Good News

Wow, this week went by really fast! Sorry if there's not much to talk about this week. We did a decent amount of lessons and slowly over the past few weeks the work has been doing better and better. Nothing extreme, just gradual. More progressing investigators, more investigators, more baptisms fixed, more baptisms. All the interesting stuff happened on Sunday. I'll start there.

On sunday morning we managed to get Kiai to church. Elder Nelson's bike broke so we couldn't go to the chapelle up there. Apparently a lot happened. We heard about it all afterwards. Apparently TWO baptisms were announced, for Kiai and Tupiti. We had no idea that it was good for Tupiti. I guess something happened and his mom changed her heart (again). No complaints there. All of Louis's family was there, and Louis blessed the sacrament. A returned missionary gave her homecoming talk. We also had twelve investigators show up to sacrament meeting. Combined with the other branche, that's sixteen investigators at church this week. Yeah, I think that's a record! haha.

So we're having a baptism later today for Kiai. I'll send pictures next week. The baptism of Tupiti is this Thursday. Who knows, maybe we'll have a few other random baptisms here before I leave!

Oh yeah, I'm finally leaving TAKAROA. Transfer calls were Friday. I'm leaving for Tautira, in Papeari, the presque ile of Tahiti. It will definitely be weird to be in an area with more than a couple hundred people, most of which are mormon. My new companion is Elder Murdock. Yes, the Elder Murdock whose last sector was TAKAROA. So I already know him, that's pretty cool. Because there is no room on the plane, I'm leaving in two weeks.

That's it for this week. Not much, but it's good. Here's a pensée spirituelle before I go:

D&C 121:20-21

20 Il y a une loi, irrévocablement décrétée dans les cieux avant la fondation de ce monde, sur laquelle reposent toutes les bénédictions;

21 Et lorsque nous obtenons une bénédiction quelconque de Dieu, c'est par l’obéissance à cette loi sur laquelle elle repose

This law is that if we want a blessing, we have to be obedient to a cetain commandment. Then God must bless us. Pretty simple, pretty cool. Think about what blessing you want, and then obey the commandment. I've seen that on my mission, and I know it works. If you read this, try it out. That's a challenge.   

Elder Lewis

Listen! Follow! You Will Receive Blessings!

I don't know what's happening this week other than that Satan is trying really hard here to stop our work. We've had a lot of success actually, but non of our baptisms seem to be working. Normally Pierre should have been baptized yesterday. At the beginning of this last week we were talking to him and he said that he might just want to push his baptism, that he didn't need to get baptized on the day we fixed. We kept talking and teaching, and we even had him do a baptismal interview. In the end, he still decided to wait. As for Kiai, due to the same reason her baptism was pushed for today, it's being pushed for next week, if at all. The problem is that we don't want to baptize someone who will become inactive as soon as she's baptized. She still wants to be baptized, so we'll see how that turns out. Also, now that Louis is baptized, we started teaching some of his sons. We set up a date for this thursday with the one who has progressed the most, but their mother isn't okay with the other two getting baptized yet. Anyway, something not so good happened in their family yesterday. I won't go into details, but it looks like we're going to wait for the baptism. I guess that's not too bad, though, because another brother has been progressing more and more too. Tupiti is the one most ready, but his little brother, Teremu is close. Yesterday we were teaching the two kids the commandments. I didn't know how well they would understand, but it went really well. We actually taught every commandment in the lessons and they could recite each one perfectly. We spent two hours over there, they wanted to keep going even after we had taught all the commandments. I hope things will start to work out better for that family. 

It was pretty cool teaching those kids the Plan of Salvation. At this point, only Tupiti really wanted to be baptized. We went through the Plan. We had to adapt from the way we normally teach so that they could understand. By the end, Both kids wanted to be baptized. After seeing all the blessings of God's plan, how can you reject it? It was then that we fixed their date for baptism. 

A funny moment in the middle of the lesson as we're teaching all the kids of Michel:

Vaea* (age 5): Je suis mormon, moi, pas catholique!

haha if only he was at the age of accountability!

