, you're pretty busy as a slow meter.
00:50:40
Seth
And that was probably... just for me personally, like, like we were so busy just dealing with the administrative part of, of managing a mission down there.
00:50:52
Seth
I, I don't know. I just, I missed being a a regular missionary. I just, it was almost like getting homesick again.
00:50:57
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:51:00
Seth
You know, like I was like, I, I just want to go be a regular missionary. And I sat down with, uh,
00:51:07
Seth
President Weir, and he was like, so i was thinking about bringing you up to the Marshals. And I was like, I will quit if you do that.
00:51:16
Seth
And, you know, that was the nice thing about President Weir is you could be kind of candid with him. And he was like, well then what do you want to do?
00:51:21
Darin Tingey
Totally.
00:51:22
Seth
And I was like... send me back out to an island, you know, let's get me out of here. I want to just go back to work. And he was like, all right. And so he sent me out to Christmas after that.
Unique Experiences on Christmas Island
00:51:36
Seth
So that was it.
00:51:36
Darin Tingey
And was Christmas like as coveted as it is now of like, oh we're going to Christmas Island, you know?
00:51:42
Seth
Dude, yeah, Christmas was amazing. um Oh, wait. Oh, my gosh. One more story, man. before Before we move on to Christmas, as a zone leader, I got, this is, I can't forget this story.
00:51:56
Seth
Anyways, um
00:51:57
Seth
Elda Tadasa and I were zone leaders together, right? And so we were broke at one. We had spent all of our money. And I just remember being like, it it was like, there was one ATM, my gosh, over Bayeriki, right?
00:52:15
Darin Tingey
Mm-hmm.
00:52:15
Seth
That you could get your money like a day early. And so after we had finished all of our administrative tasks, right? It's like nine o'clock. We're like, we got to go get money so we can eat something tonight.
00:52:28
Seth
We drove all the way out to freaking Bideki. And um
00:52:33
Seth
is it Bideki? I can't remember. Gosh dang it. Anyways, anybody who knows will know. ah Anyways, we went all way out there and the ATM was kind of, it was in it was in kind of like a, oh my gosh, like a phone booth type deal, right?
00:52:50
Darin Tingey
Okay. Yeah.
00:52:51
Seth
So it's in phone booth. We show up, Elder Tadas and I show up, and there's two dudes in it, right, trying to get money out of the ATM. And I immediately am like, oh, they are plastered drunk.
00:53:06
Seth
And so Elder Tadas and I are talking about it, and I'm like, like what do you want to do? And he's like, let's just wait until they leave. and Because they were taking a really long time.
00:53:17
Seth
And anyways, I was like, all right. And so they finally left. it They were probably in there for like 15, 20 minutes. And so they finally left. And I went in put my card in got my money.
00:53:31
Seth
stepped a little deeper inside the the booth, right? And now the Tadas gets in and he's about to put his card in. And one of those dudes came back and was like,
00:53:44
Seth
Are you guys from the bank? And Elder Terras, again, he's such a good missionary. He looks at the guy and he's like, no, we're elders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
00:53:55
Seth
And he's about to ask the guy if he wants to have lessons. And this dude just cocked back and starts swinging at Elder Terras. Oh, my gosh. Elder Terras literally picked the guy up and just body slammed him on the freaking ground. I was like, and like, oh, my gosh, what do we do?
00:54:12
Seth
Anyways. um Anyway, it's a little little bit of instincts kicked in, and I just pull Elder Peraz off the guy. The guy's like holding. There was a security guard there who was just watching it.
00:54:23
Seth
He didn't even do anything.
00:54:24
Darin Tingey
Of course, of course, yeah.
00:54:24
Seth
was just watching two missionaries wrestle this guy to the ground. And, yeah, anyways, the guy was like almost choking Elder Peraz by his tie, and I just ripped the tie out of his hands, and then and was like,
00:54:39
Seth
We'll just live off my money. Let's go.
00:54:41
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:54:41
Seth
You know, which I, we like left immediately because I didn't want to have any more conflict with the guy. Hindsight being 2020, we should have stayed and, you know, made a police report, but we didn't.
00:54:52
Seth
But, you know.
00:54:53
Darin Tingey
just randomly just decides to attack him.
00:54:56
Seth
Yeah, he literally just attacked all the Taras like out of nowhere. Like.
00:55:00
Darin Tingey
Like, was he trying to go for money, you think? Or is he just like so drunk that he's just...
00:55:03
Seth
I think. Yeah, I just think he didn't want to deal with it. I don't know. have no I couldn't tell you, but it was insane. I remember just being like, and that's not even the first the only fight I got in as a missionary.
00:55:14
Seth
And so it was just is nuts, man. That was nuts. I was like, hindsight 2020, I should have stayed. I don't know if that's file police report, but you know.
00:55:24
Darin Tingey
Yeah, but like what was going happen with that police report? Nothing.
00:55:27
Seth
Probably nothing, but you know, nothing.
00:55:28
Darin Tingey
Yeah, nothing.
00:55:31
Seth
But it was pretty funny.
00:55:32
Darin Tingey
That's good.
00:55:33
Seth
Anyways, after that, We were done being zone leaders. ah Eldon Tadasanai again. leaders got whitewashed and we both went out to to Christmas.
00:55:42
Darin Tingey
No connection there with the fight and being transferred to Christmas, you know?
00:55:47
Seth
You know what? Now that you mention the Navy. Maybe. Eldon Tadasanai.
00:55:51
Darin Tingey
Let's get these guys out here.
00:55:53
Seth
Maybe. I did tell President Weir about it and he was like, did anybody get hurt? i was like, I don't think so. And he was like, okay. You know? He was a military dude. He didn't
00:56:04
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:56:04
Seth
He's like, whatever. So if the cops show up, tell him what happened. i was like, okay. You know?
00:56:09
Darin Tingey
Which I think they're pretty trusting of the missionaries for the most part.
00:56:12
Seth
You know?
00:56:13
Darin Tingey
So, uh, okay.
00:56:13
Seth
You know? Yeah.
00:56:15
Darin Tingey
So you get transferred to, to Christmas Island. and And by this point, you're already what, like a year and a half in roughly easily.
00:56:22
Seth
Oh, yeah. Yeah, pretty much. here hu
00:56:24
Darin Tingey
Okay. Okay. So you're 18 months into your mission you're probably super stoked. Like we're going to Christmas.
00:56:32
Seth
I was pumped. Yeah.
00:56:33
Darin Tingey
You're going with your boy to like, know, you guys go into Fiji together to spend a day or two in Fiji.
00:56:34
Seth
I am.
00:56:39
Seth
No, we were in Fiji almost a week.
00:56:41
Darin Tingey
A week? Oh my gosh.
00:56:42
Seth
Yeah, dude. Yeah, we were in Fiji for a long time. We went, we got to see we were with the airport elders in Fiji. And so we sat in with, it might've been three or four days, but it felt like a long time.
00:56:56
Seth
I got to see a lot of Fiji. So that was fun.
00:56:58
Darin Tingey
How was it?
00:56:58
Seth
I didn't get any McDonald's though. So that was pretty annoying.
00:57:01
Darin Tingey
Dude, you had your chance.
