Ia Ora Na Utuafare! 

 Life is good here in Papara! It’s pretty weird to think I’ve been here for almost 4 months! I feel like time has just FLOWN.

 The work is going pretty well and we are still really blessed to have SO much work in Papara. With the New Year, we've really gotten better about having our Reunion de Coordination (Meeting with the Ward Mission leader, Ward Missionaries, Bishop, and Auxiliary leaders) every week and having our Ward Council every two weeks. It’s so nice having ward support with missionary work and we have really seen the difference it has made working with members and the bishop for missionary work.

So remember our cute investigator Kahaia? The 12 year old girl who just wants to follow the example of Jesus Christ and get baptized (normally for this past Saturday)? Well her mom said NO. I don’t think I’ve ever been so heartbroken in my life! She told us she would give us the response at our Family Home Evening on Tuesday and when she pulled me aside and told me no, my heart literally sank so much. It was one of those moments where I was just praying to know what to say to change her mind, but in reality her mind was already set. She told me that she was already baptized Protestant and that she didn’t need to be baptized again. The funny thing is that her mom has taken the lessons for like years (but not at the moment) and I know it’s been explained so many times why it’s important that we get baptized by immersion, with the proper authority, like Jesus Christ. But bref- we are going to keep the faith and hope that her heart will be softened. 

So we did a lot more contacting this past week (OLB- Ouvre la bouche- Open the Mouth) which was both super fun and super interesting at the same time. It’s always blows my mind and makes me so happy when people just see us and are like "Venez, venez!" (Come, come!) like they were sitting there waiting for us! I love it. 

It’s fun too when we run into angry Jehovah’s Witnesses or Catholics. We talked with this angry Catholic who’s sister got baptized recently and she was just so mad and couldn’t believe that her sister would betray her family and get baptized Mormon. We shared a nice message about free agency and shared the message of the restoration and she surprisingly listened and accepted it! She was still angry when we left, but hopefully we'll get to see her again so we can continue with the lessons. Over all, it’s such a testimony builder to me every time we go out and do contacting of how desperately people need the gospel. It’s a nice boost for me to realize my purpose here and how important it is that I keep going and keep working hard. There are just so many people who need the gospel and need the blessings of peace and happiness that the gospel brings. It always is a blessing for me to realize how lucky I am to have grown up in the gospel too. 

 Other than that, we had interviews again with President this past week which is always fun. He always asks in the interviews if we have any questions and I’m like yes. "Qu'est-ce que tu peux me dire a propos de la futur?" (What can you tell me about the future?) It’s my favorite question. He couldn’t tell me much, but he did tell me that I would be leaving Papara at the end of Soeur Kavera's training and that I would probably be training again. So who knows what that means, but I guess we'll find out mid-march! 

Soeur Green has only got two weeks left and I am still in denial that she’s leaving. It has been so nice being her companion because I learn so much and she is just so much fun to be around. We've had some pretty good times together. Hopefully Soeur Kavera and I can figure things out without her. 

Well I think that’s about it! Life is good and I just love living on this island!

Hope yall are well!! 

Ua here rahi roa vau ia outou! 

Tuahine Taylor 

I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures this week! I’m terrible, I know. Next week! 

Ia Ora Na To'u Utuafare e Mau Hoa! 

 Life is pretty good here in the Tahiti although it’s been pretty hot lately. I shouldn't be complaining though because we have a car...

This past week was really busy and we just worked, worked, worked. 

We have taught the most lessons I ever have since I got here! It’s so great! I feel so blessed to be in a sector with SO much work and SO much potential! We won’t accomplish our 5 baptisms for January (only 3), BUT I know we'll make up for it in February.

I love my new companions! They are so fun and I love them both for different reasons. Soeur Green is like a blonde twin that's like twice my size. We have had some good times together- it’s been so great. And then Soeur Kavera is sooooo funny and keeps us laughing all the time. She still has that greenie fire and it’s been so great to keep us going. I’m dreading for when Soeur Green finishes in February because she has been such a blessing with all of her experience! I learn SO much every day from her and it will definitely be sad when she has to leave February 11th. 

