Bonjour tout le monde!

Today was the best Pday (Preparation Day) ever!!! Why? Because we went out to the Motu (little island) in the lagoon of Tahiti. So our mission president is the best ever and said that we could go on a boat if we had life jackets, distress signals, and if we stayed in the lagoon. So we organized a little trip with some members and investigators and we went to go hang out on the Motu!

It was the first Pday with Soeur Spackman (she got here last week) and so we all told her that she was incredibly lucky to have spent her 1st ever pday at Tahiti on the Motu :)

We didn’t go in the water, but it was way fun to just hang out on the beach anyways :)

Heading out to the Motu.

Soeur Teinauri was clenching the rope because she was terrified.

Other than our wonderful Pday, this past week went really well! I’ve been loving working with Soeur Ntsiete. The ward is going really well and we've been getting more and more member references! (Over all, it’s only like a few the past 2 weeks but hey, that’s a lot!) With almost every member reference we get, the investigator ends up getting baptized. Why? Because they've all been prepared by members! It’s incredible how effective member missionary work is. The full-time missionaries really couldn’t do it without the members, that is for sure!

A SUPER cool experience we had this past week was Tuesday when we went to go and see our investigator- Margarita. She's been taking the lessons ever since I've been here in Mahina (I was there for her 2nd lesson) and she really has been someone prepared. She knows that the Book of Mormon is true and we've already committed her to baptism but she hesitates because her whole family is Catholic and she has a lot of respect for her grandparents who baptized her Catholic. We've been working with her and she's had so many incredible experiences. I’m just waiting for the day when she tells us that she’s ready. And I know that it’s close! We had a great lesson Tuesday, committed her to continue reading in Moroni with the chapter 7, and we fixed the next lesson for this coming Tuesday (at first she wanted to fix it for 2 weeks later). The NEXT MORNING, she calls us up and tells us that she’s reading and she wants us to come and help her understand better. We went and had a great lesson and while she was expressing how she felt, she told us that during the whole chapter, she thought of me! I was a little surprised and then she read verse 29-

 " And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men."

Then she said something that I will NEVER forget.

"The children of men = Me (Margarita) and the angels- that’s you Soeur Taylor"

Woah.... I was so baffled when she told me that- I had no idea how to respond.

After, she shared verse 34 -

" And he hath said: Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved."

She told us that she realized that because he said to repent before being baptized, it was not right to baptize babies because they weren’t capable of sin . We were like- YES, that’s EXACTLY right.

We all knew that she understood the truth there and I pray that soon she'll announce that she's ready to be baptized despite her huge Catholic family.

We told her to keep reading with Chapter 8 (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/8?lang=eng)  which talks all about infant baptism.

This Saturday, we have our 2 baptisms of Mihirangi and Eric.

Eric is our incredible investigator who is progressing SO much! Our first lesson with him was August 26th and he'll be baptized this Saturday- the 20th of September. He wanted to be baptized this past Saturday, but we decided that it was better to keep the 20th.

Seriously- our investigators are golden.

I love them.

Other than that, we've been really practicing our Tahitian with our new investigator Sonia who lives with an inactive, Emanuel who only speaks Tahitian. Sonia is a cute little Mami who has a hard time focusing in our lessons but we love her anyways. I’ve really seen the power of the gift of tongues though because without a Tahitian companion, I’ve really had to rely on the Spirit to be able to communicate and teach.

I love it.

Well that’s about it- I hope yall enjoy a TON of pictures today :)

More pictures of our day on the Motu.

The beach is made up of coral.

We found a lot of creepy crawly friends.

Our food! Fish, Uru (breadfruit), beans and canned beef.

And of course, coconut.

Hina-ora and Ohana - we're besties.

\

She's the cutest, right?!

Love yall!

Soeur Taylor 

Hello, hello!

Sooooo, I have like noooo time so this will be short. 

