#58 - Work

Hello, all of you! I love you!

Last week President Durrant sent out a letter to all the missionaries in our stake.  I love President Durrant so much.  Twice I have gotten a letter from him on my mission, and twice it has been completely inspired.  He talked about seeking a "spiritual adventure" on our missions.  I love this idea.  This week I tried to have a spiritual adventure, which meant seeking for opportunities to grow spiritually in the middle of whatever the situation was.  It was such a satisfying, lovely experiment.  I'm going to keep going with it!  Here was my method:  When I started to feel distracted, like thinking about home, or just wanting to get out of an awkward or hard moment, I would pray for one of our investigators.  And you know what's so cool?  All the prayers I've been saying for investigators not only helped me stay focused, they actually brought real results into their lives.  Literal miracles popping up!  We have one investigator whom I love so much.  His name is Charles, and this week we saw a visible change in his countenance.  Out of nowhere he just is doing so great- he's been changing his habits and started praying, and you can literally see a difference in him, just by looking at him.  Oddly all of that happened in one week where we didn't even see him.  But during that week, I'd been praying often that Heavenly Father would help him move forward.  And He did.  Prayer is real.

And speaking of prayer, here is another insight I found this week.  So yesterday I was feeling, as we would say in Tahiti, "fiu."  That's Tahitian for, basically sick of everything.  Okay, we're just gonna be real here.  Sometimes when you are on your mission you get a little fed up with stuff.  And for a minute, I was feeling fed up with having to deal with problems.  I felt like I was always having to arrange things and fix things and yada yada.  Then I had this thought come to me:

John 5:17- But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

I'd read this scripture earlier on my mission and been struck by it, and then yesterday it came back to mind.  I realized something- God is working all the time for us!  Think of all the prayers He is answering all the time. I realized that when we ask Heavenly Father to help us with our problems, He actually has to do something.  Its not like we ask and then He does nothing, and then it happens.  Knowing that He does all things by laws of science and intelligence, He must actually have to work pretty hard to answer all these prayers.  I think He is probably constantly in a state of arranging things and fixing things and planning things, and yet He always has time to just listen and be kind.  God is never "fiu" of us.  He is never put-out by our constant requests for help.  How incredible.  And so I felt pretty humbled and then I tried to just be nice and keep helping and not complain in my head about just having to do what I came here to do.  And I felt much happier.  I love Heavenly Father so much.  I'm so thankful He is constantly kind.

This picture is of our wonderful investigator, Heitiare, and her sister, Tea.  This girl is gold.  Never have I taught someone so truly open and faith-filled and ready to learn.  She's the one I wrote about last week that lives in the little house on stilts with no electricity.  She is just so humble and sincere.  At our last lesson Tea, the one holding the ukelele, sang us a song in Tahitian, and I just adored that moment.  Also, as she was singing, I really wanted to record her song, but lately my camera wont record videos.  It keeps saying, "Card Won''t Read" or something.  But I wanted to record it so bad, so I said a one-second prayer and just asked Heavenly Father to please fix the camera real fast so I could just get her song.  He did.

Well, folks, looks like this week will be my last week in Oremu and Puurai.  I saw my mission president today, and he didn't say where I will be going or with whom, but he said I will be transferred next week.  What a crazy mix of emotions.  I have been in this area since February, and it has truly become a second home.  I love Oremu.  Some of the people here have truly left an imprint on my heart forever.  I am going to miss it desperately.  It doesn't seem real that after this week, I will probably never see these people again.  I will never walk down the road  towards the sunset and look out to the island of Moorea and watch the kids fly their kites by the garages.  I won't sit around the table on little broken stools and talk with my sweet bishop, Bishop Tahuhuharagni, about faith and miracles and the Atonement.  I won't walk into the chapel and give high fives to all the ridiculous young men that have become my little brothers.  Oh, nelly, I am going to miss it. But I am ready for another adventure, too!  And I can't believe that I got to be the luckiest girl in the world for seven months and that my little Cache Valley life got to be infused with this beautiful, wonderful place.  I am thankful forever and ever that I got to be here.  

Now for some more pictures!  I will just send them in multiple letters with the descriptions:

1.  Group of boys- these little punks are the best.  During their two week vacation they worked on this "faapuu"- they are building themselves a little work out station with pull up bars and stuff, just in the property across from the Relief Society President's house.  I caught them while they were taking a little break.  

2. These guys think they are so cool.  They are just our investigators in the hood that we love so much.  The one on the left is getting baptized next month!

3.  A little family we are teaching that I LOVE!  And baby Heiva, the little girl's face cracks me up every time I look at this picture.

Alright, folks, gotta go!  I love you forever!  