00:57:04
Seth
I know. I know. I squandered it.
00:57:07
Darin Tingey
was What was it like?
00:57:07
Seth
But...
00:57:08
Darin Tingey
I mean, just quick on Fiji. Like, i mean, it's almost like you're going a different mission for a few days. was
00:57:14
Seth
Yeah.
00:57:14
Darin Tingey
Was it just kind of totally weird or?
00:57:16
Seth
yeah fee I remember Fiji felt huge.
00:57:19
Seth
Yeah. Fiji felt huge. Like, there was... We went out to have a dinner one night. And... i mean, it almost felt like we were driving in the countryside.
00:57:29
Seth
i was like, well, this is weird. Like, you know, you know you're on like an island. It's definitely an island culture, you know. They have that same kind of feel, Fijians. I mean, life's a little faster there, but, you know, the same same same kind of pace, you know.
00:57:44
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
00:57:45
Seth
But, like, there's like rolling hills. There's like sugarcane fields. I was like, this place is... crazy. like know Fiji was pretty pretty fun to see see all that in Fiji and spend a ah good chunk of time there.
00:58:00
Seth
so
00:58:01
Darin Tingey
Yeah. And then flew Air Fiji to Christmas Island.
00:58:04
Seth
Yeah.
00:58:05
Darin Tingey
Okay.
00:58:06
Darin Tingey
and And when you got to Christmas, was there typical like senior couple, a few sets of ah missionaries?
00:58:13
Seth
Yeah.
00:58:14
Darin Tingey
Was there sisters on that Christmas island at the time?
00:58:17
Seth
Yeah. We had some sisters. We had ah the senior couple, the Andersons were out there. um and I was with, I went out. So the sisters were in London, right?
00:58:32
Seth
Uh, the elders were in Tabaquea and then me and elder, I had another kiddie, this elder named elder Tuana. And you heard about, I think you heard about elder Tuana.
00:58:45
Seth
He was an interesting guy. Um, uh, And we went out to Banana. And so other Tawana and I were out in Banana. And, yep, we're by the airport.
00:58:54
Darin Tingey
ah Okay, so you're by the airport.
00:58:58
Darin Tingey
But did you live in Banana or and or did you live?
00:59:00
Seth
We lived at the Captain Cook Hotel. you know They were paying $1,800 a month for a one-room apartment there.
00:59:09
Darin Tingey
That's crazy.
00:59:09
Seth
That was insane.
00:59:10
Darin Tingey
That's crazy.
00:59:10
Seth
And they didn't even feed us. We had to make our own food. it was crazy.
00:59:14
Darin Tingey
No.
00:59:16
Seth
I remember to being like, I'm living at a hotel. I'm seeing the food that they're feeding, you know, their other guests. And I'm like, we can't go eat that. And they're like, nope. It's insane.
00:59:26
Seth
They had like steak and potatoes and, you know, greens and stuff like they were, you know, because they had a lot of Spanish fishermen and stuff out there. And so a
00:59:35
Darin Tingey
Yeah, I was gonna a lot of foreigners coming in to fish, right?
00:59:39
Seth
lot of foreigners coming in to fish. And so they had, you know, a little bit of Western food, but I never got any of it. So. He ate a lot of toddy and bonefish, dude.
00:59:51
Darin Tingey
Yes. I mean, which is bonefish. I mean, christmas Christmas Island, people go to fly fish for bonefish there, if I'm not mistaken.
00:59:57
Seth
Yeah. World-class fly fishing out there. i I want to go back. That would be so fun to go out to Christmas and get some fly fishing done. I would love that.
01:00:05
Darin Tingey
Yeah, which it's unique to me because like when I think about fly fishing, I think about like fishing in a ah river or stream, but like fishing in the ocean, fly fishing, I didn't even know it was thing.
01:00:11
Seth
Yeah.
01:00:16
Seth
Oh, it was amazing. It was amazing. No, and so i had i had Elder Tuana, and yeah, we worked really well together, but you know he, again, very, very...
01:00:33
Seth
he he was He was raised on... I think he was raised on Puteri-Teri, if I remember correctly.
01:00:37
Darin Tingey
Okay. Sure.
01:00:39
Seth
um It might not be Puteri-Teri, but he was raised on an outer island, and so...
01:00:43
Darin Tingey
so
01:00:44
Seth
He was very like, got the you know, like very cultured. And so I got told many, I got told seven times a day how disrespectful I was.
01:00:55
Seth
And, you know, like, and I'm like, like literally I'd say something and like everybody would laugh. And then Elder Tawana would like look at me and just like be immediately upset with me. And I'm like, what's the deal, dude? Like they thought it was funny. And he was like, you can't say stuff like that.
01:01:11
Seth
And I was like, all right. um But, yeah.
01:01:15
Darin Tingey
did he help Did he help you with your language though? I mean, again, you're a year and a half in, but obviously still learning, mastering.
01:01:19
Seth
Yeah.
01:01:21
Darin Tingey
Was it helpful to have a Kitabas companion?
01:01:21
Seth
knowcon incredible
01:01:24
Seth
Oh, yeah. It was always helpful having a Kitty Bist companion. you know like They saw stuff you didn't see. you know
01:01:30
Darin Tingey
Sure.
01:01:30
Seth
like
01:01:32
Seth
They were just... They're a great missionary. I always loved having a Kitty Bist companion. They were my favorite. Yeah.
01:01:39
Darin Tingey
Yeah, we didn't, on the Marshall side, like, that wasn't common to have a Marshallese companion. I did train a Kiribati elder, but it was in the Marsh Islands.
01:01:44
Seth
did Yeah.
01:01:48
Darin Tingey
So that was fun, though.
01:01:49
Seth
Yeah. Did you guys, when you would like have meetings, like district meetings, would you do it Marshall or would you do it in English?
01:01:57
Darin Tingey
We originally we did it in English and then my mission president eventually wanted to so to speak our language. So we tried to do it in Marshallese as much as we could.
01:02:06
Seth
Right.
01:02:07
Darin Tingey
Sometimes we'd all be like, all right, why are we doing this? Let's just speak in English.
01:02:11
Seth
Yeah, it's so funny. I, like I was a district leader in Tomaiku. right Just take step back. and I didn't know how to teach in English.
01:02:22
Seth
like i couldn't like In my brain, I was like, I'll teach it Kitty Bess.
01:02:22
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:02:27
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:02:27
Seth
and Because my first lessons, i so I always taught. If I did a zone lead, I always did it in Kitty Bess. and yeah I that i hope that Tradition continued on because i just felt like it was best to do it that way. i remember Sister Apineiro, she was one of the sisters out in Boota when I was in Tamayica. She was like, I thought that was... She came up and we talked about it.
01:02:51
Seth
I didn't know that you know when I was new.
01:02:53
Darin Tingey
yeah
01:02:53
Seth
i was like, i was like she's like you're ah she's like, we always do our district meetings in English. I was like, why? you know
01:03:01
Seth
We're speaking kiddie-biss out here. Let's talk kiddie-biss. I got to get better at this. and so
01:03:05
Darin Tingey
Totally. I think if you speak as much as possible, it's gonna be, yeah, better for everybody. You learn it a lot more, totally.
