Sunday, April 6, 2014

I GET TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!!!

I think that that thing that I'm most excited for this week, well there are 2 things, and they are the

TEMPLE AAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDD CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow, I am so excited to be spiritually fed and have my questions answered. (:

This week started out with somewhat of a disappointing announcement...one of our keenest investigators just up and moved away! No notice, no nothing. I guess what had happened was, Tara was dating someone and his mother became her legal guardian. He was involved in this huge as court case and eventually was sentenced to 5 years in jail. So, his mum asked Tara to pay rent and Tara just packed up her stuff and moved away. ): Sad day.

BUT Heavenly Father loves us and blessed us with an even more amazing investigator!! Her name is Vivid and she is this beautiful woman from China. She's been in New Zealand for about 2 months and we met her walking down the street. (: We started talking to her and she said that she wants to learn more about God and so we got her address and her email address and said we'd be in contact! (She doesn't have a phone :/) So, we have been trying for about two weeks to contact her and finally, we went to her house on Wednesday and she was home!! So, we taught her the Restoration and near the end invited her to be baptized! She said yes, but we didn't set a date..then she told us that she needed to go and talk to her landlord because she had promised that she wouldn't have visitors. Nek Minit, her landlord tells us that we can't teach her at that house anymore. But that's okay! Because that's what we have the chapel for! So, we had a lesson with her at the chapel on Saturday and we set her for the 26th of April!!! (: It's going to be so amazing!! She is such a good investigator! Everything just makes sense to her and she is willing to do anything to be able to be baptized!! It's awesome. (:

So, I've been thinking a lot about myself lately, about how I can grow to become a better missionary and how I can become more like Christ. I started a couple of weeks ago, at the beginning of the transfer because I just wasn't happy and I didn't feel like I could be an effective missionary feeling like that. So, I started to change. I asked for help and it is absolutely stunning how fast I received help. Heavenly Father allowed me, one of his daughters, to catch a glimpse of what I can become and that was something that I started to desire. More than anything that I have ever desired before. I want to become that disciple of Jesus Christ that Heavenly Father can trust! So, these last few weeks I have been working hard to allow myself to develop the attributes that will help me become like Jesus Christ. And as I've been doing this, I can feel myself getting happier. I can actually see myself replicating what the Saviour would do. If my companion does something that annoys me, I just brush it off. I mean, it's not like it even matters anyway, eh? In the grand scheme of things, there are more important things to worry about! (: Last night the Zone Leaders came to our flat to give Sister Amituanai a blessing and Elder Tautu commented on it! He said that since I've gotten into the zone, both of the Zone Leaders have noticed that I've become a more happy person. And that just totally made me realize that the gospel, even if we are members already has a constantly changing effect on people!! Through the gospel, we can become more like the Saviour and we can become as close to perfect as we can be in this life!!(: I love it.

I am absolutely loving the mission! And I am meeting so many AWESOME people. (: People from Fiji, Fijian Indians, Samoa, Tahiti, America, Africa, India, Australia, Philippines, China, Japan, Cambodia, and heaps more. There are some really awesome people around the world. And all we have to do, is open our hearts and we'll fall in love!! (:

This car shot is from left to right, Sister Brown, Sister Clarke, Sister Amituanai, Me, and Sister QaQa. (: Sister QaQa finishes her mission on the 20th of April!! Holy cow, she's absolutely amazing. (: I aspire to be like her one day. (:

These are all the sisters in my zone!! Sister Brown, Sister QaQa, Sister Ami, Sister (?), Sister Hughes, Me, Sister Pula, and Sister Fisher!!

I love you!!!!!!!!!!!