1st of all, 

Tuesday, we got to go to a fireside where Family Tauhiro got to share their conversion story. I will NEVER get tired of their story! It honestly is the best. The fireside started out with Soeur Kavera and I where we talked about how we met the family. Then, Elder Taylor talked about his part in their story and then we had the blessing of hearing the testimonies of the family. It was so incredibly sweet for me to hear their testimonies again because I got to see their progression since their baptism. The biggest change was Denis, the father, because he was the most hesitant and now that he holds the Melchizedek Priesthood and has a calling, he definitely is a different person. We got to catch up and I was happy to tell them that I will most likely be able to assist at their temple sealing the day that I leave for home, the 24th of February. What a blessing that will be to assist at their sealing JUST before I get on the plane. I sure hope I can.

Speaking of great conversion stories, we had the baptism of Hina Teaurai this past weekend. FINALLY! I have never been so happy that we never gave up on them. Every time we came with our smiles and positivity when they weren't feeling so motivated was worth it. Every time. Hina-ora, their daughter, sang I am a Child of God with us at the baptism and that was incredibly cute and touching. We did a split the day of the baptism so I was with Soeur Faana again and we both loved to see this great baptism. We got to contact the brother in law of Hélaman and we are going to see them on Thursday. I feel like one of the reasons I'm still in Mahina is for the family of Teaurai :) 

Remember when I did a split with Soeur Ntsiete? She's my companion now! I'm excited to work with her. It was weird dropping off Soeur Teauroa today but I know that she will continue to do great things in her life. 

Well, that's all I have time for. Love y'all and have a great week!!

CENTIPEDE - these things are dangerous.

Look what I learned to make today! A cover for my journal. Mami Teura taught me :)

I thank my Mother for my good manual and artistic skills - you're the best!

Soeur Taylor 

Ia Ora Na Tatou!

I'm doing well in Mahina! I've been here so long that I'm pretty much a member of the ward. Transfer calls are tonight but since my companion is finishing her mission next week, I will be staying again in Mahina. Yay for my fourth companion in the same area. Ha ha.

This past week was really a week of miracles. It was actually one of the hardest weeks too but I guess that's just how it works, huh?

Remember how Mihirangi was supposed to be baptized this past Saturday but their family was "too busy" for her to get baptized? Well, after lots of prayers and fasting, her Mom changed her mind! We went to go see them and we talked a lot about how if we put the Lord first, everything will fall into place (3 Nephi 13:33). She explained that she wanted to wait until they moved to France and so we bore testimony and respected their choice. THEN, 30 minutes after we left their house, she calls us up and told us actually, Mihirangi was going to be baptized here in Tahiti. YIPEE! She's taken the lessons since May so she really is ready.

Another miracle is with our investigator who just started the lessons this past week, Eric. His wife is a member who just recently returned to church and he was a huge potential member from the beginning. He's been coming to church every Sunday for about a month or so but hasn't been ready to take the lessons until this past week. We had 2 lessons with him this past week and both of them were very powerful and incredible lessons. Yesterday, we had a little activity at the temple where we visited the little Visitors Center we have and then visited the Temple Garden. Eric was joking around with us that he was already a member and we were like yeah, real soon huh? After, he puts up his hands and tells us, "the 20th!" We were like wait, "what?!" He was like "yeah, the 20th!!" We were ESTACTIC! We have a lot more lessons to cover before his baptism this month, but he is committed and ready for this great change.

Ashley (20 yrs) and Fleur (24? yrs) are doing really well too, just super hesitant. Fleur lives with her boyfriend and when we taught the law of Chastity, she told us that after SIX YEARS of being together, they have NEVER talked about marriage! I was like what?! After 6 six years?! Ashley (her brother) was laughing so hard when I asked her that question because they both know that that is just ridiculous. Ha ha. So this past week when we asked her if she had talked to him about marriage, she said that she never found a moment and that she didn't really know how to bring it up. We were laughing when we proposed different ideas of how to give him hints but in reality, we all know that guys aren't super aware of little hints, ha ha, it's just better to bring it up bluntly. The poor girl. We're praying that he finally gets it together and proposes.

