Oaoa Noela! (Merry Christmas!)

 This week was pretty good. We had two baptisms, my first of the mission! For Luc's baptism, I was going to give a talk on baptism, but the other speaker did instead, which left me about two minutes to scramble together thoughts on the gift of the Holy Ghost. We also had Alain's wedding and then baptism. Then, this Saturday we have Rava's baptism. Yeah!

This week we contacted in the middle of a drug deal. We went up to these two guys and started talking. Then we noticed they were smoking. As we were talking, one of them walked behind us, sold some drugs to someone else, and then booked it on his pink bike. That was a fun experience.

This Sunday we picked up a mini missionary, our next door neighbor. He'll be with us for the next three weeks, so hopefully we'll be able to pick up the work and get more investigators, because everyone wants to sleep and get drunk over the Holidays and we're losing a lot of people until after the Holidays. We were able to attend his ward for Sacrament meeting and the Christmas program, then pick him up after he was set apart, and go to our ward's Christmas program where all the primary kids sang. It was adorable when this little (maybe four or five years old) kid got all emotional in his solo and started crying. I started feeling the Christmas spirit from that point on. Some of the primary kids also made us some treats, so that made my day.

I've been studying a lot in General Conference talks and the scriptures about faith. I really love that topic. What I've found out is that having the desire to believe will lead to faith. With faith we can perform miracles, but it's after our faith that God shows us miracles. The scriptures say that if we have the faith the size of a seed, we could command a mountain to move. I'm pretty sure most of us have at least that much faith. So why don't we move mountains? Because we don't think we're able to. We're lacking faith in ourselves even though we have enough faith to work miracles. My challenge is for everyone to find the faith to work miracles. And it all starts with the desire.

I've also thought about families a lot and the importance of gospel centered families. It's extremely important that parents teach their kids from an early age to build a testimony. From Family Home Evening to daily scripture study to sincere prayers to seeking spiritual knowledge. We were sent here to become like God and the family can really help us get there.

So those are my thoughts for this week. I know that God has a plan for us and that he is always waiting for us to search, through scriptures or prayer, and he wants to give us the answers we're looking for. I know that the gospel truly makes you happy, and that nothing in this word can come close to giving you a successful, happy life than the word of God. I know that God lives. I know that he loves us. I know that as we strive to obey all of his commandments, the windows of Heaven will be poured out upon us. I know that if we have faith we can work miracles.

I'm like Alma right now, wanting to preach the word of God to everyone and letting everyone feel of the love, joy, and peace that I feel, but I'm satisfied with my calling to teach the people in Tahiti. I have complete faith in the Savior and his saving and helping power for each of us.

Merry Christmas!

Elder Lewis

Fruit from the tree of life! Just kidding, it's lychee.

Random horse on the side of the road.

On the bathroom doors of our church...

Luc's baptism

Sisters stole my camera.

Aito (Warrior)

Baptism/marriage lunch: potatoes, noodles, potatoes, potatoes, chicken. I think you get the gist of Tahitian food now

Primary kids gave me this

Me and a tortoise in a botanical garden 

A giant...raspberry?

"I was glad to have been an answer to her prayers."

This week we started a new investigator, Teremu*. He's old and only speaks Tahitian. So, my first lessons in Tahitian were this week. We had a translator for us, so it wasn't too hard. He's protestant and has some crazy beliefs about our church and basically everything. His idea of prophets is: warriors with spears who kill people who are disobedient. We're not sure if he really understands what we teach, but he's awesome.

We had a father and sons activity. It started 45 minutes after it was supposed to because no one showed up, but it was really fun. There were activities like: Having a father and son sit up front and someone holds a paper above their head with a word. Through hints from the rest, they try to guess the word. Tie tying contests. A game where the dads are blindfolded and go through the sons seated in a row, only feeling their heads, and trying to find their son. I did this one. It was funny as Elder Millerberg feels the head of a kid a few seats down, and goes "Voila!" We never did activities like this back home, and it shows that using no money, you can have a blast. And we did. Everyone loved it.

God worked a few miracles this week. We got a lesson canceled, so we went to visit Jordan*, an investigator I haven't met yet. We set up a lesson with him, and as we were leaving, I felt like I shuold go down the street where a few kids were playing. Elder Millerberg had the same impression, because he stopped going towards the car and suggested we go that way. There was a house that belinged to an inactive family. We asked one of the kids if the parents were home, and he brought out his mom. We started talking to her, and she explained that she was inactive. She also said that that morning she had prayed, asking God to bring her good people that will motivate her and her family. Then we showed up. It was a super cool experience. I'm glad to have been an answer to her prayers, and I'm glad God lead us there. I'm also glad to help this entire family become more active.