Something strange happened, that I never thought I'd see. We fixed a baptism with Tita. I've been working with him since I came here and he was never progressing. Then all of a sudden, baptism fixed! I think that it was at least in part thanks to Thomas, the one who was baptized right before I came here. He has a really strong testimony and was in a similar situation to the one Tita is in right now. Anyway, we didn't even invite him, he just showed up to the lesson. You could tell that Tita wanted to impress him a little, that he looked up to Thomas who had overcome the same struggles. I think that, at least in part, Thomas's testimony and the change he made helped Tita to push forward. I can't forget, the Spirit was there, too! Anyway, Tita is now working to be baptized the 1st of September. 

Other than those big things, Aimee's husband's heart is softening little by little, we're finding some new amis, things are progressing little by little. It's sad to see that these baptisms are falling through, but it's cool to see the progress also.

Alright, that's it for this week. Things are good, the mission is great! I know that God is always there, and I know that we will be blessed if we listen to the Holy Ghost who will tell us all that we should do. I've seen the Holy Ghost in use a lot this week. Listen! Follow! You will recieve blessings!

Elder Lewis

You Reap What You Sow

This week was a weird one. Some days we had no success, some days we had a ton. There were only three days of the week where we had a lesson, yet we pulled off fourteen lessons by the end. Is that normal?

Tuesday, we just had our average lessons, nothing too exciting. We taught a good lesson with Tita. He hasn't done anything to change since I've gotten here, but we're motivating him enough to start trying to stop smoking. We talked to President Bize before he left on Tuesday. Apparently no body has ever gotten as many baptisms as we're getting on Takaroa before. Not bad. He also wants us to baptize Louis's kids before next week, so that will add two or three baptisms to the total. Also on Tuesday, we taught a lesson with an Amie and her son who came here for vacation from France. He took the lessons there, too. In the lesson, we couldn't stay on topic, he kept asking us these questions that I've never heard come out of a Tahitian before. Definitely Farani. I wonder if that was how a normal mission is, with investigators asking complicated questions. Here, the hardest question to answer is "Are we allowed to smoke while we're fasting?" or "'Who's the brother of Jesus?" I don't know why, but everyone likes to ask that second one.

The next few days we had no lessons, so we just contacted (or I should say recontacted) people. We finally got a hold of some really potential amis, who then rejected us. We've been trying to contact them for like a month now, and...nothing. That was disappointing. We also contacted the Catholic neighborhood en haut and saw their big shrine for the statue of Mary. That was pretty cool, even if those catholics did chase us out of there.

I don't know if I've mentioned this already, but Nunui is moving his marriage to Tahiti. I'm probably going to be transferred right before that, so maybe I'll happen to see his marriage, but it looks like I'm not going to be there for his baptism. Right now he just needs to gain a strong testimony and commit himself a little bit more, and he's there.

We taught Anne again. Man, it's hard getting a lesson with her. We taught the Plan of Salvation. She doesn't seem to have a really strong desire to be baptized or anything, but she's taking in everything we're saying. Again, the only problem after she gains a testimony is the parents...Lots of prayers for this one haha.

Here's some news with Kiai: Normally she should be baptized today, but due to a miscommunication, it's going to be next week. Don't worry, everything's good with that. She's ready and has a strong testimony. I can't wait for next week!

Other than that, there's not a whole lot of super exciting stuff. Heiva is still going on, we're doing some good missionary work. We've had some success, some let downs, but we pulled through in the end, so it ended up working out.

It's really cool seeing the success. I've been sowing, I've been digging, I've been thrusting in my sickle with all my might on Takaroa for six months, and I'm finally reaping the reward. It's such a blessing always to be able to help people come to Christ and change their lives. If I don't know that this church is true, I know that the fruits are good, and that by following the principles of the Gospel we can find a fullness of joy and peace in this life and an eternal life after this life. I love that I can help people achieve these blessings. E parau mau te Ekalesia!

Elder Lewis

Coprah contest 14 Juillet

You Reap What You Sow

This week was a weird one. Some days we had no success, some days we had a ton. There were only three days of the week where we had a lesson, yet we pulled off fourteen lessons by the end. Is that normal?

