Tonga! Oh the Blessings!

Hello Family!!

I am finally in Tonga and let me just say this place is amazing. Ive never been so sweaty before in my entire life and I don't think I've ever eaten so much either! haha. The members love the missionaries here so I don't think i'll ever have a problem of not being fed (which might be a problem) good thing my companion likes to workout! :)  My trainer is Sister Palenapa. She's from Tonga and she is awesome! Im grateful to have her because she's really helpful with the language. The area we are in is called Havelu. Its on the main island and its just a little village. We cover two wards and surprisingly there are a lot of members. In this particular area our best way to find investigators is through the members, because we are so close to town no one is ever home. We have three investigators right now. Emeli is on date to be baptized on Saturday so we are praying everything goes well. Faleta is 20 and he's still unsure if he wants to be baptized. He comes to church and does everything we ask him to but he still hasn't decided if this is for him. We taught him on Friday and my companion had me ask him to be baptized. It was a little scary but I did it. He wants a little more time to think about it so we are praying for him and the spirit to be with him. We are also teaching a priest. We have yet to find a good time to actually sit down and talk with him but he enjoys hearing our short messages.  

The bugs LOVE me here. I have 23 bug bites just on my legs and they are not normal bites....they look like bruises. Good thing our uniform covers our legs because I look like I have a disease haha!!

Anyways the work is good here! I honestly love being a missionary. Its been a pretty challenging week especially with the language but my testimony on faith and trusting in the Lord has really been strengthened. I love you all! Sorry this weeks letter is a little short. Have a great week! 

OFA ATU!

SISTA SYLVESTER

My trainer Sister Palenapa

our apartment

Bug bites!!

Dinner our first night at the mission home.

Become a little more like him each day

This week was a really good week! On Sunday Gary Hutchings spoke to us. He talked a lot about basking in the spirit. When we bask in the spirit it creates muscle memory and then we are better able to recognize the spirit when we feel it. I love that! 

On Tuesday we were able to hear from Linda K. Burton the general relief society president and her husband. They talked a lot about "Becoming as He is." They related most of it to missionary work but we don't have to be missionaries who wear a name tag to bring others unto Christ and become as he is. Jesus Christ has the ability to share his own gospel. He could do it and  baptize millions (2 Nephi 27:20-21) But he allows us to do it so we can become as he is. "Becoming" is a process. I know I will learn a lot out here on my mission but I will have to continually serve him even after my mission to allow myself to receive the blessings that are waiting for me. All of us can reach Heavenly Fathers great expectations he has for us but we need to put in the work. 

There's a Mormon message you guys have probably seen it but a gardener cuts down his bush because it was no longer growing. After sometime the "Bush" thanks the gardener and says "Thank you for loving me enough to cut me down." Sometimes we might not fully understand why we have to go through certain things, but Heavenly Father knows us best. I have a strong testimony that he loves each and everyone of us no matter what our situation may be. As we yield our heart to God we will "Become as He is."

Each week our branch presidency has us pick a Christlike attribute to study and work on the whole week. This week mine was patience. Its hard to be patient with  yourself when you are  learning a language and trying to study this gospel the best way possible so that you can teach by the spirit. What a blessing it has been for me to be able to learn and study attributes of Christ to become more like him. There's a video I want to share with you guys and maybe you could watch it for a FHE, but its about the attributes of Christ. I want to challenge you guys to each pick a Christlike attribute to study (maybe one you need to work on) and for the next week pray about it, study it, practice it, and i know you will see a difference in your life. Everything good comes when we are trying to be more Christlike. 

