Learning and Teaching

Week 3

17th January 2015

Hey Family :)

Yet another great week! This weeks Investigator lessons have been great! 

My companion and I have being doing really well with planning lessons and sharing messages. We have made our Missionary visits long-ish but our message short, direct and relate-able. Our teacher told us half your time with investigators, members etc. will be mostly small talking and the rest will be time to share a message and invite them to come unto Christ through invitations...   

My Companion and I have 3 investigators here in the MTC at the moment.  The three investigators names are Sepo, Vatu & Kalivati. We have being teaching and going through the first lesson with them, The Restoration and tomorrow we will introduce the second lesson being the Plan of Salvation. Our lessons have being going great, Sepo asked the question "If the Bible was True just as much as the Book of Mormon?" and of course we replied with firm testimonies of the truthfulness of both. 

Its so great to hear investigators asked questions because it not only strengthens our testimonies as the missionary but theirs also as they Ask, ponder and pray about. Our invitations to our investigators have being going well. 

Sepo has being reading the Book Of Mormon from the beginning and we've asked that he prays about the truthfulness of it and also the truthfulness of our missionary message. He is keeping commitments we give him which is awesome. 

We have a lesson tomorrow with a return missionary from Fiji to practice our lessons. My Fijian is good but also has room to improve. ... My companion and I at the moment have a layout for our lessons. Because I can speak the Fijian language more fluently than most people in the class and my companion, I do most of the talking and my companion shares the message, we both bear testimony and answer questions best we can and then I finish up, extend the new commitment and we close. 

Our teachers tell our class that our intake is one of the best so far from any of the last few intakes. I love my district though they're annoying and frustrating at times because they don't always look at the eternal perspective and go beyond the now, I love them and especially my Zone.

Our zone gets smaller and smaller with many of our missionaries leaving. Sad but a rejoicing time for all.

Tuesday nights we have Devotionals and this Tuesday night we had Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles come and speak to us, His talk was amazing as well as his wife's talk on the topic of Desperation. She talked about how desperation is important on a mission. From her talk I got that Desperation is needed in the mission because it is another word for Desire. If we are not desperate, then we don't desire to fulfill our missionary purpose which is to "Invite those to come unto Christ"...

In other news this week, I found this week a little hard. The homesickness started to set in for a lot of missionaries in my zone. Some nights all us Poly Elders sleep in the lounge room in our Residents Hall on the ground, couches/mattresses because quote "It feels like we're back at home sleeping together with our families" - Elder Tu'italili says. 

Its true though, our zone is so closely bonded together its amazing. My companion Elder Alonzo always says to me that he so amazed at how quickly, easily and strongly Polynesians can bond together. I love my Zone, we're a family.  I play the role of the Old Ko Matua (Wise man) lol.

We're preparing to farewell the Tongan Elders and Sisters soon, they leave in a week. Anyway, thats enough writting for this week, will write more next week.

I have a firm testimony that I know the church is true, if it isnt well "I have come a long way to tell a lie." (Quoted from the movie "The other side of Heaven"). I love my Zone, my district, my president and my companion no matter how frustrating he is lol.

 I believe in the atonement and know it is real when we discover is true purpose and power. I have faith that Jesus the Saviour of the world we'll provide for those who will come unto him, hear his word, live worthily of his spirit and presence. 

We as missionaries do not know every answer to every question but we do know the truthfulness of this gospel and testify that it is everlasting. I love you all, Speak next week.

E na yaca i jisu kerisito, emene.

Elder Lemusu

XOXOXOX