Another Busy Week

bula mama!!

i was so happy when you told me about nalei's baptism. i could feel the Spirit from here by just reading about it. the Lord really does prepare the way for those who have a willing heart. since ive been on my mission ive seen that many times the children are a lot more prepared to receive the Gospel then the adults. it's because they are so pure and are willing to the do what their Heavenly Father wants them to do. 

we had a 9 year old baptism as well. a recent convert couple that was baptized in june, their daughter was baptized this last saturday. she was so excited to be baptized!! it literally looked like she just wanted to jump right on in the font haha. it was a special day for her and her family. we've been through a lot with her. she has seizures, or something like that, and so she's a little slower mentally, so that's why she was baptized later then her parents. but as we taught her, it was such a testimony builder to me. it also reminded me how simple the Gospel is. when we taught her, it wasn't like we could tell her everything we knew about the Restoration, or the Plan of Salvation, but we had to do everything very simply so she could understand. that's how simple the Gospel is!! we've seen a tremendous difference in her behavior and everything. she's helping around the house, she listens more to her parents, and she doesn't have her seizures as often. blessings from the Gospel!!

we also did a training for the trainers. it was really good. we trained about companionships. i used the section in uncle shon's letter about companionships. compassion, communicate, compromise, companions. it's helped me so much throughout my mission and so i wanted to share with some other missionaries because i knew it would help them as well. they really enjoyed it and i hope it'll help them as they train.

this week we haven't had much water. there's a drought or something. the water reservoir is low and so they're starting to conserve water. some members told us that they're going to start doing this things where one area will have water one day and then the next day it'll be shut off and there'll be water trucks coming around. it'll probably go til december, or until we get enough rain to fill up the reservoir again. so we've been going to another sister's flat to shower in the morning but mostly we shower out of buckets and bottles. it's great!! hahahaha!!! life learning experiences!!!

on friday we went to visit the people that we planned on visiting and no one was home. we were walking down the driveway of the last house we could think of and were about to get in the car but something told me and my companion that maybe we should just walk around and knock on some doors. we went and knocked on one door, they were nice. then we kept walking and we saw a lady get out of a taxi with a baby and a suitcase. we offered to help her and walked with her to the house. it was way far in, down this path, and we were wondering how in the world she was going to get it down there by herself. when we got to the house, the family let us in and we were talking story and she said that when she got out of the taxi she was wondering how she was gonna carry all that stuff down with the baby. then we showed up!!! she was so grateful!! we were able to share a little message with them and we'll hopefully go back this week. 

im sorry it's not as long as last week but this week went by so fast i dont even know what in the world we did. hahaha!! but i love you all!!!! go serve others!! :)

loloma levu,

sista chong

Helping a Family Move

A Consecrated Missionary

My Missionary Mom, Sis Ongesel (in pink), heading home.

bula mama!!

well another beautiful day in fiji nei. except this morning the shower heater wasn't working again so i showered in ice cold water, but you know what....that's my normal life now :) but this week was crazy!! there's a new rule in the pacific that elders and sisters aren't allowed to ride in the same car together. sooooooo....what that means is that we have to do all the transfers and stuff for all the sisters. that's why we were crazy busy this week!! on monday we got a new intake, 1 new sister came in, so that wasn't the hard part. then tuesday night we started transferring sisters to their new areas, picking up the sisters leaving, and then dropped the new sister off at her first area. i felt like a soccer mom!!! then wednesday morning we took the sisters going home, dropped them for interviews, picked them to go shopping, dropped them for temple, and then did the rest of the transfers, and then picked up the sisters going home back to the flat. then on thursday we took them last minute shopping and sent them on their way back home. it was really sad to say "goodbye" to my trainer. ofcourse you know me, i cried, but so did sis. ongesel (my trainer). that was probably only the third time ive seen her cry the whole time we've been serving together. i was grateful that i was able to spend time with her before she went home. hopefully she'll come to byuh and ill see her soon.

