Hello, good people of my life! Ua here vau ia
outou! I love you!
Well, my first week here was wonderful. There is something special about this area. From the very first day that I was here, I have loved it. The other night the thought came to me, "I feel at home." Not like I actually feel comfortable and homey- I don’t know if I will have that feeling ever on my mission. But I felt connected to this place. I loved the members and investigators instantly. You know, it is a good thing to change sometimes. Even if we love something, sometimes it is good to leave it. Changes mean re-starting and progressing, and I love that I got to re-start a little bit with a new area.
- I love my apartment. Like, I could live there in regular normal life. The view from my apartment balcony includes the ocean, the island of Moorea, and a big huge sprawl of houses that reach clear up the mountain. It is wonderful. I do everything I possibly can out on the balcony- study, eat, pray. It is inspiring! And something else that’s lovely- people here are obsessed with kites. Kids are always flying these little kites, and it’s just so pretty to look out at the view and see little kites bobbing along in the air.
- Right now we are teaching this amazing young man. His name is T., he is 13 years old, and I love him so much. The other day we were teaching him and I suddenly realized why I think I love him so much- it’s because he reminds me of Luke! He is just an absolute sweetheart and super smart, just like little Bernie. Whenever we teach, he is listening so hard, you can tell he really wants to learn this stuff. And he understands things instantly, like sometimes we will barely teach him the basics of a principle, and then we ask him if he understood, and he goes on and explains it in more detail than we even taught him. But the best thing about T. is the way he treats his brother and sister. He has one little brother and one little sister, and they are so noisy and crazy and silly, and no matter what, T. is always gentle and kind and patient. He is going to get baptized soon; we are just waiting for his parents to help him pick a date where they can attend.
- I bought a chocolate hollow bunny for Easter. Some things don’t change. And that particular tradition is something that will never, ever change.
- Last night we were talking with three of our investigators, three teenage cousins, and you know what? I was making them laugh. And the conversation was just flowing. Do you even understand how good that felt? I still feel like the loser American who doesn’t know how to act a lot of the time, but I’m starting to figure this all out. Last night as I was talking to them, I just felt like a normal person talking, not like someone trying to find something to say in French. What a wonderful moment!
- Yesterday we got to go to an Easter concert from the stake choir, and we had to pick up some other Elders to go with us. One of the elders was a friend from my same MTC group. I could see that he was very down. Turns out he was feeling super disappointed with himself because they’d had a crazy day and he had given a failure of a lesson in Sunday School. He told me all about it, and I was just bursting to encourage him. He was so stressed out, but I know this elder, and I know that he is giving his best and working hard, and every time I see him I am so proud of him. I told him that it was okay, that he is doing wonderful! Later I was thinking about it and realized that earlier that morning I had been feeling the same exact thing. I had given a failure of a lesson in Sunday School, we had a crazy disorganized day, and I was so disappointed with myself. I realized that sometimes it is so easy to see the good others do, like with this Elder and me, to recognize and appreciate their efforts, but when it comes to ourselves, we can never be enough. I think it’s important to be charitable to ourselves, too.
- I just want to tell everyone that reads this that I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior. 3 And this is alife beternal, that they might cknow thee the only true dGod, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast esent.
He really lives. Because He lives, we will live forever, too, and we can always, always have peace.
I love you with all my heart!
Happy week!
Soeur Tel
Well, my first week here was wonderful. There is something special about this area. From the very first day that I was here, I have loved it. The other night the thought came to me, "I feel at home." Not like I actually feel comfortable and homey- I don’t know if I will have that feeling ever on my mission. But I felt connected to this place. I loved the members and investigators instantly. You know, it is a good thing to change sometimes. Even if we love something, sometimes it is good to leave it. Changes mean re-starting and progressing, and I love that I got to re-start a little bit with a new area.
- I love my apartment. Like, I could live there in regular normal life. The view from my apartment balcony includes the ocean, the island of Moorea, and a big huge sprawl of houses that reach clear up the mountain. It is wonderful. I do everything I possibly can out on the balcony- study, eat, pray. It is inspiring! And something else that’s lovely- people here are obsessed with kites. Kids are always flying these little kites, and it’s just so pretty to look out at the view and see little kites bobbing along in the air.
- Right now we are teaching this amazing young man. His name is T., he is 13 years old, and I love him so much. The other day we were teaching him and I suddenly realized why I think I love him so much- it’s because he reminds me of Luke! He is just an absolute sweetheart and super smart, just like little Bernie. Whenever we teach, he is listening so hard, you can tell he really wants to learn this stuff. And he understands things instantly, like sometimes we will barely teach him the basics of a principle, and then we ask him if he understood, and he goes on and explains it in more detail than we even taught him. But the best thing about T. is the way he treats his brother and sister. He has one little brother and one little sister, and they are so noisy and crazy and silly, and no matter what, T. is always gentle and kind and patient. He is going to get baptized soon; we are just waiting for his parents to help him pick a date where they can attend.
- I bought a chocolate hollow bunny for Easter. Some things don’t change. And that particular tradition is something that will never, ever change.
- Last night we were talking with three of our investigators, three teenage cousins, and you know what? I was making them laugh. And the conversation was just flowing. Do you even understand how good that felt? I still feel like the loser American who doesn’t know how to act a lot of the time, but I’m starting to figure this all out. Last night as I was talking to them, I just felt like a normal person talking, not like someone trying to find something to say in French. What a wonderful moment!
- Yesterday we got to go to an Easter concert from the stake choir, and we had to pick up some other Elders to go with us. One of the elders was a friend from my same MTC group. I could see that he was very down. Turns out he was feeling super disappointed with himself because they’d had a crazy day and he had given a failure of a lesson in Sunday School. He told me all about it, and I was just bursting to encourage him. He was so stressed out, but I know this elder, and I know that he is giving his best and working hard, and every time I see him I am so proud of him. I told him that it was okay, that he is doing wonderful! Later I was thinking about it and realized that earlier that morning I had been feeling the same exact thing. I had given a failure of a lesson in Sunday School, we had a crazy disorganized day, and I was so disappointed with myself. I realized that sometimes it is so easy to see the good others do, like with this Elder and me, to recognize and appreciate their efforts, but when it comes to ourselves, we can never be enough. I think it’s important to be charitable to ourselves, too.
- I just want to tell everyone that reads this that I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior. 3 And this is alife beternal, that they might cknow thee the only true dGod, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast esent.
He really lives. Because He lives, we will live forever, too, and we can always, always have peace.
I love you with all my heart!
Happy week!
Soeur Tel
