First Baptism!

Week 43

26th October 2015

Good News!  ELENOA KAINONAMOUCIA was baptised on the 24th of October 2015 in her Village of Nanuca right by the sea of her Village. It was a memorable day, my first investigator I have personally baptised. The day was beautiful, Sun was shinning, waters were colored turqoise and ocean blue, Wing blowing and sands soft and gorgeous :) Had all these random kids from the village there as well come and watch haha, we conducted the baptisimal serve ourselves my companion and I and our two Priests (member presents for the day) it was different but everything went great, rushed and a bit suprising but it all fell into place as we trusted the lord to help us. She was originally planned for the 25th but we were going to be busy as that day in another are so we had to show up to the house and ask if we could have it right then and there lol. Its a long story family....

Among that amazing event of my mission, my comp and I ate Vai this week or Sting Ray and its was beautiful, my comp hated it but I loved it (no surprises there) we also ate a Boto rokete or a Toad Chilli. A massive chilli the size of your finger and orange and green in colour with a frog like surface. Thats why they call it a toad Chilli,my companion and I made a goal to try new things and so we both ate this, my companion and I got really sick for 2 days bed ridden. It was horrible!!! but now we are Bula Bula Vinaka (of Good health). 

Yesterday we contacted a referral given from a member, its her nephew and his wife plus 5 children and they committed to take lesson. Sister Silani the member is a great member present and terrific at helping us in the work by giving us work to do!!! LOL not this week but next week we will be having a big party for two missionaries in our district who will be going home. Me and my comp organized the party with the members in our area and they are all keen because they love members and have a son on a mission in Utah.

Good Week!

Week 42

19th October 2015

This week was good. We stayed home a couple days due to the bad weather, way strong winds and pouring rain non stop all day. It would be unsafe for us to drive anywhere, we would risk crashing because we drive on small dirt roads and when its rains it just all goes to slip and slide mud roads.. So the high light of this week?? well, because we couldn't go out due to the weather, it was pouring down raining and the village kids all told us to come play .... so we did lol after studies of course:L had mad fun playing, slipping and sliding in the mud playing volleyball and touch haha #villagelife

Because we have such a massive area, we don't have a lot of investigators and we are always moving and are never on part of area. We only stay in one part of our area for maybe 1-2 days and then we move to another area. We are working a lot with the branches too especially with district conference coming up we are trying to work hard to turn the district into a stake. So that's the goal for this coming November at District conference in the island of Taveuni. Good news though!!! We currently look after 2 branches and a group in our area and starting maybe November or December we will have 2 more groups opening up in other areas of our area so more saints and people to bring unto Christ.

At the moment our most progressing investigator is Elanoa. She was scheduled to be baptized last Sunday but had to go to a school trip in Suva which is in the other main island. She should be back tomorrow and hopefully baptized this coming Sunday :)

MIRACLE EXPERIENCE:  we were going to one of our areas on Wednesday, and my companion had a prompting to go and visit one of our elderly member couples who live very far away!!!! So it is impossible for them to attend church especially as the wife is blind (yet knows the home like God knows us, gets around so easily) and the husband very heavily sick with diabetes ( we know his time is near). They are way amazing!!! They have 8 children who all live in Utah and are all married also. Their names are Brother and Sister Qabale, they lived in California for 30 years before they returned back to Fiji. Whilst they were in California they also started a Fijian branch that is there now along with another couple Brother and Sister Vuniwai who also live in our area and have started one of the two new groups in our area. 

We came to their home, we sat down with them and we shared a small spiritual though, Sister Qabale cried as I bore my testimony and expressed "she had prayed we would come because no came for them on Sunday to perform the sacrament so they could renew their covenants and Brother Qabale is very sick.  She said it was hard to refrain from crying.. 

We gave Brother Qabale a priesthood blessing and before we left Sister Qabale said " Elder I have a surprise for you. I have got a referral for you, its my niece" 

We were over the moon happy and her niece we sat down with twice now and taught the first lesson and even took a leap of faith and invited her to be baptized and she answered with the golden word "YES"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  She is amazing, so prepared and so interested and inspired by the example of her Aunty and Uncle Brother Qabale who still manage to have daily prayers together, family home evening each Monday night, scripture study and when the power is on in the village they play Church video's.. 

