Bonjour tout le monde!

 

First of all, I would like to thank my Grandma who sent me one of the greatest packages! I really did need a lot of the things you sent me! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!

 

Can I just say that I have never had so many people want to give us so much food EVER in my life! Man do Tahitians love food and especially to give it to missionaries. Whenever we go to dinner appointments, they LOVE it when we eat a lot. So we do. Rough life, eh?

 

This week was pretty great like every week. Remember Christian? He's read all the way to Mormon now (he started in like April) and has reread a lot of chapters too. INCREDIBLE, right? Well anyways, we had a really good lesson with him because the only thing that holds him back from getting baptized is his divorce to be finalized (normally in July) and to figure out if he wants to marry his girlfriend or to separate. We talked about goals and the importance of realizing what we want because if we're not working towards something, we're not really progressing. It was really good because he's so ready, but he just has these obstacles keeping him from progressing.

 

On Wednesday, we had a lesson with one of our amis, Fiona. She's still a pretty new ami and when we were talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the importance of making covenants and fulfilling certain ordinances on the earth so that we can return in the presence of God, she tells us, "I don’t believe we need chapels or temples or that we need to make covenants and what not to return to God. I believe that the greatest temple we have is our self." At this moment, I could've felt a lot of different things but the greatest emotion I felt was just pity. Why? Because Fiona doesn’t understand how important and sacred these covenants and ordinances are so that we can become exactly like our Heavenly Father. We testified and we hope that by reading the Book of Mormon, her opinion will change.

 

We had the blessing of doing a lot of contacting this week. I’ve actually come to love going from house to house because we meet so many interesting people with different stories. Yesterday we ran into two young girls in the neighborhood who talked with us for a little bit. We talked about the Book of Mormon and at the end, we asked them if they had any questions. Poehere (one of the girls) said, "Yeah, why don’t people accept to talk to yall and why do they reject yall?" We were like, good question- we are fun people! LOL We just told her that it was because our message is true and they aren’t ready yet to accept it. I’m excited to start the lessons with these girls.

 

Yesterday we had our baptism of Linda!! She wanted to do it at 6:00 in the morning before church at 7:30 so it was an early morning for us but TOTALLY worth it. Linda has been waiting a long time to be baptized and I was really touched by her joyous testimony of finally fulfilling her dream. We contacted her husband at the baptism and now we are going to start the lessons with him! Whoop!

 

Love all yall and I hope yall are doing well!

 

Special shout out to my incredible family who's currently having the famous family reunion in Florida! Miss yall like crazy!!!

 

Whoops forgot to add-

This week our new mission president arrives! Next Sunday we have a last and final missionary concert and that will be the last night with President Sinjoux. It seems so weird to change presidents, but I’m excited to serve under another great president, President Bise!
 

Also, I ran into Torea (my convert from Papara) by the temple and he's getting married August 1st to a member! He told me the marriage is in August but the real marriage (for all of eternity) is in January. :) It really is great to see our converts progress towards eternal life well after their baptism. So heartwarming. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soeur Taylor

Bonjour ma famille et mes amis!

 

First of all- HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

I've got the best dad.

That’s all.

 

No but really, I just want to say that my dad really is one of my greatest examples in my life. One thing that I've always admired about him is the silent service he offers. He has a hard time saying no when people ask him for help and he always does his best to help everyone he comes in contact with. I don’t know how many mornings when I woke up early for seminary during the winter and I walked out to a car that was already warmed up and ice free. Or when he was there every football game to come and record us performing. Everybody loves my dad. The more I learn on my mission by living on my own, the more I realize the qualities that I’ve acquired from both of my parents. I am definitely a blessed daughter! 

 

And speaking of the best parents ever, I got my package this week!!! It was so fun to open it up and discover all the treats from America. Unfortunately customs took my B vitamins. The dosage of the vitamins was too big? Something like that. I felt awful when I found out that they took all 4 bottles of my B vitamins but well, what can you do. Now we know. Sorry mom!!! 

