Transfers :)

Malo e lelei!

This week was a busy week with transfers. Im staying in my same area and im with my same comp. Im pretty excited about it! :) Not too much happened this week... it was a good successful transfer hahah and now we are preparing for zone conferences and other meetings this transfer! This week we also had a program in one of our wards, I think I told you about it last week, but this week we did the same aho ako'i in ward mapelu. So many of our members brought someone for us to teach so our one day of teaching all day turned into 3 days it was pretty sweet. Thursday, the day we had planned the aho ako'i, president gave permission to some other missionaries to come to our area and help with the teachings, so we had 4 pairs of missionaries going from house to house in our area teaching the investigators. We were able to get so many new investigators and a lot of them want to continue the lessons. We have the opportunity to teach a couple of them twice this week and they are on date for baptism. Yay! The work in this area is really picking up. Its hard at times trying to keep the members motivated to continue bringing their investigators for us to teach but we' planned a couple of activities for this month and I have a good feeling about them. Not only do we have the opportunity to share the gospel with non member's but we've been able to help the members as well.  

Sorry nothing too exciting happened this week.  But I hope you all have a good week! Remember who you are! Keep reading your scriptures :) Ofa atu!! 

1. The new ice cream shop that just opened in our area :) hahah 

It's not about me

Malo e lelei! 

This week was another good busy week! We had a program this week with the missionaries who finished this past Friday and that was about it hahah but it was still a good week! On Tuesday we had a "aho ako'i" in one of our wards, so its like one day in the month that we invite all of the members to invite someone to come listen to the missionaries. We had teaching appointments all day Tuesday and it was awesome! From there we were able to set up follow up appointments in the next coming weeks. Ive probably shared this before but my area is all members except for one little village of 5 houses and they are non members. But we do a aho ako'i to help the members bring their investigators for us to teach and its been really helpful for the work here in our area. Next week we will be doing the same program in our other ward. Ive been in this area for about 8 months now and when I first got moved here I wasn't too excited to work in an area of all members but I have seen the importance of working with members and it has help me to love the work so much! I honestly would be okay to spend another transfer here. Actually we were looking at the transfer board the other day with president and he asked me " Sister Sylvester where do you want to finish your mission from?" He was giving me the option to choose any island to go work in. Although I would love to go work in the outer islands I told him "President wherever you and the Lord need me that's where I will finish my mission from. If you need me to stay here I would be happy to stay and do whatever you need me to." Ive come to learn that this work is not about me it's the Lords work and His will. Even though I would be happy and love to go to the outer islands and experience work out there I just don't have the strength or desire to tell President where to put me hahaha. President laughed after and said " hahah its okay we go to the outer islands anyways for zone conferences."  I love being  a missionary and I love to see what the Lords plan is for me. Even though missionary work is not easy at times, I'm  so happy and willing to serve the Lord :) 

It was another great program with the Kau osi this week. It was hard to see them go home but exciting for them that they finished their work! I still cant believe how fast time is going. Its killing me! hahah but I'm working hard to make every minuet count. I cant wait to skype you guys tomorrow!!! I remember mothers day last year like it was yesterday and now I get to see you all again and I cant wait :) Although its not Mothers day yet I just want to wish my beautiful mom a HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! I love you so much and I'm so grateful for all that you do! I hope you all have a great week. Keep reading your scriptures! Keep being member missionaries and find any opportunity you have to share the Gospel. Ofa atu! Tau toki sio apongipongi ;) 

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Sista Silivesita

We are really close with the Chinese lady who works at the store on the end of our street and the other day she called us over and she went in the back to go get something we thought maybe it was cake because she gave us cake last time but no this time it was chicken feet! Hahah we didn't know what it was and when we got in the car we screamed and just laughed. I guess they eat the feet of the Chickens! :)

My first zone leader and district leader both finished this week.    

LIttle miracles :)

Malo e lelei!