Later that day, we taught Etienne*, a smart politician, also my first time teaching him. His big problem was with faith. I pulled out a scripture that I've really come to love- Alma 32:27 It fit his situation perfectly. He decided to keep reading the next few verses, and I explained that any time he feels something good, it comes from God. He talked about how he had goosebumps, and we explained that that was what we were talking about. It was awesome how that scripture was fulfilled right then and there.

We had some steak for dinner one night. It was the most raw steak I've ever eaten, with less than a millimeter of brown meat on the outside. Delicious though. Oh, speaking of food, I remembered my other thought that I forgot  last week. Fish is WAY better raw, here. They just don't make good fish cooked. So if anyone ever comes here, make sure you go raw over cooked.

We did lose an investigator, Marc*, this week. He loves us coming over, but hasn't stopped smoking, and that's the only thing holding him back. We talked about eternal life, and he said he wanted it. I asked if he would give up smoking to have it. He said no. So close.

At another faatamaaraa, there were these two seven year old girls and an eight year old boy who were adorable! They did most of the talking. At one point they were naming all the planets, and one girl said "Rurutu!" Close, but not quite. The girls also showed me their secret handshake, so I'm in.

Do you want to get a gist of Tahiti? We were contacting in the blazing hot sun. A little down the Island, there were rain clouds and we could hear thunder. How does that even happen?

We had a Christmas party that started an hour and a half after it was supposed to. I have a picture of the food. It was really good, and a lot of investigators showed up. I think they had an entire pig, and maybe two, for the meal. I did have to explain that as a missionary I can't dance with them.

I learned stick shift, and sorry Dad, but Elder Millerberg did a better job than you. I ended up driving on the road (because it's basically just one long road), and it all of a sudden started POURING rain. Pouring. That was a fun experience.

We taught Rava. We talked for a while, then ended because she had to go. But we ended up staying, and the conversation shifted to baptism. I gave her some scriptures on baptism, then drew my little drawing. I asked her what she would do to get into the celestial kingdom, and she said repent. I told her that was good, but not enough, and she (a little grudgingly) said baptism. So I committed her. And she said yes. I asked her if she would prepare for the 26th and she agreed. Immediately after the lesson, Liline from outside said: So when's the baptism?

Rava told her that I chose the 26th, then Liline asked "And are you ready?" Tiarere said that she was. Yes!! After so long working with her, it's finally going to happen!

Well, that's about it for this week! It's been full of really cool experiences. The Lord really will answer prayers and he will help you with your problems. Trust in Him and have faith, and you will work miracles. I know that that is true.

love,
Elder Lewis

Some random pictures of our house.

We sleep with fans on us to keep us cool throughout the night. It's our only source of cool air (no A/C)

our coconut tree

Almost all the church buildings are like this: With a courtyard in the middle and all windows and doors always open

We found some eggs, and then a lizard who guarded the eggs for a while

Banana trees off the side of the road

Little bananas on the bottom starting to grow

The owners were going to let it die so we took it in. Just a kitten

A one foot tall wax Santa candle thing

Ward Christmas Party pictures

This picture doesn't do the amount of food justice, but look in comparison with the cups. Here's the math. Normal plate: 7" in diameter, this plate: 10" in diameter. Two 7" circles= slightly less area than one 10" circle. This amount of rice would completely fill a normal sized plate.

The Christmas meal consisted of pasta, rice, more pasta, mashed potatoes, chicken, and pork. That's a Tahitian meal for ya

Rava wanted a picture at the Ward Christmas Party

Here's a good close up

Us with Luc at the Christmas party

Some cool sunset pics

Some fruit

Some weird things we found at the store

I'm rich!!!

'Tis The Season to Be...In Paradise

Iaorana everyone!

This week hasn't been super eventful. We managed to get out of the car and walk around. We chose the best days, too. Super hot. We were constantly pouring sweat, but it was worth it (also I can't complain because most missionaries don't have a car with A/C). We had a reference for a girl named Manihi* a few weeks ago, but our first lesson appointment kept getting canceled until now.