-Soeur Mann

#57 - A Wonderful Story

Hi, guys!  I love you!

I only have time to tell one story today, but it's a wonderful story. This morning I woke up really early just by coincidence, like 5 AM'ish, and I noticed something wonderful.  The usual wretched chorus of  a million chickens squawking their beaks off was not happening.  Instead, I could only hear the sound of rain hitting the roof. For once in their lives, the chickens shut their beaks.  And from that blissful moment on, this day has been fabulous.  I guess chickens don't squawk when it rains?  

But wait, that is only the beginning, because afterwords it got even better, much better.  So everyday we go running down to the harbor and look at all the big ships out in the bay and it is the best way to wake up in the world.  But throw in the fact that it is down-pouring rain, and the whole thing just gets infinitely more fun.  We ran in the rain today!  Not just ran, but danced and splashed and thrived in the beautiful, water-covered town of Papeete, Tahiti.  No one was out, so I ran into the middle of the city plaza, laid on the pavement, and let the rain hit me.  Is that appropriate for a missionary to do?  It is if the only people around are some maintenance workers, I say.  And then I ran over to the boardwalk because for the first time, one of the boats was pulled up right next to the harbor- within touching-distance.  So I ran up and smacked that boat with a big high-five!  It came all the way here from Kingston, Jamaica!  And then I tap danced in the water, and I wanted to jump into the ocean so, so bad cuz the sky and the ocean looked like one big huge same gray, pretty thing, but I didn't jump in cuz I am obedient.  But I may as well have for how drenched I was.

Oh, it was beautiful.  Such an invigorating, change of pace, happy, alive moment.  There are such good, surprising moments that pop up sometimes.  When I got back home I thought about how Mom and Dad sometimes just do the coolest things like taking us to Imogene Heap concerts by surprise or picking up donuts just for fun.  Heavenly Father is our Father, too.  Sometimes He just gives us plain old great things, simply because He loves us and He wants us to be happy.  I love Him, and I love you, and I love life.  It is beautiful!

With all my heart,
Soeur Mann

#56 - The truth is, we are all just trying.

Hello, good people of the earth!  I am still here on this island, you are all still where you are, and we all still love each other!  Hoorah!  

I don't feel like writing a real-life letter, I feel like just saying whatever I want to say.  You guys can just pretend we're all sitting down at the table eating Mom's stir-fry, and I'm doing my rambling thing.

- The other day day we tried to make cookies to take to our Relief Society to inspire them through sweets to do missionary work.  It was such an ordeal.  It was so hard to find ingredients.  We ended up making cupcakes.  Also an ordeal.  It was literally the first time I have turned an oven on in a year.  And you guys know how I am in the kitchen.  But in the end, things worked out, and things in that ward are seriously picking up.  Sometimes you just have to be a little creative about the tactic.

- Our garage is situated in literally the worst-planned little driveway area ever.  You basically back up into a wall.  When we first moved in, I thought I was doomed.  I had to do 20-point turn-about things every single morning to get the car out of the garage, and it was so frustrating.  Now I back up in one clean swipe, no turn-abouts necessary.  With time and thinking and practicing, seriously everything gets easier.  We are never doomed.

- I love to wear Soeur Green's clothes.  I'm sending a picture of our activity earlier today- my companion and I made tarts with one of our wonderful investigators, Ranitea.  The one picture is of her and her home and a little neighbor child climbing on the roof.  Kids here spend time on their roofs.  I feel like the King family could appreciate that.  I just want to bring those kids some saltines, ranch and a newspaper.  The second photo is me and my beautiful, fantastic companion, Soeur Bradshaw and Ranitea.  I love my companion more and more every day.  And also, I am wearing Soeur Green's clothes in it. We all just share clothes now.  Don't even have to ask if you can borrow it.  True sisters!

- Had a beautiful lesson last night with a humble, good person.  We found her just by awkwardly opening our mouths and trying to talk.  Sometimes our conversations are so inspired, and sometimes they are kinda choppy, heartfelt, not-so-great efforts.  We just saw this couple walking out of a little store and were basically like, "Hi! Uh, we're missionaries!... Do you want to talk to us?"  Good news is, Heavenly Father helps out when we aren't so pro.  We set up a lesson and last night we went over.  Their home is a tiny little wood house on stilts, and they have no electricity.  The wife stayed and talked to us, and it was one of the best conversations I've had on my mission.  Something I am getting better at (besides the occasional awkward first contact) is realizing that this whole thing is just people, and we are just talking about real stuff.  I'm kinda ditching the outline I feel like I always follow and really trying to speak by the Spirit, and when you just talk to someone sincerely, you end up telling them all the important stuff anyway.  She felt the Spirit touch her heart, and so did we.  Just a quiet, good conversation among the banana trees.