while we took one of the sisters for her last minute shopping we were walking through the market and a lady, who we found out was a less active member, asked us to pray for her bananas. she told each of us to stand on each side of the table and we had sis. trammell (one of the sisters who went home) pray for that lady. in her prayer she said something like this, "heavenly father, thank you for this day. thank you for this sister here, who gave us some bananas. we love bananas! we hope that everyone else loves bananas, and will come and buy her bananas today......" it was the most interesting prayer ive ever heard, and we were smiling throughout the whole prayer but we have to remember.....Heavenly Father hears ALL prayers :)

this week we also attended a wedding of two return missionaries from the fiji suva mission. it was held at our chapel so we were able to go. the bride was sis. matheson's trainer!!!! and ive served with her as well, and it was crazy to see her getting married. the bride finished in march and the groom finished in may. they were sealed in the temple and will be living in our ward, so we'll get to see them every sunday :) we're excited!! it was so good to see the both of them so happy.

yesterday, we had one of the YSA girls come with us. she loves coming with us!! we were telling her about our schedule and what we would be doing and she was like, "oh my gosh so many appointments!! this is so exciting!!" it got me excited when she said that. it reminded me that missionary work is fun and exciting!! so we had an amazing day with her yesterday and she looks forward to coming with us every weekend.

in my studies this week i read through one of the talks that tina gange gave me before i left. it's called "a consecrated missionary". it talks about how we need to leave everything on the sacrifice altar. such as pride, negativity, laziness, sarcasm, fears, etc. it made me really think about what i was doing so far throughout my mission. there's a lot of things that i haven't fully left on the altar of sacrifice. but im grateful i read this talk, and now im really going to focus on becoming a consecrated missionary. 

ive also been studying a lot a lot about the atonement of Jesus Christ. i love the atonement!!!!!!! i have never felt the power of the atonement so much in my life until these last couple months in my mission. i read a talk called, "His grace is sufficient." it talked about how the grace of Jesus Christ doesn't just fill in the holes or make up for the things that we can't do, but it covers everything!! and as we go through our lives we aren't necessarily trying to pay him back, the price was already paid. rather, we are trying to follow His example, so we change our nature so we feel comfortable living in the presence of God. He talked about the judgment bar and how instead of us begging to live in the Celestial Kingdom, Christ will be begging us to stay, but we'll feel uncomfortable and unworthy to stay. mind blown!!!! it's so true though. we always say the Lord doesn't just love some of us and doesn't just want to save some of us, but He wants to save ALL of us and so we need to use this time to prepare to not only meet God, but feel comfortable in His presence.

well i think that's all for me this week. au lomani kemudou sara valevu!! 

loloma levu,

sista chong

Progress in Suva

bula mama!

like you i am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and the knowledge that we have to know that we will be together forever. death is nothing but a minor bump in the road. but because of the atonement of our Savior we will overcome death just like He did and be made perfect, ready for the Celestial Kingdom. 

this week was a good week. in church yesterday our recent convert who just got baptized yesterday, received the Aaronic priesthood. he had such a big smile on his face and he's now on his way to preparing for a mission. we also had a baptism on saturday. she was so prepared! we found her by knocking on her door and she was ready to be baptized within 1 1/2 months. she has an amazing and powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. she is now starting to share it with her sister and her other family members. when we went to her house for our lesson the day before her baptism, she told us about a dream that she had. she said she was reading the Book of Mormon that night and then fell asleep. in her dream she was walking like on her way to her baptism. while she was walking, everyone asked her why she was getting baptized in this church and how did she know it was true. she said she had the Book of Mormon in her hand and told them, "if you want to know why im getting baptized and how i know it's true, read this book." her sister then shook her and woke her up and told her that she was waving her Book of Mormon in the air as she was sleeping. hahaha! when she told us about her dream i was amazed and happy to know that now she had no shame in what she's doing. she said before people would ask her why she's taking lessons and stuff and she would just be quiet. now she tells everyone exactly why she's doing what she's doing and tells them to read the Book of Mormon if they want to know for themselves.

