Happy Little Miracles

 Malo malo, sorry I missed last week. I hope everyone is doing well. 

So, what happened last week was we taught a woman named Sister Soifua in Leone with Sister Tua'one and Sister Hodgkin. She is truly an elect because she would make changes in her life on her own after meeting the missionaries before she even started lessons with them. She read the Book of Mormon on her own, learned to pray sincerely, and stopped bad habits. The Spirit was strong in her lessons which moved her to tears. The Elders and Sisters in our zone sang a musical number for her baptism and she gave a beautiful testimony. I was so happy to be apart of her spiritual growth.

Sister Auapaau and I then got to serve a member in the Aoloau Perenesi (Branch). Her name is Sister Silau and we helped her and her family paint/clean her classroom because she's a teacher in a primary school. The Silau's are so nice, I love them.

Right after they dropped us off back home, we walked up Aoloau while making visits without getting a ride.  We came across a suspicious path, prayed, then pressed forward. Down this sketchy path, we met Simiona and Togipau. They're a married couple who used to be members and they welcomed us with open arms and even fed us. The only reason they switched faiths was because of their parents, but once we came and shared a short message (2 Nephi 9:20-21), they felt as though it was God's sign to come back. If we didn't go down that sketch path, we wouldn't have met them. God answers our prayers and brings a witness after the trial of our faith. (Ether 12:6)

The missionaries in our zone, plus the STL's, were then blessed to participate in a mini mission with the Leone Stake youth. RMs helped out as well. The youth had name tags and were given callings, which split them into 3 zones. Then they went around to 5 different class rooms in the falesa (church building) to learn about The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, financial logistical stuff, and do roleplays. Sister Auapaau, Elder Moore, Elder Roebeck, and I managed the roleplay class, and it was fun. They practiced preparing for different teaching opportunities. The youth were then split amongst the missionaries to go out and invite anyone to the So'otaga (family history activity) that was going on at the same time in the gym of the falesa. We knocked on doors, shared short messages, and even prayed for a family that was sick. That family had tons of dogs and the youth we were with were hesitant to go there, but we pushed on, and the dogs were all bark and no bite. I count that as a miracle. Once we returned back to the falesa, the missionaries sang for the youth. The whole experience reminded me of when I was getting ready to become a missionary, and I couldn't believe I was a missionary at that very moment, helping the youth grow their desires to serve. It was so special.

The day after, the missionaries of our zone attended a baptism for a young man named Genesis. Genesis attended the mini mission the day before and he shared his story of how he went to many different churches, but he didn't feel like any of them were true to God. His baptism was the first English baptism I've attended in the mission. I felt the Spirit so strongly during the whole thing since I could understand everything. The musical numbers were hitting cause they were my favorite songs (How Can I Be, The Miracle, I Will Walk With Jesus) and the speakers were so powerful with the Spirit, too. Genesis's story was shared even more, so apparently, he missed a flight he was supposed to go on to Tutuila and got on the next one. On this next plane, he met a return missionary, Will, who was literally just returning home from his mission. They soon became friends and Genesis started going to YSA activities with Will. He read The Book of Mormon and felt as though he was reading his own thoughts on accountability, justice, and mercy. He shed tears after getting confirmed with the Holy Ghost and bore a powerful testimony. He's the first convert in his family, and his little brother was there, too. So after him, the bishop of the YSA Ward comes up to speak, says a few words, mentions Genesis's younger brother as he points at him and says, "You're next."

After that masterpiece of a day, it was Zone preparation day. Tutuila West Zone went to Lines Park, played some pickleball, basketball, volleyball, and ate some pizza and hotdogs. It was so fun! After that, Sister Auapaau and I had fafaga (meal) with the Hale family. They're palagi and so funny and quirky but also so smart. The dad of the family had been helping with the construction of the Pago Pago Temple for 2 years, but now they're moving back to Utah. I'm glad I met them before they left.

This past Thursday, Sisters Mapusaga, Sisters Leone, and Sister Auapaau and I had an Family Home Evening with the family that are friends with Sulusamoa. So the mother and her daughter were recent converts. We sang hymns, shared a spiritual thought, told riddles, and gave a lesson on the gifts of the Holy Spirit with a little paper chain activity. It was nice to be a part of. The mother gave the closing prayer, and it was about 15 minutes long.  You could feel the love she has for God and the gospel.

On Friday, we had splits (exchanges) with the STLs, so I went with Sister Loulanting to Nuuuli. Sister Loulanting and I knocked on doors, talked to folks on the street, and met some nice people. Every time no one answered, we just whipped out a small Jesus photo with our number on it and an itty bitty message and stuck it on their door.

(Ioane 3:16 ♡ E alolofa le Atua ma Iesu ia te oe!)

A man named Feleki invited us over for breakfast and we shared a short message with him. He's a member, except he goes to a different church now. It's complicated. Anyways, we moved to a different pathway to try doorknocking and prayed again before going down. Near the end of our doorknocking, no one's home, we're just running on faith, we end up at a house with people sitting outside it and looking at us funny. Looking uninterested, we go up and talk to them anyway, and we end up sharing a message with a man and his girlfriend, Ropati and Linda. Linda was a member whose records were in Savaii and Ropati used to come to our church the whole of last year and even finished his lessons. But then they moved, didn't go to church there, moved back, didn't know anyone, and didn't know which church to go to since the Nuuuli falesa burnt down. They tried a different faith, but it didn't feel the same as ours. What a miracle it is that we found them at the end of our day. Ropati had been ready to get baptized and was willing to be re-taught. We gave him his own Tusi a Mamona after sharing the scripture 2 Nephi 9:20-21 with them. It was perfect. We were so happy to find them.

The next day, we went to the beginning of a "mini mission" in Malaeimi, thinking that youth would be there too. But it was just adults.  So we let them handle it and had a bomb companion study. (Preach My Gospel, chpt. 1 ) Then we went with Elder and Sister Bryce to give a man a blessing. He's bed-ridden and was grateful for our help. After ending splits and returning to Aoloau, Sister Auapaau and I went to Elder Clark and Elder Palelei's baptism to give a musical number. It was Love At Home, and I felt so much love as we sang it.

Today, the Sisters of our zone had a paint session with Sister Silau's daughter, Diana. She guided us through painting and it was relaxing. Then we made burgers, brownies, and cookies. 'Twas a good last p-day before transfers this week.

That was blimey long, I'm so sorry.  I love you all and will see you in the next email after transfers.

Alofa atu ♡

Sister Wihongi

Samoa Apia Mission