Tuesday, we just had our average lessons, nothing too exciting. We taught a good lesson with Tita. He hasn't done anything to change since I've gotten here, but we're motivating him enough to start trying to stop smoking. We talked to President Bize before he left on Tuesday. Apparently no body has ever gotten as many baptisms as we're getting on Takaroa before. Not bad. He also wants us to baptize Louis's kids before next week, so that will add two or three baptisms to the total. Also on Tuesday, we taught a lesson with an Amie and her son who came here for vacation from France. He took the lessons there, too. In the lesson, we couldn't stay on topic, he kept asking us these questions that I've never heard come out of a Tahitian before. Definitely Farani. I wonder if that was how a normal mission is, with investigators asking complicated questions. Here, the hardest question to answer is "Are we allowed to smoke while we're fasting?" or "'Who's the brother of Jesus?" I don't know why, but everyone likes to ask that second one.

The next few days we had no lessons, so we just contacted (or I should say recontacted) people. We finally got a hold of some really potential amis, who then rejected us. We've been trying to contact them for like a month now, and...nothing. That was disappointing. We also contacted the Catholic neighborhood en haut and saw their big shrine for the statue of Mary. That was pretty cool, even if those catholics did chase us out of there.

I don't know if I've mentioned this already, but Nunui is moving his marriage to Tahiti. I'm probably going to be transferred right before that, so maybe I'll happen to see his marriage, but it looks like I'm not going to be there for his baptism. Right now he just needs to gain a strong testimony and commit himself a little bit more, and he's there.

We taught Anne again. Man, it's hard getting a lesson with her. We taught the Plan of Salvation. She doesn't seem to have a really strong desire to be baptized or anything, but she's taking in everything we're saying. Again, the only problem after she gains a testimony is the parents...Lots of prayers for this one haha.

Here's some news with Kiai: Normally she should be baptized today, but due to a miscommunication, it's going to be next week. Don't worry, everything's good with that. She's ready and has a strong testimony. I can't wait for next week!

Other than that, there's not a whole lot of super exciting stuff. Heiva is still going on, we're doing some good missionary work. We've had some success, some let downs, but we pulled through in the end, so it ended up working out.

It's really cool seeing the success. I've been sowing, I've been digging, I've been thrusting in my sickle with all my might on Takaroa for six months, and I'm finally reaping the reward. It's such a blessing always to be able to help people come to Christ and change their lives. If I don't know that this church is true, I know that the fruits are good, and that by following the principles of the Gospel we can find a fullness of joy and peace in this life and an eternal life after this life. I love that I can help people achieve these blessings. E parau mau te Ekalesia!

Elder Lewis

Coprah contest 14 Juillet

You Reap What You Sow

This week was a weird one. Some days we had no success, some days we had a ton. There were only three days of the week where we had a lesson, yet we pulled off fourteen lessons by the end. Is that normal?

Tuesday, we just had our average lessons, nothing too exciting. We taught a good lesson with Tita. He hasn't done anything to change since I've gotten here, but we're motivating him enough to start trying to stop smoking. We talked to President Bize before he left on Tuesday. Apparently no body has ever gotten as many baptisms as we're getting on Takaroa before. Not bad. He also wants us to baptize Louis's kids before next week, so that will add two or three baptisms to the total. Also on Tuesday, we taught a lesson with an Amie and her son who came here for vacation from France. He took the lessons there, too. In the lesson, we couldn't stay on topic, he kept asking us these questions that I've never heard come out of a Tahitian before. Definitely Farani. I wonder if that was how a normal mission is, with investigators asking complicated questions. Here, the hardest question to answer is "Are we allowed to smoke while we're fasting?" or "'Who's the brother of Jesus?" I don't know why, but everyone likes to ask that second one.

The next few days we had no lessons, so we just contacted (or I should say recontacted) people. We finally got a hold of some really potential amis, who then rejected us. We've been trying to contact them for like a month now, and...nothing. That was disappointing. We also contacted the Catholic neighborhood en haut and saw their big shrine for the statue of Mary. That was pretty cool, even if those catholics did chase us out of there.

I don't know if I've mentioned this already, but Nunui is moving his marriage to Tahiti. I'm probably going to be transferred right before that, so maybe I'll happen to see his marriage, but it looks like I'm not going to be there for his baptism. Right now he just needs to gain a strong testimony and commit himself a little bit more, and he's there.

We taught Anne again. Man, it's hard getting a lesson with her. We taught the Plan of Salvation. She doesn't seem to have a really strong desire to be baptized or anything, but she's taking in everything we're saying. Again, the only problem after she gains a testimony is the parents...Lots of prayers for this one haha.