So we had our miracle baptism on Saturday and it was really great! Our ward finally pulled it together and we had a lot of the members come out for the baptism. I think it’s with all the excitement with the goals and the anniversary of the church in Polynesia in May that's got them all hyped up for missionary work. It’s great! 

This Saturday we have the baptism of Kahaia (one of the girls we teach in that big extended family) who is 12 years old and has the biggest smile. She is super great and wants to get baptized, but we're still waiting on the permission from her mom. Her mom said she would tell us on Tuesday at our weekly Soiree Familiale. She’s a little unpredictable so we are not sure what she'll say but we have faith she'll say yes. Her mom is actually an old ami who has taken SO many lessons for like 5 years now but she has problems with the Word of Wisdom and doesn’t really want to change so we had to stop teaching her. When Kahaia gets baptized and her other daughter, Cynthia, in February, I know that they will be a good example for her and hopefully she'll take the lessons again. Besides the baptism of Kahaia, all of our lessons with that family are going really well. Only Kahaia and Tamira have come to church the past two weeks, but I know the others will catch on and start going. They all have been progressing pretty well! 

Remember Famille Tufariua? Well we had to put Mami on standby (stop the lessons for the moment) because she's not progressing and will not keep our commitments. We have been trying to figure out why she always accepts us and listens but won't actually accept any of our commitments. We did engage her daughter, Carole, for a baptismal date of February 15th so hopefully we can confirm that and she can be a good example for her mom as well.

Other than that, our amis are doing well! It seems like we have had to put the same numbers of amis on standby as we have had new amis but hey, its progression! There is nothing more frustrating and heart breaking than to see an ami reject the gospel and the commitments we give them. At the same time though, I feel like we tried our hardest and that eventually, they'll come around and realize the truth. 

One experience we had the other day was with our ami, Mami Louise. She believes in a lot of the same things but she will not accept at all the Book of Mormon. We had a pretty powerful lesson where we just testified of the Book of Mormon, but she wouldn’t listen. On one hand it was pretty sad because as a missionary, all you want is for them to accept the gospel but on the other hand I am trying so hard not to be distracted because two of the neighbor dogs are fighting in the background and 1 ends up getting really hurt and here we are just trying to testify and help this Mami realize the importance of the Book of Mormon. I’m just like- seriously? Ha ha well- that’s Tahiti for you- there are dogs and cats and mosquitoes and geckos and roosters EVERYWHERE. Ha ha ha sometimes I wonder if the dog population outnumbers the people population. 

Well. I think that's about it! I'm doing pretty well and just loving life here in good ol Papara, Tahiti. 

Hope yall are well, Thanks for the prayers and mail! 

 

Melodie with her cute little kitten.

Alexander with his cute little smile. Both cute kids of our Ami, Raf.

Torea! He's baptized!

My Bestie, Teuira, decided to take a selfie while Torea was being baptized. I was dying of laughter and had to share this adorable picture of one of my favorite Tahitians.

More pictures next time.

 

Faaitoito, 

Soeur Taylor 

 

 

Famille!

Oookayyyy so I have no time today, so this will be a short one.

 So in May there is this HUGE celebration in Tahiti to mark 170 years since the first arrival of missionaries at Tubai. So of course the missionaries are a big part of it and so every Monday for the next like 3 months, we practice singing hymns and stuff in Papeete. All of the missionaries in Tahiti participate so it's super fun to see mostly everyone every week but it's also a big deal and means we aren't going to have another normal pday for the next like 3 months. Yay!

But we also have an apostle coming to Tahiti next month too for another mission conference so YEAH- exciting stuff in the islands coming up!

 So remember Torea? Our miracle? HE'S GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!! So, so exciting! He's got all the desire and will do everything he needs to do to be ready for baptism. So yeah, we're pretty excited about that.

 We had a marriage and baptism this past Saturday with Vincent and Nancy. Nancy is a member and Vincent was our ami. Nancy is the daughter of the bishop, so needless to say, Vincent has been such a solid ami. I didn't start teaching him but I got to teach him a little so that was fun.

Vincent and Nancy! So happy for them.

