FHE Miracle

Ia Ora Na!

A Pretty Sunset

It was so good to talk to you and "see" you haha!

A picture of a crab we caught 

This week, we had a cool little miracle happen!  A couple weeks ago, we had a family home evening with a memeber and their family who weren't members.  There was the brother and his girlfriend and the papi of the family.  The family home evening went well until the end.  At the end, the papi went off about how he prays every day and that's all that he has to do for a long time.  And, he told the other people not to listen to us, as well ha.  But, the girlfriend of the brother ended up wanting to take the lessons with us anyways.  So, that was good.  But, the brother and papi didn't want anything to do with the gospel.  But, this week, the memeber talked to us and said that the papi has already had a change of heart.  He realized that we spoke with the Spirit, and everything we said was true.  So, he wants to talk with us again!  I like to say that missionaries are like frying pans.  We have to be there to help people receive the gospel, but all the real work comes from God.  It's Him who converts people and it's Him who changes people's hearts.  I don't have time to write a ton, but I want you to know that I love you!  And, thanks for all that you do and have already done for me!  Thanks, also, for all that you've done to help me be here on my mission!  By helping others, my own testimony has grown incredibly!  Thank you so much!  I love you!

Ua here au ia otou!

My companion and I making coconut juice for poisson cru!

Elder Jessop

Tahitian words of the week:

MATARA- to loose, but it's cool because the Tahitians use if for a remission of sins.  You say, "i te matararaa no te mau hara," or, the loosening of sins.  I like this a lot because its true that our sins bind us and hurt us with guilt and shame, but repentance and baptism loosens the pain through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

TI'AFAAHOU- to resurrect; I like this word because it literally means to rise again :)

The marriage of one of our investigators, Jason, and a member, Reita

December 16 and December 23: Christmas call prep, Marriage, and Baptism!

Ia Ora Na!

Sorry about yesterday, we were in town for a reunion all day so we couldnt email and we have lessons today, so we cant really email ha.  But, I will email again next monday and skype on Christmas.  I can skype now at 10 a.m tahitian time.  I'm so excited to talk with you on Christmas!  My week was good!  We have a marriage and baptism on Saturday!  I have to go in town again today, but I'll talk to you on Wednesday!!!  So excited!

Ua here au ia orua!

Elder Jessop

God is Always There

Ia Ora Na to'u utuafare!

It's crazy to think that there's snow there, ha!  It's super weird that it's getting close to Christmas!  One family had a little Christmas tree up and I was super confused why, and then I remembered that it's December, ha!  But, it really is such an amazing time of year!  Not a whole lot exciting happened, but we are speaking a lot more Tahitian than before!  I can't understand very much in Tahitian, but it's coming ha!  I don't know if it was serious or not, but I heard a crazy Tahitian thought that pieces of Enoch's city fell when it was lifted up into heaven with giants on them and that's how Tahiti was made! 

We climbed some coconut trees!

This week, I had a pretty crazy experience when I was on a split.  We didn't have a lesson with anyone, but we felt like we should visit one of our investigators, Teroo, Tetua, and Temeehu.  We had challenged them to baptism a couple days before and had asked them to pray for an answer.  So, we started with just answering their questions and talking about what they liked in the scriptures they had read and then talked about if they had prayed yet.  They hadn't prayed and we ended up talking about how this baptism is different because they didn't understand why they needed to get baptized again.  Everything went pretty well, but nothing crazy yet ha.  But, at the end of the lesson, the member that was with me on the split invited them to ask a question and then open up to a random page in the Book of Mormon and it would answer their questions.  Teroo did it and he found that his calling in life is to be a missionary and gather the lost sheep.  And the mom, Tetua, asked where she was going after this life.  She turned to a scripture that said she wasn't going to a very good place.  So, we had her ask another question.  Naturally, she asked if there was anything she could do to change that.  She turned to another scripture that said to repent and obey the servants of the Lord!  Those are some pretty powerful words!  But, God knew that it wouldn't turn her heart away from His gospel, but towards Him!  I've seen her heart change so much this week.  It's a miracle!  I know that God knows her and loves her!  God gave her those scriptures to help her soften her heart and come unto Him!  I know that God loves all of us!  And, He is ALWAYS there for us!  He wants us to be happy now and for eternity!  And He wants to help us every step of the way!  

One of my favorite lines in Preach My Gospel in Tahitian says God is sad when we suffer and He is happy when we are well!  During trials, a lot of people think that God isn't there or He is mad at them.  But, if anything, He's there more when times are hard and we're hurting!  God's whole goal, everything that He does, is to help us be happy!  I know this church is true!  And, I know that, by following it's teaching, we can be happy now and for eternity!  I love you all so much!  Thanks for all you do!  Can't wait to talk to you at Christmas!

Ua here au ia outou!

Elder Jessop

  

Doing the Simple Things

Ia Ora Na!

Things were crazy for awhile so I couldn't write a lot, but they should be better now!  How was Thanksgiving?!  My Thanksgiving was just ana lamb, ha.  Here are some things about Tahiti…  With what I know, most kids dance, play soccer, or fish.  Some people fish normal, but others go diving with harpoons, ha!  Also, they have things like spear shrimp that are pretty crazy!  And, everyone has trees or plants with fruit or taro.  We drink coconut water a lot.  We're starting to eat more fresh fruit.  The fruit is coming into season, so now there's lychee, pineapple, mangos, breadfruit, still bananas, and passion fruit.  The entire middle of the island is a mountain, so people really only live right by the ocean.  Also, the kids here love when I talk about snow, haha!  It's crazy for them to hear that it's not just in movies or on TV!  Also, the stars here are crazy!  Some nights, Elder Lee and I climb up on our house and do our planning there so we can look at the stars.

This is my last companion, Elder Fitzsimmons, right before he left.

Anyways, I think I've already talked a little about this family, but this week we had a Family Home Evening with the Foster family.  The dad is Metua, the mom, Ella, and they have two little girls.  This family has been having a lot of trials and they're having a hard time finding the blessings in their lives.  In the Family Home Evening, we played a game with three cups and knives.  They had to balance the knives to hold a book.  After awhile, they couldn't do it, so we showed them how.  Then, we talked about how, if we just do the simple things, God will bless us with great things!  (The knives were church attendance, scripture study, and prayer.)  And we read a scripture that talks about that in Alma 37:6.  And, they did exactly that this week.  They did the simple things and God blessed them just like He promises!  Their problems didn't vanish, but they are so much happier and their family is working more smoothly.  The change in their family from just doing the small, simple things was incredible! I know that that's true!  We're all God's children.  He loves us and wants to bless us.  And, I know that as we do the little things, He will bless us tremendously!  I'm so grateful for this gospel and the joy and peace that it brings into our lives as we follow Christ and His teachings!  He loves you!  And I love you so much!  Thanks so much for all you do!  You really are the best!  

Ua here au ia outou!

Elder Jessop