Man what a good week! This week was so powerful and uplifting! Nothing too big happened but all of the small little experiences were what made it such a great week! We had the opportunity to go on exchanges with some of the sisters in the mission. I always love going on exchanges. Its fun to learn from other sisters. Even though its just a 24 hour exchange I feel like I learn the most in just those short 24 hours. This week we had two exchanges and they were very special. The first one was with Sister Egan my MTC companion.  :) Man it was so fun to be with her again. The last time we were companions was the MTC and we finally had the chance to work together again. I think I shared this last week but because our area is mostly all members, except for the little area of makapaeo, we go around everyday visiting our members and share a message with them. President committed us to start going to the members houses and asking them if we can role play our lessons with them. Its a good way for us to practice and a great way to help our members. So Sister Egan and I went around to all of the members teaching lessons and it was just a really great experience. We kept laughing because in the MTC we could hardly share anything in Tongan. We couldn't teach, we couldnt communicate or anything! So we just laughed and talked about how cool it is now that we can speak Tongan, share messages and teach lessons. I was really able to reflect on my mission and see how far I've come, everything I've been able to overcome, and the growth I've had in my testimony. Missions are seriously the best!! 

I also had the opportunity to go on an exchange with Sister Malungahu. She is from Australia and we actually finish together in August.  This was another great experience! The stake I'm working in all 4 of the areas are all members. Theres only two areas in the stake that have non members but the majority are members.  Last Sunday we met with the stake to set up a program to help members invite someone to come talk with the missionaries, but also to give the members a opportunity to share the gospel. We came up with the idea to pass out Book of Mormons. Each ward has a goal of how many Book of Mormons to pass out each month and invite someone to come talk with the missionaries. Im really excited because we've been praying hard on what we can do to help the ward members continue to have a desire to share the gospel and work together with the missionaries. So this week we passed out one Book of Mormons to all of our members and explained to them the new program we have in our stake. It was really cool! Im really excited to work with the members and give them a chance to go share their testimony about the Book of Mormon with someone. Working in this area has really shown me the importance of members working with missionaries. So...im giving you the same commitment this week to think of someone you can give a Book of Mormon to and share your testimony with them :) 

Yesterday we had the opportunity to meet with Elder Groberg (Kolipoki) the guy who the movie The other side of Heaven is based off of. I dont know if you know this but he's making another movie! It was a request from President Thomas S. Monson and the movie will be based on the time he was mission president here in Tonga. So he's here in Tonga filming some songs for his movie. We got to meet with him yesterday and it was an awesome meeting! Hes so old hahah but his Tongan is still so good! 

It was a good week! I learned a lot and had a lot of little miracles happen this week thatwere such a blessings for me. We read in 2 nephi 27:23 God is a god of miracles. He is the same yesterday, today and forever; but he works according to our faith. I love you all have a great week :) 

Ofa atu!

-- 

Sista Silivesita

Note form Mom...

Sister Egan sent me a personal email last Monday telling me about her exchange with Kenidee.  She had so many sweet things to say.  These two sure love each other!!  She is from Australia and is the first Indian to ever serve in Tonga. I was able to talk with her for a few minutes when Ken called us from the airport on her way to Tonga and she has the cutest Australian accent that im sure sounds adorable when she speaks Tongan.  :)

Hello sister Sylvester!! 

How are you? How is your wonderful, lovely family?

i just finished exchanges yesterday and had the AMAZING opportunity to be companions with your daughter again!!!!  I miss her!!  She is seriously one of the reasons im still here, she has helped me so much and continues to help me. i was looking forward to exchanges ever since she told me about it!  Man when we got together we just talked and talked! Every time i see her I ask her how is little baby olivia!! 

i was telling her how i was thinking about you the other day!! i had the memory of her and i at the airport and how i couldnt contact my family, and how you spoke to me and were seriously so sweet and were like "Sister Egan!! WERE SO PROUD OF YOU!! WE LOVE YOU!!" seriously that is such a precious memory to me. like it was sooo diffcult not being able to talk to my family, but your kindness and sweetness  was such a tender mercy from the Lord and i will never forget that, thank you for that :)

But yesterday with your daughter, man she is so awesome, she answered so many questions I had in my heart. We also were talking about after the mission amd  how she can come visit me in Australia and I will give her the best tour!  And how I should come next year and I can finally get to meet you all!! 

Thank you so much for raising such an amazing woman, she is such an amazing example not only to me but to all the sisters in this mission, she is doing such a wonderful job being a leader and i know 100% that she was called there for a reason, she was able to help and change me to be better in just a short 24 hours, her influence as a leader in this mission is EXACTLY what this place needs.

all the best to you all!! 

much love!! 

from sister egan :) 

1. Exchange with Sister Egan :) 

James 1:5

Malo e lelei!!

