November 24, 2014 - Mehiti & Hauani

This morning for P-day we had some members teach us how to play the guitar and the Ukelele. It is one of my goals next year to be able to play the guitar.  

This week marked a rough spot in the missionary work. I really love being here but sometimes I think it might be better to have someone replace me because they would be more motivated. I am really motivated but it just gets hard when I am soo used to everybody and everything that I start to become blind to missionary opportunities, but this weekend I was so grateful for the power of the Atonement. We had an incredible lesson with a couple this week Hauani and Mehiti. Mehiti got pregnant and her boyfriend is Hauani. They are so young but really want to accept the gospel; they are ready to get married and everything but the dad of Hauani told him he could never change religions so it is hard for Hauani to accept the invitation to be baptized. 

This week he really opened up thanks to the spirit and expressed his true desire to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. He reads the Book of Mormon and knows it is true. They are going back to Tahiti to see if his dad will accept. In the meantime we just help him become as spiritually strong as possible to face his family. I really felt the love of the Lord for him and know the Lord never gives us trials that we cannot face.  We shared 1 Corinthians 10: 13 with them and then Mehiti bore testimony about how hard it was for her when she was pregnant and was shutout from her immediate family and friends. I felt so much sadness for her, but love knowing that she was doing the right thing now.  

Today we get the call for the transfer so I am nervous but I know the Lord is in control. What a blessing to know that no matter what stupid mistakes we make or others everything can be corrected through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I am willing to go wherever the Lord needs me.  

I just wanted to share with you all an experience I had with my companion. This week we had some misunderstandings and we both had gotten really discouraged and after someone had said some not so nice things about us. We were both down a little bit and I had also reacted in a way that wasn't so nice earlier that day, so basically at the end of the day we were both completely dissapointed. I really feel like I didn't have the spirit with me, and I didn't even feel like talking. It was really not good. Why am I telling you all this, because I know that the answer to every problem in every relationship and every family is the Gospel. We said prayers together and we studied together and we shared thoughts and talked it through. I really felt the Lord helping us and guiding us with His love and I know that He can heal us no matter what we are doing through. He will never withhold his love from us and we need to not withold our love from others. 

 

I know the gospel is true and I am so grateful for all of you and your prayers and thoughts.  Be faithful; 

Love Seour Kimball

November 17, 2014 Teaching by the Spirit

This week Elder Pearson came to Tahiti and gave a conference for all of the missionaries, so we had to try to watch it by camera over the internet. At first the internet wasn't working so we just kept trying and praying and then we found a member who let us use their computer and it worked! It was a good thing because it was one of those conferences that I was really taught by the spirit.  Elder Pearson talked about how we can recognize the spirit and the importance of the spirit. It was incredible because all of my studies all week long had prepared me to hear his talk so I could make connections and find meaning. I think the most important thing I learned is that I just really want to get so good at teaching only by the spirit. It takes a lot of preparation and effort and concentration and reflextion but there is nothing better than watching a person recieve the light of Christ through true words.  

This week we had some really spiritual moments. At our sacrament meeting we were asked to give talks with our mission president. The spirit was so strong and we had a lot of inactives come this week to the branch. I was so happy, and my companion shared her experience of when she got hit by a car on her bike in Tahiti. Her companion had to have surgery on her brain and had to have rehabilitation. My companion Soeur Moli is so strong. It was really tramatic but her faith has become so strong because of it. I am so grateful to serve with her.  

We also had a really spiritual experience with our investigator Pierre. We fasted with him for the first time and we had other members want to fast with us; fasting is so powerful. I laughed so hard because Pierre was like " I was brushing my teeth this morning during the fast and I told myself DONT SWALLOW THE WATER."  haha.  He is so funny, and the Book of Mormon is his best friend. He reads every day without fail. We love him.  

Besides that, even though we had a really great Sunday, there was some problems during the classes, because a brother had criticized another brother because he messed up one time saying the sacrament prayers. It really hurt him because he had just come back into the church after being inactive for years. His name is Andy and he is one of the most humble people I have met on my mission. 

We can call him five minutes before a lesson asking him to come and he comes in church, clothes instantly. I just know that judging and criticizing will never help the Lords work.  Love and charity are the most important principles of the gospel.  