How inspiring they are, I want to be like them when I am old. The Lord, surely and most definitely blessed us and I am so grateful especially for my companion who felt that prompting. Its amazing!!!

Well anyway, I hope you have enjoyed my email I am so excited for November because ITS MY BIRTHDAY ON THE 8TH and also we have district conference, Zone Conference and Zone PDAY!!! Zone Pdays are hard to get in the North because all the missionaries are so spread out!!! lol. 

Well love you all my family if you have any questions about Fiji, please ask away :) I love my mission, I love my God and I love you all.

Moce mada

Elder Lemusu, xo

The Ocean pictures is when we we're on exchanges in the Island of Rabi. Rabi is a Island owned by Fiji but populated by Gilbertese people or people from Kiribati. They moved over a long time ago to Fiji and now all inhabit this Island lol.

The other two picture's are from this morning, we went to the Bakery and went and ate our breakfast at one of Savusavu's many view point peaks. Its beautiful up there!!! #FSM

By the way the Elder who is in all the photo's on the left, his name is Elder Alonzo and if any of you remember he was my MTC companion :D Its good to see him again, he is serving in Rabi :)

My Testimony

Week 41

12th October 2015

Saturday and Sunday, Saturday was packed with appointments and a lot fell through but we didn't get down. My companion went to play volleyball while I made plans with the Branch President to have a activity/ fireside in the village. One thing we are trying to do is to get a lot more youth investigators seeings as there are a tonne in one of the villages we live in and we try and play volleyball with them so that they know us and are comfortable with us also :) That's why my companion went to play volleyball. Sunday, sadly Elenoa didn't attend church. 

We are a group..yes group not unit or branch or ward. Group!!! for those who don't know what a group is, its a group of members that has no priesthood keys leadership as in bishop or branch president it just has a leader and people are given responsibilities instead of callings, its a bit confusing but yeah we look after that group and although Elenoa didn't attend church the group made good plans to hold a FHE this Friday to allow more people to be interested and to gain member unity :) Elenoa will be going to Suva this week too for a school trip so hopefully next week when she return she can be baptised!! fingers crossed..

I am so grateful for the gospel, this morning as I listened to one of the general conference videos of the priesthood session I felt so blessed to be able to hear the voice of the Lords servants. I felt so happy to hear the words of wisdom he shared to me, sometimes I think that I am just one small missionary and many times I fall and I say to myself "Shuxx, sole why did you do that!!??" and I know immediatly that satan is already there trying to pollute my mind with negative thoughts by telling me to enjoy sin and submit myself to my weaknesses -.- but even with a small light of hope the gospel can add fire to the flame and the candle turns into a torch... I am so grateful for the power of the atonement and how its strengthens me and provides me with the way to seek repentance from my heavenly father. I felt the power of the atonement and repentance in my life this saturday when I did something wrong as a missionary and my companion spoke to me about it. My immediate thoughts were "oh be quiet sole" after I laid down and couldnt help but think about his words and I felt a strong feeling in my heart that I had done something wrong and I went and said a prayer after being prompted to do so and to seek the Lords forgiveness. I prayed and then shook my companions hand and thanked him for speaking to me. As I did this I felt the spirit enter back into me and I testify that the spirit is so vital!!!! Missionaries say this all the time but they can never say it enough if you dont have the spirit you cannot teach family, you cannot be guided by his hand, recieve his blessings. the spirit is key!!!!

I love my Saviour and love his gospel, I dont know everything and all things, I wouldnt stand a chance in a bible bash because they happen frequently here in Fiji but I know what is true and what I believe, what we believe and know is true. A man came to Jesus once seeking healing for his sick son and Jesus spoke to the man and the man spoke back saying "help thou my unbelief" ... if we can only believe that the things of the gospel are true, truly greatness is only to come from that one small candle of belief in a room dark, cold, dirty and wicked. 

