June 26 - Doing the dab...

Apparently this is the new dance move called the dab so we did a dab zone picture. This is the old zone though when I was in Faleasiu.

There are countless waterfalls in our area. Below it is the school and that's what most of the schools look like. I'm sending more pictures because we're emailing in the office and I can take advantage of the free internet.

I have the biggest crush on this little girl. She's very cute!

So this week was good. We had good lessons with Mutaaga and Daniel (our baptisms this Saturday). District meeting went well this week. The lesson turned out a lot better than I thought it would be. I talked about Luke chapter 15 which teaches about the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. I focused on the part that happens after they find the thing that was lost...that they rejoice and party and even kill the fatted calf. I connected that to D&C 18: 15,16 and D&C 15:6 about how missionary work is the best work to do on this earth.

On Sunday we went to church in Uafato where the chapel has no walls. I got distracted watching the ocean because it backs up right to the ocean so that was cool. The church is so strong in Fagaloa. There probably aren't over 150 people in that village and over 100 attended church. Two youth also received their mission calls to Hamilton, New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia.  I just think it's so awesome how strong the church is in a place like this.

We have two baptisms this week and the branch doesn't have a baptismal font so I was thinking (hoping!!!) we might do it in the ocean.  That would be my dream but I think we'll end up doing it at the other chapel where the ward is so I was kinda bummed to hear that.

I've had to do my laundry out of buckets since being in Fagaloa but it's not that bad. My clothes aren't as clean but it'll get me through.

I have no time cause were busy in the office again so have a great week!

This is the car we drive...of all times and places to become a soccer mom I never thought it would happen on my mission in Samoa...ha! ha!

8 day sinus headache...& going to Uafato

My Samoan driver's license....

This week not much happened because I was sick but it was still good.  I had a bad sinus headache for about 8 days and it's finally better...

The new thing we have to do if we're sick is call straight to the mission president. Tuesday had been about day 4 with the headache and it wasn't getting any better. So I called predsident and told him what was going on and he said he was going to come out to us. We're about an hour and a half away from the office. It was funny because then he called and asked if I wanted anything, like McDonalds or anything like that and I said no thanks because I wasn't hungry. Then my companion asked who it was and I told him and then he grabbed the phone and called president and said he wanted some Burger Bills (a fast food place here in Samoa that is NOT good.) The mission president, President Hannemann and his wife got to our house around 9 and gave me some medicine. They had to stay and wait to see if I had any bad reactions to the medicine. Sister Hannemann insisted on having my feet rubbed. She said it helps with headaches. So she made one of the AP's (Assistant to the President) rub my feet.  President was on the phone outside and then came in and then he rubbed my feet too. Not what I was expecting to happen but it did... The APs also gave me a blessing. I may not have gotten better from the blessing but I definitely felt peace and comfort and knew things would soon get better. I'm so grateful for the priesthood.

Wednesday and Thursday we didn't do anything because my head still hurt really badly.

Friday my head wasn't feeling any better but we had zone conference so we went and it was good. We talked about different things from "Preach my Gospel" that I think will really help us.

Saturday the headache was finally gone!! We went to Uafato. When you think about the ends of the earth, Uafato is that. It is a tiny village so far from everything but there are people there and almost all of them are members of the church! We went with a kid who is waiting to receive his mission call. He is super cool. It took us about three hours to visit all the families in the village. We have one investigator there and we met him and set a time to meet with him this week. 

Sunday we went to the branch for church and taught a lesson to our investigators who attended church that day. They got married on Friday last week. A big challenge here in Samoa is when we have a couple that wants to get baptized but they aren't married.   Now that they are married, it makes things so much easier. They will be getting baptized on the 2nd of July which is so great.  Time goes so quickly and I can't believe it's almost July!

Everything is great here on the lava rock!   Miss you all!!

alofa atu

-elder tana

Elder Tuimauga, Elder Anderson who just went home (his sister is the one married to Coach Littlewood's son), and Sister Hannemann. Good times trying to get better and getting  my feet rubbed.

This is where they have church in Uafato. I think it's sweet!

June 12th - first week of transfer in Fagaloa....

 The village we haven't been to yet because it's so far away...

It's so beautiful here....

I have no time again to email.....

This week was pretty hectic again.

Tuesday I got my companion but he is just a temporary companion because my real companion isn't here yet. He's a native and its been really tough but its been good at the same time. NO English is spoken but man does he snore....

Wednesday we went and got familiar with one of the wards we cover.  Everyone is members except for two families and they're the pastors for the other churches. We still haven't had time to visit one of the wards we cover. It's soo far away...

Thursday I woke up with a horrible headache. I think it's because I haven't been able to get any sleep because my companion snores soo loud.

Friday we had zone coference. One thing was pretty funny. President came up with a new thing that if the church is paying for your mission and you're disobedient, he'll cut your monthly pay. Then all the natives started asking how much he would take off... Just be obedient and you won't have to worry about it!!!  That made me laugh.

Saturday and Sunday we had stake conference. An area seventy came out both days to speak and he was really good. He talked about a lot of things that will help Samoa and the Samoan people.  It was really great.

I have to go!! Everything is great! I love and miss you all!

Fagaloa!

The photo is the one village we haven't been to yet. It's pretty small and far. I've heard the chapel is just a faleo'o (the one with poles and no walls) so that's pretty cool!

June 5th - transfer to Fagaloa...northeast side of the island

                                                             Fagaloa....beautiful!

hey i have no time to really email because i'm emailing in the office on the AP's computer. i just got my license and learned how to drive stick in 10 minutes. we get this huge van so it should be fun.

i got the package but just about everyhting was moldy. can you send me a backpack, more little towels cause those were un-savable and put more money on the card? I took out 300 tala to pay for the license but i got reinbursed.