- I got Grandma's letter that said Mike and Trina are buying a new house!  I hope they save their old house for me.  I've always loved that home.  I actually think of it when I think of my future home, complete with all the nice photos and pillows and books.  That will be odd to come home and go somewhere different!  I might cry, like I cried when Grandma got new cabinets in her kitchen.  Just kiddin'.  I handle change a little better now.  :)  

- And speaking of Trina and co., I would just like to say that I love our family so very much.  All of them.  I hope I get some pictures soon of all the cousins, 'cuz that's what I most want to see.

- The other night one of our recent converts asked us to come over and he told us that he had messed up.  He was heartbroken, because for the first time since his baptism, he really felt like he'd done something bad.  He started apologizing to us because he thought we would be so disappointed and mad at him.  Well, first of all, no one really is supposed to confess anything to the missionaries.  But I understood that he just needed to get it out, and he was so full of regret and embarrassment   And my heart just filled up with love.  Not even one drop of, "How could you do that?  We've worked so hard with you!  How could you fall back into that?!"  Not one drop.  All I felt was the pure love that comes from someone who knows exactly how it feels to fall into bad habits over and over, and to continually rely on the Savior to get back out.  We all are the same.  I just felt nothing but compassion.  Later we talked about it in the car, and I just marveled at the fact that my companion had also had the same experiences.  The truth is, we are all just trying.  What a beautiful, crazy, perfect plan.  Father just put us all here to try together.  We are all just figuring this out, and when we are doing good, we have to lend a hand.  And when we are doing bad, we need to let our brothers and sisters pull us back up.  And the Savior, and only the Savior, can really heal all. I love Him.

I love you all with all my heart, forever and ever!
Life is beautiful.
Soeur Mann

(Editor's Note: Sorry, we didn't get the second picture she talks about.)

#55 - Waiting On The Lord

Hi, guys!  I love ya!

I have had an AMAZING week.  A beautiful, busy, exhausting, miracle-filled week.  At the beginning of my mission it kinda felt like I was going to be here foreeeeever.  Now I look at a calendar and it's like, wait!  No!  I need more time, there's work to be done!  The week flew by, and it's because we worked like never before.  And we're gonna do it again this week.  All the way to February.  YES!

I have a wonderful companion.  Oh my goodness, Soeur Bradshaw is such a blessing.  She just popped in with all these great ideas and the most pro-active attitude, and it's been fantastic.  Dad, you would be so proud of us.  We have developed a "do-it-right-now" theme for our companionship.  Like if we think of somebody we need to call, we grab the phone and call them right there.  If we think, "Hmmm, we should talk to Bishop about that," we go talk to him.  Let me tell you people, this is the secret.  Its been a successful, fun week, and it's because we are moving.  I remember Mike telling me that the more I move and act, the more the Lord will trust me and prepare people and situations.  This is absolutely true.  We have had some literal miracles happen.  For example, one lady whom we met earlier this week - we have made a pact to talk to everyone, everyone we see, and never miss a chance to share the gospel.  Well we arrive at our investigators house the other day, and he isn't there, so we decide to just start talking to the people hanging around.  One of them is a middle-aged, beautiful lady named Sylviane.  We introduced ourselves... and forty-five minutes later we set her baptismal date.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is simply true, and there are truly moments when people are prepared and placed by the Lord to accept it.  Sylviane has been through some incredibly hard things recently in her life, and her heart was wide open to what we had to say.  When both ends of the conversation - us and the investigator- have open hearts, when we speak and listen sincerely, truth just unfolds itself and it cant really be denied.  In a matter of minutes Sylviane became a dear friend.  At the end of our conversation I gave her a hug, kissed her on the cheek, and said "I love you."  And I meant it.  How will I ever be able to say how much I love this experience?  I love this.  I love being a missionary.

Here was another powerful experience of the week.  Do you remember our little dougie boys, Emmanuel and Barry?  I'm seriously smuggling those two home in my suitcases.  They have become my little brothers.  And this week we needed to talk to their parents about accepting their baptism. We went over there at 9AM Saturday morning.  Their parents are named V and A, and they live in a cement house raised up, looking over a big view of the ocean.  We gathered around and started talking, and the first thing V says is, "No.  That is my answer."  Hmm.  The conversation was long and kind of hard, but I will tell you about the best moment.  I asked Emmanuel to say a prayer, and I told V to simply listen to his son and the things he was going to say to Heavenly Father.  Emmanuel, 14 years old, said one of the most sincere, touching prayers I've ever heard.  Through his tears, he simply asked Heavenly Father to bless his dad so he would accept his baptism with a soft heart and that their family would be happy.  My heart was just pounding, and I felt the Spirit so deeply, and there came a moment where I was just kneeling on the cement floor looking up at V, waiting silently and praying with every piece of my heart that he would just say yes.  After that prayer and our testimonies, and all the faith and love and hope we were trying to pour into the moment, and moments where it was so close-- he said no.  He just simply said no.

