Falala ki he Otua!

Malo e lelei!

I first want to answer one of your questions mom. Yes it does get cold here! haha. I didn't think it was possible but man this week it was so cold. On Tuesday we woke up freezing in our MQ because they don't have windows here, they are just like glass panels so our windows are always open. It was so windy and raining like crazy. I have never seen it rain so hard before. We still went out and worked Tuesday  but I'm pretty sure we were the only ones outside. Every house we went to no one was home and we would just stand outside calling for them. My comp and i love working in the rain so we were having so much fun! When it was time to go home we got a call saying we needed to stay inside because it was a cyclone storm warning. So Tuesday and Wednesday we had to stay inside because the storm was so bad. When we woke up the next day everything was flooded the roads, peoples yards. It was crazy!  

The work has been kind of slow this week. I feel like we've been to every little house in our area. There is a church here in Tonga called the Weslyan church and all of their missionaries have been warning their members to not let the LDS missionaries talk to them. They said we have evil spirits with us. So when we go to their houses and call to them we can hear them inside their house saying "Shhh its the missionaries" hahah so that makes it kind of hard to talk to people. We are working with one family and i think I've mentioned them before, but her husband died and she really wants to marry a Mormon. We've visit them a lot but we have yet to teach them a lesson. We've planned like 3 FHE lessons with them but she's canceled all of them.  Its been weeks of us just visiting her but we don't feel like we should drop them. We are so close getting through to them. This week we visited them and the mom has been super sick. She was sharing everything she's feeling and going through and i just felt like we needed to share a spiritual thought about faith. Next thing i know my companion was feeling the same way and asked me to share a scripture on faith. I did and we both bore our testimonies and it was just a really cool experience. When we left the house we both shared with each other how strong the prompting was for both of us from the spirit to talk about faith. 

Its so important that we keep ourselves worthy enough to recognize the spirit in our lives. We might not ever get the chance to start teaching this family but because we both were in tune with the spirit we were able to hopefully plant a seed in their lives that will eventually lead them to the gospel. Anyways I hope you all had a good week! Ofa Atu!

Last P day we had a water fight in the rain! 

Pictures of the rain and us working in the rain

SISTA SYLVESTER

Last P day we had a water fight in the rain! 

Pictures of the rain and us working in the rain

Our Fafanga brought us 3 pizzas cheese bread and spaghetti for 2 of us!!!  hahah! :)

If you want to BE. Give it away!

Malo e lelei!

Well last week was so fun Skyping my family! Im a little late on the Mothers day shout out but I am so grateful for my mom and all she does for me. She's my best friend and I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for her! I love you mom!

I didn't get a chance to email last week because we were skyping but two weeks ago we had a  baptism for our investigator Fane :) It was a really cool because it was a zone baptism so the elders had baptisms too and we were able to have one big program. 

This week I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with the Sister Ap's it was fun! I was in the area of Kolomotu'a and its way bigger than Havelu. We tracted the whole day and we were able to get so many new potential investigators. There area is also right next to the beach so for exercise that morning we were able to go run along the beach. Man the beaches here are so pretty! 

Yesterday we had stake conference and we had the opportunity to watch a broadcast that was broadcasted to all of the Pacific Islands. Elder Pearson spoke first and he talked about "standing firm in the storms of life" It was really cool because I was really able to relate to what he was saying because as a missionary I've had a lot of personal "storms". He talked a lot about faith and trusting in the Lord. Something he shared is "Trust is faith in action". Sometimes we tend to put those two things together but we trust in the lord we are putting our faith in action and we are acting on that promise from the lord that when we have faith and trust in him he will bless us.

Not a lot happened this week. We've been doing a lot of tracting and working with less actives to help us find new investigators. So we are praying that we will be guided by the spirit to those who are in need of His message! 

I want to share something that dad shared with me that has really helped me while I've been out here. The act of "giving it away!" Sometimes we expect more than what we offer but if we want to BE something we have to give it away. 

"If you want to "Be" - give it away!"  If you say you want to "Be" happy, you have just declared to God, the Universe and yourself that you don't have it.  If you want to "Be" happy, give it away.  Giveaway happiness and you are telling God, the Universe and yourself that you have "IT!"  You can't give away what you don't possess.  It goes along with the scripture, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  If you want appreciation, compassion, peace, love, the Spirit, inspiration, joy - GIVE IT AWAY!

Just a little quote to ponder this week. Thank you for all of your love and support. You guys are so awesome! Keep being examples to those around you. Continue to love and have compassion. Remember if you want to BE give it away! 

Ofa Lahi Atu!!

