MALIA'S AND KEPUELI'S BAPTISMS

MALIA AND KEPUELI GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK! It was seriously so beautiful. Since it was part of ward conference, the Stake Presidency was there and a lot of other people to support. It was a little stressful because it was supposed to start at 6 but Kepueli hadn't come back from "the bush" yet but when they arrived we welcomed them with open arms and smiles! When the meeting started their eyes were filled with tears and the Spirit was so strong. I seriously felt so much love for them. They were confirmed yesterday in church (ward conference) and they seriously glowed!! Their parents listened to the missionaries a year or so ago but haven't really been interested since. Their sister married someone who is less active and he smokes and stuff and that bugs the mom so we're going to start working with the sister's husband (he came to church yesterday for the first time in a long time) and then hopefully we can start teaching the whole family!! 

Tiola. Things have been a little confusing with her (she was maybe going to move to Tonga to go to school, etc) and she was supposed to go on Saturday to visit Tonga so we put off her baptism to figure some things out...so I'll keep you updated with that!

Sister Langi finishes this week and I have no idea what will happen with transfers. I'm a little nervous, but I know I don't need to be because God knows what he's doing! I'm so grateful for everything I've learned from Sister Langi...she pushes me to be a little better everyday..sometimes it's a little painful but I'm SO grateful!! 

I love this work. Last night, we were walking down the street and a boy stopped us and asked if he could ask a question. He said he was baptized a while ago but stopped going to church and has done a lot of bad things and he wants to know if it's possible for him to come back. We explained to him the process and then my companion shared with him the scripture in Isaiah "though your sins are as scarlet they can be white as snow" His eyes filled with tears. The Savior is so merciful. The atonement is so wonderful. The Lord has provided a way back.

OFA LAHI ATU!!

Sister Reid

Sio pe kiate au i he fakakaukau kotoa pe

This week has be truly wonderful. I know God is aware of the people on this little island in the middle of the ocean. It's truly a spectacular thing to watch the way the Lord works. Not everyone accepts our message, in fact a lot of people don't even want to listen to it, but God is preparing hearts to accept the gospel and it's our responsibility to find those souls. 

As a missionary, it's a test of our faith--maybe a couple days pass and no one really seems to want to listen to our message (and if they listen they aren't making progress) and it's hard to see that there are people who will accept. But we show our Faith in doing everything we can every single day, so when we do meet that person we are ready.

Malia and Kepuel our investigators (Brother and Sister who are in High school) have truly been prepared by the Lord, even though it wasn't evident at first. Sister Langi and her companion before me started teaching these two at the end of last year and there wasn't much progress. At last, a lady in the ward started fellowshipping them and they started coming to church every week...but they still had some questions and progression was slow. These past several weeks though Sister Langi and I have seen some great changes in them. We have literally seen their hearts change. They are Baptized on TUESDAY as part of ward conference week and I am absolutely thrilled. They told us on Saturday how they want to serve missions and get married in the temple and how their desires to read the scriptures have grown stronger. I love these two SO much! It's moments like these when your heart swells with gratitude and you can't stop smiling. And you keep working harder! 

Tiola, another investigator, who's in middle school (she's in Liahona and takes seminary but isn't baptized) but she is getting baptized on SATURDAY! We committed her to baptism a while ago and she was excited but then something changed and we didn't know what it was but she started acting weird and didn't want to get baptized or come to church and it broke our heart. But then last week we went to go see if we could have another lesson with her. Sister Langi asked her if she wanted us to keep teaching her and she said she did and so I asked her what she liked best about the things we'd taught her and she said baptism and that she can be baptized. I asked her more about the importance of baptism and why she wanted to be baptized and she shared the sweetest little testimony. On Sunday, she showed up with the young women in the ward and one of our recent converts and they were are smiling and laughing. It filled my heart with so much love to know that she felt welcomed. 

Two big things I've learned this week:

1) Fellowships make a HUGE difference--investigators need to feel welcomed.

2) As we trust God and keep moving forward, miracles happen. "Sio pe kiate au i he fakakaukau kotoa pe; oua 'e tala'a 'oua e manavahe" (Look unto me in every thought; doubt not fear not)

Don't get discouraged, the Lord knows what he's doing!

