Monday, October 21, 2013

Bonjour tout le monde!
 
This. week. was. crazy. But soooo great. Man I love what I do. I really have the best calling and I am living in the most beautiful place on earth. Every day I'm just blown away by the beauty of this island. This morning, we ran up by the mountains and it was soooo beautiful! It's been raining on and off this whole weekend so needless to say we were also hurdling some pretty big puddles too but it was great. There are just So many trees everywhere and the vegetation is just gorgeous. I don't think Ill ever get used to the gorgeous views that I see every day. Its the best. 
 
So okay, I have to say that this week was definitely labeled a week of faith and miracles for me. I'll start off by talking about the split I went on last Wednesday. So Soeur Carter is an STL and so she had a meeting with all of the other STLs in Papeete on Wednesday. So I ended up with Soeur Fisher (also a greenie) because her companion is an STL too. We all live in the same house so that was fine but the only problem was- WE DONT SPEAK FRENCH. Granted, my language isn't terrible but comprehending is still a challenge for me sometimes and I cant speak that well or fast enough to teach a whole lesson. And Soeur Fisher is in the same boat as me and so we were kind of freaking out a little bit. The plan was that Sr Fisher and I would go with our DMP and his wife (who I can pretty much understand completely now) and we would go around to our lessons. We were still pretty nervous but it was nice to have DMP and Sr Mathilde for good backup in case we really needed them. It ended up being AWESOME because I really had no other choice but to put ALL of my trust in the Lord. Sure, I didn't speak perfectly, but he always prepared a way for us to accomplish what we needed to.
 
A few miracles were that I was able to commit our investigator Charle Willy for baptism (Nov 9th! SO excited.), we taught all of our lessons, I experienced one of the coolest example of the gift of tongues in action with Tahitian, our faatamaraa was with a family that spoke English (SUCH a miracle) annddddd Sr Carter made it just in time for our Soirée Familiale with a family and our new investigator Vaitiare. It was so great. Charle Willy is one of my favorite persons to teach because he's 13 years old and just has so much desire. He's definitely every missionary's golden investigators. He already wants to serve a mission so committing him for baptism was so great because it's such a huge step in the right direction. He has the biggest smile too so he's definitely a joy to teach.
 
Teaching in Tahitian was super cool too because we found a potential new investigator and he's super cool. I hope that everything goes well with him (Mika) because that would be another opportunity to teach in Tahitian! And then lastly, I'll talk about Vaitiare. Vaitiare is also one of my favorite investigators because she has SO much desire as well. We had one of the most powerful lessons on Friday which I want to share a little about. So it was our first lesson with her and already she's shown us all the signs that she has all the desire to learn. Halfway through our lesson, I got the impression to commit her for baptism. At first I was like what the heck? We've barely started into the lessons! Well it didn't go away and so I finally went for it and it was incredible. She kind of nodded her head and then broke down into tears. She then described some things that have been weighing her down and we were able to help her and then DMP gave her a blessing. It was sooo powerful and definitely was a testimony to me that it's always so important to follow the spirit because I don't know what would've happened if I hadn't asked her to be baptized. We saw her the next day and had another super great lesson and it was so great to already see the change in her and how much happier she was. It was great too because we were able to commit her for baptism and I'm super happy to watch her progression. The work is definitely moving here in Papara and I'm excited for all of our baptisms in November! Being a missionary is the best.
 
On other news, I was sick again on Thursday which was really bizarre because I was doing so well! It's also weird because I was sick the first Thursday I was here too. If this is a pattern, this is not going to work out for me. Haha so we'll see if this Thursday is better for me.
 
I also drove manual for the first time yesterday! Dad you would be so proud. We only drove down this one road for a little bit and I only went to 2nd gear but hey! We didn't die or crash and that's all that really matters huh?
 
Well I'm out of time and I forgot my camera so expect lots of pictures next week! Sorry to disappoint because I know that's all that yall look for anyways on these emails :) (At least I would if I were in your shoes lol)
 
Never forget that its impossible to have faith and fear at the same time. If you put your faith in the Lord and trust in him- Youll NEVER fail. I'm proof of that let me tell you.
 
Learning two languages is the best thing ever, no matter how hard it can be sometimes.
All of the work, sickness, mosquito bites, and fatigue is SO worth it when you can see the change in the peoples lives you teach and help everyday. Also- my life is SO great and I've never been happier.

Love yall!!
 
Faaitoito to'u utuafare e mau hoa!

Soeur Taylor

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