-- 

SISTA SYLVESTER

Last P-day it rained on us while playing volleyball it was so fun! 

 

Malo e lelei!

This week was such a good week! My time here keeps getting better and better! Even the hard days. This week again me and comp went out tracting. We didn't have much success but it was a great experience! Haha we went around giving out pamphlets and pamphlet in Tongan is "tohi tufa" but me being a palangi and not really knowing the language when we were talking to this lady i called it a "tohi tafu' and "tafu" in Tonga is like this paper they use to burn in fires to get the fire big. So basically i told the lady to use the pamphlet to burn in the fire. Hahah it was so embarrassing. Me and my comp walked away and we just laughed! 

My companion and I are the STL's for two zones here on the main island. Its been a fun experience! We also have a car which is nice! Hahah except for everything is opposite here. They drive on the opposite side of the road, the steering wheel is on the opposite side too. Even the handle for the blinker is on the opposite side and i always forget so whenever we go to turn i always turn on the windshield wipers instead haha! People know its us when were driving because our windshield wipers are always on. My comp always makes fun of me haha! 

Tonight we are having family night with this darling family in our area. The dad died last year and the mom has been working so hard to provide for their family. She has four kids and two of them have come to church a couple of times. I always love going to visit them and the kids really want to take lessons but the mom doesn't think she''s ready right now. Hopefully after tonight she will  be ready!

My companion and I have been studying Christlike attributes. This week was virtue. Its been such a testimony builder to study the attributes of Christ. I know I've said it before but when we strive to be more like him it makes a difference in our lives. Remember to be an example to those around you and strive to change each and every day! 

Not much happened this week but it was a good week! Tomorrow is zone conference and me and my companion have to teach. That will be fun! I cant wait to talk to you guys on Mothers day :) Have a great week! Ofa ATu!

-- 

SISTA SYLVESTER

My comp and sister Vakalahi. Sister Palenapa trained both of us.

Getting our car washed

Me and my comp 

Transfers! 5-1-2017

                                                                                                       
We had transfers today and I am staying in Havelu with my trainer Sister Palenapa :) I cant believe i've already been in Tonga for over a month. Time is flying by!

However, this week felt kind of long because the work has been kind of slow lately. We get most of our investigators from the members because its really hard to proselyte here. I was kind of bummed that we didn't have much work to do and so Ive been praying for some kind of way that we can pick the work back up. On Friday I was talking to my companion and I told her that we should try proselyting in this area. She told me how it doesn't really work but she was willing to try. We got lots of pamphlets and Saturday morning we went out for a couple of hours to place the pamphlets. We started on one end of our area and went all the way to the other end. Within two minuets we were able to give someone a pamphlet and make an appointment to come back and teach. After we both kind of looked at each other because we were surprised and we were so happy it gave us the motivation to keep going and we went hard. Almost every house we went to we were able to make an appointment to come back. It was so cool! The very last house we went to is this older guy named Kepu. He is such a great guy! He invited us into his house and we were able to share a message with him and he asked us to come back and teach him on Sunday. After church we were headed to his house and he called us. We thought maybe he was going to cancel but he was calling to make sure we were coming. We thought that was cool haha we've never had someone call to make sure we were coming!  Anyways we got there and he had cleaned up his house and prepared drinks for us. He told us that after we left on Saturday he could not wait for us to come back again on Sunday. He told us how his daughter died in an accident last year and he has felt so lost. He said he's seen us around but he's been too embarrassed to ask us questions so when we stopped by he said he knew god was telling him something. Yesterday we taught him about the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was so strong. He asked us lots of questions and every time he spoke he just cried because he was so happy. He also kept thanking me for trying so hard to speak the language. I loved hearing that because sometimes teaching is so hard because the Tongans wont look at me when I talk to them because I’m a Palangi.  I’ve gotten used to it so i'm okay with it now haha but yesterday was a really cool experience and to have him thank me for trying was such a tender mercy!  We are teaching him again on Wednesday and we are hoping he will want to be baptized. 

On Thursday my companions sister got Married and president let us go to the sealing. It was fun! I’ve never been to a sealing before and it was all in Tongan haha but it was a cool experience! 

I learned this week that theres always more you can do! The Lord has prepared people for us and they are waiting to hear our message we just need to do our part and get to work. Never hesitate to share the gospel. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Ofa Atu! 

Our last district meeting. We also celebrated Elder Peti's birthday. Haha they're all doing their Haka faces!​

This is an example of what it looks like when we go to fafanga at a members house. They place like 7 plates of food in front of you and then they watch you eat. They dont eat with you haha!

One of my favorite members daughter :)

--SISTA SYLVESTER