Here's some news with Kiai: Normally she should be baptized today, but due to a miscommunication, it's going to be next week. Don't worry, everything's good with that. She's ready and has a strong testimony. I can't wait for next week!

Other than that, there's not a whole lot of super exciting stuff. Heiva is still going on, we're doing some good missionary work. We've had some success, some let downs, but we pulled through in the end, so it ended up working out.

It's really cool seeing the success. I've been sowing, I've been digging, I've been thrusting in my sickle with all my might on Takaroa for six months, and I'm finally reaping the reward. It's such a blessing always to be able to help people come to Christ and change their lives. If I don't know that this church is true, I know that the fruits are good, and that by following the principles of the Gospel we can find a fullness of joy and peace in this life and an eternal life after this life. I love that I can help people achieve these blessings. E parau mau te Ekalesia!

Elder Lewis

Coprah contest 14 Juillet

Surprise!

This week was fun. There were some days where we had no success, some days where it worked out all right. We had a baptism this week. I'll start form the beginning.

We taught our last few lessons with Ahomana before he left for Tahiti. We were able to teach him most of the lessons and watch as his testimony strengthened a ton. The last lesson we taught, the spirit was super strong. I'm happy with what we were able to do, even if we don't see it through to the end. We got a picture with him before he left. He's back in Faaa right in Elder Terry's new sector, so maybe he will be able to continue and get baptized there. 

The Heiva started this week. Activities each day: basket, volley, beach soccer. Friday and Saturday were cultural days where we saw Tahitian dancing, there was a contest for Mr and Mrs Takaroa, as well as bike and running races. It's nice to participate in these. Stay active, have fun, eat well (there are lots of food stands, we'll be eating there throughout July) and gaining new investigators. So far we've gained one investigator, a nine year old girl who will only do lessons if Moeava is there. The problem with that is that Moeava has stopped lessons for a while. We  talked to her, and she agreed to be the "member integrator" for Hinatea*, but she doesn't want the lessons. 

Nunui is getting closer for baptism. He's having his marriage in Tahiti, so I'll miss that, and it looks 

like I'll miss his baptism too (I'm probably leaving at the end of July). Right now we're just helping him to remember all the commandments, and after that, he's ready.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned Teiki*, our new eight year old investigator. He's the grandson of Akamai. We started lessons, but he was timid, so we just stuck to becoming friends with him. We talk to him as he's octopus hunting, we give him popcorn at the Heiva, just hang out with him. He's opened up a lot more, so we tried the lessons again. This last time, we taught him how to pray. It's a start! It will take some time, but he'll come along.

Saturday is where things went crazy. Our first lesson was with Louis at 8:00. We go over there and find him sitting on a chair outside talking on a phone crying with his wife standing next to him. Right as we came up, he hung up, stood up, shook our hands, and said "ça va?". He acted like nothing really happened. We were thinking that he had just received bad news. His wife explained that they weren't tears of sadnes, but tears of joy. He had just talked with his pure catholic dad about him getting baptized, and his dad said he would support him. I said last week that the big block was his wife, but a smaller one was his dad accepting, too. Oceane*, his wife, said that they'd take it slowly, but it was a step for Louis. So we went and did the lesson with Louis. Towards the end of the lesson, he had one of his kids call his wife over, because it was urgent, and as his wife came over, he kept talking, not acknowledging that she was even there. The whole time I was thinking "What is it? What is he going to tell her? I figured he might just straight up tell her he was getting baptized, whether or not she agreed. Finally he told us that  yes, he was getting baptized. Today. Not tomorrow not monday, not tuesday, today. His wife said that when she saw his reaction to his dad, she was afraid, and realized that what Louis wanted to do is good. So she accepted. 

Then Louis told us that someone had mentioned that Pres. Bize was coming today (yeah, it was us #TGforeknowledge) and he only wanted that Pres. Bize baptise him. Back in February, Pres. Bize had come for a conference and talked to Louis, back when he still hadn't completely opened his heart to our message, and gave him some inspiring advice that Louis quotes all the time now. Ever since then, he's wanted that Pres. Bize does the baptism. So last week, we threw it in there that he would be coming. Anyway, we raced up to talk to the branch president, and we confirmed that we could do the baptism that day. We called the mission president and told him to bring his baptismal clothes. The rest of the day we rushed around between doing lessons and setting up the baptism. President Bize arrived, and an hour later we had his baptism. Louis bore his testimony at the end, and It was awesome! Definitely ready. And it was also cool because he didn't know the programme, he didn't know what to do, he just wanted to be baptized. And he didn't want to wait.