Another of our investigators (who is one of my favorites) is Mélanie. I'm not sure if I've already talked about her but she is someone who desperately wants to be baptized but can't because her boyfriend doesn't want to get married. They have 3 kids together and have been together for almost SEVENTEEN years but he's still hesitant to get married #welcometotahiti She leads the hymns every Sunday and is practically a member but she's not because she's not baptized. She has a super strong testimony and we've been really working with her for her marriage and everything and I've got a feeling that it's going to be soon. We've prayed and fasted with her and I think that before the end of this year, it'll happen. Man I can't wait for that day. We've become really close and I know that she deserves it after waiting 3 years now.

Other than that, life is good in the ward. Friday, we have a pancake activity with our ward missionaries because the whole month of September, the stake has a bunch of activities set up for missionary work. We're hoping to motivate our ward missionaries so that this month we can be super effective :)

Ua here roa vau ia outou! (Love yall!)

Family Putoa! This family is INCREDIBLE. In the picture too are 2 investigators that they brought to church and to the temple. They work so much with us and I want to have a family just like theirs one day :)

 

Eric and Romy! They have 3 super cute girls.

 

Soeur Lanteires! She's my mom here in Mahina :)

 

 

Have a great week,

Tuahine Taylor

Bonjour tout le monde! 

 So this week was CRAZY. 

It started out not the greatest because EVERYBODY cancelled on us and we couldn't find anybody to teach . Over the span of 4 days, we only taught 4 lessons which has NEVER happened on my mission. We were a little frustrated with Mahina soooo we took off to Moorea! 

 

 

 

 

Haha no, thats a joke- we went to do a split and work with the sisters at Moorea. They're in our zone and that is one super great perk of being an STL. Moorea is the island just above Tahiti so we took the ferry and headed over there to work with 2 companionships of Sisters. I got to work in Haapiti with Soeur Pomeroy ( from the MTC!) and Soeur Afasene ( she's from Samoa). It was super great to work with them and I got to see a little bit of a different experience with working with a branch. It's a lot smaller member wise but their sector is HUGE. We were on bikes and I was dying. Haha I've gotten too chubby in our nice little car in Mahina (and Papara). I always love working in other sectors because it warms my heart to see that missionary work is constantly happening and so many people are accepting to follow Christ. 

 

 

 

 

 

We left Thursday morning and came back early Friday morning where we did another split with the Sisters of Tuauru. That was exhausting and I ended up getting really sick so it wasn't a very long split.. 

 

After our split mania, Saturday and Sunday we fixed 2 baptisms! Remember Hina and Hélaman Teaurai?? Well Hina FINALLY committed to be baptized! We committed her for the 20th of September but she wanted sooner than that- the 6th! I was so, so, so, so, so happy. We contacted the sister of Hélaman too who is living with a non-member and I hope that we will start the lessons soon with them. 

Our other miracle was an old investigator, Moemoea (which means dream in Tahitian) who we recontacted and told us that she had already fixed her baptismal date! The 25th of October. I probably won't be there but we were excited for this little miracle. She is getting married in September and we restarted the lessons yesterday. 

Mihirangi's baptism ( which was supposed to be this coming Saturday) got cancelled because her mom said they're too busy getting ready for their big move to France in December. We were devastated but we hope to refix with her before they move...

We continue to see Ashley and Fleur Kavera and Fleur is really progressing! She got her answer and wants to be baptized but she lives with her boyfriend and they aren't married. #storyofourlives Out of 18 investigators that we teach- 12 live in concubinage and aren't married. Most of these 12 investigators want to be baptized but their boyfriend or girlfriend doesn't want to get married. It's too bad, but we do a lot of praying and fasting so that their hearts can be changed. 

On Saturday we did a "Couples Night" with different talks and then a bunch of activities and it went really, really well. We put a lot of work into this activity and even though not a whole lot of couples showed up, we had a great time. We contacted and recontacted 2 couples so that was really great for us. 

 

I'm doing really well and I am hoping that this week will be better than the last :) 

 

 

 

My little buddy Teano. He hung out with me on our "Couples Night" activity. He took my camera for a while and took a ton of pictures but everybody's head is cut off in the pictures, ha, ha, ha.

