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

" It's not about you"

Man this week was so good! Im finally adjusting to everything the work is so great and I am really starting to feel like Tonga is my home! I just want to thank everyone for the sweet emails and all of your prayers. I can definitely feel them. So thank you! 

This week, with one of the wards we work with, we held an open house at the church. Me and my companion worked with the ward mission leaders in the ward and we planned the whole thing. The topic of the open house was the plan of salvation. We had all of the return missionaries in the ward each teach about a topic about the plan of salvation. Like the pre earth life, Earth life, Spirit world, and all of the kingdoms. My companion and I taught about the Celestial kingdom. So on Tuesday we went around with all of the missionaries in our area and we passed out invitations inviting members, investigators, and less actives. Wednesday was the open house. We all started in the chapel and after the first speaker the members stayed in the chapel to watch the restoration and all of the investigators and less actives went to a new room to listen to another speaker. We had 6 different rooms they moved to and ours was the last. While they were in each room they were given a piece of paper to write down any questions or concerns they had with that topic. After we all met back in the chapel to have a closing prayer and song. It was such a cool experience and very powerful! It was also very helpful because we got a lot of new potential investigators and we are able to teach to meet their needs and concerns from what they wrote on the piece of paper. 

I titled my email "its not about you" becasue thats something I constantly remind myself. Theres an EFY song called "Its not about you" and me and my companion listen and sing it everyday haha. We always look at each other and say "Hey! remember its not about you." There was one day that it was rainy here and all of our teachings fell through. We could have gone home so we didnt have to walk in the rain but we looked at each other and started singing that song and we went and visited the members. Nothing great happened that night but the spirit that we felt walking around visiting people and sharing a message with them was awesome! Even though it was raining we worked hard. We are here on the Lords errand and the Lords time. 

Anyways it was a really good week! This week I learned that Heavenly Father always gives us a promise when he knows something is going to make us doubt. When you doubt yourself or doubt your faith take a step back and look at the promise or promises that are in store for you and it will give you a change of heart and mind. I love it here in Tonga! I hope you all have a great week. 

Ofa Atu!

--  

SISTA SYLVESTER

I think its full!

This is the grocery store in our area :)  We dont have an oven, stove or microwave so we don't really cook.  The members just bring us food every day!

Here was our breakfast they brought the other morning :)

This is our favorite restaurant!

I Have really been missing veggies so one of our District leaders brought me some stir fry! :) It tasted so good!

Pizza party with our district

The beach area by our MQ  (apartment)

The best Zone brought me Donuts because they know I love them :)

Love her!

Tonga❤️ ❤️

Week 4 in Tonga!!

What a week! This week was really good. Im finally starting to get used to the food . :) However there is a food here called "ufi" and I love it  but I think i'm allergic to it or something because every time I eat it I get so sick so I had to stop eating it!  So funny story…..Me and my companion went to our fafanga last Monday to eat dinner. I was still really sick that day so I didn't eat anything. They came out with this huge plate of meat and it looked like pork and my companion LOVES pork so she just went to town. The family came out a couple minutes later with some Corned beef for me and said " We bought this for you because we know you probably don't want to eat the dog." My companions face when they said it was dog was so funny haha. Here in Tonga it is totally normal to eat dog and Ive heard its really good. My companion is from Tonga but she doesn't like to eat dog because people treat them like their pets and then eat them. Luckily we had to leave for a teaching appointment so my comp didn't have to eat anymore but as soon as we left we both just laughed because it was a dog haha! My district leader keeps telling me were going to make dog for P day and he's going to make me try it but we'll see!