01:03:11
Seth
oh yeah and i always struggled obviously there's aspects of your language that you're better at you know like i bet you're i bet you could probably still teach a lesson in martialese you know yeah but like conversationally it's like you might struggle a little bit you know so that's how i feel about kitty gus right now it's like i could probably still get down with a lesson but if i had to go have a conversation i would be struggling a little bit
01:03:23
Darin Tingey
Yeah, for sure.
01:03:28
Darin Tingey
Sure.
01:03:36
Darin Tingey
You know what, though? i I think if you went back to Kiribus, it would come back. Like, I visited...
01:03:41
Seth
I hope so.
01:03:42
Darin Tingey
i visited the marsh islands i couldn't make it down to kittabisk it's just not enough time but i visited the marsh islands a little over a year ago and dude it felt like i never left like it just it just came back and i was so nervous before i was like dude no i forgot everything but it just comes back it's just it's just muscle memory at that point i promise you if you go back it'd probably just all come back
01:03:48
Seth
Yeah.
01:03:52
Seth
Right.
01:03:55
Seth
Really.
01:04:01
Seth
Yeah.
01:04:05
Seth
Yeah.
01:04:08
Seth
I need it to, cause I'm, ah I'm going to try to get back to the temple. So, you know, that, that would be the goal.
01:04:13
Darin Tingey
you and ah You and every other elder will see where we all stay.
01:04:16
Seth
I know, man, it's going to be so bad, but we'll see. We'll see. Anyways, uh, back to, back to Christmas, right? Back Christmas.
Adventures and Law Enforcement Foreshadowing
01:04:24
Seth
Um, oh man, Eldertwana.
01:04:28
Seth
Oh man, do I have a story for you? ah i probably shouldn't tell a story. Anyways, um,
01:04:34
Darin Tingey
Let's see. Let's hear it. this is
01:04:36
Seth
oh
01:04:37
Darin Tingey
Hey, there's no hard feelings in this podcast. It's just the truth and fun. And we can look back.
01:04:42
Seth
No, we're having a good time for sure.
01:04:43
Darin Tingey
We can look back on it and just laugh about things. so
01:04:47
Seth
yeah yeah, for sure. Uh, elder Tawana, um, it was P day, right? It was during, so like the country of Kitty Best, like when they're having their July celebrations, like it kind of, like the work's kind of challenging to get done, you know?
01:05:03
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:05:04
Seth
Everybody's, that's like the busiest time of the year is July in Kitty Best.
01:05:08
Seth
And the whole month is almost, it's almost, you know, is tied up. um Anyways, it was July, you know, all the celebrations were going on. It was our P-Day.
01:05:21
Seth
And so, We were getting ready to go out and be amongst the people. right and So we caught a bus all the way from Banana into Tabaquea. We were going to meet the Elder Taras, and i think he had Elder Al-Fatasi with him at the time.
01:05:37
Seth
And we were going to meet them at their house in Tabaquea at the chapel. A little little context, though. um Somebody... because they lived in a little stick hut behind the chapel, somebody had gone up there and cut holes, cut a hole that was, don't know, was probably foot, foot and a half wide in the side of their house and had been stealing from them.
01:06:00
Seth
um Anyways, Eldotuan and I showed up at the chapel and There was a manyebe behind the chapel that they had just redone the roof on, like just re-thatched it.
01:06:12
Seth
And they when they re-thatched these buildings, they used pandamus leaves. And so the pandamus leaves were like – they hadn't like trimmed the edge of the manyebe.
01:06:20
Darin Tingey
It's super long still. Okay.
01:06:21
Seth
And so the pandamus leaves were like all the way to the ground still, right? So we call them. We're like, hey, where are you guys at? We're at your house. They're like, oh, we're not there yet. We're in town. We were shopping a little bit. We'll come back and get you. And I was like, all right, cool.
01:06:33
Seth
So we go and we sit in the manieve, like right across from the elder's house. And we're sitting inside of it just waiting for him to show up. Anyways, we're there for like not even 10 minutes.
01:06:44
Seth
And pretty soon little set of footsteps starts coming around come around the chapel, walks around the walks around the elder's house, and then it just slips in through that little...
01:06:58
Seth
through the little hole that was in the side of their house. And freaking Elder Tawana, he's got to be a hero. you know He's got to have his moment. And so he gets out his camera and he's like, I'm going to go take pictures of this guy in their house.
01:07:12
Seth
i was like I was like, no. And he was like, yeah, I'm going to do it. And I was like, okay.
01:07:17
Darin Tingey
Thank you.
01:07:17
Seth
And so Elda Tuana sneaks up. I don't know how this dude did. The house is literally see-through. And somehow this guy did not – I mean Elda Tuana is like – he's like five foot tall. Like he just kind of slithered up to the house, got some pictures. The guy the guy showered in the elder's shower, used their show.
01:07:38
Seth
He used el Elder Afatasi's brush to comb his his hair. um just rifled through all their stuff in their house. And I'm just like, I'm like, Elda Twana like took pictures of him the whole time he was in the house.
01:07:53
Seth
And so I'm thinking and like, okay, like he's getting ready to come out. we're just gonna let him walk off. We'll take that to the police, whatever, right? This guy is coming out of the house and he starts to stick his foot through the hole.
01:08:06
Seth
And Elda Twana had like quickly put his camera away. and grabbed the guy's foot. He grabbed the dude's foot. Eldo Tawana is like, again, he's so small.
01:08:17
Seth
I mean, I don't even know if he was more than a hundred pounds. And so this guy like pulls his foot back in and he almost, he pulls Eldo Tawana back into the house with him. I was, I don't know.
01:08:28
Seth
Again, just, I ah just react, right? I run up and I'm At this time, I'm like five eleven you know I'm 240 240 pounds. you know like I work out a lot.
01:08:42
Seth
you know
01:08:43
Darin Tingey
Right.
01:08:43
Seth
i like yeah I grabbed the guy's foot and I just wrenched on it and I ripped the whole side of their house out. Oh my gosh, dude. And then got in a wrestling match with him.
01:08:56
Seth
We called the elders. I, yeah, I performed a citizen's arrest, in Kitty West. It was ridiculous.
01:09:01
Darin Tingey
That's awesome. That is awesome.
01:09:03
Seth
A little foreshadowing to what my career would end up being, but, you know, it was pretty funny.
01:09:07
Darin Tingey
How did it... This guy, just I mean, he wasn't just stealing. He making himself at home. I'm going shower in there.
01:09:12
Seth
Dude, yeah, like, i he had a self-care routine inside their house.
01:09:14
Darin Tingey
Shower. What?
01:09:18
Seth
It was insane. I was just like, what are you doing, man? Yeah. um But yeah, that guy, that was crazy. I
01:09:27
Darin Tingey
did Did the police do anything about it?
01:09:29
Seth
don't, I think he was in jail for like an hour, like maybe.
01:09:32
Darin Tingey
Yeah, I mean, that's what I'm saying. You had too much faith in the the police of Kitabas. is
01:09:39
Seth
I know, I know, I know. It's just in my nature. I don't know what to say. um Yeah, it was funny though, man.
01:09:44
Darin Tingey
That's good.