This week was crazy!

Tuesday- said goodbye to everyone which was really hard. I'm going to miss Faleasi'u so much. they did a dance thing for the Samoa indepedence day on tuesday night so that made it easy to say goodbye to a lot of people

Wednesday- I went on a split with the zone leaders cause Elder Fifita had to go to the office to train a new missionary. It was fun being with them for the day.

Thursday- we had to get up super early to go do some marching thing in Apia. it was ok. there weren't a whole lot of people there. it,s always fun though being around other missionaries. My companion isn't here yet so I've been with Elder McMichael from my intake. Thursday night we slept with Elder Anderson from my intake as well and his new trainee. It was really fun.
Friday- the AP's picked us up in the morning and took us to our area. It is flippin amazing and I love it.

Saturday- we live at the branch chapel. It's so small and cool. we went out with a kid who is preparing and he showed us around

Sunday_ we went to church and there were about 40 people. two investigators were there, we taught them lesson one and invitied to them to be baptized on the 18th and they said yes so lets hope everything works out!!

That's all i have time for. I can't guarantee i'll have email every week because i'm in the boonies. I love you!!!

May 29th...I'm getting transferrred!

I bought an 'ie (pronounced eeaaa) that is for Mothers Day.  If I could send a package I would send a bunch of different kinds of these things. Everyone wears them and they're all different.

Malu!!

Hello!!

I'm getting transferred!!! I never thought I would leave this place. It's going to be really hard to say goodbye to all these awesome people who have made me feel very loved. It's going to be hard to top Faleasi'u that's for sure.  I'm getting transferred to Fagaloa (Fagaloa Bay). It's on the northeast side of the island. I will cover two wards and a branch. It's flippin beautiful but there aren't many people there so we'll see how that goes. I get a car! a Hyundai Tucson because its a pretty big area!!

My companion is a Samoan from California. He started in January but went home for a little bit because he got sick. I've heard good things about him and I'm really excited.

Our baptism with Malu went really well. He's a very humble, quiet guy. Sometimes I feel badly that he doesn't talk more but I know there are people like that and he is just more shy. Other than the baptism, not much happened this week. On Saturday night after the baptism, we went to do a lesson with one of our investigators and she had said she was going to make us food. They prepared sooo much food. We had chicken but they bbq'd it and took the bones out. It was so nice not having to worry about bones!

On Wednesday I'll be leaving. The next couple days are going to include saying goodbye and taking pictures so I know you'll be happy about the picture part.

I'm really excited to get to my new area and explore. Oh and I get a car because the area is bigger than my whole district here in Faleasi'u.

Hope all is well back home!!

Me & Junior...May 22

This week went super fast. I guess that's what happens when we're really busy.

On Wednesday we did a service project with half the zone. We all got our machetes and cut down this persons big field. It was really fun and I have a ton of blisters. It reminded me of when you take a month break from baseball and swing a bat again and get blisters like crazy. We had a good time and it felt good to be able to help out.

Junior is the oldest of the kids in the Mamoe family that we have been teaching. Even though his dad shut us down, he sneaks out to come to church activities. This week he even went to seminary that starts at 5:00 am. He is such a cool kid and wants to get baptized so bad. The rest of the kids want it as well.  They just aren't as ballsy as Junior. Whenever we go visit with him he always walks home with us.  It's just a perfect example of when someone becomes converted, they're not gonna let anything stop them.  Hopefully, he will stay valiant and his dad's heart will be softened when he sees the positive impact the gospel is having on his children.

We finally have a baptism this week!! His name is Malu. We actually met him at dance practice for a performance thing they're doing for the stake party on the 1st. He is a really cool and super-humble guy. Sometimes we just go and visit him to answer questions. He loves learning about the gospel. He has the Gospel Doctrine book and whenever a Book of Mormon reference is made he looks it up in the scriptures. It has been awesome to see his testimony and knowledge of the gospel grow.  It really makes me happy to be a part of that process.

Me and Junior

Sunday May 15th

This week was really good!

Tuesday we had an interesting run in with some missionaries of another faith. We planned on visiting this person we aren't really familiar with. As we walked up we saw three ladies sitting down. As I got closer I saw a bible open on the floor, so I thought that was a little weird. Then I got in and sat down and saw two umbrellas on the floor and when I saw that I knew it was other missionaries. Before anyone started talking, I knew it was gonna be a waste of our time. I asked them if they had any questions for us and they said for us to tell them something and then maybe they'll have a question. So I shared the purpose of missionary work and a quick overview of the restoration. I shared the scripture in Amos about a famine in the land of hearing the words of Christ. So I explained how Christ's church was established, it was taken off the earth and then restored. One of the ladies was saying that its talking about now and how Amos died 500 years ago..... After she said that I was just like, "let's go. Were wasting our time."  Plus, I was getting frustrated so the spirit definitely wasn't there.

Wednesday was kinda a bummer. We went to go visit the Mamoe family and the dad pretty much shut us down. All the kids were so devastated. We continue to visit them and share the gospel with them. The kids are great and really want to come to church. So I know they will get baptized but not anytime soon.  At least we can still spend time with them.

We had invited all of our investigators to church but none came. Two non-members came with their friends so we taught them after Sacrament. They're both in their mid 20s. They're super cool. We have a return date set with them both for this week and we hope to set them to be baptized on the 28th.

We're really hoping to get at least one more baptism before the transfer is over on the 29th. If we do or don't, whoever serves in Faleasi'u next transfer is going to have a lot of people to teach.

A sweet picture of the coastline.

This is a bus stop.  An interesting thing about Samoa is that they put graves in front of their houses.  The big dark stone one in the middle is probably for a chief and then you can see some smaller ones on the left.

Skyping on Mother's Day...THE BEST!!!