Hello Family. Hello Friends. Hello World.
(Very
first: I totally forgot to change my camera setting. I take the best
pictures with the highest MP, and the ones for the email with the lower
setting... But everything is in super high megapixel gorgeousness, but
it's a beast to attach to the email. Sorry for the lack of pictures this
week!)
My week was pretty good. :) I'll fill you in on all the détails.
I
just want to say CONGRATS to Jordin and Annie! (and Devin and Kory, of
course) I wish I could be there! But I can't, but I love you both and I
can't wait to see you when I get home!
The FIFA World Beach Soccer Cup was in Tahiti this
year. If you thought the BYU/UTAH games were intense, you should see how
the Tahitians feel about their "Tiki Toa." It is a BIG DEAL. Big enough
when Tahiti Advanced to the quarter-finals the bishop cancelled the
ward's family home evening so everyone could watch. It's pretty cool
because one of the bishops of Tahiti is on the world team (he just
barely got released a few months ago.) Yeah. Go us. :) We were able to
see some of the international teams in our sector (which was pretty
cool), and we heard all about the games. Tahiti didn't win... But it was
close. :)
What is green, lives on land and sea, the most delicious thing on the planet and is almost extinct?
SEA TURTLE!
Yes. It's almost extinct for a reason. It is delicious.
I ate turtle this week. While I was putting the delicious morsels
into my mouth I could only remember the stories Frere Coulson and Frere
Asay told us in the MTC. Sea turtles do not scream in pain when they're
being killed. I
could only think of the poor turtle I was devoring crying on the beach.
What could curdle milk in 1.20339842 seconds, kill a small puppy, is stronger than the cockroach and went into my stomach?
FAFAROO!
Yeah...
I ate fafaroo. That was not delicious. Ugh. It was terrible. Apparently
I ate the "bad" fafaroo. You're supposed to eat the fish that doesn't
smell completely terrible and you eat it with coconut milk. Nope. I ate
the fish that still had the skin, that the smell alone almost made me
puke, without anything. Not even a drink. My goal was to eat 6
pièces... I barely made it to one without puking, as I reached for my
second piece, I don't know if it was the still small voice or my common
sense telling me there was no way I could eat another one without
decorating the table with half digested fafaroo... So I offically made
it to ONE whole piece. :) (And yes, it's all on video. when I come home,
you can see)
What flys in the air, eats insects, and also went into my stomach?
Um... I don't know.... :)
I
ate a bird. That was delicious. But the name is in french. And I'm not
quite sure how to spell it, and I forgot to look it up in English before
I left their house, and we've forgotten the name...
BUT! It was good. We ate it with my favorite old french
retired couple. The wife is a memeber, but her husband is very very
catholic. He's super intellegent, it's like speaking to a politican in
French. I know, even in Tahiti I manage to find someone who wants to
talk politics with me. It's the least to say, we're pretty tight. ;)
Our investigators are doing amazing. We have one sister
named Leonne, who I love to death. (I love all our investigators
equally......) She litterally lives on a cliff. :) She bulit the house
all by her self, and it has a crazy epic view of the ocean. I've noticed
lately, not very many people smile. Leonne smiles all the time. That's
why I like her, and the fact she really really wants to learn. We've
only had 3 lessons with her so far, but I'm super excited to see what
happens next.
Another
new investigator is Giedona. He's taken all the lessons before, and
even had a baptism date set, but then he moved and fell very far away
from the path. The drinking and who knows what other things, have really
changed him. He's probably 28 years old, but he has the mind of a
child. He doesn't remember anything from any of the past lessons, but he
knows there's something better. After on the of last lessons he said,
"Sœur Taylor, pourquoi quand je vas prier je ne veut pas prier? Je juste
veut dormir?" (How come when I go to pray I don't want to? I just want
to sleep?" We explained that God taught us to pray always, and if we
don't want to pray its because something is trying to pull us away
from God. The good will always tell us to pray, and the bad will tell us
we're too tired to pray and talk to our Heavenly Father. After that
lesson he keeps telling us "Je ne veut pas écouter le malin. Je veut
écouter la bien." (I don't want to listen to the bad, I want to listen
to the good. It makes more sense in french....) He decided he wants to
be baptised the 23 November. That's going to be a very good day.
I'm so excited to go to Conference this week. Here in Tahiti it starts at 6am. Except on Sunday it starts at 5:30am.
And if you want a seat, you need to get there an hour early. So...
Hello to waking up extremely early for this weekend. I remember when 9am Church was hard to get to.... Bah. I look forward to sleeping in until 7am when I get home. :)
Now for my desperate plea for the week. I've thought a
lot this week about the "missionary work" I did before I left for my
mission. Yeah.... Not much. I wish I would have done more. So, I have a
challenge for every person who's reading this (and isn't serving a
mission). Please please please please help your missionaries!
Missionary work is impossible to do if you don't have the support of the
members. How can you help your missionaries? Well.
Step one. Locate a family you're friends with that
aren't members, or friends of your children (yes Chandler, I'm thinking
of you).
Step two call your friendly missionaries and ask if they can prepare a family home evening, and when they can.
Step three, invite your friendly non memeber friends to your house
to eat delicious food, play a game, and hear a small message given by
the missionaries. :)
Step four, repeat.
Why
do this? Well... Once upon a time, there was an old investigator named
Wilson. He was being taught by the missionaries until his mother told
him to stop. His mother is named Tapeta (Tahitian for Elizabeth). When I
first arrived in Tahiti I met Tapeta, and we gave her a small message.
What did I think of her? Well... Just imagine Evil Stepmother from
Cinderella. Just Tahitian. She was.... an interesting lady.
Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. Her brother set a date
with us to have a soiree familial (FHE) with her. I was stoaked she said
yes. We had dinner with her, taught the lesson, and the next Sunday
she was at Church. She came to our Fireside, and invited us back for
another lesson. This week we taught her and her granddaughter, and her
greatgranddaughter. They came to Church again. She told her son she was
sorry she told him he couldn't take the lessons anymore, and told him
she understands what he was looking for, and why we could help.
Her and her granddaughter want to be baptised. This week we're going to set a date.
But
that's not what's most important. Tapeta has changed. Holy cow it's
incredible to see. She smiles and laughs with us, she looks forward to
talking to us, and asked if we could stop by more often, and she's
changing her family. That's the blesssing the gospel brings. It bring
change, the change for the better, for the whole family.
That's what life is about. It's about being better
every day. Not being stagnaint, not regressing, moving forward. I know
I've said this before, but I think it all the time. The best two years
of your life are not the years of your mission; they're the next two
years of your life, for all your life. Thank you for everyone who's
been there for me, who's supported me, and who's helped me changed. I
can't imagine life without my mission, I will always be greatful for
this experience and I'm excited for the next months to come. :)
(The view from our Bishop's house.)
Okay,
I know I've talked your ear off. This is the last week of the transfer,
I'll let you know next week where I'm living and who's my companion!
Here's to progression! And Sea Turtles. :)
XXo,
Sœur Taylor
--
Tahiti Papeete Mission
Soeur Taylor, Morgan
B.P. 93
Papeete, Tahiti
98713
French Polynesia.
Love this, Sister Taylor! Glad to have been able to see you grow throughout the MTC... and now!
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