Down to 3 Weeks!

Week 103

12th December 2016

Well... What to say. I am excited to be returning but at the same time I am really sad inside too. Yesterday afternoon the ward got together for choir practice. My companion and I were supposed to attend also but we had to go to a couple appointments. As we opened with a prayer for one of our lessons, I could hear the members singing. It was loud, strong, powerful and heart moving!! As I was closing my eyes during the prayer I wanted to shed tears, I could picture in my mind the day i would leave these beautiful people and there voices singing farewell.

I have being trying really hard to put the sad feelings at the back of my mind and forget about that day for now, but every now and then they pop out like yesterday. This week Sunday we have a baptism, 2 actually. The baptisms of Brother Savenaca and Maraia. I will be baptizing Maraia and our Elder Quorum President will baptize Brother Savenaca. I am really looking forward to this day, with great anticipation. I have being preparing myself for this special moment.

A couple months back I was going through a bit of a trial in my mission, personally. I felt like I wanted to go home and had no purpose continuing my mission. I prayed to Heavenly father and asked him if he would help prepare one, someone for me to share the gospel with and help change her life. I have heard many missionaries say when they baptize somebody, it was like they saw that persons future flash before their eyes. That confirming feeling of changing someone's life through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I wanted that feeling, I wanted that experience. I prayed hard and made it a goal to find someone that I could do just exactly that. Then came along Maria, and only couple weeks ago the thought and feeling came to, this is the someone my loving Heavenly Father has prepared for me.

I see it, her life changing as she learns more and more about the Gospel. Her wanting to serve a mission, wanting to be apart of the truth she has come to find. Willing to follow the example of Jesus Christ even with the limited knowledge she has. She is young and many things have happened in her life causing much suffering for her but all of which have been given to help prepare her for this moment. God really does answer prayers and he is a true and living God. This I know!! 

Sunday morning though, God showed to my companion and I yet again his love and compassion for us. We left the flat at 6:30am to go pick up Savenaca and bring him to chruch. We planned to take the bus from his house to the chapel but we were late. So we began pushing him in his wheel chair toward the chapel, as we walked a white van drove past and told us to hop in. It was a Senior missionary couple!! God knew we were running late and he send us a tender mercy. Thanks to that blessing we got Savenaca to church on time and then were able to pick up our new investigator. A lady named Sereana who has her leg cut off due to bone cancer. We took Brother Savenaca's wheelchair and picked her up also!! 2 of our other investigators were able to attend church also!! We were stressed about how we were going to get our investigators to church and yet God prepared a way. 4 in total, it was amazing!! #Miracles

God really is in the work more than we know and understand. He is living and he is loving!! I love him and I love his son, without his son. Nothing would be possible especially the gift of repentance. 

In other news though, I have my last Zone conference this Wednesday, where I will bear my departing testimony to the missionaries of my Zone, I don't want to!!! because I know I will cry so much. I am happy though to bear it in front of my cousin Elder Roberts, and my 2 good friends from back home in Brisbane Elder Levasa and Sister Tuivai. Seeing them as missionaries and growing in the gospel brings happiness to my heart. I love them and love being a missionary!! I love you all, talk soon.

Wonderful Week!

Week 102

05th December 2016

Yet another wonderful week here in Navatuyaba!!! We now have 3 investigators that will be baptised this month. On 16th, 17th and 18th of December 2016. Sisilia will be baptised on the 16th, Maria on the 17th and Savenaca on the 18th. I am so excited!! So is the ward and our Bishop!! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all usual days. PDAY, District meeting, self reliance class which are awesome by the way. I am learning so much about what I want to do with my life after the mission especially in terms of a career choice too.

Friday though we had a mission tour. All 4 zones here on the eastern side of Viti Levu combined and enjoyed a wonderful conference from Elder Cardon who is a seventy & in the South Pacific Area Presidency. He shared with us a lot of knowledge and many things who can use in our missionary work. Whilst we got to see a member of the Seventy, everyone was mostly excited to see each other and catch up. 4 zones together! That never happens here in the mission, so we were blessed spiritually and socially haha. I got to catch up with all the Australian missionary which by the way are all mostly Samoan. It was fun and full of laughs as usual.

Saturday we worked hard, and I gave much thought to one of the trainings that were shared at the Mission tour. The insight was called "What will be your legacy?" It applies very much to missionaries and also everyday life. What will be your legacy? I heard once a quote that went like this "We are remembered by others from the gifts we leave them." I gave much thought to my mission, what has being my legacy, what have i been remembered by?? It was a deep question. I thought about the word success and how I measure myself as a successful missionary. Many missionaries measure themselves in regards to their success by baptisms, lessons, looking/ sounding good for leaders. Others by helping people and making them happy, sharing their love and showing the way to Christ etc.

For myself, if the people I teach understand and come to find out it is true the message I share with them is true and that causes them to act on the faith and truth and at the same time i can make them smile, be happy and feel love and comfort in their lives. Than i judge myself to be a successful missionary!! I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and he has created us all different, no-one likes a robot missionary. I have always tried to be a REAL missionary. I don't mean like your stereotypical missionary but I mean a honest missionary. As in honest with myself. So many missionaries I think take it wrong when they say "The mission will change you" to me that means you don't try to fake who you are and be someone else, you allow the Gospel to replace and add onto you. Just like a house, when a family moves out and another moves in. You don't just demolish it completely, you enter and turn it into your own house. You simply replace that of which you don't want and add to what you do want.