So now, Louis is baptized, his wife is coming back and following her husband, their three kids who are over eight will start the lessons. At least one of them has wanted to be baptized for a while, but couldn't. He was at a youth conference, and the baptism became a part of the conference. So he saw his dad baptized, a total surprise, and now he can, too. So many miracles happened right there. I'm so glad I got to witness all that happening. 

I know that God has a plan for us. We need to search for it, and we can find our purpose. I know that I'm supposed to be here right now, helping the people of Takaroa come unto Christ. I know that there is one way that we can be truly happy in this life and the life after, and that is through the gate, which is baptism. Then we are on the path that leads to Eternal Life. Then we will be able to recieve all the blessings that Father has in store for us. Then we will see God's plan for us unfold before our eyes. I was able to witness someone enter this gate and start on the path to happiness. I know that through Jesus Christ and His Atonement, we can all be saved and enter God's rest. I'm a missionary called of God to help people achieve theses blessings, and I know that what I'm doing here is right. 

Anyway, that's it for this week. We're making progress, more baptisms on the way. This work is great.

Elder Lewis

Last lesson with Ahomana

Go team Nanako! for the Heiva

Michel won Mr Takaroa friday night, baptised saturday night

Baptism pics

Not Bad, Eh?

Yeah, this week was a little crazy, like last week. We only had one day where we were able to do our studies in the morning. We often ride bikes for thirty minutes to go to one lesson, then go back thirty minutes the other way for our next lesson. Lots of rain, too, which doesn't help. But either way, the Lord is with us, and we have success.

On tuesday we went to another baptism. This time it was James* baptising. I don't know if I've written a whole lot about James, but he's a former inactif that we taught when I first came here. It's cool to see him baptising his son now!

Also on Tuesday we started teaching Ahomana*. Last week he got a blessing, and this week we started teaching him. We've taught him almost every day this week and we're there for about two hours each time. He's catholic, although not very active. Each lesson he goes on for a long time, talking about all the things that God has done to help him in his life. He definitely has faith in God. We've taught him the first three lessons now, and we gave him the LdM and some brochures. He read the brochures and started the LdM. As we teach, he's sincerely seeking to learn and accepts everything we teach. I honestly can't tell about everything with him, but I'll try to give some highlights.

When we gave him the LdM, he held it in his hands, and said that he could tell that this book is sacred.

He talked about his desire to go the the Celestial Kingdom, and doesn't want to go to any others.

He calls us "Les anges du Seigneur".

He talks about how god gives him whatever he asks for- outrigger canoe, motorcycle, winning vaa races, stuff like that. He said it took like nine years for the vaa, but he got it in the end. haha!

Since the baptism, James has been feeding us more. He brought up that he would get a goat, and when we said that we had never eaten goat, he invited us over to eat it. Then he found out that I hadn't eaten fafaru before, so he invited us over again for Fafaru and breadfruit. If you don't know what Fafaru is, you ferment fish in sea water basically. It does NOT smell good, but it doesn't taste that bad.

Things are going well with Aimee. We talked about fasting and invited her to fast this Sunday. She agreed. She said that she's been bringing up baptism to her husband every once in a while. She really wants to get baptized. so we fasted for her and her husband. We're hoping that her husband's heart will start to soften and we can help her get baptized. It's a good thing we wouldn't let her stop lessons with us!

That's actually the same situation with Louis. He's trying to talk more and more to his wife, trying to get her to accept his baptism. Man, if it weren't for family, we'd have four baptisms before the week is over!

Saturday was probably the most successful day on my mission. We had eight lessons planned throughout the day, and came home that night having done nine lessons. Rarely, if ever, have I had every lesson I had planned. Not bad, eh? 