On Saturday our investigators all got baptized!!   Emeli, salesi, and Faleta!  It was such a special day! Its such a great feeling seeing someone you've grown to love enter the waters of baptism. The spirit was so powerful and there was such a visible change in all 3 of their faces after being baptized. The light of Christ is definitely a special gift that we are all able to have when we strive for it.  Yes Mom I absolutely Love my Mission President and his wife!   Havelu is where sister Tuione grew up and so whenever they are in Havelu they come say hi and sister Tuione always texts us to see how i'm doing. She's always willing to bring me food to help my stomach. I love them! I also love my district!  We have all gotten so close! They are awesome! My district leader is from New Zealand....Elder Talisa. The other elders are from Utah and one from Tonga. I go home with both of them in august 2018 so that will be fun!  Also, you asked about my bed and sleeping.  Im sleeping good, my back hurts like it usually does……the beds are so uncomfortable!  But its okay :)  Sometimes when i'm doing my ab workouts my back pops and it feels so good :) So all is well!

I hope you all had a Happy Easter! How great is it that we have a holiday to remember our savior and his Resurrection. Did you all get a chance to watch the Prince of Peace video? If not I strongly advise you to! I was able to watch it in the MTC before it came out. It is so powerful!!  I just want to share how grateful I am for our Saviors atoning sacrifice. Being here on a mission has really strengthened my testimony and love for him. Missions are not always easy and Ive struggled more than I ever have before but because of his grace and mercy I am able to feel his love through the hard times. Each day is a new day!  Remember to keep pressing forward!  As Dad would say "You are Powerful Beyond Measure" That is so true. When i'm struggling I always think of that and remember the truth!  Through him, our savior Jesus Christ we are all powerful. We have the ability to overcome anything. The blessings lie ahead!  I love you all and i'm so grateful for all of your love and support. I can feel your prayers! They have strengthened me. Have an amazing week. Ofa Lahi Atu!

--- 

SISTA SYLVESTER

My district

Baptism! :)

    

Week 3 in Tonga!

What a powerful week! I finally got to watch conference and it was amazing. This week started out a little rough because Ive still been so sick but everyone here has been so great and loving!!  They bring me food and always call to check on me. Wednesday it was so bad I had to stay in, but I got a blessing and Im feeling a lot better :) We only have a fridge and a sink so the members bring us food everyday. Breakfast the other day was spaghetti, bread and Oreo's! haha! 
Im a little bummed because we didn't get to have our baptisms last week because of conference but this week is the week! We hate pushing them back but our investigators are so great and faithful that I know they will keep being faithful and prepare for their baptisms this week. 

Anyways, I have so much to say about conference :) but not a lot of time so I'm just going to pick little pieces from some of my favorite talks. I just want to say how grateful I am for the testimony of our prophet. He was so powerful in the short time he talked but you could tell his love for this gospel is so strong! He talked about having a testimony of the gospel and how important it is to have your own testimony in these times. I totally agree with him. Coming to know and understand the gospel for yourself is one of the most powerful conversions. A steady testimony of Jesus Christ will lead us to safety. I also love L. Whitney Clayton's talk. He talked about not always understanding why the Lord asks us to do something but we just need to do it! Trusting in the Lord will bring blessings into our lives that can only come through simple Practices of faith. Praying with real intent, Scripture study, temple attendance, and keeping the Sabbath day holy. These are only a few but they are so important that we should constantly do them. " God always blesses us when we are obedient, but rarely does he show us his time table. Thats where faith, hope, and charity come in. Trust in the lord and whatsoever he says unto you....Do it!" One of my favorite quotes said during conference! 

I don't have lots of time but just remember to constantly keep the words of conference with you. The Holy Ghost is there to be our guide. Listen to it. Trust in the lord. be faithful and endure to the end :) I also forgot my camera cord so no pictures this week...sorry! I love you all! The mission is great and i'm grateful for all of your love and support! 

-- 

SISTA SYLVESTER

Mom to answer some of your questions.......I get up at 6:30 and work out. My companion and I  study until 10 and then we leave the house. We usually meet with members because they are our best resource for new investigators. We teach at night and then we find time during the day to do comp and language study. We are not allowed to be out when its dark unless we have a lesson so we are usually in by 7. Right now I am the only Palangi (White) sister missionary in the whole mission. Man its a little intimidating! I am the 9th Palangi sister to serve here in Tonga.  Most of the missionaries here are from Tonga. There are very few from other places and if they are they are Tongans from the states. haha!