Hi, guys. I love you.
It was another week on what I sometimes call in my head "The Hawaiian Roller-Coaster Ride." (Even though I'm actually in Tahiti.) Up, down, all around, havin' fun, wanting to vomit, a real experience. We had a wonderful, wonderful moment on Saturday evening- two baptisms that night, and it went very well. One of the girls is 14 years old, named Poeragni. The very first time we taught her, I started to tell her about prayer and my heart felt like it was on fire. She was listening so hard, and I knew she believed it. She was so pretty in white, and we were thrilled to see all the young women in the ward at her sides the whole night, so excited to welcome her and support her. The other lady is named Marilyn, and she is the friend of literally everyone. It's funny because all the missionaries in our zone go to each others' baptisms, just to be there for one another and talk to investigators and stuff, but the night of Marilyn's baptism, you could have said that every single companionship was there for "their" investigator, because every single one of us has taught this lady at some point or another. She's kind of the ultimate ward-hopper, and she's somehow taken lessons with us all. So finally, finally, we all got to see her reach her dream of being baptized. Cute thing- Soeur Green and I gave the talks. Who would have thought that one day we would both be giving the talks at the same baptism? It was such a happy night.
I love the bike ride home at night. It takes about 10-15 minutes to bike into our area from our houses, so every evening we have that little bike ride home, and I enjoy every minute. I like to ride my bike with no hands and try to impress the people we pass. I also like to sing. I like to see how beautiful palm trees are when they are lit up by streetlights. I love that I have a group of friends that says hi to me every night who are actually literal drug dealers, but we can still be friends anyway. I love to finish the day knowing that no matter how I feel or how I did, I tried to do something that mattered. Sometimes the ups and downs come, but one thing is constant, and it's that I honestly know that what I am trying to do and trying to say is good and true. And that is enough to make this work extremely worthwhile.
-Every day I put mango oil in the ends of my hair. I don't know if it actually does anything, but it makes me feel like an island princess.
- Couple missionaries are the most wonderful people alive. We've had a couple times where no one was signed up to provide us with dinner and we didn't really have anything to eat, so I got up the guts to call my wonderful mission mom, Soeur Hemming, and ask if maybe...possibly... she had anything to eat? That's what mission living does to ya. No shame. And of course she came over with a delicious plate of homemade Mexican food. Heaven. My husband better believe that we are going on a mission one day, and I am taking care of all the missionaries, just like they do for me.
- We had this odd little miracle happen the other day. Miracle/joke. Both are great. We were just contacting in this neighborhood and this guy yells over, "Come talk to me! I want to learn, too!" He seemed to be a little under-the-influence, so we said, alright, we'll come by on Friday afternoon. He gave us his name, which is Ardonick Barff. So on Friday we ride over there and we don't know where he actually lives, so we just asked the first person we saw, "Do you know where Ardonick Barff lives?" This old papi with a baseball hat on. And he says, "Yes. That's me." Imagine our confusion. Turns out that he really is the only guy named that in the neighborhood, so whether it be a miracle or a practical joke, we found him. And we are teaching him, and he is a sweetheart! We sang him "Nearer My God To Thee" the other day, and now he wants us to sing every time we see him. Tonight he is coming to FHE- God works in mysterious ways.
Big lesson I learned/am learning this week: Forgive easily and instantly, and don't worry about whose fault stuff is. Fault doesnt matter in the end. Difficult thing to master, but it's the way we're all getting into heaven.
Dad- Happy Birthday, my best friend! You are my hero.
I love you all forever and ever!
All my love,
Soeur Mann