01:09:46
Seth
That was such a good memory. I freaking opened the one and getting jerked into that house with him. Oh man. I remember Elder Thedas was like, you destroyed my house. Like, I can't, like where we can't even live here anymore, are you freaking idiot.
01:10:01
Seth
was like, I'm sorry, dude.
01:10:03
Darin Tingey
It was a stick cut, yeah? it was a stick cut?
01:10:05
Seth
Yeah, literally, yeah. Like, they had two booyahs inside that they slept on. It was all, it was all, like, they would take the coconut, like the giant coconut leaves, and they'd cut all the, all the, yeah, yeah.
01:10:10
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:10:17
Darin Tingey
Mm-hmm.
01:10:19
Darin Tingey
The spines. The spines of it yeah.
01:10:21
Seth
Yeah, they could all find it.
01:10:21
Darin Tingey
know you're talking about.
01:10:22
Seth
So you had just that that main middle portion of it, and they just like like like lattice, like a lattice fence just all around their house.
01:10:28
Darin Tingey
Yep.
01:10:29
Seth
That was their wall. They literally lived in that. And it was like anybody could just look in there and see them. It was pretty wild.
01:10:36
Darin Tingey
Yeah, that that was how my house was on Mayana. It was like basically the exact same thing.
01:10:40
Seth
Yeah.
01:10:41
Darin Tingey
The tabouas and inside. Yeah, totally.
01:10:43
Seth
yeah
01:10:43
Darin Tingey
I know exactly where it was. Yeah.
01:10:45
Seth
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was it was actually – better than i thought it was better than the captain cook hotel i thought it was cooler because there was no ac unit that the captain were in the room they gave us they gave us the crappiest room they had they charge again they charge us 1800 a month for that room and it was the crappiest room they had no ac uh we would open they had a front door and a back door we would open both doors to like get airflow like
01:10:56
Darin Tingey
yeah
01:11:16
Darin Tingey
Get a draft, yeah.
01:11:18
Seth
Yeah, it just, and then I thought the stick hut that they had in Tabaque was way nicer than our place. our Ours was, i mean, it was nice, but, you know, it was nice.
01:11:27
Seth
nice I shouldn't complain, right? Because there's some elders that had way, had nothing compared to what we had in Banana, but it was still.
01:11:36
Darin Tingey
Totally. But there's a reason like kiddos people live in those, like the types of homes they do. Like they choose that because it's cooler.
01:11:42
Seth
Yeah.
01:11:44
Darin Tingey
they get an airflow.
01:11:46
Seth
Yeah.
01:11:46
Darin Tingey
It's just easier to live in than cleaner.
01:11:48
Seth
yeah
01:11:50
Darin Tingey
They don't like clean the house necessarily. It's just like simpler and easier. And then there's a reason they just continue to live that way.
01:11:55
Seth
um oh yeah oh yeah
01:11:58
Darin Tingey
Did you guys have a kitchen in your hotel room? Like how how was that?
01:12:04
Seth
So we had one of those like mini fridges, right? We had a mini fridge, which was actually incredible.
01:12:08
Darin Tingey
Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah.
01:12:10
Seth
Um, but it didn't get stuff very cold. This, it like wouldn't seal properly. So like, uh, and then I remember I asked, uh, president we're in an email if I could have a hot plate.
01:12:18
Darin Tingey
Uh-huh.
01:12:24
Seth
Cause you know they actually had like, they had, uh, tang on, on Christmas and like,
01:12:31
Darin Tingey
yeah ah hu
01:12:33
Seth
Yeah, that was pretty wild. So I would make like cold tang drinks and like put them in the fridge. And I was able to get a hot plate and they had, you know, the crusties pancakes and they had Aunt Jemima's syrup and they had peanut butter.
01:12:48
Darin Tingey
Oh.
01:12:50
Seth
And dude, I ate so many pancakes on Christmas Island. It was insane. I got so fat. So, yeah.
01:12:58
Darin Tingey
Yeah, um ah Christmas gets the the American cargo, right, from from Hawaii?
01:13:03
Seth
Yep.
01:13:04
Darin Tingey
ah
01:13:04
Seth
Yep.
01:13:05
Darin Tingey
Which is awesome.
01:13:06
Seth
That's, that was awesome. That was awesome.
01:13:08
Darin Tingey
did Did you guys do a long P-Day together, like exploring the island?
01:13:09
Seth
Um,
01:13:14
Seth
we had a couple of good P days out there. Um, I don't know. We went to the beach a lot on a P on our P days. Like it was windy.
01:13:21
Darin Tingey
Mm-hmm.
01:13:22
Seth
i remember elder, was a little while later, elder Sagwine. He brought up a kite to, uh, It was almost like like a parachute type kite.
01:13:34
Seth
you know was so It was like a windsurfing type deal. i don't know. I still have it actually. um he couldn't figure out how to fly it. And so he's I was like, can I try? And he's like, you can have it. I hate that thing. And so i was like, cool.
01:13:47
Seth
And I figured out how to fly it. I actually wrote burn the crap out of my hand, tried to figure out. Cause I'm like, it has two strings attached to it. Right. It's literally almost like a, like a parachute. Yeah.
01:13:58
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:13:58
Seth
And so when I was trying to get it in the air the first time, um the wind caught it and it just burned the crap out of my feet, like almost to the bone.
01:13:58
Darin Tingey
No way.
01:14:07
Seth
Like I still have a scar right here from it where it, oh dude, that hurts so bad.
01:14:11
Darin Tingey
no way
01:14:13
Seth
But you know what? We figured it out. yeah We persevered. i got the kite in the air. It was amazing. So had a lot of success on Christmas. ah It was fun. he got to I got to go up to Fanning Island twice while I was on Christmas. So that was pretty amazing.
01:14:32
Darin Tingey
Is that on the the boat? I'm trying to remember what it was called. Besai has to talk to me about it.
01:14:36
Seth
Why?
01:14:38
Darin Tingey
Yes.
01:14:38
Seth
why one Yeah, it was amazing.
01:14:40
Darin Tingey
Yes. That's the one you went up on?
01:14:44
Seth
um I. yeah so I went up there with Elder Afetasi the first time and.
01:14:53
Seth
That was the most miserable boat ride I can remember having on my mission. Like, oof. It was just... Yeah, a crazy story about that though.
01:15:03
Seth
So my dad worked in the Federal federal Bureau Prisons. he was a he was a He started out as ah as a regular detention officer there and he ended up retiring you know as a facility manager.
01:15:17
Seth
was awesome, right?
01:15:18
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:15:18
Seth
um I spent a lot of time in the captain's office. up hanging out with the cat he was a white dude from like cal california hawaii and so you know he he's just kind of like you see somebody from the states and it's just like that's not a member and so i was like just spent a little bit of time with the guy and i was talking to him he's like you know having a conversation about where i was from and uh i was from safford arizona he's like safford arizona he's like you know where that is he's like yeah i do
01:15:51
Seth
I was like, how do you know where Safford is when you're from freaking Hawaii? And he's like, oh yeah, there's a prison out there.
01:15:56
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:15:59
Seth
And he was like and he's like, your last name's Ward.
