What it feels like to walk on water

Hey Everyone,
It's been nice getting so much mail and stuff lately because of the holidays. I just wanted to sincerely thank all of you, it really helps.



Before I say anything else, Rob, Please make your emails shorter, by the time I'm done reading them everyone else is done and wants to leave and I haven't even written yet. I love them though.
Mom- That Picture is of Elder Unga, not Elder Kau. I wasn't talking about sis. Africa's facebook, do you remeber the other lady I emailed you about back in nov. She is the ward historian so she has choke (tons) Pictures and videos. Sis Africa knows E. Unga's family (she went to BYU Hawaii with them) so she was psyched to see him with me.

Yes, Nina has a son (3 or 4), she has so much faith, she knows her husband and son will be baptized some day. She got baptized yesterday, it was amazing.

Mom, its good to hear you have been organizing digital pictures, I'm proud of you. Tell Grandma Rookhuyzen Happy Birthday for me when you get the chance.
Dad- I love you. It reminds me of you whenever E. Unga talks about BYU football. Harvey is thinking about going into the draft. I know you will be rooting for him to stay for another year but they're scared if he does he'll get injured and miss his chance. However if he does stay he will be guaranteed a first round draft pick. All people want to talk to us about now is Harvey. All the girls in the ward are in love with him so they won't stop talking to E. Unga. Dad, are you feeling better? Do you have any projects going in the house right now or in the shop? How bout in the office, did you finish organizing all those pictures yet?
Lisa-I love you. It was good to get your Christmas card and package. The kids are looking so good. Good luck with the ornery one (Easton). If you do any scrapbooking stuff send a copy to me. I love to see Prina art work. I also want to thank you for the calender, Malie! (good Job!). It was so weird to see that picture of me and Rob on March, dang we could have been models if it weren't for our acne. I'm gonna be sending mom and dad or john and sierra some pictures soon so be sure to ask them to see them.
Andrea- any cool missionary experiences lately? Yes, I'll be your tour guide in Hawaii! And Tonga too! Dad's so funny. Hows Blake? Has he gone down for any of the b-ball games? What about Jr? is he playing b-ball now? That's probably a stupid question. I don't know about the boy girl parties, sometimes its good to let your kids know that you trust them and just tell them to use common sense. Sometimes that makes them feel smart so they actually end up making smart choices. So Audrey, have fun but just be smart and don't break the commandments or go somewhere where you can't feel the spirit, we know your not stupid.
Valerie- I love you so much and miss your kids especially Andrew. Give them all hugs for me. I still want to hear from Eric a bit about his HHM (Hawaii Honolulu Mission) experience sometime before the end of my mission. He served on Maui yeah? There are signatures of elders in my closet that date back to the early ninety's, I wonder if Eric ever lived in my pad next to the Kahului stake center.
Kristin- how are things in Ca? I know there are a lot of Tongans in the Bay area/Oakland. If you see them say hi to them. Where is Fauntana? I know there is a lot of Tongans there. I miss Sydney so much, she looks so different from when I left. Good luck with the whole being pregnant thing, I know it isn't easy. If you figure out how to gain weight, let me know. I've been in Tongan wards since April and I haven't gained a pound.
John- From what I hear good stuff is happening for the John Prina Family. Going back to school. Taking art classes to help foster your god given talent. Moving out (where??????????). I don't know if I mentioned it yet but Sierra is the best sister in law ever. I love her long letters and her amazing pictures, she strengthens my testimony with every experience she shares.

Also Sheyene's letter was great with the drawing of the school lunches. Thank you also for the CTR Ring I love it. By the way I give you permission to marry that Matt guy, he looks like a stud and hes got a cool name, so why not? As long as we can still watch Nacho with you guys when we get back.
Rob, no, I don't know any Tauatis, I've never been to the big island. Elder Unga says hi. I applaud you for trying to develop an efficient member missionary work program but I'll inform you now that it will never be as good as ours. We have trouble getting lessons without members. The members do all the finding in our ward, we just teach. Its almost like they have nothing better to do than just help us with the work. Transfers are in 4 weeks, on wed. I'll have been with Unga for 2 weeks. Please write shorter emails. I'll try too.
So just a little bit about me. My companion and I had the opportunity to speak in sacrament yesterday about the importance of missionary work(elder Lejohn, the Marshalese one says hi). Elder Unga wrote his talk in Tongan but it wasn't long enought so he just gave it in English. I gave my entire 10 min. talk in Tongan and didn't speak a word of English (unless you count "um"). It felt weird but cool. During the talk I would catch myself thinking "what am I doing" "this isn't my language" and I would start to stumble over my words. Then I would regain my confidence and say the words clearly and actually know what I was saying. After I sat down I realized that I felt a little bit of what Peter must of felt like when he walked on water. He had faith at first but after a while he probably started thinking "what am I doing?" "this is water" "I'm not capable of doing this". I am still working on having more faith out here on my mission, but from the small amount of faith that I do have I have seen so many miracles. I know If I keep studying I will be able to teach entire lessons in Tongan and the members will be able to trust us more with their Tongan speaking friends. Remember, Faith proceeds the miracle.
Nina understood that, She jumped into the dark when she got baptized and so far the only blessings she's seen is getting kicked out by her husband. Her son doesn't understand why they keep having "sleep overs" at her auntie's house. But she has faith that God is going to bless her in the long run more than she can even imagine. And he will. 'I he huafa 'o Sisu Kalaisi, 'Emeni.
Ofa Atu
Elder Prina