July 7, 2014 - Faith

This week has been very good. Slow, but good. Sometimes I feel like I am living in slow motion.
We were supposed to have the baptisms this week of Toimato and Kulani, this really cute couple who are my age ( so weird) and who just got married so they could get baptized, but then Kulani suddenly and unexpectedly had her baby!  So now she has to wait to get better. I was dissapointed at first but I am so excited that Matarai, their baby boy, is doing well. He will get to witness their baptism so that is cool.

We have a new mission president and we had a conference with him. He is an amazing person and made us all cry just by bearing his testimony. He is very organized and so that will be good for our mission. We need more organization and communication. Half the time I have no idea what is going on.

Also, we had an amazing lesson with Bea this week. She is the investigator that I found by tracting. I say I found because my companions simply watched me talk to her from a distance because they were too nervous, anyway she really wants to get baptized and she feels that the church and the Book of Mormon are true but she is having a really hard time. She is really, really poor and her husband is criticizing her for taking the missionary lessons. She has a lot of adversity at this moment and I would ask you to pray for her so that she can have the strength to continue with us even if her family is against it. We really want her husband's heart to be softened, and I know the Lord will not leave her abandoned.

My companion Soeur Tehiva is doing better and her niece is healing. I was so happy and relieved. Me and Soeur Tehiva are great companions and best friends. She is very cute and has a firm testimony.

Funny story from this morning and this week. People here sometimes here are too nice. This morning at the grocery store a mami started pulling out money to give to us just because we were missionaries. I was like,"no no no", and then yesterday this man in our ward that is single, and may or may not be in love with me, called us to tell us he had a big bag of banans to give us. I will be a very very giving person when I get back from my mission.

This week I learned an important lesson about faith. I have realized that even when it is the most hard to endure and continue and everything seems to be slackening and going really slow that is when I need to have the most faith. Faith is one of the most powerful forces we have, and if I don't have enough faith I could be preventing potential miracles from happening. I know that the Lord works miracles according to our faith, and we show our faith by acting. Showing our faith by offering a simple prayer or doing what is right even when others mock us builds our faith. I love what Elder Eyring said that acting on even a twig of faith allows God to grow it.

Faith is a choice.

I showed my faith this week by going and knocking on peoples doors with my companion, who hates doing tracting, in the hopes of finding someone who would be interested in knowing more about the gospel.  Did we find anyone...no not really, but I did get to bear my testimony to a Moeari. A 15 year old girl who's mom died and I was able to assure her that she would see her mom again. She probably thought I was crazy but I know it reassured her.

I am so grateful that we are expected in this life to walk by faith and not by sight. That helps us to grow and find for ourselves that Heavenly Father is really there. He works little miracles in all of our lives. He respects our choices but will do everything in His power to help us make the right choices that will lead us to have all of the same blessings He has. I love Him.
Soeur Kimball