01:15:59
Darin Tingey
No way!
01:16:02
Seth
And I was like, yeah. And he's like, do you know do you know David Ward? And I was like, yeah, that's my dad. yeah And this this guy was in prison while my dad at the same facility that my dad was ah
01:16:10
Darin Tingey
No way!
01:16:18
Seth
my dad was a was a detention officer at.
01:16:20
Darin Tingey
Dude.
01:16:24
Seth
Yeah, he got, he tried, he tried, yeah had a little bit of weed in his, he said he got arrested because he was at the airport trying to fly to California, had a little bit of weed in his sock. And so he got arrested for the prison for that.
01:16:36
Seth
So, you know, it was, yeah.
01:16:38
Darin Tingey
That's actually crazy. You're in the middle of the Pacific on this on this sailboat to Fanning Island and this dude knows your dad.
01:16:46
Seth
Yeah. Yeah.
01:16:50
Darin Tingey
What?
01:16:50
Seth
Yeah. Yeah. From prison.
01:16:53
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:16:54
Seth
well is ah Yeah. That was wild. um Anyways. Yeah. a Cool story about that guy. We became the you know, the second time I went up there, like he basically wanted me to hang out with him the whole time.
01:17:09
Seth
Like we were kind of buddies, you know, and he gave me, i remember being like, I just want to find a
01:17:11
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:17:16
Seth
ah Sorry, I'm little sick. But ah I was like, I just want to, I remember, like, one of my goals was to try and find a pearl in Kiribis.
01:17:25
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:17:25
Seth
That doesn't happen.
01:17:26
Darin Tingey
Didn't happen. yeah
01:17:28
Seth
um But he ended up actually, I kind of told him about that. And he ended up actually having a black pearl from Tahiti that he gave me. And so I actually still, actually put it on a pendant and gave it to my wife.
01:17:40
Seth
So, yeah, it's pretty cool.
01:17:41
Darin Tingey
That's
01:17:42
Seth
It ended up being her, uh,
01:17:45
Seth
I think it's like our gemstones. don't remember. Anyways, yeah. You know, it's kind of fun.
01:17:50
Darin Tingey
that's where That's really cool. Yeah.
01:17:52
Seth
It was pretty full.
01:17:53
Darin Tingey
So when you went to Fanning, ah was it a was it a quick trip or did they drop you off and you stayed there for a while?
01:18:01
Seth
We stayed there for a while. i My first trip, it felt like... five, almost a week, our first trip.
01:18:09
Darin Tingey
Okay.
01:18:10
Seth
Second trip was about the same. I spent almost two weeks in fanning, which was a lot longer than most missionaries got to spend. But man, when you got to fanning, it was all business, man. It was work.
Spiritual Growth and Community Impact
01:18:22
Seth
And, you know, the cool thing about fanning is ah can't remember the guy's freaking name. I probably have it written down in my journal somewhere. I should should have should have reviewed it. But shout out to the bishop to the to the branch president up there. that guy's an incredible missionary.
01:18:37
Seth
um
01:18:40
Seth
I wouldn't be surprised based off of you know the branch president's work up there that they would they would have they they could have a ward up there eventually. like That guy really puts in the work for and missionaries.
01:18:50
Darin Tingey
cool.
01:18:51
Seth
And so like you would have –
01:18:54
Seth
don't know, six, seven people who all needed to go through the missionary lessons every time you went up there to be baptized that had already been showing up to church for weeks or months or a year, you know?
01:19:07
Seth
And so it was just like, yeah, the work up there is incredible.
01:19:10
Darin Tingey
Incredible.
01:19:11
Seth
And sorry.
01:19:13
Darin Tingey
You always see those islands and you're like, man, why don't the other outer islands do that? you know like They just rely so much on the missionaries.
01:19:17
Seth
Yeah.
01:19:19
Darin Tingey
They've gotten used to it. Whereas Fanning you know you only gets the missionaries every couple months, six months, something like that. Okay.
01:19:26
Seth
I know. ah Yeah. elder He, he was a missionary, right? He's, I think he had served as a missionary in Kitty Biss and it just didn't go, he, that, that love of the work just didn't, you know, he didn't shy away from it.
01:19:33
Darin Tingey
okay
01:19:39
Seth
So, great, great man. i remember, the second time I went up there, um he had purchased like a machete.
01:19:51
Seth
I don't know why, but I, I, i carry I brought a machete to Fanning Island the second time I went up there for no good reason.
01:20:02
Seth
I just wanted to play with it, I think. I just liked it.
01:20:04
Darin Tingey
Yeah, Yeah.
01:20:05
Seth
Yeah. you know And I remember he was like – he had purchased – he needed one, and he went out and purchased one, but like he didn't have the tools to sharpen it because it had the bevel, but like it wasn't – it still needed to be sharpened.
01:20:21
Seth
Right. And so I was like, here, man, can just have this one. And it was like, I don't know why I felt like I needed to bring a fricking machine, but it felt really nice to like give him something.
01:20:32
Seth
And, you know, something that he needed. i don't know. He was just such a good guy. He's such a good guy. But, uh,
01:20:40
Darin Tingey
how How many people would you say were were members on that island at the at the time that you were going?
01:20:46
Seth
You know, retention is always a ah problem, you know?
01:20:50
Darin Tingey
Sure. Active members, I guess.
01:20:53
Seth
Yeah. um And I remember there were probably 40 people that went to church in Fanning. And they had no missionary presence up there outside of the one week that a missionary went out there a year, you know?
01:21:01
Darin Tingey
Dang.
01:21:08
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:21:09
Seth
And so, like, that's pretty impressive for for an outer island like that.
01:21:11
Darin Tingey
It's impressive.
01:21:16
Darin Tingey
Absolutely it is.
01:21:18
Seth
yeah he was awesome um but you know fanning island was the most beautiful freaking island ice and like in kitty bus fanning island was the most pretty island ice i so i ever served on
01:21:32
Darin Tingey
Okay, give me give me like a ah visual if you can.
01:21:37
Seth
green
01:21:38
Darin Tingey
Uh-huh.
01:21:38
Seth
Green Island, trees. atoll, right?
01:21:45
Darin Tingey
That's cool.
01:21:45
Seth
But all the trees were massive, man. Like, i just, like it's it's how
01:22:07
Seth
Like Kitty Buss people get surfboards when they surf out. It's like the only island that they routinely surf on.
01:22:12
Darin Tingey
cool
01:22:12
Seth
and um But that beach where they surf, because back in World War II, so the U.S. actually used to have a military base on Fannie Island. It's a high school now.
01:22:23
Seth
But right where the high school is, where the military base used to be, they blew out, they dynamited out a section of reef right there. And that's where people go out and surf. And it's like, it's like the nicest beach in Kittimus.
01:22:36
Seth
I dude, if you could ever go there, you would love it. I'm telling you right now.
01:22:39
Darin Tingey
i
01:22:40
Seth
i
01:22:42
Seth
We were having lessons with somebody out there and they were like, yeah, like let's go out to the beach. And they're like, go, go right, go follow that path right through those trees. And it's right there. And I remember coming out of those trees and like, I had to stop for a second and like, take a breath, like take it all in.