OFA LAHI ATU!!!

Sister Reid

Question this week: How would you help an investigator with a Word of Wisdom problem? "I've prayed and read my scriptures and try to stop smoking but I can't...what do I do?" What questions could you ask him, what scriptures could you share? What addiction recovery program could you set up?

Sorry, This is a Quick One

Sorry my email is going to be super short this week. It took us forever to get the key to the church but just want you to know I'm alive!

Couple Highlights:

-We went on vilo hoa (splits) with the sisters in Ha'atu'a (they're the STLs now) and I got to go with Sister Vaa'i which was fun being back with her!
-I got a minor case of the measles (weird huh?) and red spots appeared all over my body and were kinda itchy after I'd shower but apparently like half of the missionaries got it. But it didn't keep me from working :)
- I've been working hard on learning where the members live and names and streets, etc. Let's just say there's a lot to learn and remember as a missionary! But it's coming along :)
-We have two investigators that will probably get baptized this Saturday (they might go to Tonga so that's why it's a maybe) but they're brother and sister (Malia and Kepu) in high school and they're
so cute and so ready!!

I LOVE THIS WORK I LOVE THE LORD I LOVE LIFE
There is every reason in the world to wake up smiling because of the precious truths we know. No matter what happens at least we know there is our Father in Heaven who loves us and He has a plan for us--everything will be made right in the end:)

OFA LAHI ATU!
Sister Reid

Question: Why is it important that there is a prophet on the Earth to
guide the church?

Feilaulau (Sacrifice)

Wellll, this week was kinda crazy because I FELT MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE! haha it happened at like 4am Tuesday Morning and it woke me up cause the bed was shaking. It was pretty short and nothing fell over or anything so it was kind of cool! And there was also a cyclone that night so it rained a lot and the wind was strong but thankfully it passed our island before it got huge..it hit Vava'u (the outer island of Tonga) and there's some destruction there but it moved on to Fiji and was pretty bad. Welcome to Cyclone season...haha but nothing to worry about, all is welll :)

So one night while we were planning this week, my companion and I were talking about our teachings that day and I expressed to her how I feel inadequate at times and I want to become a better teacher and gain more skills so I can explain things more clearly, etc. and allow the Spirit (the REAL teacher) to better touch the heart of our investigators, but I know it will come in time and I just need to trust the Lord and the Spirit. My companion looked at me and said, "Sister Reid, if you truly want to be a great teacher you need to sacrifice more". It surprised me at first a little because of how blunt she was and for a second I felt a little bugged and thought,"I've sacrificed so much. I'm giving everything to the Lord. It's just hard sometimes, but I'm doing my best" But then right after that, that thought left, and I just felt this feeling of peace and love, and I realized that what she said was a message from God to me. There is some pride that I hang on to sometimes and hadn't recognized some of that pride had come back, and God has been trying to tell me to let it go...but I maybe haven't been listening as well as I should. It was God telling me, through my companion, what is holding me back from truly becoming the missionary and instrument in God's hands I'm capable of becoming. 

Are we willing to put all our pride, ambition, and will on the alter of sacrifice before God and trust him? My question this week is a self-reflection question: What do I need to give up and let go to become the person God envisions me becoming? 

I love reading the Book of Mormon in Tongan! It's beautiful and simple. I read about the Anti-Lehi-Nephi's this past week and how they buried their weapons of war and entered into a covenant with God, and they never broke that covenant even though many of them died. What are we willing to sacrifice?

Today, my companion taught me how to laundry with a pole in a bucket and then "nusi" the clothes to make them perfectly clean (the washing machine of the house we're at broke...but the spinner still worked, to dry the clothes mostly, so that was good). It took forever, but it's a good skill to have! haha 

Love you all!!!! Have a great week and remember to smile :)

Sister Reid

TRANSFERS aaaaand.....