 

Other than that, this week was pretty great. Soeur Terooatea and I have been trying to really practice more faith recently, especially the faith to see miracles. And well, it’s been working! We've really seen the Lord's hand in preparing people to accept his gospel. Last Sunday we tracted in a neighborhood for an hour or so and NOBODY came to the gate to talk to us. We talked with one man but he wasn’t interested in changing, but after we talked with him, there was nobody who would even come and talk with us. Finally, as we were leaving the neighborhood, we got a little lost and we ended up talking with this man who was standing outside his gate. We were still in our car and asked him if he's ever met the missionaries and if he was interested in meeting with us. He was like yeah! This Wednesday? We were like yeah! Okay! Ha ha well it turns out we didn’t see him until yesterday, but it was a miracle to see how he’s been prepared. He told us he's talked with the missionaries before but wasn’t ready to take the lessons. We asked him if he ever heard of the Book of Mormon and he said that he has one! His cousin left it at the house after he went and stayed at a member’s house. When we left him, he went and found the Book of Mormon and started reading. We were happy missionaries.

 

Every time you have the courage to give a Book of Mormon to someone or talk about the gospel, you never know what will come of it. You never know where your Book of Mormon will end up and how it will end up changing somebody's life. That really strengthened my testimony of that and I know that every time that y'all open your mouth, it’s NEVER for nothing. It’s always for a reason and it always means something to at least one person.

 

We had a breakthrough with one of our amis, Heinono who has been struggling to find an answer. We've been trying to help her realize that the answer has come in the blessings that she's received and in the good feelings she’s felt. She hasn’t wanted to accept it as an answer and after a really great and spiritual lesson, we committed her to be baptized. She told us no. She told us she didn’t want to be baptized at the end of the month but that she was sure that she would be baptized between the end of the month and when she will give birth (oh yeah she’s pregnant) in September. We were happy with this answer and especially grateful for the progression that she has made.

 

I’ve really realized that little miracles happen with each one of our amis and in their progression. Every ami is different and every ami has a different story, but they all end up with the same ending.

 

Isn’t that the greatest!

 

I hope yall have a great week and have the courage to give a Book of Mormon away or invite a friend to church! Love yall!

 

Ward activity at the beach. Tahitians are big with dancing.

 

 

 

My friend Terehau.

 

View from one of our Ami's house.  Not bad, eh?

 

I love the coconut trees and they are everywhere.

 

Got to go back to Papara to see Helene's baptism. A huge blessing for me.

 

Also got to see my favorite little girl, Stacy. She turns 2 next week.

 

Got to see so many members and converts at the baptism. Oh and did I mention it was also Helene's wedding day.

 

It was a great day in Papara.

 

Soeur Taylor

I hope all y'all are doing well!

 

First of all, check out this article! It talks about the 170th anniversary that took place here!

 

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/article/mormons-celebrate-170-years-in-the-south-pacific?cid=HPFR060614213 

 

So not this past Saturday, but the Saturday before we fasted with our ward council and thanks to this fast this past week, this was a week of MIRACLES.
Aren’t those just the best weeks!

 

Miracle #1

Her name is Rosemonde.

So the elders called us 2 weeks ago to give us a reference of an ami who went to a Family Home Evening in Papeete with President Sinjoux and who was so, so ready to take the lessons and get baptized. Of course we were like sweet, we'll give her a call!

 

So we tried to call her but every time we called, she didn’t answer. Then Sunday comes around and we have a new ami in our Sunday school class! We start talking to her and find out that it’s her, Rosemonde, the reference! (ps I don’t know how she found out about church and what time it started and everything, but she came by herself not knowing how it would be- THAT NEVER HAPPENS) We had a lesson with her on Tuesday and I literally almost cried, I was so touched by how ready she is to accept the gospel. Ever since she went to the Family Home Evening and was touched by the spirit, she read the Book of Mormon every day and went to church to find us- the missionaries! She accepted the invitation to be baptized, but she wants to know why it’s the true church. She wants to learn more and confirm all the feelings she’s had up until that point (which is totally normal). She asked us a lot of questions about the Word of Wisdom and so the next lesson we had on Thursday, we talked about it and she committed herself to stop smoking and drinking coffee. She also isn’t married to her boyfriend (who actually is an inactive member) but I know that that marriage will come. Sometimes, I am literally BLOWN AWAY by the faith of our amis.