I feel this week I need to improve on searching more dilligently investigators. It is to the point where we basically know everyone and everything about them. I can basically tell you what the members are going to give us to eat. I think we have already eaten with every single family 4 or 5 times.  We are so blessed. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity that Heavenly Father has given me;  I was really reflecting about free agency and I have realized that the person I am toda,y I chose to be. The Lord has helped me in every righteous effort.  He has always supported me. I love Him and I know living His gospel is the greatest thing we can do; all He asks of us is to obey.  Obey and the blessings follow. 

Love Soeur Kimball

November 3, 2014 - Eating Dog

So, officially I will be coming home Feb 16... if you didnt know.  I am so blessed to be serving here right now.  All of the missionaries want to serve in the islands and so I just keep remembering how blessed I am to serve here right now.  It has been such a building and good experience;  It really has taught me to be independent; And how to rely on the Lord and trust him.  In the end His will is always done and we just have to accept and do everything we can to be on His side.

This week has been a week of miracles because of fasting; sometimes it seems like we fast and fast and pray and nothing happens but I know the Lord is doing everything He can to soften hearts and prepare people.

 We had a really good lesson with a couple yesterday; they are really young and have a baby but they aren't married.  The girl is a member, but the boy Hauani isn't.  Before it seemed like he wasn't really paying attention that much during lessons and didn't really care, but we fasted for him as a branch with the other amis. When we taught the restoration yesterday he really understood.  It is those moments that are the most incredible.  When you see investigators understanding.  After they asked the question " so you mean the LDS church is the same church that exsisted since the beginning", and we were like " yyyeess".  I never had realized how hard teaching was until I started my mission;  It is so important to teach by the spirit to help people see.  I love teaching now, and I keep trying to improve my techniques of teaching.

Our branch discovered that I have the gift of imitating animals and various things, so for halloween they made me imitate a mummy and everything in front of everyone. It was so funny and I am pretty sure everybody thinks I am crazy here.  When we teach english I act super dramatic to make them retain what they learned and they laugh a lot;

Oh, and speaking of animals and stuff, Guess WHAT?  Monday for our family home evening we always eat at the end and there was this pot of meat in it, but I have learned to not ask questions and just eat what is in the pots. I put it on my plate and every body was looking at us really suspiciously. Almost none of the kids ate it, so we were like " what it this?" and they told us what it was in Puamatu which I don't understand.  Then our ami Moana lied to us and said it was goat, so I was like " this is not the first time I have eaten suspicious meat" and then I ate it.
Four days later a member was like " so I heard you guys ate dog Monday"!!!

You guys I ate a dog, and it wasn't just a random dog. It was the families pet dog.  I started panicking when they told us.  haha;  It was kind of good but I was just too disturbed.  It would be like if I was eating Oreo.  If you want to know how they made the dog die you can ask me after my mission;
so there you go, and so I will be careful with what I am eating at the member house now.  Haha.  I am so blessed.  I got over every picky eating habit I had before.

And even better is that our investigator Pierre is having his baptismal interview this week;  please pray for him. Satan is so vicious. At church, after the meetings, the family member of Pierre came and criticized him in front of everybody telling him that she was really not happy to see him in the Mormon church. She was so mad, and it wasn't the frist attack. Whenever we have an ami that starts reading the Book of Mormon some member of their family comes and critisizes them.  It is like the end of the world if they change churches., but Pierre is so strong. It barely even phased him. He just keeps talking about how happy he is since he has read the Book of Mormon.  When we taught him the tithing he said he wanted to pay 50 percent of his money;

I just loved the talk this week by Elder Utchdorf " Lord is it I"  I hope you can all read it. I am so happy to be here and I know that living the gospel is possible anywhere in the world.  It is written in our hearts.  I love serving the Lord.
Love Soeur Kimball

October 27 2014 - Gone Fishing

Today we got up and went fishing with a couple in our ward and some amis.  It was a really neat experience and we found a random beach after to cook the fish by burning it on leaves and then rinsing it in the water.  It was really good and to drink we found coconuts and cut them open.  You guys will have to try it.  I don't think I will ever be able to eat fish at home again because the fish is sooo much better here; I was just sitting there thinking of how grateful I am to have been so blessed to serve here, not for the fish, but for the people and the love that our Savior has for them.  I am so grateful to be part of the gathering of Israel.

We lost a lot of lessons this week but it was still a very incredible week.  I think that every week is just incredible because every week my testimony grows and my vision of the gospel gets bigger.  I would just like to share an experience.  Members here are so faithful; I know they are so blesesd of the Lord.

