Quick Changes of the Heart

Ia ora na!  

Jeff getting some coconuts

It's still crazy to think that there is snow there!  You did a good job stalking!  Here, it's hot and rainy haha.  Last week, I guess there was a cyclone in Tonga and Somoa or something, but we were fine here.  We got a crazy rainstorm, but that ended up giving us the chance to talk to a bunch of people about the gospel, so it turned out perfect!  But yeah, it's funny because Americans think Tahiti is paradise, but Tahitians think that America is.  Today, we went on top of the presque isle with one of our neighbors, Jeff.  He is a 66 year-old adventist that gives us fruit all the time and speaks perfect English, French, and Tahitian.  It was way fun!  There is fruit all over and we found the sweetest coconuts ever!  That was our cool p-day this week!

Last week, we started teaching a 15 year-old named Veihiatua.  She just got baptized; we are just doing the lessons after baptism.  And, this week, we started teaching her little brother and cousin, Temarori and Manahere; they are 10 and 9 years-old.  They're super cool haha!  They get super excited when they see us, they surf and play soccer, and they are the best with their commitments!  They are always way excited to pray, and when we asked them to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon, we came back two days later and the one had read 9 chapters and the other read 2 or 3!  Sometimes it's hard to get people here to read a chapter in a week!  We were so excited!  We went to have another lesson with them at the end of this week and to talk with their parents about baptism because they both want to get baptized.  Their moms started talking to us by saying they didn't approve at all with their baptisms, and when we left, they both said that they will read the Book of Mormon and pray to see if it's true.  If they get a reponse that its true, they will get baptzed as well!  It's so crazy how fast people's hearts can change with the Spirit!  One of the questions they asked us is if we have always been members of this church or if we have studied other religions as well.  We both have been born in the church, but the coolest thing is that it doesn't matter.  We could have studied religion for 30 years and still have no idea which church is true.  But, with one simple prayer, we can KNOW that this church is true, it's the church of Jesus Christ.  In Matthew 16:15-17 (I think), it talks about how Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ by the Spirit and not by temporal things.  And, it's the same with us today.  I know that this church is true, not because I have studied for years, but because I read the Book of Mormon, I prayed, and our loving Heavenly Father answered my prayer.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true!  And I'm so grateful for that simple, yet powerful, knowledge!  Thanks so much for all you do!  I love you so much!

Ua here au ia outou!

Elder Jessop