I'm Alive! (in New Caledonia)

Its been a while! There is so much to talk about but I only get an hour to email now so I'll make it quick! First off President Hillier personally took Elder Walton and I to the SLC airport and we took a short flight to San Francisco and met up with the rest of our MTC district. We barely had any lay over time in San Fran because our SLC flight got delayed like 2 hours but it all worked out.... thank goodness. From San Fran we took a 13 hour flight to Auckland New Zealand which was crazy long but I managed to get some sleep. In Auckland we had like an 8 hour layover which was also crazy long but saying I've been to New Zealand is pretty awesome. Let's just say it'd be nice to have a vacation there. From Auckland we got on a flight to Port Vila Vanuatu! The moment I stepped off the plane onto the tarmac in Vanuatu I felt like a truck hit me. The humidity change from Salt Lake to Port Vila was absolutely insane. The Elders going to New Cal got to stay in Port Vila for 2 days for some orientation stuff and we got to go to presidents house etc. Vanuatu is a super cool place. Felt like I was back in Fiji :)))) So we landed in Vanuatu Wednesday and then flew out to New Cal Friday morning. Seeing New Cal from the air was stunning. The whole island is like a jungle of mountains... it's really cool. The weather here in New Cal isn't quite as hot or humid as Vanuatu but its still enough to make you feel REALLY unconformable in church clothes all day haha. My new trainer's name is Elder Conger! Funny story... I actually met him in the MTC. He left 4 days after I got to the MTC and now he's my trainer!!!!! He has literally been out on his mission for a transfer longer than I have which is kinda crazy to think about but we do our best! He knows just enough French to get by so its been an interesting first few weeks. Our area is called Ducos which is the North Western part of Noumea. I really enjoy it here! We get quite a diverse set of people in our area. Some who just live in squats in the swamp and some in big apartment buildings! The first few days here I couldn't pick up on a single word anyone was saying. The accent here is really unique. It's not a typical french haha. It's like a mix of a Tahitian accent and a mainland France accent. Its really hard to understand. After about 2 weeks however I am starting to pick up on what people are saying. Slowly but surely! Oh, I also really love my new mission president! President and Sister Granger! They are from Australia and are always super happy and funny. Till next week!

Avec amour, -Elder Burbank

Some pictures! Zone Conference, View from my apartment in New Cal, View from Presidents house in Vanuatu.