Always Remember Him :)

​​Malo e lelei!

This week was another good week! Another very busy week but it was fun! This week we had a program for the missionaries who finished on Friday. We went to dinner with them and the temple and then took them to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye to my trainer. I cant believe she is already finished! She lives in Eua which is another small island off of Tonga so I will be able to see her around. yay! 

It was a very busy week but nothing interesting happened haha. We did have a family home evening this week with our ward mission leader at the home of President and Sister Tuione. It was an awesome lesson! It was a family of 6 and the mom is a widow. We asked her if she had any questions for us and she told us she was very interested about being able to seal your family for time and all eternity. Her husband passed away last year and she found hope in hearing and learning that she will be able to see him again through the Plan of Salvation. It was an awesome lesson! One of my favorite lessons to teach because its so cool to see and hear peoples thoughts about being able to see their family again after this life. I love being able to share that I have the opportunity to be sealed with my family in the temple. That I will be able to live with them for forever and I have the opportunity to learn and grow with them each day. This weekend we have the opportunity to take the time to remember our Savior Jesus Christ and his sacrifice that he made for all of us, and because of his great atoning sacrifice we have this great plan to help us return to live with him again. I read a talk a couple of weeks ago and I often think about it especially as we Celebrate Easter and its called "Always remember him" By Henry B. Eyring.  Its a short little message but a great reminder of the importance of always remembering our Savior. Something he said in the talk that I love is "But no matter how well you keep your promise to always remember Him, He always remembers you."

The Savior knows your challenges. He knows what it is like 

to have the cares of life press upon you. He knows how 

urgently you need the blessing that comes from always 

remembering Him and obeying Him—“that [you] may always have his Spirit to be with [you]” (D&C 20:77; emphasis added).

So He welcomes you back to the sacrament table each 

week, once again offering you the chance to witness before Him that you will always remember Him.

Not only should we remember the savior on Easter Sunday but each week we have an opportunity to remember Him during sacrament. No matter how hard life can be he will always remember you and its important that we always remember him :) I know Jesus Christ lives and He is our Savior and redeemer. He loves us and he knows us. This is His gospel and His work and He invites us all to come unto Him. Work hard everyday to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ! Keep reading your scriptures and Remember to keep the Savior at the Center of your lives :) HAPPY EASTER!! Ofa lahi atu!!!!

--

Sista Silivesita

Sister Mathieson from Highland  (The two Palangis from Utah)  😉

Running errands with Sister Tuione

Me and my Comp Sister Paletu'a

Saying goodbye to the missionaries returning home.  :(

​

Repentance is a blessing

Malo e lelei!

This week was a good and busy week! We finished zone conferences here in Tonga this week. Monday to Friday we had a conference with the missionaries. It was really fun!  I learned A LOT this week and it was such an answer to my prayers. I can honestly say that I have been blessed with one of the BEST mission presidents. I have never met someone with so much love for others.  He has taught me to truly see others through the Lords eye's. I'm reminded everyday that we are not perfect. I am no where near to being perfect, but  we have the blessings of the atonement that gives us the opportunity to change :) Repentances is such a blessing! 

I'm sorry I  don't have much to say this week! We spent most if the week in conferences.

Thank you all for your sweet emails! I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to respond to all of them. But I just want to say thank you for your love and support! Have a great week! Read your Book of Mormon! Ofa lahi atu! 

-- 

Sista Silivesita

 My trainer Sister Palenapa's last Zone Conference :(

 

Amoni Zone conference




Harbour Zone conference






Capital Zone Conference

Faith is things which are hoped for, and not seen :)

Malo e lelei!

What a good week! Sorry I didnt get a chance to email last week. We got a call last minute from President that we were leaving for Vava'u for zone conference instead of going this week. But I wasnt complaining. hahah I always love going to see the missionaries for zone conference! Anyway, last Friday we left for Vava'u and when we got there we went straight to a baptism in Tefisi for the Fainu Family. My companion Sister Paletu'a just got transferred from Tefisi and this was a family she had been working with for a very long time so it was a really cool experience for her to be able to be there for their baptism. It was a really special baptism. The ward members were SO involved and what a testimony it was to see how important member missionary work is. 

The Fainu Families baptism ❤️






Saturday and Sunday in Vava'u we went to a stake conference with President and Sister Tuione. It was a really good conference. Because we were with President and sister Tuione we got to go with them everywhere. After the conference they had a big meal for the Stake president and President hahah so we got to go along with them. It was a really great weekend!





The sisters at stake conference❤️




On Monday we had our zone conference in Vava'u and it was a really spiritual conference. Every conference my companion and I are assigned to teach something so for two weeks of every transfer we get in front of every zone and teach. Before I came on my mission I would have never volunteered to speak/teach. haha  Maybe this is preparing me for something im not sure.. but now I can confidently stand up and speak in front of others. 🙌🏼

Zone conference in Vava'u :)













Tuesday morning we flew to Ha'apai to have our zone conference there. It was another great zone conference. Again my companion and I taught at this zone conference and although we taught the same thing it was a really cool experience to see the spirit work in our teaching. We shared things different from what we shared in Vava'u. It was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father is aware of his missionaries and knows what they need, and i am lucky enough to become and instrument in His hands and share a message with His missionaries. Tuesday evening we had the opportunity to ride the boat with President to go take two elders back to Haafeva (a little island in Ha'apai) Its like an hour and a half boat ride from the main island. Man you guys it was so pretty! Im just amazed every time we go on the boat to see these little islands in the middle of the ocean. 


