Ia ora na tatou!
C'est moi, encore! J’espère
vous êtes bien et dans bonne santé!
This week has been a big week
of prayer and strengthening my faith. Not gonaa lie to y'all; this week has
been super hard.
As missionaires we are
encouraged to write home to friends and famille and tell stories about how
great missionary work is. And it is!! I am so glad that I have chosen to go on
a mission, because not only have I grown as an individual, but I have
introduced people to the gospel for the very first time and seen the light in
their eyes when they finally gain a testimony of the truth. I've cried with
them and prayed with them and done all I could have for them.
There is that side of
missionary work, and then there is the other side. The side all missionaries
don't want to relive. Hard weeks.
This week was hard. We lost
about 4 amis. why? No idea. We brought membres with us as much as we could, but
the second or third lecon with those amis they told us that they weren't
interested for the moment. And that happened to us the entire week. We spent
our days doing OLB (ouvrir la bouche) and porte a porte, trying to find new
people. We only gained one amis this week, which is rare in our mission, and we
were rejected by every house in a number of quartiers. It was hard. Soeur Lasso
and I went up into the mountain to find houses up there. We parked our car and
started our trek. We actually found a quartier up in the mountains, but even
before we could open our mouths to share our message they told us to go away
because they saw our missionary plaques. It's hard getting turned away and
chased away by dogs for wanting to share the truth and love of Christ. But
that's the mission. There are ups but also downs.
Even though this week has been
trying, and I've relied a lot on prayer and fasting. I've come to notice the
little miracles and blessings wedged in between our trials during the days:
1. We've planned the bapteme for
Fr. Vito who will be baptized this coming Saturday. He will be baptized by his
son Nohoarii.
2. Throughout this week we had
lecons with Vairea who is still kind of a new amis. AND I absolutely LOVE her.
She's Catholique but non practiquant. She has cousins that are membres and one
who is a return missionaire. We visited with her and have taught a lot of
lecons. She told us she really wants to get baptized...YES!!! BUT...the one
thing that empeches her is her famille. He famille is still very Catholique,
and her mom said she would not be happy with her when she gets baptized. She
doesn't have a lot of support from her husband or kids. During our last lecon
with her this week Soeur Lasso and I had the impressions to tell our
experiences of people we know we are converts and had a rough time with famille
afterwards. But along with those experiences we told her that after the trials
of those people that were baptized they immediately started seeing more and
more blessings in their lives. We told her that after she is baptized, yea her
famille might not follow her right now, but they'll watch her as she changes
her life and becomes more like Christ and then they will eventually have the
same desire to follow her and be baptized. Of all the people I have taught,
I've never connected with an amis as much as I have with her.
3. My other fave amis right now
is Raitea! He is only 15, but I can see the potential and the tiny desire
slowly coming into his eyes. Our last lecon we had with him we taught about Le
Parole de Sagesse et Jour du Sabboth. Yes, the lecon was great, but it wasn't
my favorite part. At the end of the lecon we asked if he would say the priere,
and he did. Raitea's said many prayers since we have been teaching him, but
this one was different. For a while we had been engaging him to pray for an
answer about whether or not the bapteme is the right decision right now, and
he's always forgotten to ask that in his daily prayers. However, as Raitea
began to pray his voice sounded different; he sounded more in tune with the
Spirit. And without us asking he asks "je te demande Pere-Celeste, si le
bapteme est le bon choix pour moi maintenant." He asked that...without any
hesitation in his voice. He continues to pray and pauses for a little bit....I
open my eyes a little bit to see if he was ok, because he'd paused for a long
time, but as I do I see him wiping his eyes. He goes on to eventually finish
the priere by just thanking our Father in Heaven for everything again. I have
no doubt that Raitea received an answer right then and there, and maybe he was
surprised but I know he got a reponse. The Spirit was so strong during his
prayer, and Raitea was so much more comfortable after he prayed. Along with
Vaireia I know I must have known Raitea in the pre-mortelle life. He's someone
I can get through easier than other amis.
Yes, this week has been super
difficult, and I've had a great opportunity to grow in faith and trust in the
Lord. And I've also been blessed to have two amis I know have the desire to get
baptized and willingness to change. I've seen them change even after a few
lecons, and I know they're ready. Through this hard week, I've been more aware
of the tiny miracles and blessings I've seen along the way, and Vaireia and
Raitea are two of those.
Though missionary work is hard, it's also filled with tender
mercies and blessings. Even if you yourself don't see the blessings, you never
know who at home is being blessed for the sacrifice you are making.
Je vous aime beaucoup! J'espere vous allez passer une bonne
semaine!
N'oubliez pas....THE BOOK IS
BLUE AND THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
Ua here au ia outou!!
- Soeur/Tuahine Morrill :)
p.s. heard Bama won the
National Championship...so I'll throw out a ROLL TIDE right threre
p.p.s and HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