We taught her with a member, and she had a friend come and listen too. I don't know if this is how everyone does it, or just my companion, but we use the How to Begin Teaching points, and basically set up a next appointment. Not really teaching for the first lesson. Also, That morning for studies, I had studied the Plan of Salvation for a lesson or two that day. I got confused and thought we were teaching it to Manihi, and when Elder Millerberg set me up perfectly to start talking about the first question, Where do we come from, I went for it. Elder Millerberg just went with it and talked about the second question, why are we here. At the end of the lesson, Manihi kept talking about a warm feeling she felt, and asked us what it was. Hmm, well that would be the Holy Ghost. Yeah!

 So Elder Millerberg explained that, and she kept talking about how good she felt. She said that whenever she talked about the gospel she felt that way. Score! So we set up more lessons with both of them. They both basically want to talk to us every day. We also contacted her boyfriend a few days ago and set up lessons with him as well. 

Also when we went contacting, we found a seventeen year old who let us set up a time to teach him. We came to his house later for the lesson and he wasn't there. But his brother was, so we ended up teaching him, and setting up another appointment. While we were teaching him, his mother came and we talked to her for a little bit. She's super nice, and we'll try talking to her next time. The whole family is protestant, so they already believe in God. They're all super humble and nice. It's going to be awesome teaching them!

We do have some bad news this week. We have to drop her. In our lesson, she talked about how she needs to solve her problems by herself between her and God. She doesn't think it's fair for us to help her. Nooo!! That's why we're here! She prays really sincerely, she writes notes to remember our commitments, and is really trying to change. It's sad to see her go. 

The same day, though, we got a baptism set up. We had a lesson with Luc*. Luc is about fifty, and speaks more Tahitian then French. We teach him lessons, and he agrees with everything we say, and repeats some of the words. We've had the feeling that he doesn't really actually know what's going on. This is basically the conversation we had at the end of the lesson:

Luc: I was talking with someone yesterday about baptism, and I was wondering when I can be baptized.

Elder Millerberg: Uhh... the 26th?

Luc: Okay, let's do that!

We were a little flustered. We had no idea he knew what was going on.We ended up pushing it sooner to the 18th because he's ready. We went through the baptismal interview questions and he's good. He came to church this Sunday. He kind of hung around us at first until he got more courage, then went up to some guy, shook his hand, and started talking to him. We let him go after that. During the second hour, the class with investigators, we talked about prayer. Liline taught the class and repeated what she said in Tahitian so he could understand better. At one point, she asked the question: What are some of the things we pray for?

Some people answered things like blessings, say what we're thankful for, and then Luc's hand shot up and he said "baptism!" Yeah, he's ready.

Also there was a French couple that came to church and went to that class. I don't think they've ever been to church before. I was paying attention to them, and could see some skepticism, but also some thoughtfulness as we shared experiences of prayer and talked about how it helps us.

We got to see the Christmas devotional Sunday night. It was really poor quality and the Tahitians kept trying to mess with it to fix the volume and stuff, so it cut off a few times. It was also in French, so I didn't get a whole lot out of it, but with what I did hear and understand, it was good.

So we've started to listen to Christmas music. We see Christmas decorations here and there. It's just not the same though without the snow, the family, the lights up everywhere. I may be listening to Christmas music, and it may be December, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm walking through palm trees, driving along the beach and ocean, getting tanned (and burned). But despite not really having Christmas, I'm still having a great time here.

Speaking of Christmas, I was studying in Helaman and 3rd Nephi. I read about all the prophets testifying of the Coming of Christ, and the people becoming righteous and wicked, until the coming of Christ. Everyone saw that all the signs the prophets had testified of were true and a ton of people repented and were baptized. That just shows a little about the big gift we get from Christmas. Just his birth in the world converted many. I also read up until his resurrection and coming to visit the Nephites.

It was really cool to see the events that took place there. They heard a voice in the heavens, powerful to shake the earth, yet a soft, loving voice. They heard it the third time: "Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name- hear ye him." Jesus descended and told the Nephites why he came to the earth. He let them feel the wounds in his hands and feet, and taught them, before returning to heaven. It really is a blessing, the gift we got for Christmas two thousand years ago. We can repent of our sins because of his Atonement. I'm trying really hard to use that gift as much as I can.

Okay, that's about it. Oh, actually just a few things I've noticed here: Food is really expensive. A box of cereal: $5.50. About a liter of milk: $3.50. A small can of tuna: $3.00-$4.00 You can get a bottle of flavoring for water for $15. It's crazy.

Okay, I completely forgot the other thing. Maybe next time.

Have a good week everybody, and stay on the Lord's side. Use the Christmas gift. I love the Gospel!

Elder Lewis

C'est la Vie!

Salut!

