Choose to Believe

So, Lipina's baptism was wonderful! And guess who happened to be at our church watching their son play volleyball? President and Sister Tuione, so they came upstairs to see it. It was a sweet experience having them there. Lipina sang, and she has a beautiful voice! 

So our Bishop's daughter's boyfriend is a nonmember and we started teaching him several weeks ago and he's getting baptized this Saturday. His name is Sitiveni and he has a really big heart and good desire. He's had a hard time recognizing his answer to know if it's all true, but he's solid and really wants to be baptized. I'm excited because our Veitongo ward has been struggling and we're finally getting a baptism!

We have a lot of other investigators we're working with and we've been SO blessed, I don't have time to talk about them all right now but God's tender mercies are real! 

Someone asked me this week: Thinking about all the different beliefs and opinions in the world, you've chosen to believe this Gospel. Why do you choose to believe?

As I've thought about this question..a lot of thoughts have come to my mind. It makes sense to me. To be honest I can't imagine life without it. If it turned out that none of this was true and there was no life after this, I wouldn't regret the way I've lived my life and believed with all my heart because of the person I have become from it.

I don't have a perfect knowledge and someday it's harder than others, but it's when you CHOOSE to believe by each choice you make every single day that you feel great peace and light in your life, and you realize how can so much peace and joy come from something not true?

It's once you choose to believe, and act on that belief, that your FAITH increases, your desires are different, and your heart changes. And that's why I choose to believe. 

Wish you all the best week! Keep shining the light of Christ to all you interact with!

Ofa Lahi Atu!

Sister Reid

Baptisms are Beautiful

Soo Taniela got baptized on Saturday and it was probably one of the best days of my life! The members are really excited and supportive of him. Sister Malu and Sister Medina got permission to come to the baptism! It was so fun. Right before the baptism started he shared with me and Sister Malu and Medina how grateful he is for the things we've shared with him. He told us that he thought that he could have a good life by directing it by himself but he realizes now that he needs to allow God to direct his life in order for him to get the joy and happiness he needs. The baptism was beautiful and while he was standing in the water, tears ran down my cheeks. The baptismal ordinance is beautiful and the fact that his sins were all going to be washed away made me feel emotional. Afterwards he was able to share his testimony. His confirmation was wonderful. He was super nervous to sit up on the stand but he finally came to terms with it. He cooked us food that night and it was delicious. 

So I got another companion, we're toko3 (trio) again! Sister Fullmer came back from 'Eua because she was sick and a brand new companion came in the middle of the transfer that got sent to Eua to be trained...so Sister Fullmer is staying with us. She's super nice and funny, it's been good.

Lipina is getting baptized on Friday and she is SO happy and excited. This work is amazing. I feel SO much joy from it. I love my Heavenly Father and know He's watching over this area.

Ofa Lahi Atu!

Sister Reid

The Tender Mercies of the Lord are Real

So this week was good, it started out kinda rough but we worked hard and it turned out great! Sister Mafuataimi (one of my trainees) got transferred to Vava'u to be companions with another sister who had been in a trio. It was sad saying goodbye to her but I know she's gonna have fun in Vava'u! 

We had Zone Conference this past week and it was so uplifting and wonderful! We talked about finding people (street contacting) and we worked extra hard this week talking to everyone we see. We've seen a lot more opportunities to teach and have gotten new investigators. 

We were walking down a street this past week and walked by a house and there were two men standing to the side. We started walking past and then decided to say hi, the one man invited us to talk with the ladies sitting in the backyard. We walked to the back and there were two ladies sitting on a mat doing some Tongan crafts and they looked a little upset that we wanted to talk to them. We sat down, talked to them for a minute and ask if we could share a message. They agreed. We began to talk with them and I asked them what the most important thing is in their life, they both said that prayer was. The one lady shared about praying for her family, I felt prompted to talk about families and then asked what I felt was a little bit of a random question but came very clear into my mind "what's important to you about your role as a mother?" As the two ladies answered they began to cry and share about the difficulties they've faced and the responsibility they feel they have in being a good mom to their children. We talked more and promised them that the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been restored can bless their life and their family. We asked them if we could come back and they accepted. I'm grateful for the situations the Lord puts us in and I've realized the importance of asking inspired questions that helps us find the investigators needs. I love this work!

Sooo on Tuesday when we met with Taniela he shared that he wants to be baptized this Saturday (the 17th), we're SO happy, cause we feel like he's been ready and we've taught him all the lessons but he had doubts and although he still has questions he shares with us every lesson that he believes everything we're sharing is true and is looking forward to the day he'll receive a tui malohi (really strong faith) to everything. He has such a big desire to know EVERYTHING and studies a lot on his own, but we've talked a lot about faith and he realizes it's a process (line upon line, precept upon precept). I'm SO excited for his baptism on Saturday and Sister Malu and Medina got permission to come to his baptism!! President said he's going to try to come too. I'm so grateful for this work, what joy I feel from the fruits! 

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Ilove the lyrics to a ldsyouth song we've been listening to: "I will fight for the King, cause He is fighting for me" how true that is.

Ofa lahi atu ka moutolu,

Sister Reid

Lau, Fakalaulauloto, Lotu --it's simple

So this week was great, we got to teach Taniela several times and he came to church and reset his baptism date to the 24th. He still has tons of questions but he always ends up telling us that he believes and knows he'll receive a stronger testimony by the date he is baptized.

We taught Lipina (16 yrs old) this week (she's gone to church for months, lives at the house of a member, and has been taught by missionaries but hasn't really had a big desire to be baptized.) We've talked with her a couple times but this past week we decided to go back to the Book of Mormon. She couldn't really remember what the Book of Mormon was so after explaining it, we challenged her to read Moroni 10:3-5, think about it, and then pray to Heavenly Father to know if what we are sharing with her is true. We talked about the Spirit a little and then told her we'd come back the next day to check. She's a shy girl and doesn't really like to share a lot but the next day when we went back, she pulled out her Book of Mormon, explained what she learned from the scripture and then shared that when she prayed she felt happy and that she believed what we were sharing was true. My eyes were wet and my heart was full. It's simple. When we pray with faith, God answers. Not always in the timing we expect, but He answer. She's preparing to be baptized on her birthday later this month! 

-we had fleas in our house and car so I've been pretty itchy but they came and sprayed this week so it's better haha

-we went on vilo hoa (splits) with the sisters in Vaini and it was great! (My companions and I are in the ones in the middle in the picture) 

-my companions are doing well and I love them so much!

Love you all!

Sister Reid