Guess what?! I GOT TRANSFERED! I'm still in 'Eua but I got transferred to two villages over to Pangai. My new companion is Sister Langi and she is so sweet (Sister Vaa'i stayed in Ha'atu'a and my MTC companion, Sister Medina is now her companion!) Sister Langi is from Tonga and she finishes her mission at the end of this transfer..so there'll be another change of some sort next transfer. She speaks pretty good English but we're trying to just speak in Tongan..it's hard but I'm SO grateful, it's helped me a lot already! She's a really hard worker and so kind! The Tongan sisters are very particular about the uniform and it's so great because she irons my uniform every morning and braids my hair perfectly and she's taught me how to hang up the clothes on the clothes line properly. It's soo great! I learn so much from her everyday.

Our area is MUCH bigger than my last area and doesn't have very many members..most of the people here are hard core Catholic. It's been good because we actually have some solid baptisms coming up and investigators! The Bishop yesterday in church announced that the Stake President said everyone needs to watch out for the new sister missionary in the ward from muli (outside of Tonga) and keep her safe (me). Tonga is a really safe place in general but compared to Ha'atu'a (safest place in the world haha), Pangai is a little sketch. They're all very concerned for the sister missionaries here, especially for the Palangi sisters and it's so good to know that there are people who are looking out for me. There is also a piano here in the church which is cool. We showed up to church early so I could play some prelude which was fun!

I'm grateful for this opportunity. It's seriously the hardest thing I've EVER done. But I love it so much. Love this work!

Love you all so much <3 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

-Sister Reid

Koji, a Buddhist Monk

This week we went to Tonga for Mission Leadership Conference and it was so amazing! We all had to role play a different lesson using questions...and it was straight death haha but I learned so much!! I'm so grateful for my mission president and for him pushing us to be our best, I know he loves us! Also...we got to stay in a little house with Air Conditioning in Tonga and it was AMAZING!

Yesterday, a Buddhist Monk from Japan came to our ward and he only knows Japanese and a decent amount of English (wishing I was Emily Kenney and could speak to him in Japanese;), so during second hour we talked to him and he couldn't understand everything we were saying but he asked about the pictures of the prophet and apostles on the wall and he was so surprised that they are still alive! There was a stake fireside last night so we invited him to it and he was so excited! So he came even though it was in Tongan. They had me and another Elder speak (without much warning..so that was a little scary...but thankfully the Spirit helps!) and I was able to end my testimony in English for him. Afterwards, a member from the Stake Presidency got up and told us that Koji (the Japanese man) is the most important man in the room and told a RM from the states to go sit by him so he could understand what's going on. He leaves tomorrow but we're going to give him a Japanese Book of Mormon and he said he'll look up the church website!

Today is transfers. We'll find out tonight what will happen. Sister Vaa'i finishes next transfer so we'll probably just stay but who knows! Let you know next week :)

Ofa Atu!

Sister Reid

Question: Who is God? How would you describe God to someone who doesn't believe in God, and to someone who does but not in the way we do? (He has a body, His plan for us, the Godhead are 3 separate beings, etc.) Find scriptures, questions you could ask them, and write down how you could explain it clearly to someone!

Oku ou kamata ke sino (I am starting to get fat)

In Tonga it's totally normal to talk about people's weight. I think I've been told over 4 times this week that I'm starting to look fat. hahaha I don't think I've gained too much weight but I think my face is getting a little wider haha. It's so funny, they say that I don't eat enough and I need to get fat! But luckily since I'm a girl from America they don't push too hard when I say I'm full..but I eat enough for them not to be offended. It's hilarious! 

There's this saying on the Ward Mission Leaders wall that I love! It says:

I'm too Blessed to be Stressed,

too Anointed to be Disappointed.

I refuse to be discouraged, 

to be sad or cry.

I refuse to be downhearted

and here's the reason why:

I have a God who is almighty,

who is sovereign and supreme. 

I have a God who loves me 

and I am on His team.

I refuse to be defeated!

My eyes are on my God!

He has promised to be with me 

as through this life I trod.

I love this so much. God is with us always and we have every reason in the world to rejoice because of that! Don't let Satan get you down.

This week we're going to Tongatapu again for MLC and I'm super excited! I'll let you know how it goes. Love you all so much!

Sister Reid

Question for the week: I feel my church is right and it has blessed my life, why would God tell me now to change the church I go to?