Kia Ngawari

 Malo lava le soifua maua ma le lagi e mamā i lenei itula o le aso. Malo soifua, oʻu aiga ma uo! Manuia le Aso Tamā, loʻu Tamā. ♡

I just realized I didn't introduce my zone. My district is West District of Tutuila West Zone. I've already introduced the Sisters in my district, but the Elders are Elder Lemalu (District Leader) and Elder Lomat (greenie aka fresh in the field). In the Mid-West district are Elder Roebeck & Elder Moore (ZL's), Elder Morris & Elder Kapisi (greenie), Elder Clark (DL) & Elder Palelei (greenie), and Sister Hunt (day onezzz) & Sister Stone (we were in Savaiʻi together). I just realized the STL's aren't even in my zone! Lol, yall don't even care about this info, but it's my email, so I'll write what I please. 

Right after our district meetings, we've been having a Self Reliance class with Elder and Sister Bryce (our district Senior missionary couple). We follow the guideline on the Gospel Library app called "Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience". The Tutuila missionaries are piloting this class as of now. The missionaries in Upolu and Savaiʻi aren't taking it after their district meetings. So this past class, we learned how we can change our common inaccurate thinking patterns to be accurate thinking patterns. What I learned is to stop and think of how the Savior would think. Anyways, I vaguely remember learning that from my Ward at home. It was a good reminder.

The highlight of this past week, though, was visiting the temple. Yep, we took the incy wincy  plane to Upolu and back for the temple.  As we waited in the mission office until it was time to go, a few of the missionaries, including me, helped Sister Cline-Jones (mission health advisor) cook beef stew for dinner. It was fun! That was another moment where I thought, 'I'm a missionary!' And I was just in pure bliss being in that environment while also knowing I was gonna be in the temple not too long after that.

I prayed to Heavenly Father in the temple with a question in mind and have been receiving small answers bit by bit as I've been searching for them. I came across a BYU-H devotional speech by Napua V. Baker during my search not too long after the temple trip, and she says,

"My brothers and sisters, it is in thy holy temple where the spirit is abundant and reveals how we can make mighty changes to become more like Him... Elder Cowley defines the meaning of the Maori word, kia ngawari, the name of a powerful song which I believe describes what the Lord wants us to do in the midst of changes He has or is making.

Kia Ngawari: To be humble, changeable, bendable, supple, those who can roll with the punches, and are dedicated and committed to following the leadership of the Church." ("Becoming", BYU-H Devotionals, May 13, 2008)

As a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ, kia ngawari is what I need. Especially as a missionary. Earlier in the speech, she quotes my Grandma Barbara, who shares her favorite scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

I needed to be reminded of that promise, that the Lord will direct me as I trust and acknowledge Him with everything in me. I hope it was a good reminder to you too.  As we humble ourselves before Him in whatever situation we're in, He will help and guide us.

Ou te alofa tele ia te outou ma fai atu nei mea ma le lotomaualalo i le suafa o Iesu Pele Keriso, ʻamene.

Sister Wihongi

Samoa Apia Mission

Tuts

 Talofa lava, oʻu āiga ma uo! I hope everyone's doing well with life in general. It's been a while and a lot has happened, my apologies.

So first of all, we had transfers about 3 weeks ago and now I'm in Aoloau on the island of Tutuila (aka Tuts aka American Samoa). Sister Solovi stayed in Sili, so my new companion is Sister Auapaʻau. She is from Auckland, New Zealand, and she's at the end of her mission. We cover Aoloau branch and Mapusaga 3rd Ward. Aoloau is on a mountain. We never really make it up or down the mountain without someone stopping to give us a ride, haha. We're very spoiled. Our home has a/c, a full-sized kitchen, a full-sized fridge, and hot water. And the food here reminds me of home (palagi food ). We even got McDonald's. I feel wayyy too spoiled here, lol.

Man, transfers were roughhh and overwhelming. I never imagined going from Savaiʻi straight to Tutuila. Anyways, they were announced over Zoom and then I had to pack and leave on the ferry to Upolu on the same day. Stayed the night in Upolu with other Sisters... I forgot their names . But I'll never forget them! Then had breakfast at the mission office where I saw Elder Christensen (my first Zone Leader), saw Elder Woerner, Elder Misa, and Elder Hall (from MTC aka my intake) at the airport, and boarded an incy wincy airplane  to Tutuila.

I still miss Sili, the people, and the island of Savaiʻi, but it's getting better. Sister Hunt, Sister Loulanting, and Sister Sauvao were transferred to Tutuila with me, so that made the transition a bit easier. I'm so happy Sister Loulanting is still my STL, and what's better is her soa is Sister Seufale! She was in my very first district when I first started in Sili. Also, Elder Roebeck is my ZL too! He was my first District Leader in Sili. Anyways, Tutuila is sooo much different than Savaiʻi. It's just more American and modernized. Also, the people are more diverse and most everyone knows English. It felt so weird to speak English to people when I first got here, haha. My first Sunday here, my zone sang a musical number for a devotional with Elder Auapaʻau of the Seventy as their speaker (yes, he's related to my soa).