I love my mission, I cannot thank God enough for this time I have to serve him to learn of him and share of him to his children so that they may know what I know and recieve the blessings of which I have received. Truly we do take the gospel for granted many times!! Alma 5:37 "a sheperd hath called after you and is still calling you yet ye will not hearken unto his voice" READ IT!!! #PONDARIZE he calls you like a mother calls her child when he cries and seeks healing... so does the good sheperd the Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. God loves us so much that he gave his own son to loosen the bands of death and allows us to recieve all that the Saviour recieved. All is possible through Christ the redeemer of the world. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Picture Update

Week 40

05th October 2015

Letter To Mission President

Week 39

28th September 2015

We didn't do too much this past week as it was transfers week and my companion Elder Arthur was finishing his mission and going home so we were in Labasa all week getting paperwork sorted and all. My new companion is Elder Davis (He came to Fiji with my intake and me) but we're not from the same intake lol. He is waay cool, he is from Sacramento, California and is half Hawaiian. He is the man, in the past 3 days we have established a great vision for our area and the work this transfer. Here is a insight (my email to the Mission President) :

Dear President Layton,

From my email last week to you President Layton, I truly believe that my new companion Elder Davis was the answer to my prayer and my questions. Yesterday we had our first and my first Correlation meeting with the Group Leader of the Tacilevu Group. I had planned to do this as soon as Elder Arthur left the area. I thought we were doing well in strengthening ourselves as missionaries in terms of doing the work and teaching lessons and such but we lacked the effort in strengthening the Branches and especially the Group in Tacilevu.

We had our first Correlation meeting with Niko, the Group Leader (A Return Missionary also) and did great in establishing a vision for the group, the area of Tacilevu and also where we were to focus our main efforts in. We took the idea's and things we had discussed and had another meeting with President Harward. We sought his advice and knowledge as to what we should do, to gets his permission on somethings and also his vision and where we should direct our efforts.

The conclusion of this was that Elder Davis and I will now be concentrating our efforts each week, setting aside 3-4 days a week in strengthening and helping the Tacilevu Group. The other two Branches of Tukavesi and Nabua are well functioning branches and can operate by themselves. We will be spending most Sunday's in Tacilevu and maybe one Sunday a month in the branches. We had names from the Group Leader that he is trying his best to work with and strengthen with all that he is able to do in terms of transport, income and his family as well as his responsibility as a leader. We will also be conducting rescue visits with him once every week and plan to try and find investigators through less actives, part member families and such. My companion and I realize that by now changing our plans from previous times, that our key indicators may decline in doing so. We will try our best but at the same time we understand the sacrifice we are committing ourselves too.

Among the things we brought up with President Harward, I spoke to him about that we as a companionship as wanting to start seminary classes. Once a week, maybe on a Friday afternoon for a hour. We currently have 3 potential missionaries from the Nabua Branch and 4 from the Tukavesi branch. Some of the youth have asked me about Seminar, expressing they would like to do it. My companion and I feel we could be able to do and at the same time use that to our advantage to invite other non-member youth etc. to take interest in the church and eventually become potential investigators. Many things need to be taken in to consideration, we understand and we would appreciate any help of the Harwards etc and the well functioning branches such as Savusavu, Tukavesi or Nabua in strengthening and supporting their brothers and sisters in Tacilevu.

Aside from our new established vision. Elder Davis and I are very excited and energetic to be able to take this cause head on and do what we can before the next transfer. Currently we have a Baptisimal date for November 1st, that is if she continues to attend church, as well as two hopeful returning members. We need to do a lot more finding of new investigators so our investigator pool can grow a big more larger than what it is. My hope for myself personally President is that I can prove to myself that I can do this and that I can be the missionary I want to be and reach somewhat of the potential my Father in Heaven has for me. My hope for my companion is to help the best I can with the language and I hope that I can learn how to relax and as you said to me "Smile" more about the wonderful message we as missionaries bring to people.

Thank you very much President, If you have any questions please ask and let me know and if you are able to aid in any way with our efforts here in the Nabua area, it would be much appreciated.

Elder Lemusu and Elder Davis