Bonjour tout le monde!! 

So this week was long (like all the first weeks after a transfer), but it was a great week! We have a lot of work to do here in Avera so I’m excited to work with Soeur Falesii. My companion is so great and we laugh a whole lot in our little house with "Mamie Bobo" (That’s our Mamie that lives with us). Mamie literally makes me laugh so hard and I am convinced that I found Jordan's (my best friend) 70 year old Tahitian twin. She's always hungry, she always has something funny to say, she does random things, and she is very easy going. She is one reason that this transfer was a lot easier than if she wasn’t there :)

We don’t have a lot of new investigators so we did a lot of contacting and we're planning different activities so that we can find new investigators. Overall, the ward is in good shape but I’m excited for what we are going to do in the ward for the future. 

Life here in Raiatea is a lot more chill and easy going than Tahiti and I love that there are not a whole lot of cars on the road and that EVERYBODY is family. The sun is a little stronger here and it is a whole lot more humid here than in Tahiti. There is always wind though so that’s nice and we sleep outside on our porch pretty much every night! Sometimes I feel like I’m at girls camp. It will definitely be weird to go back to life with AC because it is very rare to see AC here, ha ha.

This past week, I met a whole lot of investigators and I really enjoyed learning everyone’s stories and how much the gospel has changed their lives. One story I loved was with one mother who shared that the gospel has changed her life more than she could’ve imagined. She said that before, if she had fights with her sisters, they could last years before they forgave each other. Now that she has known the gospel, she said that one bad argument that they had resolved itself within a few days and that was really touching for her because she saw that when she prayed and read her scriptures, she found answers. This story really struck me because for something as small as an argument between siblings had such a big impact on her and because she did even the smallest things, her life was blessed and the conflicts were resolved. 

Sometimes I wonder if we complicate things too much sometimes. The gospel is simple. Applying the gospel to our lives is simple. The only thing that complicates things is ourselves! Because we are imperfect, that makes it harder but it’s always possible to apply these principles in our lives. 

There are a lot of investigators and former investigators here but a whole lot of them haven’t made the choice to advance and be baptized because they don’t feel ready to apply the principles of the gospel. It’s really too bad because it’s so simple, but they haven’t been able to find this confidence and courage to do it. I think that’s why they need us :) 

Missionary work really is like shining a ray of positivity and sunlight on these people’s lives. I love it :) 

This morning, we did something super Tahitian with two of these eternal investigators, Vahinetua and Moe. We got up super early and went into the mountains to do "Cobra" where we collect and cut open coconuts to harvest the white part of the coconuts. We have to chop the coconuts in half, rip them apart, and cut under the coconut so that it comes out. After that, they lay them out to dry during a couple of days or weeks and then go and sell it to make different oils and soaps. Its hard work and they don’t earn as much as they deserve, that’s for sure! We left all clean and ready to go and when we came back we were COVERED in mud and soaking wet. We went and waited at the chapel for Mamie to come and pick us up and we were laughing so hard because as we were eating sandwiches in the rain sitting on the ground, we literally looked like homeless, dirty missionaries. Ha ha ha ha, what a good experience. 

Last Monday two Elders put on a show with their burning sticks.  I'm not sure what it is called in English but look, IT WAS COOL!

Raiatea.

Look at all the coconuts.

Mamie Bobo

Before our adventure into the mountains.

A coconut farm.

COBRA.  We had fun but I got a mean blister on my hand that I hope won't get bigger.

Well anyways, that’s it for me this week! Love yall!! 

Soeur Taylor 

IA ORA NA frommmmm....

RAIATEA! 

(Ray-uh-tay-uh) 

Raiatea is another island in French Polynesia so it was weird to leave Tahiti but I think I’ll be here until I finish my mission in February so that made it even weirder to leave Tahiti and all of the wonderful investigators and members in there. I didn’t think it would be as hard as it was but needless to say there were tears that were shed.

Soooo I wasn’t expecting the transfer to be one week in advance but the Assistants called us this past Thursday night to tell me that I was going to be transferred to Raiatea and that I would be leaving Sunday night. I was like, “what??” So let’s just say that this past week was CRAZY. 