Sister Auapaʻau and I live by members who are an old couple named Dorothy and Stanley Gurr. Sister Auapaʻau introduced me to them in their home and Dorothy is so sweet and cute. Dorothy offers me food and puts on 50s-60s music, so I'm sitting at the kitchen counter eating food in an 80s style home. I felt like I was living in the past. Anyways, me being fresh off transfers and emotional, Dorothy being so sweet reminded me of my Grandma who's passed. I just felt so loved, so I started crying while eating my food while Sister Auapaʻau was about to vomit.  She got food poisoning from the day before and was sick that whole week but she's all good now, lol.

During that time she was sick, we had mini splits (meaning no night stays) with the Leone Sisters (Sister Tuaʻone and Sister Hodgkin) because Sister Tuaʻone got food poisoning from the same food Sister Auapaʻau ate. So Sister Hodgkin and I went out in my area one day and then in her area the next day. I was lowkey terrified because I'm the senior comp out of the two of us. In my area, we visited a blind man's home. He had a huge radio tower and cameras outside his home. It looked like he was readying for an apocalypse. Anyways, he wasn't home, so we start to heart attack his door. As I'm going to put the second heart on his door, I say, "Wait- isn't he blind?" ......  The next day in Leone, we talked to some kids and teens and performed "O Se Soo o Keriso" for them. Me on Sister Hodgkin's uke and Sister Hodgkin singing. It was pretty sweet. After those mini splits, I realized that I know more Samoan than I thought. I just need to open my mouth more. We then ended that week off with mini splits with the STL's. Sister Seufale and I went out while Sister Loulanting stayed with my soa.

We just had Zone Conference with Elder Jaggi of the Seventy and Sister Jaggi. It was amazing and probably the best Zone Conference I've experienced so far. They started with a little lunch. Then the Sisters had a nice discussion meeting with Sister Jaggi and Sister Reid. But during this meeting, my soa and I were suddenly pulled out by President Reid. He then tells us that we were going to be interviewed by Elder Jaggi. We were thinking things like "Whaaat", "That's a lot of missionaries to interview", "It'll take too much time", "Why is he interviewing us?" And such and such. The time comes and I'm being interviewed. You can tell straight away that this man is a servant of the Lord. So kind and so welcoming. He got to know me before then asking questions related to my testimony and how I'm continually staying converted. After answering, he hits me with something like "I want you to know that the Lord knows and sees you. I asked President Reid to choose 16 missionaries out of [two hundred somethin, I can't remember] for me to interview. So he prayed about it..." ... I was speechless. He said other things that just hit my soul, but I knew then and there that the Lord Himself was speaking to me and answering my prayers. I just had a tough week mentally and emotionally beforehand, and this is what God pulls on me? I cannot tell you how loved I felt from my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in and from that very small interview. You bet I came out of that meeting looking like I just cried, cause I did, lol. Anyways, after that, I got to play the prelude and opening hymn for the conference. The Reids and the Jaggis talked a lot about opening your mouth (tatala lou gutu), the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ's Atonement.

The members in Aoloau are very helpful in giving us referrals. Through their help since my arrival, we started and finished lessons for a couple named Samuelu (non-member) and Vanier (member, lost records). They've been coming to Sacrament and are on date for baptism next week!  We're also going to start teaching a woman named Diploma (relatives are members) with her relative, Will (same sitchie witchie), in English.  Sister Auapaʻau said her and her past soa would invite Diploma to Sacrament a lot, and this past Sunday was the first time she actually came. We also started teaching a young adult named Laʻei. His girlfriend is a member and they want to be married by the church before he gets baptized.

This past Saturday was a crazy experience because the Mapusaga Sisters (Sister Moeaʻi and Sister Milo Saitu), Leone Sisters, and Aoloau Sisters (my soa and I) all went to teach a family. A woman named Sulusamoa in the family is deaf, so she communicates through Au.S.Lan. (Australian Sign Language). She has a husband and a baby. None of us know Auslan, but Sister Hodgkin knows how to ASL. Apparently Auslan and ASL are similar, so Sister Hodgkin would communicate with her, and it was cool to witness. Her and Sister Moeaʻi (<<she knows a little Auslan) taught her while Sister Auapaʻau and I taught her younger brother. Sister Milo Saitu and Sister Tuaʻone were teaching her mum too. After lessons were finished, Sister Auapaʻau played "Love At Home" on her uke while we sang and Sister Hodgkin signed of course. It was such a heartwarming experience.

Not long after that, we attended the Mapusaga Sisters baptism of three (a mother, son, and daughter). Most of the zone and STL's came to support too. I played the prelude, opening hymn, and mid hymn on the piano. Then we performed the same song we did for Sulusamoa's family with the help of the Elders for the musical number. Sulusamoa attended the baptism and apparently knew the daughter that was being baptized from when they lived in Upolu. They just didn't know they moved to the same place and live close to each other. The daughter was an Auslan translator too. God works in mysterious ways. Sister Hodgkin did her best to sign everything to Sulusamoa while also struggling to interpret Samoan since she's still learning it. Sister Auapaʻau helped translate the Samoan to English.

Anyways, it was one of those moments where I thought, "Wow... I'm a missionary!" I've thought that so many times at random moments and it always makes me sooo happy, no matter the situation. It helps me soak it all in since I'm only on a mission for a short time. 

I swear the Lord spoils His missionaries because I have seen wayyy too many tender mercies as I've been searching for them. I invite you to read Alma 33-34. The power of prayer is real and so is the power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

Ok, that's it.

I le suafa o Iesu Keriso, ʻamene.

Arohanui & Alofa Atu ♡

- Sister Wihongi