This week was a good week! We finished up zone conferences this week here in Tonga. I say it all the time but I love being a part of zone conferences. I learn so much from them! This week president gave all of the missionaries some commitments for them to take back with them to their areas. One of them being to put 4 Book of Mormons in their bag every single day. We usually keep one or two in our bags but we've made it a goal now to always have 4 Book of Mormons in our bag. Another commitment he gave us is at every members house and every less actives house we go to, role play our lessons with them. Although they are already members its a great way for us to practice and also a great way to invite the spirit into their homes. As you know the area I’m in they are all members and only a few of them are less active. We also cover a small little area down the road from where we live called Makapaeo. I consists of about 5 houses and they are non members. They all go to the Wesilian Church and their church is right in the middle of all of their houses. We go there at least once a week but no one will accept us into their homes and most of the time they are not home. The do have a missionary who runs their church and he lives their too, but does not like it when we come there. Anyway, we took up Presidents advice and yesterday we visited almost every house in our area. We taught a lesson at every house and it was awesome! We really had to listen to the spirit to know what things we could share with them. We also spent some time in Makapaeo the little area we cover down the road and yesterday we were able to give out 12 Book of Mormons!!!!!! Man it was so great! Every was willing to listen to our message and they all accepted to take a Book of Mormon and read it.  It was such a great experience and we can’t wait to go back and visit those who we were able to give a Book of Mormon to. We didn’t have a chance to go to the missionary's house but we have a Book of Mormon saved just for him :) 

This week I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reading about Joseph Smiths First Vision and the Restoration of the Gospel. We are so lucky to have the restored gospel here on earth. If it wasn’t for him we would not have the blessings of the Book of Mormon. I challenge you all to read from Joseph Smith History this week and think about all of the blessings you have in your life because of the Gospel. 

I hope you all have a good week! I’m doing good and I just love being a missionary! Remember who you are and keep reading the Book of Mormon.

Ofa lahi atu :) 

-- 

Sista Silivesita

Kuli Fiekaia :)

Malo e lelei! 

This week was a good week! We had the opportunity to go to Ha'apai and Vava'u for zone conferences. We left for Ha'apai last Saturday so we were there for their stake conference. It was a really great conference! An area seventy came and joined in their conference. He taught some really great things and really brought the spirit to the island of Ha'apai. We also had the opportunity to take the elders back to Ha'afeva, a smaller island off of Ha'apai. Usually its like an hour and a half boat ride there and back but the water was so bad we were going so slow and getting soaked so it took like 3 hours instead. 
Tuesday we were planning on going straight to Vava'u but our flight got cancelled so we came back to Tonga. Tuesday evening my companion and I had the opportunity to go out and visit with our members in our area. The very first house we went to their dog bit me! Hahah I'm laughing now but in the moment it hurt so bad! The past couple of days I've been going around with a swollen ankle and so the nurse made me rest for a bit. I guess now I'll have a pretty cool scar and something to remind me of my time here in Tonga. :) haha 
Wednesday morning we flew to Vava'u to have zone conference and it was a really great conference! Im so grateful for the opportunity I have to go to the conferences with President and Sister Tuione because I learn so much every time. We also took the missionaries back to the islands but this time the water wasn't too bad. 

I want to share some things I learned this week from all of the conferences we went to. The area seventy shared with the members in Ha'apai the importance of repentance and the many steps of repentance. One thing I loved that he shared and its something that I've struggled with before is once you feel forgiven of your sins its important to forgive yourself :) I've never really thought of that before. When we do something maybe we shouldnt have done but we feel sorry and ask for forgiveness, if we truly repent with a sincere heart Heavenly Father has promised to forgive us if we make that change in our lives. We will be reminded of the things we've done in the past but when we forgive ourselves we are able to feel peace and comfort. We read in the book of Enos when Enos prayed to God and asked for forgiveness of his sins. Not only did he pray but he Prayed Mightly to God and was forgiven of his sins. Verse 5 and 6 Enos is told that his sins have been forgiven and he knew that God could not lie  and therefore his guilt was swept away. After learning this and then reading in Enos I can just feel Gods love for us when we repent. When we show God our desire to make a change he will bless us according to our faith. 