Not only were we on bikes and EVERYWHERE in the sector, but this past weekend we had to see everybody and I got to say a lot of goodbyes. Saturday, we had 3 faatamaraas. (3 dinner appointments) I felt like I was going to explode. Tahitians love to do big dinners when somebody leaves or for special occasions and they love to see the missionaries eat well so Saturday was a challenging day. My mind is all over the place so I’m not really sure what to write but I promise to send lots of pictures and write better next week :)

My new companion is Soeur Falesii and she's from Samoa! She is super nice and I’m excited to be her companion. Our house is in a neighborhood where there is only members and we have a cute little Mami (elderly woman) that lives with us and sleeps on our porch. Hahaha, that’s not a joke. Last night, in honor of my arrival, we all put our mattress on the porch and slept outside. Ha ha I know that I am going to LOVE it here in Raiatea. 

Last night, when I arrived at the airport, practically the whole ward was there to send off Soeur Van Wagenen who finishes her mission tomorrow and so I met a whole lot of members and they were all super nice and welcoming. 

Sorry this email is so scatterbrained...

Sonia and Emanuel. (cutest Mami ever)

Margarita

Hinatea! Lover her and so sad I'll miss her baptism in November.

Look at that picture that Margarita made for me! She made it with sand from Polynesia and I was blown away because she did that portrait so well!

Heinono had her baby! His name is Fredo just like her husband.

Olivia and Emiliano. So sad to leave this couple - they're incredible.

Lysiane.

Airport pictures.

Raiatea.

Downtown Raiatea.

Coconut bread is soooooo good. I'ts sweet bread with real coconut shavings inside.

Love you all! 

Tuahine Taylor 

Bonjour tout le monde! 

Yeepppppp, this Tuesday will mark ONE YEAR at Tahiti! I’m so excited. I can’t believe it’s been a year. I remember when we first got off the plane at like midnight and even though I couldn’t see anything of Tahiti because it was dark, I was so nervous and excited to start my journey here. And now, after everything that I’ve been through here, I never thought I would get to this point. Funny how time works huh? 

Overall I’m doing super great. This past week was crazy but we loved it.
Tuesday, we re-contacted a few former investigators and one of them accepted us to come back! It’s a family where the husband is an inactive member and all of his family are non-members. They've had a lot of trials and just at the end of their rope, we came by and the wife (Olivia) was so relieved to just talk about everything and confide in us. She wants her husband to change so badly and go back to church and so we're working with this family to help them become an eternal family. I’m excited to teach them. 

Wednesday, we took off to do our split in Moorea! There are 4 sisters in the Haapiti sector so we split off and worked with the sisters there. President called us the day before we left and basically told us that Moorea needed miracles and that he was counting on us. I was like, “thanks for the pressure President, but we can do it.” It was Soeur Ntsiete's first time to go to Moorea so we had fun on the boat. We were having a good time taking pictures when I reached for my badge and I realized that A BIRD POOPED ON ME. I was like, “what the heck!!!” Soeur Ntsiete was laughing so hard but then like 2 minutes later, a bird pooped on her too. HA, we were laughing so hard on that boat. The split went really well and I really loved to go and work at Moorea because it’s still just a branch and needs a lot of work done. We worked hard and I got to meet a lot of different members and potential investigators. We had a good conversation with two women who were at one of the members house in Tahitian and I really was happy to see that my Tahitian has progressed. There are SOOO many advantages to knowing the languages here, it’s not even funny. We've been teaching a lot more in Tahitian so I’ve really been enjoying improving my Tahitian. We saw a few miracles in Moorea so that was fun. 

Moorea! Gorgeous, huh?

My frenchy companion. 

HAHAHAHAHA Ignore my double chin and baldness but I couldn't resist, this picture is priceless. 