 

Miracle #2

Her name is Linda.

She is the niece of a couple that lives in our ward and she has actually already taken the lessons with the missionaries before at Pirae and Matavai and was all ready for baptism but there was a lack of follow-up with the missionaries so she never was baptized. It’s been a little while, so when we talked to her after she came to our Sunday school class, she accepted for us to come and see her! She explained her story and she told us she wants to retake the lessons to remember and bring back everything she learned before. Turns out she remembers a lot, so we of course invited her to be baptized. We gave her the date, June 21^st, and at first she hesitated but then she started laughing a little bit because the 22nd is actually her birthday! She already felt a confirmation that it was her baptismal date but we committed her to pray and receive the confirmation from God. She wouldn’t tell us at church yet if it really is the 21st but she is going to tell us tomorrow at our lesson.

 

Quick side note- Tahitians love to place special events (like baptisms) on already important dates like their birthday, daughter’s birthday or their parents anniversary- it doesn’t matter. So sometimes when we commit them for baptism and we commit them for a date that we prayed and chose by inspiration which turns out to be one of these important dates, they accept. Ha, ha it’s a cool confirmation for us because then we really know that it was inspired.

 

Miracle #3

Her name is Cyndia.
Cyndia is an old ami that took the lessons before but stopped for a little bit of time. She has a baby who is 9 months old and lives with her boyfriend (who is inactive as well). She goes to church every Sunday and wants to be baptized, but she’s scared. It’s been 8 months since she’s stopped drinking and smoking and is afraid to get baptized and then fall again. It’s actually a very common fear of amis, but I know that right now is the time for her to change and accept the gospel. When we were talking with her, I had a very strong feeling that she’s ready, but she’s just afraid to admit it. We were supposed to meet with her this weekend but she had to cancel and reschedule for this week. I’m excited to see her because I know that she is a huge potential for baptism and the many blessings that follow baptism.

 

Our ward is doing great and has really been improving with missionary work. It was pretty hard starting off but we're finally seeing little changes happening and that is incredible.

 

Faaitoito noa teie hepatoma!

 

(Good luck/stay strong this week!)

 

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

 

All the Sisters in our house.  Love them all!

Our Ward Council. These members are wonderful! 

 

Our Zone Conference activity.

We played soccer by the beach and ate together.

 

 

 

 

 

Our Zone.

 

Tuahine Taylor

 

 

Bonjour ma famille et mes amis!

 

I totally wrote this email earlier but right when I finished, the internet cut out!! So anyways, thanks to our wonderful ami Melanie, I can now quickly send this email off!

 

Here are 3 quotes that describe some experiences we had this past week.

 

"Truth is truth! It is not divisible, and any part of it cannot be set aside." - Russell M Nelson

 

“Because I have told you the truth ye are angry with me. … Because I have spoken the word of God ye have judged me that I am mad” (Mosiah 13:4)

"Be strong. Live the gospel faithfully even if others around you don’t live it at all. Defend your beliefs with courtesy and with compassion, but defend them. " -Jeffrey R Holland

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/let-your-faith-show?lang=eng&query=
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/the-cost-and-blessings-of-discipleship?lang=eng&query=

I'll never forget being in a lesson this past week after teaching a commandment and being attacked by our ami's parents-in-law because they were not okay with what we taught - the truth. It was an attack with words, (don't worry it wasn't that dramatic), and the whole time he was speaking strongly to us, I was confused. I thought to myself, we taught the truth right? Why is he angry? If there is one thing that I know, the truth is the truth. The commandments are the commandments of God and that NEVER changes. It doesn't matter who we are or in what situation we live. I was called of God to be a missionary and commit all to come unto Christ and keep the commandments. Well to be short, we held our ground and testified of the truth. I knew that she (our ami) understood and I knew that she knew why we were there.