I hope you all have a great week! Keep reading your scriptures :) Ofa atu! 

-- 

Sista Silivesita

Cyclone Keni?

Malo e lelei! 

This week was a good week! I'm so happy that I finally had a chance to watch conference and I have to say it was one of the best conferences I have seen. I'm so grateful for a living prophet and with all of the changes hes made you can see the Lords hand in His work and how fast His work is going.

This week we had MLC haha and it was a different meeting. On Tuesday the missionaries from motu ( the smaller outer islands) came by boat so we could have our meeting on Wednesday. I forgot to mention this a couple of weeks ago but it has been raining like crazy here. So bad that the roads were flooding and some houses were flooded and destroyed from the rain. Well the rain finally stopped but then started up again this past weekend. By the time the missionaries got here on Tuesday there was another warning for a cyclone to hit early Wednesday morning. So, Tuesday evening we had to make sure all of the missionaries were at the chapels and everyone was safe. It was said to be a category 3 storm so smaller than the last cyclone but we still need to be ready. Wednesday morning the rain had picked up and the wind was pretty strong but people were still outside driving their cars and walking around hahah. We had planned to have MLC on Wednesday but president wasn't sure if we should have the missionaries drive to the office in the storm or not. When the wind slowed down we texted them to come meet at the office. Two seconds later the wind picked up and we had to text them again and tell them to stay hahah. I swear that happened like 3 times. Finally president told all the mission leaders to come to the office so we could have our meeting. Even though it was raining and the wind was picking up everyone made it safely and we were able to have our meeting in a category 1 cyclone hahaha. Thankfully the storm took a different course and we only got the outer edge of it. I say this all the time but I have one of the BEST mission presidents. He has such strong faith and trust in the Lord. I have learned so much from him and his testimony. I feel s blessed to work with him. 

Today we are headed to Ha'apai and then next week we will go to Vava'u and maybe Eua to have our zone conferences. I always get excited to go visit and see the missionaries in motu. 

I want to share something's I loved and learned from conference. One of my favorite talks was by Massimo De Feo. He talked about the pure love of Christ and how a true sign of a true disciple is the Pure  Love of Christ. I love the new changes with Visiting and home teaching. We now all have the opportunity to Minister just like the Savior did when he was here on the earth. It gives us a chance to pray more for the opportunities to serve others. It was a good week! I love being a missionary. Have a great week! Ofa lahi atu! 

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❤️Sista Silivesita

This is a picture I tried to get to show you the flooding hahah. This is someone's yard after the rain for 3 straight days. 

This is a car of one of our members hahah every weekend they go out to town and "Pisituki" which means they just go out and play their music really loud for everyone to hear. hahah but my comp was telling me how its like a completion who has the best pisistuki haha. Whats funny is they put the speakers on the outside of the car for everyone to hear. They put as many speakers as they can. So I took a picture with our members car because every Friday he just drives a round to play his music really loud haha. 

We thank thee oh God for a prophet

Malo e lelei!

Sorry this email will be short this week but I hope everyone had a great Easter and Conference week! I have only seen the Saturday morning session because weve been waiting for the conference to be translated in the Tongan language. Thats why my email is short because im going to see conference right now!  :) 

This week we had transfers and im staying here in the office and working in Matangiake  with sister Paletu'a :) I love being companions with her! Although Ive been in this area for 4 transfers already im ready for another transfer here! I know there is still work for me to do. 

We welcomed 9 new missionaries this week! And this intake had such a special spirit with hem. I always love welcoming the new missionaries and hearing their testimonies. They come with a big motivation to work and I learn so much from them. 

Picking up the new intakes from the airport :)

Introductions, early morning devotional and breakfast at the Mission Home

The new intakes  :)

Breakfast

                  AP's                                                                          STL's

Im grateful for the Saturday session of conference I have been able to watch and I cant wait to finish the rest. Im happy to say I sustain President Russell M. Nelson as a prophet. I know he has the keys to lead and guide us in these last days. Im grateful for his words and testimony and for the opportunity I had to stand and support him. I know if we listen to his words and follow his counsel we will be able to overcome the hardships we face in these last days. I love this gospel! Love being a missionary!!! Continually listen and read the words from conference and read your Book of Mormon!! Ofa lahi atu! 

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Sista Silivesita