when she came to her baptism, she had the hugest smile on her face. she said she has been waiting for this moment for a long time and couldn't sleep the night before. she was ready.

after she was baptized she shared her testimony about the Book of Mormon to everyone that was there. she talked about the first time she read and the feeling that she gets when she reads the Book of Mormon. it strengthened my testimony and reminded me of the power that's in the Book of Mormon. so many times we take it for granted, but we have to remember that it's the Book of Mormon that helps everyone to know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ and that it was restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith. everything we know all comes down to the Book of Mormon. so i challenge you to read the Book of Mormon everyday!! don't just read it but do what it asks us to, read, ponder, and pray about it. always ask to know it's true so you get a confirmation everytime but the Holy Ghost that it's the word of God. 

we also had zone training meeting this last tuesday. the zone leaders asked sis. matheson and i to give a training. we focused it on helping our investigators to gain that desire to learn the Gospel. we talked a lot about the way we present the message. if we're not excited and happy about the message we carry, why would anyone else be? we need to show them the true happiness the comes from the Gospel. that's why we're here! we partaken of the fruit and now we desire for everyone else to do the same. at the end of the training i might have gotten a little bold but at after the meeting a lot of the missionaries came up to me and said thanks for being straight up because they just needed someone to tell um straight. so im glad i was "real." 

well, i think that's all for this week. the weeks go by so fast now, i dont even remember what happens lol. but au lomani kemudou sara valevu!! 

loloma levu,
sista chong

Amazing work in Fiji

bula mama!!

okay im going to try and be more specific in my letters but i didn't tell you i was sick because im fine now!! :) no worries!! just a minor set back. but this week i was going strong every day, all recovered. there's so much to say for this week!! i feel there was plenty of stuff that happened.

first of all...we had a baptism this last saturday. our investigator that's from samoa. that morning at around 10am we went to go and fill up the font and he was there already!! his baptism wasn't til 12pm but he said that he couldn't just sit at the dorm and wait but just wanted to come to church already. D&C 20:37....he had the desire to be baptized. his baptism was probably one of the most spiritual experiences ive had on my mission. at the baptism we had elder johansson (area seventy), our district leader, our zone leaders, and the assistants to the president. it was nice to see their support. also our mission president's wife, sis. layton, was there which was very special. and there were a lot of YSA there because he's YSA age and so much support from the members. after he was baptized the YSA sang "Love at Home", which is his favorite hymn. so he came upon and sang with us, and he was belting it! he was just so happy!!! 

after the song he bore his testimony. the spirit just filled the room as he shared his testimony of the restored Gospel. he told everyone that the old him was buried and he was a new man now. he had been looking forward to his baptism day since the day we started teaching him. he has made so many changes in his life that showed his deep love and desire to follow the Savior. when you look at him you can see that his whole countenance has changed. he was glowing and just looked so pure and clean as he stood there testifying of the impact the Gospel made in his life. 

the next day, sunday, he was confirmed by elder johansson. the blessing was amazing!!!! the best part that i loved so much was at the end. elder johansson told him that he would use the gift of the Holy Ghost to preach the Gospel to the rest of the world!! missionary!! he is already looking at serving a mission, even more now. he's sooooo excited!! as he was leaving his baptism he told, "dont worry sisters ill go find someone in my class that needs the Gospel." that is true conversion. and that is why im here. this month as we studied the way the Savior taught i learned that He taught them the Gospel so well that they would be able to go and teach it to someone else, with just as much power. i pray that i taught our investigator as the Savior would've and now he'll be able to go and share with someone else.

we also had mission leadership council this week. we were privileged to have bro. and sis. vakalala come and share their testimonies with us. bro. vakalala actually grew up in california. throughout his life he didn't make the best choices and was eventually deported from america. when he came back to fiji he didn't know what to do with his life. he was still drinking, smoking, and all that stuff, and just had no idea what to do. he met his wife who was not yet a member and had the missionaries come over and teach her. she was later baptized and they had their first son. the baby died right in his arms and he said it was at that moment that he realized that he needed God back in his life. he went in the bush and prayed and cried asking Heavenly Father what he should do. his answer was to go and take the Gospel to his koro (home village). he said that at that moment, he knew the atonement of Jesus Christ was real. he told us to feel the power of the atonement in our lives. and as i've been trying to focus on that this week, i can definitely feel the love and mercy my Savior had for me. 

