Message in a Bottle: How 'Bout We Gain a Testimony

Iaorana tatou!

This week we focused a lot on the testimonies of our investigators. It seems that all of them have gotten really confortable around us and aren't super sincere. They say things that they know we want to hear, and not things they actually believe. We engaged all of them to try to find their own testimonies and not rely on the testimonies of others. I never realized how important that was before my mission. If you haven't asked God if He's there, if Joseph Smith was called of God, if the Book of Mormon is true, or any other important questions, ask. Don't rely on what other people think or claim to know is true. All I know is that God can't lie, and He will answer our questions.

Yeah, so the baptism of Moeava didn't pull through. We're still working on it, but so far her dad hasn't accepted. However, there is some good news: Moeava's sister is in Tahiti right now (to have a baby) and she was given a Book of Mormon. She's read it through and is on her second time though. She want's to get baptized, and from what we can gather, her dad will be a lot more willing to accept her baptism, because she's older among other things. We're hoping that in accepting the sister's baptism when she comes back, he will be more willing to accept that of Moeava.

About a month ago, we found an inactif and taught him a lesson. He expressed his testimony and gave a prayer. He said that he wanted to return to the church, but also with his wife (pregnant and in Tahiti), a nonmember. So finally she came back with her new baby this week and we taught her the Restoration. We found out that she and her husband had talked about marriage in the temple and she wanted to do that, they had read the Book of Mormon (although it's been a while) and then they told us that they wanted us to bless their baby in church- you know the one where you give it a name? Yeah, that was weird. It never crossed my mind that someone other than the father would do it. Anyway, in the next couple of weeks we'll do that. It's really cool to see that desire for an eternal family and to come to Christ. She has a testimony all ready and the desire to return with God.

Adrien, the inactive that we teach who stopped smoking cigarettes completely in two weeks, told us that he had talked with his wife. They both want to get married in the temple, and are ready to stop the bad things that they're doing to get it. That's another thing. Temple marriage, eternal families, etc. are huge blessings and it's cool to see these people use that as a motivation to change and become better.

Good news with Maite! She's gaining a testimony. This last lesson was on the Plan of Salvation. She brought it off topic a few times though to ask baptism scenario questions like "Do I have to get married in order to get baptized?" or " ". She's really searching for the truth and a testimony. Super sincere, and that's what matters most.

We taught Akamai, our Tahitian papi, the other day. The thing was DMB, who is usually there, didn't come, so we were left with this mostly Tahitian speaking guy to ourselves. What an opportunity to practice Tahitian! As soon as we said the prayer he went off talking about this bible video he saw about Moses parting the Red Sea. He seemed just amazed at all of it. Then he asked if Noah, Abraham, and Moses were the same person. Then he kept talking, and finally I had enough time to start. So in Tahitian I explained what we were going to talk about and asked him a question. Bad mistake. He went off again, this time in just Tahitian. That's where you hope what he said was doctrine and you nod your head and agree. Then he started talking about how " Le soleil, ça c'est Dieu. Et le seigneur, il est l'etoile." He pointed, like he does in every lesson, the Southern Cross, and explained how it moves across the sky in the night. At that point I had to ask him where the Holy Ghost was. He thought for a moment, and then pointed to the cross in the stars again. As you can see, some investigators progress different from others.

It was also pretty good when my comp kept doing double or nothing in basketball so he didn't have to do pushups when he lost. Bad idea. He's stuck doing 160 pushups now, haha.

Okay, yeah, that's it for this week. Faaitoito tatou e mahana maitai ia outou.

Elder Lewis

Celebrating Elder Terry's and Matahi's birthdays(even though Elder Terry's was in January)

Some pics from Joie's Wedding

La Chapelle

Teaching PME Plan du Salut

Going to the Other Side for lunch. Way more beautiful than over here.

More other side pics.

A wealthy, older couple retired here and built like five of these buildings themselves in seven months. This is their kitchen. It's paradise. And when I come back with my wife, we have permission to stay there.