Oh, Millzie, guess what? I had the best week, too! We both were having the best weeks of our missions at the same time! Oh man, guys, I am so happy these days. I am full of joy, and I know exactly why, and I am sending you all a big hug and a kiss on both cheeks. It has truly been a fantastic seven days!
So here is my stuff from this week:
- Saturday we had a baptism of a man named Harry. His wife, Margaretha, is a member of the church and has been praying and hoping for something like 20 years that her husband would also find faith in Christ and be baptized. And this past Saturday was the day. I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost for the baptismal service, and it was a very sweet experience. But the best moment of the baptism was right before the actual ordinance. Everybody was walking out of the chapel where we did the talks to go to the baptismal font and Margaretha just stayed there. I walked over to her and sat next to her on the pew and put my arm around her, and we both had tears running down our cheeks. We sat for a minute, and then I said, "Vien, Soeur. Vien, voir." "Come, Sister, come see." And we walked together to the font, and I watched her the whole time as she watched her husband be baptized. Her expression was so beautiful.
- Ya know, I think I have grown up a lot on my mission. I really do feel like a grown up these days, and I know that I have progressed a lot. But some things never change. Like my problem of losing things. This weekend it was our phones. Yep, I lost two cell phones. Just like the good old days. I was so worried about it because I know they are so expensive for the mission. We prayed and prayed for this phones. Last night we are walking down this little street and two people we don't even know stop us and say, "Sisters! We found these phones on the ground across the street! Are they yours?" MIRACLE. Okay, the spot where I somehow dropped them was like the worst possible area to drop a phone. Swarming with dogs and tons of teenage kids who like free phones. Plus it's a parking lot. With big huge tires rollin' all around. So, two lessons learned. No, three. 1. Be more careful with the phones. 2. Heavenly Father is truly our kind Father, and he hears all our prayers. 3. I was thinking about this from the phones' perspectives. They could have had it really bad, but everything turned out okay. I think sometimes we are sitting there thinking, "This is the worst! I just got dropped off here, abandoned, nobody is helping me, blah blah..." In reality, God knows exactly what's going on. There are some lessons that need to be learned. And ya know, people could be running over you with their cars, or dogs could be carrying you off in their big slobbery mouths, or teenagers could be coming to steal you, but none of that is happening! Things are in control, and you are being blessed. It's going to be okay in the end. Just hang on and be grateful it's not that bad.
- The other day we were teaching Mira, a twenty-something-year-old mother of one baby girl who lives with her boyfriend. She's really so fascinating because she just loves to have us talk to her, even though she is not really super into the church-y stuff. She calls us her "copines," which is just like regular old girl friends. She listens really well, but I kind of thought she wasn't super into the things we were teaching. We were starting our lesson, just kind of talking about life, and she was talking about how weird it is that there are so many religions and all seem to be pretty true, and I started to share my testimony of Joseph Smith and the restoration. I was so surprised when her eyes started welling with tears. "Mira, why are you crying?" And this bubbly, chatty girl said simply; "I cant find the words. I feel something really strange in my heart." The Spirit was so strong, and we all felt this wonderful feeling of peace and calm. It was a testimony boost to me that the Restoration is true. And people who listen really do recognize the truth of it through the Spirit. I used to be kind of scared to talk about Joseph Smith with people cuz I know it sounds so odd, but my faith has grown so much. He really did see Heavenly Father. It's not weird, its what really happened. And I love the moments when we tell someone that, and they feel the peace and joy of it.
I love these scriptures in the bible:
Ephesians 4- And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
It's true that without a prophet and some clear revelation directly from Heavenly Father, we really can just get tossed around. I mean really, if you just start looking at all the churches and ideas and versions of reality in this world, you really do feel like a child. There's so many different ideas. As I was talking to Mira, she asked, "Can't they all be true?" And I definitely believe that there is a little truth everywhere. We can all learn from each other. But we talked about the fact that in the end, they can't really all be all true. Like everybody has got a different version of life after death, but one day we are going to die and one of these versions is going to be true. Truth exists. It's big and deep and often beyond our understanding, but I believe in it. And the lovely thing is that we have an absolute, perfect way to know truth. Prayer is the way. Something that really strengthens me as a missionary and gives me courage to teach is talking to people about prayer. Cuz when we talk to them about this stuff, and it seems new and maybe a little strange, we always just invite them to think about it and pray about it. And then there is no pressure. If you can just be humble and find some faith and say a prayer, you can always trust Heavenly Father to tell you the truth about things. You can always, always ask Him. And He will never lead us astray.
- Having Soeur Green in our house this week is SO, so-ho-ho great. Oh man, I missed her! She has gotten even better than she was before! It's so funny to look at us now, after 8 months on this island, and see how much we have changed since the MTC days. The other day she poured her bowl of cereal and said, "Oh, Soeurry, it's got tons of ants crawling in it!" And I said, "I know. I just ate it anyway." And she just shrugged and did the same. Ha ha! We have truly become two Tahiti Tuahines, and it's a lovely thing.
This picture is of our faatamaraa, aka dinner appointment. Man, life is good in the islands.
Okay, this next week is the big birthday week of my life! Plus it is my favorite week ever cuz its Pioneer Days! So here is a big Happy Birthday and lots of love to Janny, Jamison, Luke Hollingsworth, and lil Millzie Pillzie! And Happy Pioneer Day to all of us!
I love you all with all my heart! Jesus Christ truly is our Savior, and thanks to Him, life really is beautiful.
All my love,
Soeur Mann