Whilst you do that you rely on the Lord always and he will guaranteed direct your paths. Trust and Love. My legacy currently.  

Sunday we walked 5km to Brother Savenaca's house early in the morning, it was soo hot!! We got him dressed into his church clothes and pushes him in his wheel chair all the way to church. Another 5km again, only this time it wasn't so hot. God had blessed us with clouds #blessings. He enjoyed church so much, members were conversating with him and catch up. He knew a lot of people there, we took him to our lunch appointment and then let him rest. After wards we began pushing him back to his home, but Heavenly Father blessed us and let a car stop and pick us up and dropped us to Savenaca's home. #miracles

And well now it is Monday again, returning home is exciting but also scary and complete nerve racking but it is another chapter in life that I am coming to. At some point I must accept and embrace it, but I will continue to work as a missionary and disciple of Jesus Christ even after I have finished the mission. I love being a missionary. Wish I could tell you all the miracles I see each and everyday, they are out there in everyday life you just have to change your thinking of what is a miracle and a blessing. Once you do that you will begin to see them more often and it will slowly change you, believe me though the change is amazing!! 

What a week!

Week 101

28th November 2016

My companion and I attended a wedding of one of our investigators. The Samoan half Fijian girl if you remember?? Her and her boyfriend the returned missionary finally got married and it was such a great experience to be there and witness that special event for them and their families. The whole village was in attendance, it was a great celebration of love and unity. My companion and I though were slightly freaked out, as we talked afterwards saying "Man, did their wedding really put it into perspective for you too, or was it just me?" I asked my companion lol. He laughed and agreed! One day that will be me with all my family around, making those sacred vows to someone oi leeeii!! Freaaky huh?? haha

That was on Friday, Saturday was interesting! We went to go teach some lesson as we had planned. After visiting a couple investigators we visited a man named Savenaca. I haven't talked about him much to you but Savenaca is a old man 60yrs, lives by himself and is paralyzed on one half of his body. He is very weak and slow. He's been like this for years since he retired from the Fijian Military. People in the village bring him food everyday but that is it, no one talks to him or comes to help him around the house eg. eating, shower, moving around etc. We went to visit him, we shared with him a small message, afterwards he asked if we could help him to the shower for him to bath. So we did. We placed him in the shower on a chair then he asked us to undress him, my companion turned to me and said "Okay your turn" hahaha egghead lol. So I did, I undressed the guy and long story short I showered him too. He sat there on the chair while I washed him, in the beginning I was waaayy reluctant but then I thought he hasn't showered for how long, I'm probably helping him out big time.. I began to just converse with Save, asking him about his family, children, life in the military. He really is a smart man. People just don't give him a chance. After washing him fully, I dried him and then dressed him and my companion and I carried him to his bed where we said goodbye and let him eat his dinner. Next week we will come again to see him and cut his hair and shave his beard. I really did feel the spirit of charity, love and understanding as I helped this humble man. Others may laugh but it was definitely a lesson and great experience.

Sunday was awesome!! We had Brother the recent Return missionary bear his homecoming testimony. It was so powerful and inspirational. Everyone was touched in the chapel, especially a visitor named Maria. She is the niece of Sister Hawea, she's from Rakiraki. So we connected immediately as I spoke to her in her dialect. Brother Sivo invited her to take the lessons and she agreed. We had a lesson with her yesterday afternoon and I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for preparing this young girl. She is so ready, the questions she asked during the lesson, her response to the questions and things we taught. God has definitely prepared us and Maria to meet. Maria is 20yrs old, from Rakiraki. Her Mother left her when she was a young teenager and was sick for almost a year. Doctors said she was going to die but something saved her and she believe that God has saved her for that exact moment we had with her yesterday at church and during the lesson. Her experience has only strengthened my testimony that the God I serve is a true God, loving, all powerful and all knowing living God. I love him and thank him for preparing the field for us especially when missionaries told us this area was dead. 

Even one investigator for your teaching pool is a miracle and you must be grateful, take hold and enjoy those small and special moment of happiness, moments of testimony and miracles. As my aunty told me once when she served in California, Ventura mission. 95% of your mission will be hard, struggle, tiring, stressful, sweat and tears will be shed, moments of loneliness and mental and emotional hardship, but the 5% is what keeps you going that's the happiness, the joy, miracles and blessings and feels of success that motivate you. Much like our individual lives.

Afterward we had a nice get together with the YSA, the YSA here are just like home in Sydney. There are heaps of them, they're way energetic and social and willing to have activities to increase YSA attendance and unity etc. They love the church and most of them are preparing to serve missions. We enjoyed a nice evening together talking and laughing having fry bread and ice cream :D It was awesome!! I really do love my area, everyone knows who I am here haha so no need to worry about accommodation when I return to Fiji lol.  Trying my hardest to go hard before finishing the mission.