Friday, we saw our investigator, Sonia, who is 72 years old and really sick but she has a strong desire to be baptized. SHE IS SO CUTE. Seriously, one of my favorite investigators. I’m sure that because she is so sick, she has a hard time remembering our lessons so my next project is to make her a book with a bunch of pictures and simple summaries of the lessons. I did this for Papi Teuira (remember him who got baptized last December?) in Tahitian and then little books as well for our kids who got baptized and all of them loved it. Sonia is definitely at a child's level of understanding and when I showed her the first few pages of the book that I started, she LOVED it. She knows she can’t remember a whole lot but I really do see the light of Christ shine through her and I will forever be grateful to have met her. 

Friday and Saturday we saw a TON of miracles in our sector and had so many lessons with potential and new investigators! We were so excited. We met one family who is Sanito (RLDS) and we invited them to conference and the next morning (at 5:30 in the morning). THEY CAME! We were ecstatic. 

We also got a call Friday from the couple at the office saying that our car (which was in an accident before I got into the sector) is getting fixed this week so we need to bring it in today and we will be on bikes all this week! So yep, this week is my week to lose all my chubbiness because we are going to be on bikes in our mountains at Mahina! I was laughing so hard when he told me. So in an effort to train for this week, we decided to go on bikes Saturday and that was hilarious. We died going up one mountain to go all the way to a lesson that was cancelled but let me tell y'all, it was AWESOME riding down the mountain. Ha ha, this week is going to be fun. 

Conference weekend was incredible (especially since Margarita ended up coming on Sunday!!!!!! ) and we were REALLY hopeful that all of our investigators were touched by the messages. I especially loved how much they talked about the family and the importance to spend time with the family. With each conference, there are always different focuses (like the prophet and sustaining church leaders this conference) but there is always one focus that is always repeated, the family. We are incredibly blessed to have families here on earth and I definitely am SO grateful for mine! 

During one of the sessions, the screen wacked up a little bit and we watched conference as if everyone had extremely bad fake tans. LOL

I hope y'all enjoyed conference and for those who didn’t get a chance to watch- https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?cid=HPSU100514465&lang=eng 

It’s worth it to watch. 

Love yall and I hope yall have a great week!!! 

Soeur Taylor 

Hello Everybody! 

This past week went by fast! It was a good week though because we had so many great experiences with our new member missionary, Mami Teura! We're besties because she taught me how to basket weave and now, she comes with us all the time for our lessons! She's so cute because she told us that she's always wanted to go with the missionaries but she never wanted to ask them to come and pick her up for the lessons. We were so touched and happy because she is actually a convert of only 10 or so years so her story is very powerful for a lot of our stubborn investigators who don't want to change religions even if they know it's true.  

On Saturday we went to go see one of our new investigators. Her name is Linda and she lives with a less active member. They aren't married and she became our new investigator when they were invited to come to a temple activity by a family in our ward. She is Protestant and she's already asked us a lot of questions about why we have to be baptized again because she feels like it was sufficient when she was baptized. We were happy to have Mami there because she was Protestant (and very active) before she converted. Right from the beginning they were both really happy to meet Mami and when Mami started talking to introduce herself and talk about how happy she was to be a member, Linda just started bursting into tears. I had no idea why or what caused her to cry, but I knew that the Spirit was very strong during the lesson. When Linda was able to talk, she told us that Mami looks JUST like her mother who passed away a few years ago. Mami helped calm her down and we were then able to teach the Restoration with the story of Joseph Smith. She was really touched and to top it all off, Mami shared her conversion story which had a really powerful impact on Linda. Basically- IT WAS AWESOME. Members are the best. Especially when they're my adopted Tahitian grandmothers :) 

Remember Margarita? Well we had a few great lessons again with her this week, especially Friday. Remember how we committed her to read Chapter 8 In Moroni? WELL SHE DID. She told us she read it over and over again because she loved it so much. After a very long time, she finally got a complete answer to her question about infant baptism. She always knew that it didn't make sense and when she read this chapter which said that infants were innocent and not in need of baptism, she felt completely comforted. We were soo happy inside because the Book of Mormon teaches so much better than we do (thank goodness) and we knew that she found answers inside. While we were talking about baptism and how important it is, we asked her if she felt that she needed to be baptized too when she read and she told us that she thought about it, but that was the end of it. She wants to go nice and slowly and she told us that she wants her whole family to be baptized when she decides to make this commitment. It was a great lesson but I really do hope that it won't be too late for her if she waits for her husband and son to convert as well (because they both don't believe in God .. at least not yet!) Over all, we really enjoy teaching Margarita. 