Zone conference in Ha'apai




Taking the Elders back to Haafeva.

Wednesday morning we flew back to Tonga but before we came home we had the opportunity to go to a baptism. This was a really special baptism one because the baptism was performed in the ocean and two Elder Takelo one of the Ap's got to see his little brother be baptized. It was awesome!

Baptism in Ha'apai ❤️

Missionary work is amazing! This week I sat for a moment and thought about all of the things I have been able to learn while on my mission. I didnt have enough time to think of it all but I was so humbled to see Gods love for me in this past year that I have been here in Tonga. I remember first coming in and i just felt like everything was so hard. I honestly felt like I couldn't do it. But as I sat and thought about everything I've overcome and have come to learn, I was overcome with a heart of gratitude for my Heavenly Father. I have been given an opportunity to come to this island and preach the gospel to Gods children. Not only have I been able to gain a stronger testimony of this gospel but I have been able to learn and love a new culture. I have learned new traditions and new ways of working. There are so many things I have been able to learn and I would have never had the chance to if I didn't one, decide to go on a mission and two humble myself and love these people. I cant even express it in words how much 
 I love being a missionary!!😊

This week during my personal Study I was able to read in Ether 12 about Faith and Charity. Man I love this chapter. This chapter talks about the teachings from the prophet Ether. Ether explains that the people did not believe the great and marvelous things which Ether had prophesied about because they had not seen them. I challenge you all to read Ether 12 especially verses 5-9. We teach in the Gospel that Faith is the first principle. Without faith the works are dead. Heavenly Father can only work through us and with us if we have faith :) 

I love you all!! Have a great week! Oh here's something funny for you that I always forget to write about. I dont know why but EVERYONE here thinks im related to Sylvester Stallone 

HAHA!!

They always ask me if im related to the actor, even though his first name is Sylvester. I play along with it now and just tell them yes im related! :) Anyways Ofa lahi atu kia moutolu! 

Breakfast in Vava'u

Our view from Breakfast 

Text message :)

Hi Bonni,

Here's a message from Sister Sylvester.

"Hi mom! I'm just letting you know I'm headed to Vava'u today and then Ha'apai. I wont have a chance to email this week but when we come back next week I will write you guys. I hope you had a good week! Look for pictures on the Mission fb. ofa lahi atu!!"

Ofa lahi atu
Sister Tuione
Sent from my iPhone

A God of mirales :)

Man this week was awesome! Lots of things happened this week, MLC, service projects and office meetings. The weeks are so busy and it makes time go so fast, I can't believe its already march !!  Also the power came on this week so that was nice :)  I kind miss just using flashlights hahah but its nice to have the fan work at night.

After the meeting on Wednesday we finally had a solid day to do some work in our area. It was so good. We were a bit exhausted from spending time with the sisters this week at the MLC and everything else we had to do, but we didn't let it stop us. We left our house that morning and we didn't come back until night. Our area is a small area so sometimes we will come home to do our studies because our house is so close to where we work but this day we made it a goal to stay out the whole day. We found a little area to do our studies and we hit almost every house that day. There's a little part that we cover and they are not members, but we were able visit with all of the members in one day and we still had time left over hahah. 

Wednesday night I had one of the best experiences on my mission. My companion and I met with one of our investigators to read the Book of Mormon with her. She is a investigator I have been working with for a longgggg time but she has yet to be baptized. Her husband has been baptized but she has not because she still has a smoking problem and has to be married legally with her husband. We met with them Wednesday night to read the Book of Mormon and it was great. They got home from work around 7 and it was already starting to get dark outside and their power has yet to be turned on so the house was really dark. We brought a little lantern with us and sat in a circle around the tiny light to read the Book of Mormon. It was such a powerful experience I dont even know how to explain it but it was so humbling. It was hard to see what we were reading but it was cool to see the spirit work to help them understand. We committed them to continue to read and they accepted to come to church this week. Yay!

This morning we had the opportunity to baptize Koni. One of my favorite investigators :) We had planned to baptize her a couple of weeks ago but she was busy and then we planned to baptize her the week the cyclone hit but her house was badly damaged and its just her and her mom there so she had to stay home to help her mom. We finally had the opportunity to see her enter the waters of baptism this morning and it was awesome! Koni struggled with drinking and smoking but it was cool to see when we taught her the Gospel she decided to stop on her own, and when we got to the lesson about the Word of Wisdom she had already committed herself to stop smoking and drinking. The gospel really does change lives for the better :) 

This week in my personal studying I was reading in Mormon 9 about God being a God of Miracles, but the miracles only come when we do what God has asked us to do. Ive learned on the mission that God only Ceases to help us when we don't rely on Him and have faith in Him. We've been blessed with so many miracles in our life, some little some big but we should always be grateful for the things we've been blessed with. Remember that through God we can do all things but only if we believe in Him and doubt not. I saw many miracles this week while out working so I know he knows us and knows what we need. Here are two verses from this Chapter that I love. I love you all thank you for your love and support. Keep reading the Book of Mormon. And read Mormon chapter. 9 if you have a chance. Ofa lahi atu :) 

21.Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth. 

 27.O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him 

-- 

Sista Silivesita

MLC

Reading the Book of Mormon with our investigators with no power. 

My companion and I doing our comp study  

Our baptism this morning. My favorite investigator :) 

Learning how to make a "taufale" (Its like a broom). We sat and talked with this old lady while she was teaching how to make the broom.