This week was kind of hard. We lost a few investigators (when I was on splits somewhere else, nonetheless), and a lot of our investigators aren't progressing. A typical lesson is following up on the commitments, and they didn't do any of them. We might ask an investigator if they read a certain chapter.They say yes, and when we ask them what they learned, they quickly skim the chapter and say something based on that. Then through the lessons, they agree with everything we say, and on to the commitments again that they never do. It can get frustrating. But we've been teaching a lot on how it's important to read an follow the commitments, and I think that will help.

We do have a set baptismal date on the 19th. He's a Belgian guy named Alain*. He's getting married to a Tahitian the same day he's getting baptized. Everyone thinks he's a member already. He knows a lot, goes to church each week, and is getting to know all the members.

We also have a few more. We have Palila* (who I committed to baptism my first day) who is deciding a date, Rava* who also just needs to decide a date, Vairea* who is living with her husband.  We offered her a new house to live in, but she refused. As soon as we get her out, she will be ready for baptism. We also have Heiarii*, a seventeen year old who is starting to really understands what we teach. He accepted baptism already. We taught him a few days ago, and asked if he had any questions about baptism he said "Qu'est-ce que c'est, la baptème?" Well, it was good he asked. We explained it, and he's getting ready for it.

Right now we're trying hard to find new investigators. It's not going super well right now, but it will come.

On Thanksgiving, we had a faatamaaaraa for lunch. These people owned a restaurant, and they just had us eat there. We had steak and fish kebabs, poisson cru, french fries, and of course bread to go on the side. Delicious. That evening we went over to a member's house for another faatamaaraa. He's French, but also speaks English, so he usually talks to us in English. We had lasagna and baguettes. We then helped him make the Thanksgiving dinner for the next day that he invited us to. He invited a bunch of non-member friends and would strategically place us so we could talk to them and bring up the gospel a little bit. I made a pumpkin pie from scratch, which was pretty fun. I always wondered how you actually make them.

We had the feast the next day. Turkey, stuffing, green beans, quiche, french fries (yes, and sadly they replaced mashed potatoes), and other foods. For desert, we had apple pie, pumpkin pie (which didn't end up great, but not bad), brownies, root beer floats. It was awesome. Let me just say I'm thankful for food. I'm thankful for missionary work, for my family, for all the things I took for granted back home.

We visited members the other day, and one of them was the Maono family. I realized how much I've progressed. I had my first faatamaaraa at their house and  remember I couldn't understand anything, and I barely talked. This time I not only understood everything they said, but talked and joked around with them. It's amazing the things you can do through the spirit and the gift of tongues in particular.

Some fun stuff: for Pday today we played beach soccer. I got some nice burns just to spite all the people living in snow right now. Also, people are starting to prepare for a cyclone. It's been really stormy the past few days, and they say it will come soon. That would be pretty cool if I had an Elder Groberg experience.

Okay, one last thing for this week. Leslie* is the cousin of Rava. She's been with Rava for about three lessons, and we taught her her own lesson yesterday. We taught her about prophets and the Restoration. Elder Millerberg did most of the talking, and as we were wrapping up, he asked me if I had anything to say. I had been thinking about talking about prayer, so I did. I told her that this all probably sounds crazy, but through prayer she could know if it's true. We ended up talking for a while after that. Then Liline started talking. Hold on. Let me explain Liline. She's a member that has helped us a lot in finding people to teach. Tahina, a new convert, and Palila live there, along with a few others. Also, it was this house that we offered to Vairea.  Rava goes there all the time, and we teach a bunch of lessons there. So we were at Liline's house, and at the end, she started to talk. She talked about her conversion to the Church and testified of it's truthfulness. The spirit was strong already, and that bought it even more. Leslie asked for a Book of Mormon and we set up anther appointment. I think we can commit her to baptism soon and that will also make Rava choose a date, too.

With experiences like this you can't deny the truthfulness of the church. The church is true, The spirit testifies. God will always help us when we need it.

Faaitoito!

Elder Lewis

Woah!!!