This week was another interesting week that wasn't our best but it definitely started to pick up towards the end! We met a new family and fixed a Family Home Evening with them next week. The father is Protestant and the mother is Catholic but they're pretty open to learn more. As we sat in their home, all I could think about was the first time I sat in the home of Family Tauhiro. I smiled and thought to myself, this family will accept the gospel. I just knew it! 

Speaking of Family Tauhiro, I had one of the proudest moments of my whole mission during a lesson with a Young adult named Tiani. Her little sister Mihirangi takes the lessons and her Mom took a few lessons with us but has stopped for the moment. Well, her Mom was there and she shared an experience about how she was on Facebook and one of our old friends messaged her. She had no idea that this friend was now a member and was in the Papara ward. I was like, "Oh! Whats her name??"  Titaina Tauhiro!!

I was like, "Ahhhhhhh, thats my convert! Thats my family! Haha."

She told me how Titaina could not stop talking about all the blessings she's received and how grateful she is to be a member. She told her to tell her when her baptism was going to happen because she wants to come. Rodica (Tianis mom) was so surprised when she said that but it made her think at the same time. I was so happy and so proud of my convert being an incredible missionary :)

We were able to recontact a few old amis and other semi member families so that was really great for us. We've really started focusing on committing the members because we've realized that here in Mahina, the ONLY effective way to do missionary work is to go through the members. It's a gradual process but we have high hopes :)

Other than that, life is pretty great and it's still BEAUTIFUL here in Tahiti.

Love y'all and I hope y'all are doing well!

Soeur Taylor

I have a ton of pictures to send but I can't send them now... next week!!

Hello my wonderful friends and family!

 

Life is pretty good here in Mahina and I have the feeling it’s really going to start picking up. Our ward is so great! We've started committing a lot of members to do missionary work and to participate and we’ve started to see the beginning fruits of it.

This past weekend was the big event celebrating 170 years since the first missionaries arrived here in Tahiti and it was so fun to go and see! There was a big cultural night on Friday where each Stake on Tahiti danced and they had a choir too. It was so fun! I saw a bunch of members and amis from Papara again so that made me so, so, so happy. Saturday night we did a little march and sang Called to Serve in the stadium which was fun and interesting. Never thought I would be doing that on my mission! Ha ha. The only bummer was that it rained Friday and Saturday night so we were soaking wet when we marched in and for the first time on my mission, I was actually cold! So bizarre.

 

The 170th anniversary dances were way cool.

 

I got to see my favorite family- Family Tauhiro and I was so happy to hear about how well they are doing and progressing. Denis has a calling in the youth and Heiranie still does her splits with the missionaries. (She is actually in America right now! She is taking a trip with her grandma and other friends to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and another city that I can’t remember) I was really touched though because when I was talking with Heiranie, she told me that she was really sad because she would be in America for 2 weeks and wouldn’t be able to take the sacrament while she’s there. I was definitely the proudest missionary EVER when she said that because I know that she is completely serious and really understands the importance of going to church! I was just like please, go tell that to all of our other amis too! Ha ha .

Other than that, Soeur Titaina found a job and Heiti is still preparing for her baptism in January. Whymea has gotten SO big and is almost walking! Ahh so crazy and so great to see my favorite family here.

 

A cool experience that we had was when we were walking to the stadium from the parking lot, there was a man walking next to us and Soeur Terooatea started to talk to him.

This was the conversation:

Sr Terooatea- “Frere, tu es membre?” (Are you a member?)

Man- “No, Je suis ami de l'eglise!” (No I’m an investigator!)

Moi- “D'ou tu viens?” (Where are you from?)

Man- “Mahina!”

Moi-  “C'est vrai?? Nous sommes les missionaires a Mahina!” (Really? We’re the missionaries in Mahina!!)