This week something happened where a leader in our branch got offended;  Actually, it kind of happens a lot, but it was to the point where he said he was never coming back to church, and in a branch of 40 people we can't afford to lose any one.  Every person brings so much into the branch.
Saturday the DMB had proposed to do a fast as a branch together for the missionary work.  We fixed it for 12 o clock and hoped that all the members would come. Almost everyone came to support and we wrote a list of names of amis to fast for that really had potential to be baptized. Then, after thinking, our members decided to add the name of the brother that had been offended.  I am sure it would have been easy to have thought that it was his fault that he was offended and that we should just leave him, but everyone agreed to add his name;  The moment we all got on our knees and startted to pray to start the fast the spirit was soo strong. I have never felt the spirit so strong for a fast. Unity has been something we have been searching for and as the Love of God entered in the little room we felt so much for unified.

Because of the fast the sister who had offended him felt that she needed to see him to repare anyting she had done wrong.  I am not even sure who was really at fault but all I know is that it didn't matter. Through the fast the spirit was able to communicate with her to apologize and his heart was softened. Sunday he came back to church and we ended our fast.  It was such an incredible experience for everyone and I was so grateful to be a part of it.

Even if we cant see the immediate effects of our prayers or fasts I know the Lord counts every effort. Not one effort goes uncounted.  All of those little efforts help us become more like our precious Savior.
Love Soeur Kimball

October 20, 2014 - Lost in Communications

Wow, sorry I didn't get to write you guys last time. The internet and phone access broke for two weeks so we couldn't call anyone or go on the internet. Nobody in our mission was able to contact us. We get this call this morning saying that we were supposed to have a conference this morning but nobody told us, and so we missed hearing Elder Nelson talk to the missionaries. We were supposed to assist over the internet and we missed it! I missed hearing an apostle speak to us! Haha but it is ok because the internet came back this week.

I have so many things to tell you. Our investigator Victor stop taking lessons because he had been lying to us. He hadnt real'ly ever been interested, so we keep praying for him, but if you remember Pierre our other ami who is kind of deaf?

Well we found out he is friends with a member in our branch so we started teaching more lessons with him and we found out that he is really poor. He barely has enough to eat, and his girlfriend left him so he is all alone with his son. He smoked drugs and cigarettes, and we had to talk suuuuper simply because it is hard for him to understand everything but after we engaged him to read the Book of Mormon he read 137 pages in two days. I am not joking. He actually read it all. He told us he doesn't know how to explain what is happening but the hole in his heart is starting to be filled up. Now he has read up to Helaman in two weeks. . He has started to really understand the gospel and has completely stopped all drugs and cigarettes. He came to church and is doing really well. The biggest temtation for him is that he isnt married and so if his girlfriend comes back he intends to live with her. Our next lesson is the Law of  Chastity! I used to think it was so awkward to teach that lesson in the mtc but now I like it.

It is truly so important to stay virtuous and pure. I just have been so blessed to see his progression and so blessed to understand just a little bit of the love our Heavenly Father has for each one of us as individuals. He truly loves us and cares. 

We had a really good lesson with Patrice yesterday. He is a really hard investigator who is married to a member. He never really listens to us he just critiques us and says things that don't make sense in Tahitian. Sometimes I even imagine throwing my flipflop at him, which is super Christlike. Normally he just twists everything we say but I have really been working on charity, and his son-in- law, who is a member, was there and we talked about baptism. We showed him how to be baptized correctly it has to be exactly how Jesus Christ was baptized. I tried really saying everything with love and not just to criticize him. I started talking in Tahitian and then I gave up so I started speaking in French and then both languages, but the moment when I was explaining that baptism represents a new chance to start over and follow Christ I felt the spirit testifying that it was all true what I was saying. It was so neat, and Patrice was just silent. He kind of pretended to not pay attention but he was, and then his son in law at the end asked him if one day he would accept to be baptized and he said maybe with the time. Before the answer would have been " never!". I just know how true christlike love can have an impact on a  Person. It takes so much patience and faith and prayers and love are and the Lord softens hearts. I was so happy. 

I am so grateful for living prophets who guide us and help us become better people; I know the Book of Mormon is true and that if Pierre can read it than anyone can and change their life. 

Love soeur kimball.