Week 61

Kia Ora Whanau

This transfer is short because of Christmas so tomorrow I am being transferred to Queenstown which is basically the Banff of New Zealand! My new companions are Sister Alves from Paris and Sister Romano from Boston. They are Portuguese speaking so that'll be interesting considering my entire mission I've been learning little bits of Samoan and Tongan. It's a bittersweet transfer, I am so excited for the new adventures and growth in Queenstown, but I am going to miss my soas so much! I love them with my whole heart, they have been such a blessing in my life.

Anyways, this week we had a few miracles. The first happened when we went and visited Sister Tuigamala. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and connected it to the Plan of Salvation. We drew it all out for her and she loved it! She kept calling it the 5 steps to Heaven hahaha. She is in a wheelchair and so she has caregivers that come and help her out. She shared what we taught her with one of her caregivers and the caregiver loved it! She even came with Sister Tuigamala to church, participated in class and said she would be coming back next week! It was such a miracle!

The second miracle happened on Wednesday. Sister Siale received a priesthood blessing from our district leader just for some comfort and counsel. It was such a powerful blessing becuase it was directed from the spirit 100%. Elder Hauata had no idea how exactly perfect his blessing was, but the whole time I was just in awe at the power of the priesthood. It definitely strengthened my testimony of it. 

Thursday night we had dinner at a members house and they had a friend over who is really keen. We spent so much time just talking to them and getting to know them and then at the end we gave her a Book of Mormon with our testimonies written in the front of it. She was so excited to receive it! when we gave it to her she said "Wow! I was going to buy one of these!" It was awesome.

Sunday night Masterton ward had a Christmas fireside and it was so beautiful. Basically a bunch of really talented people in the ward sang and we watched some christmas clips from the church and some scriptures were read. We had 8 less active members that we invited come and we had one person that we are teaching come. It was such a special night. At the end, I stood up and announced that Sister Siale and I were both getting transferred and that shocked everyone haha but it was the only way to make sure everyone knew. 

My spiritual thought this week comes from my experience of fasting this week. I know that fasting and prayer are the most powerful combination to bring peace to others and receive answers. I have seen so many miracles through fasting and prayer, so if you need a little pick me up from Heavenly Father or answers to prayers or a miracle, fast and pray. It works every time. 

Ofa Atu

Sister Olson





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