Love y'all!

Soeur Taylor

 

Bonjour Ma Famille!

 

Je vais toujours bien à Mahina! (I'm still doing well in Mahina!)

 

This past week we had the great blessing of having Elder Pearson with us! He's in the 70 and is the President of the Pacific Area. We had our Leader Meeting on Thursday and then a Mission Conference on Friday and they were both SO incredible because Elder Pearson really is a powerful speaker. He speaks right to the soul.

Leader meeting with Elder Pearson

 

Thursday, when he came for our Leaders Meeting, he came and shook my hand and said that he remembered me! I was like, "oh really??" He's got a good memory because the last time he came was in February (but that feels like yesterday honestly).

Elder Pearson, myself and President Bize

 

Our meeting was super great and we got so many good ideas going around for the mission and for our plans of action for our areas and zones. We talked a lot about the importance of serving the members and that is something that Soeur Teauroa and I have been trying to focus on as well. In Tahiti, it's almost impossible as a missionary to do physical labor as a service project because NOBODY wants to impose "their work" on the missionaries. That's something cultural so Soeur Teauroa and I have been thinking of creative ways to serve. We've taught English to a couple of members but something that everybody loves in the ward is my "Cookies Americain"- Chocolate chip and double chocolate chip cookies that I make all the time. We started bribing the members a little bit by telling them that if they come to the activities- there will be cookies! Ha ha ha, IT WORKS! They love, love, love them and they all have the recipe too. I have to keep thinking of other ideas of how we can serve the members and if y'all have ideas, PLEASE send them :)

 

Friday, Elder Pearson talked a lot about being a disciple of Christ and talking about what we need to do in order to serve with all of our heart, mind, might and strength. It was incredible and he really helped me realize how to be a better missionary.

 

Saturday, we did a split with the Sisters at Erima and I worked in Erima with Soeur Ntsiete! She's from Toulouse, France and it was such a fun split! She works incredibly hard and is very attentive to the spirit. I loved learning from her and we really had a good time doing lots of contacting and talking with EVERYBODY. Their sector mostly consists of one big neighborhood in the mountains so we had fun walking up and down and everywhere on that mountain to find new investigators.

My split with Soeur Ntsiete in Erima

 

 

Other than that- our investigators are doing well! It was still a little bit difficult to see everyone this week but today is the first day back at school for everyone so hopefully that will help with everyone who went on vacation or who were always busy. I'll give a good update of our investigators the next time.

It cracks me up every time we see the dogs stick their heads through the fence when we are out contacting. 

Life is still super great in Mahina and I still love my ward and sector. Soeur Teauroa only has 3 weeks left- so crazy how time flies! I know that January will be here before I know it and that is a little scary.

I ran into Willy at our mission conference. He got taller and I got wider. Funny how that works.

 

 

Love y'all and I hope y'all have a good week!

 

Soeur Taylor

 

Hello my family and friends! 

I hope y'all had a good week. Ours was good! The work has still been a little slow but it’s been really nice working with my new companion, Soeur Teauroa. It was really nice as well to see how welcoming our ward was when she came! We've been working really hard to improve member relationships since I’ve been here in Mahina so I was really, really happy to see the improvements with our ward and new missionaries. It was really hard for me when I first got here so I’m so happy to see how that has improved. We have a lot of support from the Bishop and the leaders in our ward so working with them is SUCH a joy. I never want to leave Mahina! 

On Wednesday we had our activity where we did door-to-door contacting with an auxiliary. This past week it was with the priesthood and I had the COOLEST contacting experience on my whole mission. We came to a house and a young adult came out and started talking with us. It turns out that she lives in France for her studies and that she's only here to visit her family during the vacation. She has never met the missionaries but she knows really well a couple that just came back from France who are members in our ward! They were there during our activity so she got to see her and she actually lives in MONTPELLIER. I was like NO WAY, my best friend is serving there right now!!! We introduced her to the Book of Mormon and she was really interested. She accepted to read it and we took her name and number because now, I have a reference for my best friend serving in France!!! 

