August 21 - warm showers in a bucket

Last goodbye to Faainu

This week nothing special happened. We did two lessons with L. We have to push his baptismal date back to the 3rd of September because the 27th they have a village meeting and he's a Matai (chief).  He is progressing really well. He either has bad eyes or can't really read so we've been reading togethter. He was at church yesterday and loves it. He comes every Sunday. 

I had some revelation the other day. Instead of taking cool showers, why not use the water heater thing and then pour it into a bucket?!  I've started doing that and it is so much better.

We went to Apia this morning to fill up the car and we got some McDonalds. Pretty good!  Transfers will happen in the middle of the week and we are waiting to get the phone calls to see if I get transferred to another area.  I feel like I might, so it's just wait and see.

We splurged and bought some bacon and it was a bomb Sunday breakfast before church. I'm getting fat...

August 15th - why I'm in Fagaloa

 The photo is with Fa'ainu, the kid we do splits with.  He leaves for the MTC next week

Oh, and I made the can of refried beans you sent. So good!!!   I think Heavenly Father was watching out for me when he called me here to Samoa and not somewhere in Mexico because I would be so fat! :0

Taaaalofa

We got a baptismal date! His name is Luama'a (two rocks) and he's from Uafato. He's probably over 50 years old but so ready to be baptized. We taught him lesson one about the restoration. It was a weird lesson. Before we started the lesson I asked him if he had any questions. He didn't have any but as we started he stopped us a lot to ask questions about stuff. So it didn't flow very well but it was good that he asked us his questions. He wants to get baptized quickly so this week we're going to focus on the importance of baptism. It's not just a one time thing but a life-long covenant. 

The whole time I've been in Fagaloa I've kinda wondered why I'm here. It's an area with not a whole lot of people to teach, the church is really strong, and the few people who aren't baptized REALLY don't want to listen to what we have to say. I've been thinking we're gonna find this big family and baptize them or something major like that. But I've come to the realization that that's not what's going to happen. This week we had a cool little experience with a less-active member of the church. 

My comp and I have been wanting to visit a specific house for a while now and we finally had an opportunity to do so. We sat down and started talking with the woman. Then my comp said in Samoan, "Sorry my Samoan is so bad" and then she responded in perfect English, "don't worry about it".   She went on to tell us (all in English) that she is half Tongan and was born in Tutuila (American Samoa). She was baptized in Tutuila with her husband then they moved here 5 years ago. She speaks English, Tongan, Samoan, and Spanish fluently. She was a really interesting lady. She talked a lot about her family. She said she plans on going back to Tutuila at the end of the month.  At the end, I attempted to testify to her in English about eternal families and it felt flippin' weird trying to communicate in English!

I asked her in the beginning if missionaries had visited her since she's been here and she said no. Not a single time in 5 years. And Fagaloa is very small with hardly any people. After we left my comp and I were still kinda in shock about how the visit went. I thought about it later that day as a reason that I was transfered here. I have faith that the little visit we had resparked her faith and maybe when she goes back to Tutuila she'll go back to church. 

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August 7th & a beautiful sunrise

Sunday afternoon read

sunrise

This week was good! My companion's leg is a lot better. We didn't get any lessons with investigators but a lot with less actives and members. We went on a split with a kid in Uafato who is going to serve in New Zealand. He went through the temple this last week and I could just tell he was spiritually pumped up. He's a super cool kid and we're definitely gonna go on more splits with him this week. We did get a referral about a guy in Uafato who is probably around 50. I've never really taught someone this old, but from what people have said about him, he sounds pretty promising. We were gonna go contact him but we didn't have enough gas so we're gonna go this week. We also got other referrals about some kids who go to church. Hopefully we get an investigator from that.

On Friday we had our district meeting and we did a scripture search game and I destroyed everyone. If I had done that before my mission, I would've failed. It was just kinda cool to see how much I've learned since being on my mission.

This week should be fun! Hopefully we get to set a baptismal date!

Ou te alofa ia te outou uma lava. Fa'amanuia le Atua ia te outou. Maua le fiafia ma oli'oli taimi uma. Manuia tele lava lenei vaiaso!

July 30th...Don't be cheeky

This week we just stayed at home cause of my comp's leg. It's a lot better now so were gonna get to work this week. We baptized our one investigator Faleiva. He lives in Uafato the village with the chapel that's just a roof on polls. There isn't a font so we did the baptism in the river right behind the chapel. My comp was gonna get a picture of me before we did the baptism, but he had to be a witness so he only got the after shot.  That's the first picture above.

We went to Apia this morning to fill up the car and we stopped by one of the elders houses to get a haircut. Elder Powelson is his companion so we got to talk a with him a little bit. Elder Powelson was my trainer and he goes home in two weeks. 

My comp and I thought this was pretty funny...

Don't be cheeky... translated: "aua te tautalalaitiiti"

July 24th...also a little late!

Three waterfalls.

Part of the village in Uafato where we have to cross this river.

We can't cross the road because the water is way too high.

Got that Samoan hair cut baby!

This week we spent a lot of time in Uafato getting our one investigator ready for baptism this Saturday. That's about it. We tried to do some door knocking in a village but no one really seems willing to talk to us and I think a big problem is the matai's in the village. People are afraid of them. We've met a lot of younger people who seem interested in what we have to share and want to do lessons but their parents won't let them, so it's tough. We might try to start a little camp or something to try and get some investigators. They play volleyball and stuff quite often at the chapel and a lot of nonmembers come so maybe that could give us some opportunities.

This week is just going to be getting our investigator ready for his baptism.

We went to the doctor today and my companion's leg is really infected and he said we just have to take it easy this week. Hoepfully it gets better!

I've decided to start reading the Old Testament. It's long....but I came across this scripture I liked in Judges chapter 10.

 13  Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.

 14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

 

July 17th post... a little late!

 Takin' a niu brake. The best

Uafato

This week was good. Sorry my emails are so short there just isn't as much to talk about here. Monday we went and helped a youth in the ward with his plantation. It was fun.

Tuesday we went on a split with the kid we helped Monday. We tried to do some visits but people never really seem too happy to see us come up to their houses. We had one decent visit and we tried to visit them later in the week but no one was home. Next week......

Thursday and Friday we went to Uafato and did lessons with Faleiva and invited him to be baptized the 30th of this month and he said yes. So we just gotta help him come out of his shell a bit. It's definitely better though because the first time we tried to teach him he ran away. He's a good kid and comes to church every Sunday.

Saturday we went on another split with the same kid. We visited some houses that are right around this catholic chapel. There was an old lady (probably 70) and her daughter. The old lady was Mormon but married a man of another faith and he died so she said she'll honor him by going to his church but she knows our church is true. She said we could teach her daughter and her family. The daughter's husband doesn't go to a church so I really hope that could turn into something.

Everyday the kids are asking to use the balls we bought. It's ok, but sometimes it gets a little tiring. 

July 11 - a rainbow and my favorite meal

A Samoan rainbow

This is the meal I live for...Lu'au (taro leaves and coconut cream), umu taro and umu pig.  It's extra delicious with handy dandy BBQ sauce that you sent me in the package!

This week was pretty unproductive. We tried to find some people to teach but nothing came of it. On Sunday we decided to go to Uafato for church and it was a good decision. The kid we've been trying to visit was at church and the bishop brought him over to us and said we can do lessons with him so I'm really excited about that. Other than that not much happened this week. We just went to Apia to fill up the car and we bought a basketball and a rugby ball so we'll be getting some excercise in  with the kids every morning.