Other than that, we teach a couple of teenage girls who are family (cousins and sisters) and all live in the same house. They live with their aunt Raf (who is also an ami but not yet married) and other family members and they are all looking at a January 25th baptism date. We teach 4 of them so if they're all ready for baptism by the 25th, that will be one SUPER happy day :)

Members of the Faraire family. They are all somehow related. We teach Tamira, Cynthia, Kahaia, Poerava, Raf and Heimata.

Soeur Green had a bunch of CTB (choisir le bien) rings which are CTR rings (choose the right) in English. They loved them!

 

The work is going really well and we are always kept super, super busy so yeah, were pretty happy missionaries!

I got a big stack of letters last week and I LOVED it! Thank you mom for writing about the trip, I loved, loved, loved to hear about how typical of a Taylor trip it was. I also got letters from both of my grandmas and the Beaird family! Thank y'all so much for writing! I LOVE to hear about everything happening in yall's lives!!

Heimata's cute little son who loved the stickers I got in my packages and from a cute little postcard from Soeur Jones. All the kids love to put the stickers on their foreheads, ha ha.

Chosir le bien! in French. Mine is Maiti I te Maitiai in Tahitian.

Cute girls that we teach.

Just can't get enough of the sunsets here.

So pretty!

 

 

Beaucoup d'amour,

Soeur Taylor

 

 

 

Happy New Year, Bonne Année, e Ia Oaoa i Teie Matahiti Api!

Man life is pretty good here! It's been a little bit different with new companions, but I am still learning so much and I actually am loving this transfer. Soeur Green is so great and Soeur Kavera is hilarious, so we have fun. 

So guess how we celebrated the new year? By eating Maa Tahiti ( really traditional food) at 9:00 in the morning! It was kind of awful haha, but definitely an experience! I tried Fafaru (raw fish in fermented sea water) for the first time annnddddd it was not that good. Haha the after taste was actually just the worst. But hey, now I can say I tried it! 

With new companions, I'm really excited to see what more we can accomplish. With the new year, our zone has a goal to have 5 baptisms every month for January, February, and March. Seeing as we only have 2 baptisms fixed, at first it was a little overwhelming, BUT we have got the faith and we are already seeing miracles happening and we are finding people who are already ready to accept the gospel. That and we are actually seeing progression with some of our amis who either have blocks for baptism or who just weren't progressing. I LOVE IT.

Yesterday, we talked with a guy whose name is Torea. He has a lot of family in the church, some inactive, but he heard of the church through his ex-girlfriend who he lived with in Pirae. When they broke up, he moved back to Papara and since then has still been interested in the church. He told us he's seen us a few times pass but he didn't want to stop us. We were like WHAT. Haha, but luckily we met him at church and taught him the first lesson later in the day. He has the desire to be baptized and this week we are going to fix a baptism date with him! YAY! It was definitely a miracle to find him, and I am so excited to keep working and keep finding all of these little miracles. 

Training Soeur Kavera has been fun because she has definitely got the greenie fire and I love it! She wants to be the best missionary and she wants to know everything so that she can the best she can be. She's also pretty hilarious too and so it's been fun with both Soeur Green and Soeur Kavera. It's a little different not living in a house of just Americans, but it's not bad at all and we have a lot of fun together. 

I feel really good about my progression with the languages, especially with Tahitian. I love learning it and I love it when we get the opportunity to speak it and teach. I made my new year goals for this year and one of them was to finish reading my Te Buka a Mormona by my 1 year mark. It's pretty time consuming because my vocabulary is very limited in Tahitian and so half the time I'm looking through my ever so used Tahitian dictionary, but it's been great for my comprehension and vocabulary.

Other than that, life is good! We've got a LOT of work in Papara and I know we are very blessed! We've got quite a few amis and are continually trying to find new ones each week. 

 

MAA TAHITI! Looks yummy huh?

I wish I could explain all that is in it.

Part of our zone.  The Elders came to interview our ami, Vincent. Bye bye Elder Cannon.

Sunsets... they are the best here!

Soeur Teina. She is the mother of the cute girls I took pictures of at the Temple.

Family picture again! Mami, Maman, et fille.

I hope yall are doing great! Love yall! 

 Soeur Taylor 

p.s. Soeur Taylor went back to America last Monday and is continually getting better! She can speak, write, and is still herself. I know she still has swelling and has more recovery but from what I've heard, she's doing well!