Well I love you all! Next time I email you I will be in Tonga! I cant wait. I hope you all have a great week. I love you!! Cant wait to call you on Monday :)

Here's the link for the video. If it doesn't work its on the front page of LDS.org and its called Christlike attributes :)

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-001-christlike-attributes?lang=eng&cid=HP_MO_13-3-2017_dPFD_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-A_

Week 4

This week was a really good week! On Thursday we Skyped with a Tongan lady and taught her a lesson. She was so cute! I've noticed when we talk to older Tongan people they talk a lot slower and we are able to understand what they're saying. Most Tongans speak so fast and so it makes it difficult to understand them. I can pick out a few words from their sentences but by the time I understand what they're saying they are already finished with that topic and moving on to something else! haha. Its kind of frustrating... but thats why this week has been so good because I've finally been able to understand people when they talk. Im still nervous for when I get to Tonga but I know the language will come.  :)

Our teachers took us outside yesterday and they wanted us to practice street contacting. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. They were our investigators but it was way different than preparing a lesson. They were asking us questions we had never heard before and Sister Egan and I would just stare at them because we had no idea what to say or what they were saying!  They love to joke with us and watch us struggle. Im just glad we were able to practice it here so I know what to expect when I get to Tonga. They also had us bear our testimony to one of the missionaries walking around. I asked this sweet girl if I could bear my testimony to her and she let me but I'm pretty sure she just thought I was swearing at her.!  :)  She seemed so confused haha. 

I cant believe next week is my last full week here at the MTC. I love it here but  Im so ready to go!  Sorry I dont have a lot to say this week. Im praying for you guys always! Im so glad shaylor's surgery went well. Im praying for a fast recovery. Have a great week. I love you all! 

    -- 

    SISTA SYLVESTER 

Week 3

This week was a good week! Me and my companions were asked to be the Sister Training Leaders for our zone. Its been fun interviewing all of the sisters and really getting to know them. President told us that he knew from the first day when he interviewed us that we would be the STL's for  the last three weeks to bring everything home and to finish off our time here at the MTC successfully. On Sunday I was asked to give the lesson in Relief society. My topic was enduring to the end. They've asked us when we teach to not make it a lesson but to make it a discussion so that everyone has a chance to participate. In my group I was teaching were all of the island sisters. They're all from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Papa New Guinea. They are the Sweetest girls but they are all so quiet and never really talk when we have group discussions. I was kind of nervous that my lesson wouldn't really go anywhere but it was one of the most powerful lesson I have ever been in. The island sister have the most powerful testimonies and they are all so filled with the light of Christ. It was awesome!!

On Tuesday Brent H. Nielson and his wife came and spoke to us and it was amazing. Elder Nielson talked about our mission call and how we've all been called by a prophet. There’s not many times in your life that you will be "Called by a prophet" so we need to cherish the time that we get to be a representative. He also talked about our mission call and what it says and means. He put up a copy of a mission call and read it to us. It was really cool because I don't think I actually read the whole thing when I opened my call because I was so focused on seeing where I was going to go. haha  He pointed something out to us and he said " You are called as a missionary and assigned to Tonga. Not called to Tonga and assigned as a missionary." That was a really powerful statement. It reminded me that I am called as a missionary!  No matter where I go in the world I am called to teach Heavenly Fathers Children about the truthfulness of the gospel. Another thing he said was "You will leave behind all personal affairs" and if you do the Lord will bless you "with increased Knowledge and a testimony of the restoration of the truths of the gospel." I really needed to hear that because sometimes I let things from home distract me but if I put them all aside I will be blessed. 😊

Sister Egan and I taught our investigator Lopeti yesterday and it was like our fifth time teaching him. This time we decided to put our lesson on note cards and just have the main points of what we were going to teach. Usually we write out the whole sentence because we’re still not comfortable with the language. We wanted a challenge this time and I'm so glad we did. The spirit was so strong in our lesson!  Lopeti asked us a couple of questions that we didn't quite understand but we listened to the spirit and we were able to find answers to his concerns. After the lesson Lopeti who is also our teacher talked to us about how the lesson went. He told us that he was able to understand everything we said. He also said that it was our best lesson yet. That was so reassuring because we were so nervous to challenge ourselves but we did our part and the Lord blessed us and did the rest.  Missionary work is hard but its so rewarding!

I cant believe I leave for Tonga this month! Thanks for all of your prayers and support I can definitely feel them. I love you all! Have a good week!

   ❤️ --

  SISTA SYLVESTER