Splits with Soeur Tetua on bikes.

Other than that, We did a split with the sisters at Pare Wednesday and I got the experience of being on a bike again. We were laughing in our neon vests and helmets. It was fun, I got to work with Soeur Tetua! 

On Thursday, we did a split with the sisters at Matavai and we had one of the best faatamaraas with the Fareata family! She gave us a few robes and Soeur Marrett and I had so much fun trying them all on. How I feel with a lot of families in our ward is how I felt when we had some cool missionaries in our ward growing up. I'll never forget when Elder Hall and his companion (can't remember his name but I know that it starts with a B and that he was INCREDIBLY smart) ended up dancing with us at the last minute in our talent show act for Christmas. They were really great missionaries and sometimes I hope that we have the same impact as these two missionaries did on me and our family. 

Trying on robes with Soeur Marrett. 

This coming week we are going to Moorea again so we're going to get to take the boat again! I'm excited. :) 

Never get tired of these sunsets.

Zone activity at the beach.

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

Soeur Taylor 

I think that's all of them.

Ia Ora Na Tatou!

Wow, it's already been 50 weeks in Tahiti! It's almost my 1 year mark since I've been here in Tahiti. Time is flying!

This past week went by really fast because we had 2 zone conferences and Saturday we had our big activity with the Collective Baptism to top off our month of missionary work in September.

Zone conference picture.

On Friday, we had our Open House at the chapel with 5 different rooms which talked about The Book of Mormon, The Plan of Salvation, Family Food Storage, The Blessings of the Priesthood and then the 72 hour kit. We had different members to teach the different topics and we were really hoping to have a lot of investigators there but in the end, we only had 3 investigators come. At first we were a little disappointed, but actually, we experienced a miracle because one of the investigators that came decided by the end of the open house that he wanted to be baptized! We were surprised but super happy at the same time because he was a former investigator that just recently we re-contacted by one of the members in our ward. So cool huh?

Saturday, we had our Talent Show with the whole stake and the Collective Baptism with 4 baptisms right after. The Talent Show was so incredible because each ward represented a different country. I laughed so hard when they represented America because they pulled out the Hoedown Throw Down which remixed until we finished with a bunch of Hip hop and rap. I was like yeepppp, that's my country! Ha, ha, ha.

Our ward represented Australia and they were so good! We had our investigator, Hinatea, who danced with the group and our little convert Keanu right up front. I was dying because he was sooo cute when he danced! I felt like my mom when I watched the video like 100 times that night because he was just too freaking cute.

Talent Show.

The Baptism of course was incredible because Eric totally surprised us by shaving his beard off! It took me like 5 minutes to realize when we were at the Talent Show but I was so touched because he really is someone that is converted to the gospel. It hasn't even been a month since we've started teaching him but he really changed his life around and I will never forget the impact that his family has had on me. His girls are so cute too. We're the best of friends because we always play their little games before we have our lesson with Eric.

It was so great to finally see the baptism of Mihirangi as well because after the months that I've been here in Mahina, it was so sweet to see her baptized. I was praying that that touched her mom too because she is still a little hesitant to be baptized. I know that one day she'll finally take the plunge but they're moving to France in 3 weeks!

I was also super happy to see my family, the Tauhiros, at the baptism because they're good friends with the family of Mihirangi.

Over all, we had a super great weekend that was very rewarding as a missionary. NOTHING beats the incredible changes that these people make in their lives when they accept the truth. I know that I was meant to meet these two families and I thank God every day that he gave me this blessing to be here as a missionary.

Lydia, our future missionary.

I hope y'all are doing well- Faaitoito noa ia outou no teie hepatoma! (Have a great week!)

Tuahine Taylor.