This week has been crazy! The flight took FOREVER, first of all. As We were descending, Elder Edmunds and I were guessing the temperature. I got closer, and I was twelve degrees too cold. It was 85°. As I walked out of the plane, I was hit with a blast of humidity. We went in the airport and we were the only ones there, unlike LAX, the airport we left from. We walked out and were greeted by a bunch of people and heis (a hei is a Tahitian lei). I realized that at some point in that jumble I shook the mission President's hand, and before I knew it we were in a car headed for the temple. We stayed in the temple housing for the night, and I woke up at 3:30 to roosters. The sun rose at about 4:30 and we walked up to the President's house for breakfast. We had bread with Nutella, hot chocolate, Kool-Aid. Very Tahitian. Just kidding. We also had croissants and Tahitian bananas which are WAY better than American bananas. We talked with the President, had lunch, which was slightly more Tahitian: bread, rice, a sauce with potatoes and meat, and a corn, lettuce, carrot salad. Delicious. After talking some more, the trainers came in. We had a map showing where the trainer would go, then the Trainee would be called and come up. My new companion is Elder Millerberg. He's been out for 18 months, and he's from Utah. He's super cool.Out of all of us, we're the only companionship with a car. I had three hopes:

1. to have a Tahitian companion

2. to be a bike mission(I don't want to get too fat)

3. to serve in an outer island

I got none of it, but that's okay because I love the mission anyway. I'm serving in Papara. I think there are six of us on Tahiti and the others in our district are in other islands.

That night, we split up and I went with my new companion. He said that we were teaching an investigator and that I was going to commit her to baptism. The lesson was on baptism. At the end, I talked about baptizing my little sister, and then committed her. She said yes. We walked away, and my companion acted like nothing unusual happened. I was pretty excited.

For dinner, we had a dinner appointment, a faatamaaraa, get cancelled, so we were dropped off some rice and chow mein. Again, what a Tahitian meal. That's the end of day one. I won't go into detail with the other days, but we've continued to teach investigators, and we have a few who just need to decide when they will be baptized.

 A few days ago we were looking for people to visit with the DMP (ward mission leader). We ended up talking with this mami for I think an hour and a half. She mumbled and talked quietly, so even if I could understand the language I had no idea what she was saying. Elder Millerberg told me at the end that she told the same story six times. That's a Tahitian in a nutshell. They can just go off for a while, not talking about anything in particular. it's hilarious!

Some of the biggest things I noticed here are the nature, the culture, the animals.

It's super green here. We have a  coconut tree in our yard, and a banana tree is trying to grow. The ocean is beautiful, the scenery is beautiful, the mountains are awesome. They're sheer and have lots of waterfalls in them.

The animals. There are lots of animals that roam-chickens, cats, dogs. Very few of the animals are friendly or are clean, so you usually stay away from them. The dogs are afraid of humans and hate them, so they sometimes chase you. You just pretend to pick up a rock and they will run away. They also walk wherever, so you just drive and they will move if they don't want to be run over.

The culture. Take off shoes before going in someone's house. Every time. All the windows and doors are always open, so usually it's slightly warmer inside because the hot air doesn't escape as well. Driving cars is weird. You just avoid hitting things and you're good. Everyone likes to run in Tahiti, so lots of people are on the side of the roads. You just try to avoid them in a car.

On Thursday I got to go to the temple. It's super small. I had a translating device but ended up just listening in french. I'm pretty proud of myself. Oh, speaking of languages, that's pretty hard for me right now. I've been trying to figure out why I could understand french before, but I'm lost right now. I'm thinking it has to do with the accent, the fact that they mumble more than a french person. I think a big thing though is the fact that I've been learning to teach people the gospel, not have conversations, so that's something I'm starting to work on. I can't communicate as well when I'm not actually teaching a lesson. For lessons and stuff Elder Millerberg does most of the talking and I basically just throw in my testimony when I can. 

Oh! For our first faatamaaraa we had poisson cru. Delicious! Everyone needs to try it. I don't think I've had any Tahitian food that I didn't like so far.

When people get to know me they ask where I'm from and how old I am. Each time they're astonished. Everyone thinks that I look french, and I've gotten that I look between 20 and 25 years old. Huh. I wasn't aware. 

Did I mention that the humidity is bad? It took me like three days just to not feel claustrophobic. You are constantly damp, whether from the humidity or from your sweat. You think you'll be fine for a little while after you take a shower, but you never actually get dry. It's something I'm still trying to get used to.

Now about he bug bites. I think they attack at night, and for some reason they concentrate on my ankles. I have about twenty five bites on one ankle alone, and about fifty altogether. I guess that's another thing I'll need to get used to.

Life is great here. Hard at times, but great. I'm learning a lot and  have really cool experiences each day. I'm still getting used to the new culture, the new weather, still trying to understand the people, but between all of that I'm becoming a different person, and as long as I try to do good things and persevere and be obedient, I know the Lord will bless me and help me become better.

Here are the random thoughts of Elder Lewis in the past week. Enjoy.

Love,

Elder Lewis