Bula Labasa!!!

bula mama!

where to start? where to start? how about.......I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED!!!! hahaha yeah that's a good place to start aye? lol but i'm being entirely honest this time. im being transferred. i got the call on saturday night that i will be going to samabula 1st ward which is in suva, right across the temple. and not only that but i will be a SISTER TRAINING LEADER!! oh my gosh im freaking out!! if you dont know what a sister training leader is, it's a new position they opened last year because there were so many more sisters coming into the mission field. so what sister training leaders do is help all the sisters in the mission, go on splits with them, and pretty much be there "go to" sister. im so nervous and i can't believe that the Lord has trusted me with this calling. i will be the youngest sister to ever serve as a sister training leader here in the suva fiji mission. i don't know if i'll be able to give advice to these other sisters that are way older than me haha but the Lord is trusting me in this leadership position and im putting everything to Him, to help me in this sacred calling and position. oh and did i tell you we have a car!! ugh noooooo!! that means i gotta work out extra every morning because im not walking all day. but this means im going to have to learn to drive in Fiji, on the left side of the road, not the right, so just pray for me please lol.

anyway besides transfers we had the most challenging but rewarding week ever! that's probably why i got transferred. that's what always happens. but anyway...this week one of our young woman really needed our help because she had ran away from home because she was being treated very poorly which was sad, and the first place she came to was our flat. she called us and told us she was there waiting til we came back and would be waiting at our neighbors. well we got there and checked and didn't know where she was and so we went to our last lesson. we came home and late at night there was a knock on our door. it was our neighbor. they said that the young woman was sleeping at their home and was planning on running away in the morning and that she said that she drank some of the weed killing chemical earlier that day. my heart broke and i wished she could've come over to our flat and i could've talked to her and just took care of her, have a second companion. but we agreed that we would go over the next morning to talk to her and see whats up. i couldn't sleep that whole night, constantly checking the window to make sure she doesn't run away. finally the morning came and we went over. she was surprised to see us and just gave us a huge hug. we talked with her and decided to take her up to her aunty's house. so we did and she is staying there now. one of the members who stays downstairs from the aunty has offered to pay for her mission. what a blessing that was for her!! so she'll be doing her papers soon hopefully :) it's sad to see her leave her family but at the same time what a blessing because if she hadn't stayed with her aunty, she would never had gotten the opportunity and enough money to go on her mission.

along with this crazy dramazz stuff we had a good week with teaching a member's grandchildren. we have been teaching them every single day and they never lose their excitement about learning about the gospel. it's amazing!! they're only 8,9, and 15. so young, yet they love sitting down in the lessons every night and get so excited every time we come over. honestly, i love teaching children the gospel! now i know what the scriptures mean when they say that we must become as a child in order to enter into the kingdom of God. these children love learning about Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, and everything in their Gospel. they love the fact that we have a prophet today. they think it's the coolest thing! they love the story of Joseph Smith. when we taught that lesson, i told the story of Joseph Smith as if it were in a bedtime story or something and it got them so excited and interested. but the greatest thing about teaching children is when you teach them the commandments you know that they are still pure and clean. the mistakes they make are not their fault because they're still young and still learning. so when you teach them these commandments at this early age then they will try their best the rest of the their lives to never break that commandment. rather then adults who majority of the time break commandments knowingly. but teaching children is one of the greatest blessings of serving a mission.

well i think that's about it for this week. sis. alaga and i will be going to suva on wednesday because we have a sister training conference on thursday and then she'll return with her new companion on friday. it's so hard to say good bye to labasa. yesterday while baring my testimony in sacrament i cried ofcourse, but as i talked i saw almost every member was crying and i felt like i was leaving home all over again. this is my home! labasa is my home! i've met such amazing people here and so many memories and miracles have happened but i know that the Lord has called me to a new area that He needs me and i've done all i can here in Labasa. i'll be back here one day though. well....au lomani kemudou sara valevu!!

loloma levu,
sista chong