 

We got his name and number and told him we would contact him to see when we could come by. He said that it wasn’t a problem. SO Sunday we find out that the man we talked to is actually the husband of one of our amis who has never accepted the missionaries and who doesn’t want to get married with our ami, Melanie (which is the only thing that blocks her from getting baptized) We were like WHAT? So cool. Melanie was so excited too and we all freaked out together at the chapel. I’m so excited to see what happens with that!!

 

Other than that, we are on the brink of fixing 3 baptisms this week and 2 marriages with 2 of them. We are blessed here with great amis in Mahina. I’m excited for this week!

Soeur Faana got transferred today so now it’s just me and Soeur Terooatea in Mahina! Also, Soeur Carter got transferred to our zone and we now live in the same house. YAY. I’m excited for that.

 

Hope yall are doing well, I miss yall!

 

Soeur Taylor

 

Making cookies with our cute convert, Tea.  She LOVES the famous chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that I made all the time back home.

 

 

One time we stopped and contacted these people in this neighborhood but I had to stay in the car in case someone came by and needed to pass so I took a cool shot of Soeur Faana and Soeur Terooatea being great missionaries!

 

Bonjour tout le monde!
 

This week was interesting. It wasn’t our best week but you know, we can only do better this week. The work is getting better here at Mahina. Yesterday, right after sacrament meeting, all of the ward stayed in the chapel and we had a special hour focused on missionary work. It was great! We talked about how the members can participate in missionary work and how important it is that we share the gospel with our friends and family. Right after we gave our talks and had our training? (I cannot find the word in English.... c'est formation en français... hahaha) we had a few members come up and ask us how they could be member integrators. We were like YES, it worked.

We've been really focusing on building the relationships with the members because here in Mahina, I know that that is the key to finding success. It’s a lot different here than in Papara so we've been trying different things to help the work move forward.

Our amis are doing good and its really incredible to have so many great experiences with them every day. When I’m not feeling well or our day hasn’t been going super great- it’s always our amis who really lift us up.

One of my favorite amis is Marguarita. She is INCREDIBLE. Not only is she really talented and kind, but she is so ready to receive the gospel. The Sisters right before me found her by contacting so I was there when we had our second lesson. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she was so touched by it that she asked us, “what do I have to do to go there” (the Celestial Kingdom)??? So we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how we have to follow him in order to live with him, our Heavenly Father, and our families forever. She was so touched but when we asked her if she wanted to be baptized like Christ, she told us she wasn’t sure. She had never thought about it but she told us she would think about it. After this lesson- it has always been so difficult to get a hold of her or to pass by her house when she’s there. Sometimes, we would pass and share a little message before she went and picked up her kids or just have time to share part of a lesson. We FINALLY saw her this past week and we shared with her the lesson of the Restoration (because we hadn't had the opportunity to share the most important lesson!) and she was so touched and filled with the Spirit that she told us to stop at the end. We finished the lesson and she was so touched that she told us to stop, she couldn’t take it. It was something that’s never happened to me before but it was cool because I knew that right then and there, she knew it was true. She knows that it’s true but she is just too scared of what that will mean for her. We invited her to be baptized again and she said that she respects her grandparents who baptized her Catholic too much to convert. And to add to that, she’s moving in a few months to an island called Rikitea. It’s in the Gambier Islands and there are no missionaries or a chapel on this island. SO it is not even really possible for her to be baptized unless she doesn’t end up moving to Rikitea. Complicated. #islanderproblems

Anyways I’m interested to see how things work out with her. I really hope she can get baptized because I know how much that will change and help her family.

I know that despite all of the trials and how hard it is sometimes, nothing will ever beat the experiences and everything that I’m learning here on my mission. It really is one of the greatest times of my life and I’m excited for everything that still rests for me to accomplish here at Tahiti.

This weekend we celebrate 170 years since the first missionaries arrived here at French Polynesia. There is a huge cultural night on Friday and then we have a huge event Saturday night where we get to march in. Ha ha, today we had a practice and it was literally like a marching band practice, or at least it felt like it. Briana, I thought of youuuu! Hahaha

Love yall and I hope yall have a great week!

