Sunday, September 2, 2012

July 1/2, 2012 - Wonderful Wainui

Helloooo! (I'm running out of clever things to greet you with)

Transfers are this week! I'm staying of course. It's weird seeing the names of the missionaries who are going home, it makes me feel super old. Especially because no one goes home in the August transfer, which means I'm on the following list of missionaries going home. But luckily I've still got 3 months to accomplish my goals. It's seems long sometimes, but other times, too short.

Crazily enough, Elder Maas is also staying for yet another transfer here. It will be 9 months by the time he leaves here. Which is especially rare to stay in your first area for so long. But luckily Wainui is on fire, so there's no reason for him to want to leave. And by "on fire" I mean in a very different than the way it is for you in Utah.

I can't believe all of that is happening. I heard from some stranger about the fires going on in "Colorado or something" but he didn't mention Utah. I'm glad to hear you're all okay.

It's been a great week here in the Promised Land and our investigators are continually progressing. We had seven investigators at Church yesterday. Hopefully next week will be like ten. It's quite amazing how many great families/couples we are actually teaching, it's almost hard to keep track of them all.

One spiritual experience of the week was on Wednesday, when I went to go see Tom (the guy who gave us groceries). I was on exchanges with Elder Ebel (he's from the Marshall Islands) and we were able to see Tom and his family last thing for the night. During dinner he mentioned his desire to come back to church, but that he's trying to sort things out first before he comes back, (like quitting smoking and drinking). He asked us the most humble question I think I've heard: "I really want to know, what do YOU  think about that idea? I want an honest answer." So what I related to him was how coming to church is like going to the hospital. We don't go to the hospital when we're healthy, but we go when we're sick. Same with church, we're all spiritually sick, and so we shouldn't wait until we're healthy again until we go back. He really liked that idea. After dinner he asked some other similar questions and I tried to explain to him how the Lord helps us overcome weaknesses, but it didn't seem to stick as my other response did. I then turned to Elder Ebel who pretty much hadn't said anything. I asked him What he thought. Elder Ebel then told Tom about his own conversion experience a few years ago and how he had to overcome similar temptations. He said when the missionaries were teaching him he would go to church on Sunday and then a few days later would be tempted to smoke. But as he was about to do it he would think about Sunday and feel guilty and would then be able to not smoke. It was exactly what Tom needed to hear.

Well i gotta go! Happy Birthday again! Thanks for the pictures. Are my sisters getting older or going back in time? They've got some groovy threads and shades.
I love you bye!



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