But here is the thought that Soeur Bradshaw and I had later on - Heavenly Father is in charge.  Those two boys have testimony and faith, and they simply can't fail with that.  But perhaps Father has a bigger idea for this family.  We wanted to help Barry and Emmanuel get baptized this month, which would have been a wonderful thing.  But perhaps there is something much bigger that needs to happen.  There are some alcohol and other problems that need to be healed in this home, and I think that over time and with the help of the Savior, this family could change for the better, all of them.  We decided to not be sad or worried about the situation, but instead to just keep doing exactly what the Lord asks us to do, patiently and faithfully, and allow Him to work his miracles in His way.  For one of the first and deepest times, I realized what it means when we say "wait on the Lord's timetable."  It brings so much peace.

I love you all so very, very much.  Forever and ever, I love you!
Soeur Mann     

#54 - Changeroo

Iorano, tatou!! Eaha ta oe huru?  Ua here roa vau ia outo!

Today has been such a whirlwind of a strange day.  It started out nicely, with me eating a starfruit for breakfast out on the veranda, and it's still going nicely.  But it got kinda crazy for a minute.  Turns out my brand new companion, Soeur Tetoe, whom I LOVE, will not be be companion.  We had a little changeroo!  And it's sad, cuz I was seriously so, so excited to be with her.  But luckily my new companion is absolutely delightful, and we already know each other well because we've been living in the same house for about two months.  Her name is Soeur Bradshaw, and she is American, well-educated, refined, and lovely.  So happy to be with her!  I love all the people in our house so very much.  Soeur Outzekhovsky, who is Tahitian but has a Russian name, has become a truly dear friend to me.  Its great to live with lots of sisters all together.

Last night we had dinner with some of our investigators, Ranitea and Carlos.  We started walking down the street to get into their neighborhood, and were so happy to see that they had invited Moana and two little boys that we're teaching right now, too!  They were waiting for us to walk accompany us to Ranitea's house.  These two little boys, Emmanuel and Barry, 14 and 10, have totally stolen my heart.  I adore them.  They are just these happy, good kids, and Im always so excited to teach them.  They asked us to sing a song we'd sang in Sacrament meeting earlier, so we did, and they filmed us.  We ate a dinner of cooked fish, french fries, raw fish, tomatoes, and delicious nectar stuff.  After the meal, I asked if we could just leave a little message, and the second I opened my mouth, my eyes welled up with tears.  I was just so happy.  I was completely happy to be with them, and completely calm and content.  I told them that I felt like we were all a little family, and it was so cool because we all felt it.  Everyone was happy.  After I finished the boys asked if they could perform a little show they'd prepared.  And you know what they're show was?  They "douggied" as in "Teach Me How to Dougie."  Ha ha!  It was so great!

And speaking of dougieing, all the kids here know how to dance, and they're so good at it.  Like cool hip hop dance.  The other night we were walking up to our car and there were all these kids out on the road dancing, and then Simon yells, "Hey, Soeur Ma!  Attend, attend!"  Sisters, wait, wait!  Next thing you know, "As Sisters in Zion" is blasting through the speakers.  Ha ha!  So I ballet danced all the way up to the car for them.  When we passed by again, they were all back to the dougie.  Only in Tahiti.  I LOVE THIS PLACE.

Okay, big news- the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is taking place here very soon, and it is in the very park where I run every morning!  I'm sure there will be stuff on the internet, videos and pics and stuff, so if you look it up, you will see right where I live!  Every morning I go running there while the sun is coming up, and it is just plain wonderful.  Today we saw a gigantic ship coming in with the big words "Bali Hai" sprawled across.  Amazing.  And you know what makes these runs extra fun?  The fact that I'm runnin' in my brand new tennie runners that I got in a package this week!  Thank you, thank you for the package!  My shoes are perfect, and Millzie- I love the shirts.  I'm sportin the purple one right now, feelin' like a champ.  Thank you!

Here is a truth I have learned - faith is action.  Faith is confidence, and its cousin is hope.  Hope is believing in good things to come thanks to the things we are faithfully doing.  We can really expect happiness if we have faith - if we live and act on what Heavenly Father teaches us through the Spirit.  God is our Father, and He is always giving us good things.  I love Him. 

These two pictures are from behind, so sorry, but they are candid, so I thought it would show you a little bit of my "real life."  I love my life.  It is beautiful!

I love you all forever!
Soeur Mann