01:22:57
Seth
Like, which is one of the few times I ever did that in Kitty Biss. You know, it was just like, whoa, this is gorgeous. You know? yeah.
01:23:05
Darin Tingey
The blown out reef is great for surfers because anywhere else you fall on your surfboard, you're getting wrecked on that reef, just destroyed.
01:23:14
Seth
Yeah. Yeah. 100%. You're dead. Yeah. You turned into mincemeat.
01:23:21
Darin Tingey
did did, you know, talking to the the captain that was doing the boat, did, were there any other fishermen that went out to fanning? Because i say that I had a boss, um,
01:23:34
Darin Tingey
who loved to fish. And he he was like, man, I want to go to Christmas Island. And he's like, I want to go Fanning. And I was like, you know Fanning Island?
01:23:40
Seth
Hmm.
01:23:42
Darin Tingey
I was like, you know that? And he's like, dude, it's like one of the most coveted islands to go fishing on.
01:23:44
Seth
No. No.
01:23:48
Darin Tingey
And I was like, what? Really? Like, I had no idea. like I mean, i knew Christmas was a big deal, but i didn't know Fanning was as well.
01:23:55
Seth
Yeah. No, the first time i was on fanning my, like the main like outsider presence memory. I, it's kind of embarrassing. They had a, a cruise show up full of gay dudes.
01:24:09
Seth
And so like, don't know. I was, I was like, Whoa, uh, I didn't expect that here. You know, um, they were all like European guys too. It was just, it was, it was pretty interesting.
01:24:22
Seth
But, uh, but One interesting thing about Fanning is like they actually have that pretty regularly. And so Biny Kitty Vest, if you want some cool stuff from Kitty Vest, Fanning Island is the place to get it.
01:24:39
Seth
a Dude, like they have swords. They've got keys. They've got... They got literally anything you could think of that's like buying the Kitty Biss, like Fanning Island had it. And it was like really nice stuff because they have a bit of a tourist industry there.
01:24:57
Darin Tingey
Okay. Right.
01:24:57
Seth
And so that was just and it's so weird that like cruise ships routinely stop in Fanning freaking Island.
01:25:04
Seth
And it's just like but it's also one of the most isolated. It happens to also be one of the most isolated islands like in Kitty Biss. this is It doesn't make any sense.
01:25:11
Darin Tingey
Yeah. And imagine being a kid there growing up and you're like, why do we always have these huge boats come drop random people off at our island?
01:25:20
Seth
Yeah.
01:25:20
Darin Tingey
I don't know.
01:25:21
Seth
Yeah.
01:25:21
Darin Tingey
It's just like a weird, totally weird.
01:25:24
Seth
It was weird. Yeah. It's just, it's just like it. I remember seeing like, I'm having this lesson. Right. And I just remember looking when I see these guys wearing, you know, very tight forfeiting clothes and they're like holding hands, like two white dudes walking down they're like holding hands. And I'm like, what are you doing here? Like, and then I like looked down the road further and there's like a hundred of them.
01:25:48
Seth
coming and I was like, what is going on right now? And they're like, oh yeah, they're beautiful and I is and they're just, they're freaking cruise ship.
01:25:54
Darin Tingey
Yeah. oh
01:25:56
Seth
I was like, what are you talking about right now? It pretty funny, you know?
01:26:01
Darin Tingey
I just imagine all little kids like pointing and like, can it be nice?
01:26:01
Seth
was pretty
01:26:05
Seth
funny.
01:26:05
Darin Tingey
You know, like,
01:26:05
Seth
Oh, dude. And little, little Davis kids are ruthless. Ruthless. um
01:26:12
Darin Tingey
that's,
01:26:13
Seth
But yeah, and then, yeah, I went back and Oh, dude, I can't remember who was with. Oh, you know what? I was with Smith. I was with ah Smith. yeah he was a He was a good missionary. ah He cared a lot, man.
01:26:29
Seth
like You know, a funny story, though, real quick. I came back. We actually had a smartphone over in Christmas, which was highly unusual.
01:26:37
Darin Tingey
Oh, wow. Yeah.
01:26:39
Seth
And I remember getting off to Kwai. Elder Sias and Elder Sherman were waiting for us, and yeah which I didn't expect, right? They had flown in for for some reason. I don't remember why. They probably just did do their regular AP duties.
01:26:57
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:26:57
Seth
And I saw them, and i was like, what the heck are they doing here? You know, hugs, like, you know, because Sias and I are friends. And I remember, like, know, I'd been on a boat for – quite a quite a long while. I needed to stretch a little bit. And so I like, I like, you know, they're like giant cement slabs, right? And there are these gaps that are literally an inch wide, you know, on these giant cement slabs on the dock where the quiet dock's in. And I remember I like stretched, I had the phone in my front pocket right here.
01:27:29
Seth
I was like stretching my hammies and the phone fell out of my front pocket, went right through that slab and just, I watched it fall in the ocean. and like I'm the only elder who has a freaking smartphone and I just watched it fall in the ocean.
01:27:40
Darin Tingey
ah
01:27:45
Seth
i was like, of course it would be me.
01:27:47
Darin Tingey
yeah
01:27:48
Seth
you know
01:27:48
Darin Tingey
Right in front of the APs.
01:27:50
Seth
Right in front of the APs.
01:27:50
Darin Tingey
ah
01:27:51
Seth
yeah Elder Sias looked at me he was like, you're such an idiot, bro. I was like, I don't know. I don't know how that just happened.
01:27:58
Darin Tingey
but What's great about that story is i I was actually texting Sherman earlier today and I told him that I was doing a podcast with you and he said, i was like, i don't know if you know Elder Ward.
01:28:06
Seth
Yeah.
01:28:11
Darin Tingey
And he's like, I know him. Ask if he remembers dropping a phone into the ocean.
01:28:14
Seth
Yeah, dude.
01:28:15
Darin Tingey
That's literally what he texted me.
01:28:16
Seth
Yeah, dude. Like, oh, man. Again, the only like the only elders in the mission who actually had a decent phone, and I dropped it in the ocean. So...
01:28:28
Darin Tingey
that's so good.
01:28:28
Seth
like Like the craziest way. I'm not kidding you. Like these are like 10, 15 foot wide slabs. And where I decided to stretch happened to be, and it like felt perfect. Like right. And it like, it literally fit like eye and the needle fit right through the gap, right into the ocean. I was like, of course, of course, what a waste.
01:28:50
Seth
So yeah, back on Christmas, Elder elder Smith, and i trained Elder Smith again, super hardworking guy. He and I, Got a ah lot of work done. um Very gifted with the language.
01:29:03
Seth
I just, I couldn't. Like where he was at, at three months, I felt like, you know, it was just, it was impressive to see. So.
01:29:12
Darin Tingey
Did you know that he was in that cyberbullying video?
01:29:17
Seth
Yeah, I did.
01:29:18
Darin Tingey
yeah So, okay, so you you're like, oh, you're the guy. I've seen you in that video.
01:29:22
Seth
Yeah. No, when I was a, when I was a zone leader, I had heard that he was coming in our intake. All right. yeah I heard he was coming in on the next intake and I, president where he's like, so what do you want to do again?