We also finally got our first lesson in with the sister of Moeava-Anne. It was actually in our class for PME. Moeava normally comes to that, but she didn't come that day. Someone went to get her and came back with her and Anne. Sweet! We've been trying to start lessons with her for the past month maybe, everyday going to her house, but having no success (she's pretty shy, and generally won't come out of her house). And the one time that we don't try to do a lesson with her, she shows up. So we taught two investigators how to be a missionary. We're also hoping that when both Anne and Moeava try to get baptized, the father will soften his heart and let them both get baptized. 

This week has been long, eventful, exhausting, and rewarding. We're getting really close with a lot of baptisms, just not quite there. I think with a little more time, Takaroa will explode with baptisms. Hopefully I'll still be here for that!

A Crazy Week!

Iaorana. 

As you have probably seen from the last few emails, the work here has been really suffering. We've been losing investigators, no one is progressing. We did have some success like getting Moeava to pray for the first time. Yeah... We were going hard for her baptism a few months ago, then found out that she had never prayed in her life. So basically every lesson-two or three times a week-since then, we've been trying to get her to pray. It's been hard, but we finally got her to do it on Elder Terry's last lesson with her. 

Anyway, so because there hasn't been much work for either sector on Takaroa President Bize has made some changes. He took off two of the Elders and stuck me with Elder Nelson (the red head in all the pictures) to handle both branches here. We've already worked together before, so it won't be too hard to get adjusted. And then due to an emergency transfer Elder Terry left a week early for Takapoto, leaving three elders here. Then on Wednesday Elder Terry came back on his way to Tahiti so we got to see him again for ten minutes before the two elders left for good.

Also that day we set up a baptism. Kiaii*, an investigator from the other sector, who I've taught a few times before, came to the airport and told us. Here's how it happened:

We found a great way to set up baptismal dates. Tahitians are very hesitant to do that, even if they want to be baptized. They like specific, meaningful dates, like their mother's birthday, or Christmas, or the anniversary of their second cousin's death. So you give the ami a calendar of the next month. You have them pray over it and then point at the calendar with their eyes closed. Whatever date they point to is the one that they are meant to have for their baptism. So Kiaii did that and we set her date for the 18th of July. It's a start to my goal of having six baptisms before I leave Takaroa.

From that moment on, we saw more and more miracles. We found some new investigators. One is the beau-fils of an old investigator who got a blessing from us and asked for the lessons. 

We taught Aimee. With her she keeps saying that she doesn't want the lessons anymore and we tell her we will once she prays to know if the church is true. She still hasn't done that, so we keep coming back. And she loves talking to us, I don't know why she says to not come back. But she's developed the habit of coming to church each sunday. She asked for a book about Pres. Hunter's teachings in Tahitian so she could study for Relief Society. So all in all, I'm not entirely sure if it's going well with her.

Things are going really good with Nunui. His testimony has jumped a ton in the past few weeks. He always thanks us for doing lessons and helping him get married so he can keep the law of chastity or helping him to receive other blessings that he's gotten from more fully living the Gospel. It's crazy to think that this guy who didn't even believe in God six months ago now has a firm testimony in Him and wants to be baptized. Right now he just wants to make sure that he's prepared before he chooses a date, but we're pushing for his marriage date, August 4th.  He's so close!

Pierre*, an ami of the other elders also, is ready for baptism. He had stopped drinking and smoking cigarettes a year ago, and finally due to a fast he did a month ago, let go of marijuana also. Since he stopped that, he's progressed a lot! We tried the same thing to set up his baptism-praying with the Calendar. When we got back to him yesterday after church, He immediately started talking about his experience. He told us that he had prayed, even though he really didn't want to, but he hadn't used the Calendar. But when he prayed, he felt a huge warmth and knew that it was good. Then at church that day, some people had said things throughout the meeting that relieved him of some of his worries. Basically in the end, he said that he would be a member by next year. 

So while he was talking, I said a little prayer, asking for the words to say in order to fix a date right then, because I knew it wasn't going to be easy now, he had just rejected choosing a date. Right then, Elder Nelson said "so, what do you think of the 24th of July for your baptism?" Pierre agreed right then without hesitation. Woah! After the lesson, I mentioned the little prayer that I had given and how right after I said the prayer, he had engaged. E. Nelson said that right then, Pierre had paused from what he was saying and  he felt an urge to engage him. Woah! Miracles happen! I prayed for an opportunity, Pierre probably felt that he needed to stop talking briefly, and E. Nelson felt that he should engage. Thanks to us all acting on the spirit, we got another baptism fixed. 

