Episode 10: CODE RED

Bonjour à tous! Comment ça était votre semaine? 

This past week has flown by. It's kinda crazy that we're like halfway through our first transfer! 

This week has been filled with a bunch of good stuff. On Monday we went to go visit the beach where they're gonna be holding the surfing portion of the 2024 Olympics, and then later that day I did something equally exciting and got a 25 dollar 2.5 pound bag of trail mix. We also revisited the Elon Musk cat family and I ate a bunch of really good sashimi/assorted raw fish. They now have a dog named Buck, specifically after the Ice Age character. 

On Friday we had our Conference du Noël, which is basically just a big meeting for all the missionaries on Tahiti (just the island of Tahiti though, RIP to the missionaries on the Marquises, Australes, Tuamatus, etc., you were very missed). Each zone did skits and performances and ours was oh so special. I don't even really know how to describe it hahaha but let me just say that I was an angel and my """costume""" was a piece of notebook paper taped to my dress that said "ANGE" (AKA angel in french). After that we ate some pretty alright ma'a and then proceeded to watch a MOVIE?! Like a real Netflix film?? Our mission president was just like "okay everyone in the chapel were watching a movie" and in my mind I'm like alright, so like a church film, chouette. We sit down, he goes to Neflix, leans into the mic, and is like "my kids like this movie" and then plays the film. We didn't know how to process it hahaha.

So to the title of this email. In the MTC I learned about the fact that centipedes roam the islands of Tahiti. Of course after learning this and having encountering a centipede immediately become a new big fear, I asked all my teachers who served in Tahiti about centipedes. Only one of them was ever bitten, though all the others saw a few centipedes in their missions. So I was like alright, my odds are pretty fair I'd say, but let me still mentally, emotionally, and physically prepare for the day I come face to face with this creature. Probably won't happen for a good few months maybe so it's pretty much out of my mind. 

Enter Friday morning. 

Me, my comp, and another one of our housemates are chilling at our table. I stand up, look at the floor, and make eye contact with *IT*. That's right. Public enemy number one: a centipede. And not JUST a centipede. This was like the mother of all centipedes. He was massive and gross and he slithered right into my housemates backpack as I went "oooooOOOOOOHHHHHH". We all start screaming and freaking out and we do that for like 47 seconds before my comp grabs a giant knife from the kitchen, screams a war cry, and shakes the bag. The centipede splats out on the floor and tries to slither away but soeur thelin is just too fast with that knife of hers. After a good 7 smacks/stabs he's cut in two. All that remains is a little bug juice stain on our floor and the traumatizing memory of that fateful encounter.

Invitation for everyone (which means you are now officially obligated to do it): I invite you all to read Luke 2, which is the story of the birth of Christ, sometime this next week. This is the perfect time and season to begin to learn more about Him and His ministry on Earth, anddd Luke 2 is just a really good chapter in the New Testament. 

J'espère que vous avez une bonne prochaine semaine! A bientôt! Faaitoito! 

- sœur snuggs <3

Photos

1. The weapon

2. The carnage

3. Coke machines in the middle of a jungle path

4. Beach dog