SOOOOOO its been such an awesome week!!! So awesome!!! So as we started the week I felt I had a grasp of the situation and knew we just had to plant our feet on the ground so we went CRAZY finding people. And we found SOOOO many people who are so prepared. Constantly asking for referrals and tracking and asking every person we talk to if they want lessons just we went crazy! And we found so many absolutely awesome people. It’s honestly unreal how prepared I feel some of our people are! And more than just prepared, they actually have questions like deep questions about things, which I was taken aback by as Elder Miller told me the hardest question he had gotten was "why was Jesus baptized".
But let's see, specific awesome things. So One guy was way a blessing for hard work, it was dark and our dinner got cancelled. The problem is in Kiribati if it gets dark EVERYTHING dies. Like everyone goes home, is getting ready for bed, and no one really wants to let you in honestly because it's night, but we wanted just one more lesson so we went to a ton of houses and I saw one light and honestly it was the Spirit told me go to the house way far back so we went back found this sick guy Lotabwa. I’m so pumped to teach him. One family we started teaching yesterday little by little. Two daughters got baptized then one son and now they told us first lesson they are prepared to be baptized they will go to church everything. They said they way want it all AND they have one other son they want us to teach to SO WE GET TO FINISH THE WHOLE FAMILY WHOOOOO!
The craziest experience we had was this lesson we taught with these two 18 year old boys, (I LOVE TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL AGE BOYS IT'S MY FAVORITE) so we were teaching about prophets and spirit was way strong and stuff and at the end of the lesson we challenged them to trust James 1:5 right now that they can receive their truth on the spot and so the kid gave an awesome heartfelt prayer with a broken heart and contrite spirit and all 4 of us felt the spirit so strong testify of truthfulness. He described it as a feeling that was new peace happy SO PUMPED! It was the best lesson of my mission thus far. Then one other guy we found Katiotio- this 28 year old dude. He was like "you guys are coming back!!" He was pumped! It wasn't just one lesson because one thing I always promise is that the gospel will change their lives if they apply the principles we teach and he got way pumped because he was like "I’m pumped because in the Catholic there is no change but I want change for better in my life.” SOLLID. With him he said he will see because he is scared of his parents who are hardcore Catholic so we will see. One lady we found was so so nice first off and she seemed so interested in the message and said that next time we need to teach her HIGH SCHOOL AGE SON (my fav) next time too.
One crazy experience we had: so this weird less active guy we visited like the whole time we visited he went on about how he has financial troubles and people are trying to throw him in jail but it's not his fault or something, and then he asked us to email our stake presidents in America so he could do business with the church in America. It was weird (of course we can't do that sooo) But anyways, so we scheduled a time to dinner with him on Tuesday. But before we went to dinner like a hour before we saw him driving with his whole family in the car and he was like "hey come back in an hour our power is out but I have a new investigator for you guys in the house." And Elder Johnson after he drove away was like "we can't go to dinner" he got a crazy strong prompting that we shouldn't go to dinner and we prayed about it and felt the same so we left a note and ran! I don't know what would have happened or whatever but I’m grateful that the Spirit protects us! But only if we heed the promptings!! Disaster averted:)
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| Elder Aboki |
ALSO so Elder Aboki (our Kiribati guy) got taken from us on Wednesday:(((( they needed him in another area that no one was working but we lost our Kiribati man, BUT Elder Openshaw (the one from General Conference) gave me the all- time coveted Kiribati dictionary. It's this way old dictionary they stopped printing but everyone knows it's the most valid dictionary in Kiribati. They ones they gave us in the MTC are not correct. SO I GOT A DICTIONARY WHOOOO.
Let's see what else. you'll be glad to know I can basically speak Kiribati!!! 3 months was my goal and I’m right where I wanted to be:) I can teach all the lessons and have a basic conversation. It's so freeing to finally be able to contribute. It’s different because I teach almost the full lesson of every lesson because my companion is new and is still learning the format the language everything. I am just trying to figure out the best way to help him because I feel like I’m not the best at helping him out, even though I’m trying. I’m so grateful for him though because one lesson and trial I’m so grateful for, is that it's making me more humble and teachable when the kid who hasn't been out as long as me is correcting me, sometimes I feel my pride rise up but I have been really working on just trying to become as humble as I can be. One thing I learned this morning as I read Ezra Taft Benson's book (WHICH ARE SO GOOD HAVE YOU EVER READ THE PROPHETS BOOKS THEY ARE SO GOOD AND INFO FILLED) was that pride is the stumbling block to Zion, and that being humble is so so key to any success. There was a bigger idea I learned but I just forgot it..... OH I remembered. So the scripture in Ether I think that says "blessed are those who are humble without being compelled to be humble." So pretty much we have two routes about it! Either we choose to be humble and teachable, or God will compel us to be humble! I decided I would much rather just choose to be humble and teachable rather than wait to be compelled through a real trial. Elder Johnson is a way good companion, he has the same desires to be exactly obedient and work hard, but the other thing God is teaching me at the point is how to correct or negotiate when you don't agree. Not that Johnson and I don't agree- I really like him! But it's just teaching me important skills all over. Life is our time for trials right. I started praying for more trials again because the more fire you get the more struggles you have, the more opportunity you have to scrub out the errors in who you THINK you are. Remembering that I had an identity before this life, and that identity qualified me the grow up in a place as the only member and an identity who got called to the best mission in the world, I would like to think that that identity did something right, and I want to be true to myself, my true self. The world will try to change that true identity and make you think you are someone different then you are. But when we die and remember who we really are and that faith turns to knowledge, failure is no longer an option. The devil is fighting now harder then ever so we have to too!!!!
Don't you worry I know you love God! Where else would I learn it from!!! I teach the principle of the powerhood alllll the time with the stripling warriors, they had so much success they were firm in their faith because they learned it from their mothers. Something I can relate to! I use you and Dad as examples to our investigators allllll the time!
WEll that's mostly it from me!!!! I love you guys!!! You are in my prayers no need to worry about me I’m fine health wise and all wises!!! OH AND IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME THERE HUH MERRY CHRISTMAS THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR WHOOOOOOTT :)
I love getting pictures from you guys!!! I’m sorry I never send pictures.... my companion is very wanting to send pictures so I'll have him send the ones he sends to his family to you guys too:)
(Isn’t he great?! To clarify--- all the pictures I have been using are from a flash drive he sent in January 2016. Which has mysteriously disappeared!!!!!! Hopefully my daughter has it and I will add pictures later.)
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