It reminds me a little of the story of Nephi when he's tied in cords by his brothers who will leave him to die. He prays so that he can have the strength to burst the cords. And when he prays, the cords were just loosed from around his wrists. Sometimes we ask for bigger blessings, bigger miracles, but God know's what we need, and sometimes that's the smaller blessing. In this case I asked for fancy words, but all we needed was the spirit and a simple engagement.

Another Ami, Louis*, from branche 2 also, is ready for baptism. He told us about his LdM reading and his notes. He said that he had read it all in a month, then thought for a second, and then said it was more like eight days ago that he started. And his notes were really good, too. Anyway, his wife, who is inactive and converted Catholic like her husband, doesn't want him to get baptized. It's really only her that's preventing his baptism, so we're working on that. Also, he basically said that he only wants Pres. Bize to baptize him. And what chance! Prs Bize is coming in about a week to oversee the youth Conference here. So who knows...

We got quite a few references this week. We talked to Moeava for ten minutes and got a million and five references from her. We'll be looking into those. It's weird, but we get more references out of investigators than members.

We taught Akamai. Comme d'hab he talked about nonsense and we spent a total of about forty seconds talking about our lesson. And we were there for an hour and a half. And he made us eat leaves. He was talking about plants and there medicinal uses and next thing we know he's got a leaf that he's chewing in his mouth, and offering us some. Oh, man... He did give us some references, though, so not entirely bad.

We also just went to a baptism (not convert) where I was able to confirm him a member and give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Super cool feeling. A nice way to end the week.

Okay, I'm pretty sure that I missed a ton of stuff, and I don't know if this is very understandable, but we've had a really successful week, and things are looking good here. It's been crazy, and we've been scrambling every day to figure out how things are going to work here, but it seems to be working out.The church is true!!

Elder Lewis

Parting pics with Elder Terry. I do have conjunctivitis in these pictures

Some pictures of the house (now that I don't live there anymore)

Saying bye to Elder Clements after a week as a trio

The plane came from Takapoto so we saw Elder Terry again for a few minutes. This pic is assorted members and investigators. In between me and Elder Clements is Pierre.

The four missionaries and Kiaii

Pics from the highest point on the island-la chapelle mormon. In the last photo you can see part of Takapoto far off in the distance

No E-mail

There's no big email from Elder Lewis this week but I thought I'd fill in the gap by posting a few things he sent to his mother.

In regards to getting sand in his shoes:  Everyday, multiple times. And it's annoying with my sandals because they are ridged on the edges, so sand can't just fall through the cracks. I have to turn my shoe upside down. Fiu!

His favorite Tahitian food:  Probably sashimi. I guess that's not actually Tahitian food, but they eat it all the time. Maybe poulet citron? breaded chicken with a lemon sauce and rice. Anything with fish is good too.

His favorite missionary teaching experience:  I can't really think of a certain one from all my mission, I'll have to think about that one. But there have been a few times where my companion and I have shared testimonies using personal experiences and the spirit comes in strong, then we testify of God's love for that person and you can see them gain understanding and knowledge, remembering things they knew at one point before they were born. That's really cool to see.

In regards to coconut water:  With the coco water, it's disgusting at first, but you just gotta keep drinking it. At one point, it will become the most delicious taste!  After like twenty, thirty times, it suddenly tastes amazing. Yeah, I hit that point a few months ago. I just couldn't drink it at first.

It's Only Through Christ That We Can Be Saved

Iaorana tatou!

The work is still struggling here a bit but it's not entirely bad.  We've spent a lot of time finding people true desires- to stop smoking, to get baptised, etc. Sadly, there are some that openly will say that they want to be better, that they want to change, but inside they don't really want that. We have seen some good progress though!

Things are going better with Beau. We've talked a lot about prayer and persevering in the gospel and the blessings we can recieve. We've been trying to get him to pray, and we finally did! Each time he says that he's not ready, but he'll try to do it on his own. Then he did it! He warned us that it wouldn't be long, but he'd try. than he gave a short but pretty meaningful prayer. After, he admitted that he had been thinking all day about what he would say. haha dedication right there!  

