Week 20

Kia Ora Whanau

First things first I'm going to be a mom again! Transfer calls went out this week and I'm staying in the Hutt and I'm also training again. All I know about my trainee is that her name is Sister Crichton and I'm pretty sure the she is from Samoa. I will have more information about her next week. Also, yes, that means I will be spending 6 months in the Hutt. Crazy.

So last week Monday was my birthday and the members spoiled me. One of the members has the same birthday as me so she threw a little party and decorated her house all cute and even put framed pictures of me on her wall lolol. It was so fun! One big plus of staying in a area for so long is you really get to build relationships with people. Also thank you everyone for the birthday messages! I could feel of your love all the way from the other side of the world.

On Tuesday I had exchanges with Sister Mamea. At the beginning of the exchange she said that she had a goal to get a new investigator. At first I was like wow that is an ambtious goal, but then I thought why not? So we set a goal to get two new people to teach. We worked hard all day and in the middle of the afternoon we got our first new investigator! Her name is Sheena and she is a refferal from a member that Sister Jones and I got last transfer but haven't been able to contact. She shared some of her life story with us and she's been through alot but wants to make her life better. I know that the gospel is the thing she is looking for that will help her find true joy. After our experience with Sheena we kept working hard and the day was almost over when we decided to try to visit a part member family. They let us in and we taught the member mom and one of her teenage daughters the plan of salvation. After our lesson, we asked the daughter if she would want to learn more and she said YES! So we got our second new investgator! It was so awesome because it was literally ten minutes before the end of the night that it happened! From this I learned that 1) there is power in setting goals and 2) you have to have faith that if you put in the effort, the Lord will provide the people for you to teach. You must have faith in finding.

On Thursday we had an appointment with a stuggling member, but they weren't home when we showed up which was a little annoying. On the bright side, their neighbor was working in their garden so we started talking to him and he said he would be keen for the missinaries to come over so we got a solid potential out of it. We also had a lesson with Seiara on Thursday. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Chrsit and recommitted her to be baptized. She said she is comitted to being baptized, it's just getting her parents on board with it. It's hard thought because she is too afraid/doesn't want to talk to them about it because she's afraid of what they would say. So we are still working with her and having faith that the Lord will show us how to achieve our righteous goals.

On Thursday night we slept at the mission home because Sister Petersen was going home the next day and we were driving her to the airport. I honestly can't believe she's done, it literally feels like yesterday that she was my trainer. It was so fun to get to spend time with her and talk to her about her experience and how she felt now that it was over.

Friday early in the morning, we dropped Sister Petersen off at the airport. If I'm being honest it was harder for me than I thought it was going to be lol. Saying goodbye wasn't hard, just knowing that she isn't a missionary anymore and that she was back to normal life was a little unsettling. It was a weird experience.

Friday afternoon, we had an appointment with Chris where we planned to finish teaching the Plan of Salvation but when we got there he just sat down and started reading the Book of Mormon quietly to himself and asking questions as he read. So we abandonded our plan and just read the Book of Mormon with him. The Book of Mormon has had a powerful effect on him, softening his heart from being totally anti, to being excited when we come over.

Saturday, all the missionaries in our zone put on a big free car wash, hair cutting, and bbq service. At first no one showed up so we made some signs that two elders went out into the street with to attract attention and then all of a sudden we got so many people coming in. I ended up cutting hair, which was cool because as we were cutting hair we were able to talk to them about the gospel and share more about what we do as missionaries. It was super fun and successful. Saturday evening we had a lesson with Daniel and it went so well. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and as we taught he kept saying "Yup that's true, it also talks about that in the Bible." At one point in the lesson he said "Okay so what happens if I join your fella's church and then Jesus comes and he says to me, you were wrong?" To that I replied "Daniel, I can promise you that if you join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, then when Christ comes again, you will be among those who are raised up to meet him. You will not be told you are wrong, you will be given eternal life." He asked if I was sure and I said I was 100% sure. He seemed more at ease afterwards. I don't know if I would say he was totally convinced, but he did seem to be more at ease and starting to believe. Daniel's less active wife also sat in on the lesson which was super awesome.

Sunday morning before church we did our little loop that we've created to invite people to come to church. We stopped by Daniel's and he said he couldn't come because he is currently recovering from a surgery. Sister Hutia really stepped out of her comfort zone and said to him "This is my last Sunday, I'm getting transered, I understand why you can't come to church but the next time I see you, you better be baptized." Daniel laughed a little but agreed to ask Heavenly Father if getting baptized is something that he should do. It was so cool of Sister Huitia to be confident like that. I can feel it with Daniel, it's going to happen for him, I'm so excited for what is to come with him.

That was my week. Sorry for the long emails, I always tell myself I'll write a short one but I never do.

My spiritual thought comes from my personal study of Christ-like attributes, specifically on humility. One thing that I got out of my study is that when we are feeling like we can't do something because it's too hard or too much or whatever the reason may be, the first thing we need to do is humble ourselves. We need to humble ourselves because if you're thinking "I can't do this" it's because you are being prideful and trying to rely on your own personal strengths and you are forgetting Heavenly Father and Jesus Chrsit and the enabling power of the atonement. As you humble yourself, you will in turn find the confidence and strength to accomplish anything, because you are now recognizing and relying on the only thing that can truly help you.

Ofa Atu

Sister Olson