01:29:34
Seth
He's like, I'm going you train. Who do you want to train? And I was his only, i was like, I'll train him. You know?
01:29:39
Darin Tingey
ha, ha.
01:29:39
Seth
And so that's, that's why he ended up in, in Christmas is because I was, you know, I picked him to train him.
01:29:45
Darin Tingey
That's awesome.
01:29:46
Seth
So it was pretty fun. We had a really good time together, a lot of success. And he went on to be ah a really, you know, hard worker, successful missionary out there. He did a lot of really good stuff. so
01:29:57
Darin Tingey
Yeah, i I think he might have been AP later. i can't remember.
01:30:01
Seth
Yeah, no, he did, yeah.
01:30:02
Darin Tingey
think he did because I remember people on the Marshall side knew him as well. So I figured he was AP.
01:30:07
Seth
no well Yeah,
01:30:08
Darin Tingey
ah
01:30:10
Seth
Yeah, no, he, know, he was a good elder. um And then after that,
01:30:15
Darin Tingey
did you yeah Did you end up dying on Christmas? Was that like... did
01:30:19
Seth
Sadly, I did. Actually, funny story, because i had left my main my main luggage with all my Baini Kiribes from like, what?
01:30:28
Darin Tingey
Right.
01:30:29
Seth
So Baini Kiribes is like souvenirs, right?
01:30:32
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:30:33
Seth
And so I know you know that, but I guess I should explain.
01:30:34
Darin Tingey
Sure. No, for the listeners. That's good.
01:30:36
Seth
Yeah.
01:30:37
Seth
the
01:30:37
Darin Tingey
It's it's good.
01:30:37
Darin Tingey
It's important. Continue.
01:30:38
Seth
Yeah.
01:30:39
Darin Tingey
yeah
01:30:39
Seth
so So Baini Kiribes are souvenirs. I had an entire suitcase full of them. I had a turtle head. I had like an ironwood branch from Medicaid and I hadn't claimed any of it. Right. And I had left it all in Tarawa because I thought I was not like, president weird told me like, he's like, I'll send you out to kate Christmas for three months. I want you to go up to fanning work up there and then come back.
01:31:01
Seth
I didn't know that. And so, uh, elder Sagwine and elder Sion brought my bag through Fiji and,
01:31:10
Darin Tingey
Uh-huh.
01:31:12
Seth
I had a freaking turtle head in it, you know, like, and they were in possession.
01:31:16
Darin Tingey
yeah
01:31:17
Seth
So like the Fijian, you know, I don't know what they're called, the the airport, you know, the ministry of airport or whatever, the officials, right.
01:31:25
Darin Tingey
ah
01:31:26
Seth
They opened the bag and Elder Sagwain tells me the story. He's like, they opened your bag. They looked at each other. They looked at us. And he's like, and they gave us like the dirtiest look. at He's like, I thought we were going to get arrested in Fiji based on the contents of your bag.
01:31:43
Seth
And they took my turtle head and they took my Ironwood club.
01:31:47
Darin Tingey
No.
01:31:48
Seth
And I was so sad. Like the Ironwood club, I was so excited about that because it was like, suppose, Tin Thalbiyao had told me it was like the hardest wood on the and on the planet.
01:31:59
Seth
And I was like, i totally it probably wasn't true, but I totally believed it. And like, I was so, you know, obsessed with that little piece of wood. It was literally like this big, but I wanted it so bad. And when I found out it was gone, I was freaking heartbroken. and Um, yeah, so we had that and the, and they took my turtle head.
01:32:16
Darin Tingey
Dang.
01:32:22
Seth
um that one broke my heart.
01:32:25
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:32:25
Seth
Uh, But yeah, and then they made it with all my other stuff, I guess. And so I trained Elder Smith. I went back up to fanning with Taras.
01:32:36
Seth
So that was fun.
01:32:36
Darin Tingey
Fun.
01:32:37
Seth
That was fun. I remember.
01:32:38
Darin Tingey
I mean, you're lucky to get to go twice to Fanning. Most it was just one time.
01:32:41
Seth
Yeah, that was that was unusual. That was unusual. ah Pretty quick to like within three months, like I showed up, went to fanning. came back three months later, back to Fanning, you know?
01:32:55
Darin Tingey
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
01:32:55
Seth
And again, same story, you know, it's like, where did you find these people? Like you had this many people when we left last time, we did, we did our job, we got them all baptized, came back and it was like, he had just the same amount.
01:33:06
Seth
And I was like, how did you do that? Like, I don't know. Again, he's an incredible missionary. But ah
01:33:14
Seth
both times I went up to Fanning Island, I taught this guy named Evidi, right? And kind of like Ne Tekarube all the way back into Maiku, he had a physical ailment that, you know, he was a part of the KBC church, um but he had a physical ailment and he had polio when he was a kid and it was just becoming too much for him to make it all the way to church.
01:33:35
Seth
And so, again, lived like right next to the LDS church. And dude, i you know You hear about like elders in the South like Bible bashing and stuff.
01:33:47
Seth
like I remember sitting down with the guy because he wanted to have the lessons with us.
01:33:48
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:33:52
Seth
He did. and like Dude, we had some of the most intense lessons with that guy. Yeah, yeah it was it was incredible to have a lesson like that where this guy – opening the Book of Mormon, studying the Book of Mormon, um absorbing what it's saying, having good, articulate questions about it, and then opening and then crosswre cross-referencing it with his Bible.
01:34:19
Darin Tingey
Yeah. Right.
01:34:24
Seth
Because again, he was, i think, i can't remember exactly, but I think he was a minister for the KBC church. So he knew his stuff. you know like
01:34:33
Darin Tingey
right
01:34:34
Seth
He knew his stuff. And I remember there are many lessons. I'm like, you know what? I don't know, E.V.D. like I'm going to have look it up myself and educate myself on the question you just asked me.
01:34:47
Seth
you know And so, yeah, we had some some good lessons. But a cool story about that is ah Elder Sion got to go up to Fanny Island and he ended up baptizing E.V.D.
01:34:59
Seth
So that was incredible to hear. i remember... You know, you leave, right? You leave Elder Sion, I ended up catching back up with Elder Sion Orem, right?
01:35:11
Darin Tingey
Mm-hmm.
01:35:11
Seth
And he was going to BYU and, you know, he was visiting and we'd be talking about fanning because, you know, we had that in common and he told me about EBD and I just, dude, freaking, even now, like full body chills. Like, I was like, that dude got baptized?
01:35:25
Seth
I was like, no way. Like, that's incredible. Yeah. you know, then he was a, you know, EVD really, another one of those ones that like stuck out to me is like,
01:35:36
Seth
a man who like had an incredible faith in Christ and was it able to develop faith in, you know, in, in the true church.
01:35:45
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:35:47
Seth
And I just, I loved it. You know, it was amazing.
01:35:50
Darin Tingey
and And you know there they really care when they're asking deep questions, right?
01:35:56
Seth
Yeah.
01:35:57
Darin Tingey
Versus just like, yeah, totally, I get it. Yep, I accept everything you say, you know?
01:36:00
Seth
Yep. Yep. Yep.