At church this week we had some unexpected investigators. We had six show up, probably the most I've seen at Takaroa, and five were ones that never come. Aimee, her grandson, Anne (Moeava's sister, we still haven't managed to start lessons with her though), Mahana. Let's hope these experiences will strengthen their desires to get baptised.

Honestly, not many other exciting things have happened this week, we're just continuing the work.  The weather's cooling down, July fetes are going to start in the next few weeks, and around then the island will come alive. 

Sorry there's not much  this week, maybe next time. Have a good week everybody. Remember that the church is true and that it's only through Christ that we can be saved.

Elder Lewis

They cut a bunch of trees down to put in houses, so we took the chance to get coeur de cocotier. It's pretty good in salads

 

And we drank coco 

And ate some

 

Made some onion rings and burgers (if you can really call it that)

Pressing Forward in Faith

Hey everyone! We're starting to pick up the work again over here. We've seen lots of blessings this week.

There has been lots of improvement with Nunui. He works more now and is not always there for the lessons, so our progress has been slow with him recently. But this week we found him again. We taught him and his girlfriend about the temple. They've chosen the fourth of august for their marriage. It's not for sure going to happen then, but that's the plan. They don't want help from the church or anything. At the end of that lesson, Nunui asked Elder Terry if he could borrow his sneakers for futsal. Elder Terry had been planning on giving them to him, so he did right then. I've never seen a look of more joy on his face when he found out he would be getting free nikes! Now he's best friends with Elder Terry, which is pretty good for the missionary work.

A few days later we taught them again, this time about the word of wisdom. Basically anyone who isn't an active member of the church smokes and drinks, so we decided to get that out of the way early to help him really prepare for his baptism. We talked for twenty minutes and by then he gave a huge nod and a loud yes! that he would keep the follow the word of wisdom. Woah! That's the first time on my mission that someone has agreed to do that! What a blessing! He's really ready, it's just a matter of time, and we're trying to set up his baptism date for the same day as his marriage.

Jean*, our member integrator for Beau, and also an inactif, has made a lot of progress. He was touched by a lesson we gave about a month ago and from that moment on stopped smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol. Paka was a little harder but two weeks later he quit that also and went and talked to president.  We're super excited for him! He's working on getting the priesthood soon.

We also taught Adrien, another inactif, about faith and the things that God can do through our faith. A while ago he stopped smoking cigarettes completely, but stopping paka is really hard for him. It was cool to see his understanding grow as we taught and he gained an even stronger desire to stop, and to show God that he has faith in him, to show god his works so that God will give him help. I wish all of us had that mentality all the time.

Saturday is normally our best day with about nine lessons planned. They're starting to fall apart. We're losing some investigators, like Mahana and Mafatu, but this Saturday ended up well. We had a list that DMB gave us of the nonmembers of the island, so we had him give us directions to some of them. He gave us seven references, and five worked out. Not bad!

The first was Sasa'e and her sister. They're Catholics who went to an open house for the church and are interested. They were really excited to do the lessons. Then, Sasa'e asked me if I could speak Tahitian. She asked me that because her father (who happens to be Akamai's brother) only speaks Tahitan. She said that he had talked with Akamai who had talked about some of the lessons we had done with him. That perked his curiosity and he wants to learn more. I'm amazed because the person who did the missionary work here was Akamai, the same Akamai with whom we spent an entire lesson the other week explaining that God isn't the Sun. But hey, no complaints.

The next person we found was Lael*. We actually shared a message one time with him, but he didn't know if he was interseted yet. This time he gladly set up a date and let us help him with his coprah. He's Aimee's son-in-law, by the way. The fifth was Maaravi, who happens to be Sasa'e's husband. He wasn't as willing as the others, but he accepted anyway. We did coprah with him, too.

It's so cool to see God work miracles here on this little island. He's leading us to make a difference here, and I'm so grateful to have him on my side. Hopefully as time goes by these people who have desires to do good will finally make the covenants with God that will allow them to enter the Celestial Kingdom.

That's it for this week! E parau mau te Ekalesia!

Elder Lewis

Boat photos

Plenty of boat pictures

I think it's working!

They just love having the elders perform

pork cooked underground, maa Tahiti

coco crab

haha

One of the monthly boats