Tatarahapa (A Polynesian Folk Song - Repent)

Bonjour family & friends!

I hope you have all had an absolutely wonderful week! It's been a great one here in Charlestown! 

We are seeing progress with our member work! We had a great meeting with Bishop last week and we were able to align our vision with his. He wants us to be working very closely with the ward and suggested we visit three families each night for 15 to 30 minutes each. Sister Mapuhi and I have been trying to heed his council and we are seeing miracles! These families are incredible and they are so excited to do missionary work. 

This life is a time for us to prepare to meet God. It is a time for us to be proved. It's a time for us to repent. Something my lovely companion taught me this week: "If you're not feeling happy,repent." When we love God and are close to Him, we can't help but feel happy. If we are not feeling near Him, if we are not feeling the fruits of the Spirit then there is something wrong. When something is wrong with our body, it tells us through the feelings/symptoms we have. When something is wrong with our spirit, it tells us through the feelings/symptoms we have. If we are feeling upset, cranky, sad, disconnected from heaven, depressed, unmotivated, ect, ect, ect, then our spirit needs help! We need to heed the Great Physicians orders when He says: "Return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted that I may heal you" (3 Nephi 9:13)

Repent has become such a joyful word to me. Each time we repent we draw closer to Jesus Christ. We accept His sacrifice and show our desire to be like Him. 

I love you all and want you to be happy. I know that true joy comes as we make and keep covenants with God, as we repent often and thoroughly, and as we rely on the Saviour Jesus Christ. 

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS!

-I was privileged to spend the day in Toukley with Sister Taroca this week. It was amazing to see some of the families and investigators we were working with. Including Lisa, who is getting married and baptized in March! :) Sister Taroca is incredible! She is so hard working and so others focused. She is Fijian as well and so she is really grateful to have Sister Koi as her trainer to help her learn English and adjust to a new country. I learned so much from this beautiful sister!

-One of our members is on 5 acres and
 let us help them feed their horses.

-Sister Mapuhi cut Brother Luke John Doyle's hair
(He is a recent convert as of December
and one of the funniest people I've ever met.) 

-We had an amazing FHE last night with one of the families in the ward. We made "member missionary calls" for all the kids and they LOVED it! 

-A blurry shot of us training down to Sydney for a special conference. There were some pretty amazing views going down the coast.

Sister Taroca left, Sister Eteaki, me and Sister Mapuhi's forehead walking from the train to the chapel in Sydney! We were trained on family history and it was incredible! Finding with family history is SO fun! :) 

-We went to eat dinner at one of the Tongan families in our ward. They made Lu and sapasui (sorry don't know how to spell it in english, and I'm probably spelling it wrong in Tongan), and we sang to them in Tongan. After we left we took the left over food to Sister Eteaki and she was so happy because she hasn't had this food in months :) 

Have a great week everyone!

Je t'aime,

SF