I NEVER thought that would happen in my life. I showed her a picture and everything and told her to look out for Soeur Jones and that she was way cool. Hopefully Soeur Jones doesn't get transferred before she gets to meet her but still, it was the coolest experience ever. 

We did a lot of contacting this past week, especially with our DMP. He's the best. 

At one house, this lady came out and was yelling lots of not nice things in Tahitian at our DMP but that didn't bother him at all, he just kept going. We both felt bad but he really didn't care at all. That’s why our DMP is the best. 

Family Teaurai came to church yesterday AND Hélaman got his priesthood back! (Aaronic) I was so, so, so happy yesterday because this family continues to progress. On Saturday, we did a split with the sisters of Pare and Soeur Tefaaite came and worked with me in Mahina. It was really great, especially because we both came into the mission at the same time. 

I don’t have much to say today other than that life is going well!! I am one happy missionary here in Mahina. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great week! 

Love y'all! 

Soeur Taylor 

 

Ia Ora Na Ma Famille!!

So the transfers have happened and Im staying in Mahina!! I was a little surprised but Im really happy to be staying! Right now, Im going to serve with Soeur Teauroa! She finishes her mission in like 5 weeks so Im excited to learn from her and her expérience right before she finishes! My first companion that I won't be training (or who didnt train me haha) Speaking of my trainer- she finishes tomorrow!!! SO weird!!! Everybody that are the oldies here in the mission are going to start leaving and soon it will be my group the oldies! So weird. 

Soeur Terooatea got transfered to Pirae ( a little bit closer to Papeete) and Soeur Faana is coming back to Matavai! Its right next to our sector so we were all laughing that she's coming back to Mahina. The organization in the mission changed too so now there are less STLs and President put all of the STLs together as companions. So Soeur Teauroa and I will stay STLs and we are the STLs for Mahina and Arue. We will actually be doing splits now that Im excited to work with more sisters! 

Other than that- the work is going well in Mahina! We only have 1 baptism fixed for the end of August but we do have potential among our amis so Im excited for them to continue progressing. 

On Wednesday, we had our activity of going door to door with different auxilliarys and this past week we were with the Relief Society. I was with 2 sisters and we came to this house that we had already tried to contact but there was never anyone there. So we went up, saw the car, and yelled- Ia Ora Na!! A woman came out of the house and we started talking to her. She wasnt really interested but I asked her if she had ever met the missionaries. She said that her brother was about to be a missionary! I was like oh really, what's his name? She said- Nuihau! I was like hey! Nuihau Taurere?? She was like yeah!!! After that- I kind of freaked out a little bit and I was like, hey I know him!!! I taught him!! I was there when he got baptised!!!! 

She wasnt as excited as I was but she accepted a little brochure and with our number and I told her to call us when she had a moment so that she could see why her brother converted and was baptised in the Church of Jesus Christ. 

It was a really cool experience that made me realize how important families are in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. 

Another family that we've been working with is the Teaurai family. The husband is inactive and his wife is not a member. She's taken the lessons for a long time and she's already had her baptism fixer a lot of different times. For some reason or another- she's never followed through. Its a lack of support with her husband in the church and some motivation too. She's been nervous for the changes that will happen after her baptism so thats why she hasnt followed through.

Well anyways, we've never given up on them because they've always shown potential- they just need support. So we've been working with them and they FINALLY came to church this past sunday and Hélaman- the husband talked to bishop and is coming back. They've got two little kids who are adorable! (I know that Ive already sent home pictures of them) 

I hope that they keep progressing because their family really is a special family as well; 

Our Heavenly Father dosent just want us to return to him- he wants us to return to him with our family. Thats why this gospel is centered on the family and that is why everything revolves around it. 

I know that as a missionary, Im preparing myself to be a mother of my future family and a better daughter and sister for my family that I have right now. 

Its pretty cool- I love it. 

I hope y'all are doing well- I think about y'all often and pray for y'all!!

Lots of love, 

Tuahine Taylor 

I dont have any pictures this week but next week I will!