01:36:01
Darin Tingey
they're like Like, really, you have no questions? like So the ones that were asking questions, as difficult as it might have been sometimes, those were the most rewarding ones for sure.
01:36:05
Seth
Yeah.
01:36:12
Seth
Oh, yeah.
01:36:13
Seth
Oh, yeah.
01:36:13
Darin Tingey
um
01:36:14
Darin Tingey
And so so Christmas Island, finish your mission in Christmas, and then yeah I'm assuming you went Hawaii and then home, right?
Leaving Kiribati and Lasting Impressions
01:36:21
Darin Tingey
like Kind of sad not to say goodbye to everyone else on Tarawa, you know?
01:36:21
Seth
Yeah. Hawaiian home. Hawaiian home.
01:36:27
Seth
It kind of broke my heart. I really wished I had an opportunity to go back to Tomaiku, but, you know, it is what it is.
01:36:32
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:36:34
Seth
am still grateful for all the time that I got to spend there. I want to go back. Honestly, I'd go back to Christmas in a heartbeat. I'd go back to Tomaiku. I'd go back to Medicaid even, you know, even though Medicaid was challenging, I'd still go back.
01:36:50
Seth
So was amazing.
01:36:50
Darin Tingey
Yeah. take Take the wife and, you know.
01:36:55
Seth
don't know. I'd try. you know We'll see. like
01:36:59
Darin Tingey
well Yeah, for me, I was like, you know I'll go back when I'm when i'm married.
01:37:00
Seth
I love my wife because she's a dainty little thing. Yeah.
01:37:10
Darin Tingey
I just, for some reason, it was it was that.
01:37:10
Seth
yeah
01:37:12
Darin Tingey
I mean, i don't know if it was... i just I just really wanted to take my spouse. I was like i wanted to show her where I was and the people that i met, the great people that I had.
01:37:18
Seth
yeah
01:37:22
Darin Tingey
and It was super fun. I took my parents too. I highly recommend it.
01:37:25
Seth
us that's on them
01:37:27
Darin Tingey
ah but Before it becomes 20 years and then you know you can't find everybody that you that you know, which I mean, it's always a and impossible because people moving around so much.
01:37:37
Seth
them no yeah who who who
01:37:38
Darin Tingey
But anyway, last three questions I always ask everybody. What was your favorite food, Kitabas food? What was your favorite area?
01:37:50
Darin Tingey
And then what was your favorite thing about Kitabas?
01:37:54
Seth
okay. Favorite food. ah i I thought about this question extensively since you know I've listened to your other podcasts um because I eat a lot of food and I eat a lot of Kinnabas food.
01:38:08
Seth
I'm like one of the only missionaries who didn't really get that sick from the food because I loved it.
01:38:13
Darin Tingey
Yeah, you're lucky. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
01:38:15
Seth
Like, well, not when I first got out there, but I ate a lot of it. And I grew to love it. But the Aurora was definitely up there. And the Aurora over freaking hot rice was just, but you know, chef's kiss, you know, that stuff's so good.
01:38:25
Darin Tingey
yeah
01:38:32
Seth
But also Fannie Mae, like you can't go wrong with but those breadfruit chips, dude. You just can't. So, ah soon that so good.
01:38:40
Darin Tingey
So good. I get pound i could pound Painime all day. so good.
01:38:45
Seth
um What was the other questions?
01:38:48
Darin Tingey
favorite Favorite area?
01:38:49
Seth
It would be a toss-up probably between Tamaiku and Christmas. um I had so much fun on Christmas and being able to go up to fanning, but I feel like I got most of my best work done in Tamaiku.
01:39:03
Seth
so
01:39:05
Darin Tingey
Okay.
01:39:05
Seth
you know
01:39:06
Darin Tingey
And what was your favorite thing about Kiribati? Or your mission in Kiribati?
01:39:15
Seth
Te Ikeribus. like They're just... ah They're so giving. They're so kind. They're willing to listen to you.
01:39:25
Seth
They're willing to... you know
01:39:29
Seth
Accept you. like like They're very accepting. your're lack you know You don't know much about them when you show up, but they're very... I'm at a loss for words for trying to articulate it, but they're very gracious.
01:39:41
Seth
They literally have a word for asking things.
01:39:44
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:39:45
Seth
But it's in way. And love that about And again, they'll give you anything you need. and it's but it's like it's like in a gracious way you know
01:39:57
Darin Tingey
yeah
01:39:57
Seth
and i love that about um and you know and they're they'll like again they'll give you and anything in need Anything you need, even if you don't need it, they'll give it to you.
01:40:07
Seth
Like, I can't tell how many times i like would look at something and be like oh that's really cool. And it's just like, oh, here you go
01:40:15
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:40:15
Seth
You can have
01:40:15
Darin Tingey
Yeah.
01:40:16
Seth
You know? Like, and it's just like, like, we're like there aren't, like, you you, in America, it's just like, you know, you have your things, and it's, like, very important, and that's an aspect of, like, of the Ikiribus culture, you know?
01:40:33
Seth
Like, theroy the goodness that i but I try to keep with me is try to be very, they very benevolent, very giving, and I try to try to emulate that as best as I can.
01:40:40
Darin Tingey
yeah
01:40:43
Seth
So...
01:40:44
Darin Tingey
Yeah, they do an incredible job with that. you know what's What's mine is yours.
01:40:47
Seth
Oh, yeah.
01:40:47
Darin Tingey
What's yours is mine. you know These are just things. They're not what brings happiness.
01:40:53
Seth
Oh, yeah. Great.
01:40:55
Darin Tingey
They just they they live the higher law. you know They really do. of
01:40:59
Seth
In a lot of ways, yeah, 100%. They do.
01:41:03
Darin Tingey
That's incredible.
01:41:03
Seth
Anyways.
01:41:04
Darin Tingey
Well, Seth, you had an incredible mission. I'm jealous you got to go to Fanning twice.
01:41:10
Seth
Uh-huh.
01:41:10
Darin Tingey
Not once, but twice. ah
01:41:12
Seth
Mm-hmm.
01:41:13
Darin Tingey
And it's just awesome to hear your stories and to and just hear about those people that ah you found and and were ready for the gospel and and you just helped get them there.
01:41:24
Darin Tingey
um like Like you said, it it's obviously impacted your life just as much as it impacted theirs, which is really cool to see even you know over a decade later. So i appreciate you coming on and so happy your sister reached out so we could get you on here.
01:41:33
Seth
yeah that was fun yeah she's a shout out to shout shout out to sage she's a she's she's she's very she's a very good sister i love that girl um but you know i just want to say thank you to you for putting this on you know making a platform for for us to come and tell our stories so that other future missionaries can hear it you know i i've been wanting to you know
01:41:40
Darin Tingey
um
01:42:03
Seth
hear people talk about their missions and ah in a podcast format for a long time. i love podcasts and that's, it's my main source of entertainment when I'm out there, you know, looking the streets.
01:42:11
Darin Tingey
Yeah, I bet.
01:42:13
Seth
So it's just like, it's like, it's, it's, it's, it's awesome. So I appreciate you doing this.
01:42:19
Darin Tingey
thank you. I love it. Anyway, this this was and awesome episode. So is another great episode of the Islands Podcast.