Soeur Taylor

 

Anavaihere! I think y'all should just change my blog to "The kids of Tahiti" because those are the only pictures I send home... ha ha ha.

 

 

Marguarita! We had apple crumble with her and while we waited for it to cook, she did my hair. It was a little crazy and extravagant so I didn't keep it in all day. It was fun having her do my hair.

 

 

Service project.  We planted plants and I made a new friend, Mahiata. She is super cute and talked with me the whole time.

 

We had fun pulling weeds and planting plants.

 

 

 

Bonjour tout le monde et Happy Belated Mother’s Day!!

We had zone conference pretty much all day yesterday so that’s why we had to do emails today.

 

Our Zone minus Soeur Kuhn and Soeur Teinauri. They had to leave early.

Our zone conference was really great and really inspiring (like always) but it was a little bizarre because it’s the last zone conference we'll have with President Sinjoux. CRAZY. I can’t believe how fast time flies. It’s already the middle of May! President Sinjoux and the Zone leaders talked a lot about the different things we can do to be more unified with our companion and all the little things we need to be doing in order to advance the work in our areas. With everything that was shared, one thing that was definitely emphasized was that the reason we do missionary work is for Him. It’s not for us, it’s not for our amis, but it really is for Him. This video was shared which was really touching-

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

I hope you guys have seen it and if not- WATCH IT. I know that it’s definitely easy to get overwhelmed and stressed with everything that we have to do and accomplish as missionaries (and as member missionaries :)), but it’s not very complicated. Not at all! The gospel is simple. Our message is Jesus Christ. Our goal is to invite others to come unto Christ and he has given us everything we need to do that. It’s because of Him that we live and that we can return again to our Heavenly Father. What a blessing.

This past week was full of little miracles. To start off, I have a new companion! Ha ha, the assistants called me on Tuesday and were like soooo, President had a revelation and there’s been a last minute change. You’re going to be training Soeur Terooatea now. I was like whhhatttt? So we had to cancel practically everything that day and go into Papeete to pick up my new companion! Ha ha, so for the moment, we're still 3 with Soeur Faana but she will be transferred soon, probably next week- we're not sure yet... But anyways it’s been fun! I’m excited to train Soeur Terooatea because she is really great. She's got the greenie fire and desire which I always love.

Wednesday, we had a meeting with all of the leaders at the Mission home so I was in Papeete again pretty much all day. The cool part about it was that we had to go pick up Soeur Derrick in Taravao which is all the way at the bottom of the island. I've never been on the right side of the island so it was pretty exciting for me to take a little road trip with Soeur Teinauri to go pick up Soeur Derrick. I took a ton of pictures and loved, loved, loved how GORGEOUS Tahiti is! I can’t ever get over it. The meeting was really great too because it really motivated me to work harder and to make changes in my life so that I can be a more effective missionary.

 

 

 

 

 

Manaura, the cute little baby of Hina. He followed us out when we left. Cute little future missionary.

 

Saturday was the baptism of Teapuarii! This young woman is incredible. She has been through a lot with her family but despite it all- she keeps going. She was so cute when she gave her testimony and started crying. She said, "I wasn’t sure at first if I wanted to be baptized but right now, I’m sure. I know I made the right choice." I know that through her example, her whole family will come (or come back) into the gospel and that one day they'll be an eternal family.

 

The baptism of Teapuarii.

 

She hates pictures and the little baptism jumper.

 

And speaking of Eternal families- Sunday I got to skype with mine!

That was great. I loved being able to see all of yalls beautiful faces and to talk with yall. I loved it but at the same time I realized that the next time we skype- I’ll be in the last month of my mission. CRAZY! 

Over all, with all of our amis, we saw little miracles in their progression all week. I love my amis. There really is nothing better than seeing somebody change their life to fully follow Christ.

I hope yall never forget the role that yall have in the lives of everyone around yall. There are people waiting for you to share what you know is true so never be afraid to open your mouth and help them find the path.

 

Love yall tremendously!

Bonne Semaine!

Soeur Taylor