at that time they were living in labasa and didn't want to leave. so he continued to pray and they finally went to his koro, nakawakawa. when they first got there, there was a meeting with the whole koro and the told bro. vakalala that they didn't want this new church in the koro and that they were going to chase him out. bro. vakalala just told them that they can chase him out but all he wanted to do was bring them the light and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. from there he started to build his house, teach the Gospel, and with permission, held sacrament in his home. more and more people started to come that soon they had to start building a chapel and get missionaries down there. he talked to pres. klingler and got missionaries down there and gave some of his own land to build the chapel, with his own hands. 

pres. layton went up about a month ago and had branch conference with them and there were about 80 people in attendance. amazing!!! the church just got there when i first came to the mission, so about a year ago and there are already 80 people going to church out there!!! definitely shows that the Gospel is true!! bro. vakalala has dedicated his life to the Lord. he doesn't do anything but share the Gospel to those in his koro. what a life!!! he is a hero here in fiji and among us missionaries. definitely an example of someone truly converted to the Gospel. 

it goes with the scripture pres. and sis. layton shared with us in the meeting found in alma 23:6. it talks about the sons of mosiah, when they taught the lamanites. they converted thousands of lamanites in those 14 years they served and this scripture tells us that not one of them fell away. imagine that....baptizing thousands of people and none of them become less active. that's what it means when we need to teach people the Gospel so they become truly converted. 

they talked a lot about converting ourselves. they said that the person who should be the most converted in our missions is us. so everyday im striving to be more and more converted to the Gospel everyday! and that's what i challenge you to do as well. ask yourself...do i love my Savior more then i loved Him yesterday? is my testimony stronger then it was yesterday? you can't convert someone else further then your own conversion. 

au lomani kemudou sara valevu!! kalougata tiko ena nomudou bula!!

loloma levu,

sista chong

Making a Difference

bula mama!!

well first things first...im healthy and there's nothing to worry about :)

this week we had zone conference and we talked about the returning members again. we got a whole lot of work to do that's for sure!! we started visiting some less actives on a regular basis and they're starting to come around very very very slowly. but at least they're moving somewhere. we got one less active family to come to church on sunday. actually the kids usually come but this sunday the whole family did!! except the dad. but we're going to get him to come soon!!

anyway...after zone conference i had my interview with pres. layton and he told me that elder nawahine had told him that i played a big part in helping him get on a mission. i was like "what!? really!?" i dont say this to brag, but i say this to tell everyone that each of us can make a difference in someone's life. just by being someone's friend and being a good example to them or just helping them live the gospel of jesus christ, you can help them make big decisions in life, like missions or what college, etc. there's so many things you can influence people to do by your example.

we have a baptism this saturday for that samoan boy we've been teaching. he has grown so much!!!!!! my gosh!!! he's a totally different person since the day i met him. he has turned his whole life around and putting his complete trust in the Lord. when he came out of his baptism interview he was asking us about serving a mission!! he then found out he would serve for two years and kind of freaked out hahaha but we'll see. he'd make an amazing missionary!!

sorry this week is so short, i dont have a lot of time. au lomani kemudou!! be a good example!! live life with no regrets!! 

loloma levu,

sista chong

Bula Vinaka!

bula mama!!

well it sounds like you guys had a lot of fun in maui this last week. how's tutu doing out there? she looks good in the pictures. im surprised that papa and grandma went with you. fun!! 

speaking of the kids...i got their pictures and letters today and i loved them. im going to try and write them back this week. how's school going for them? i can't believe summer is over. i feel like it just started, but time is going by way too fast.

well the work here in samabula is going pretty good. we're focusing a lot on less actives now because of the whole change, and we're excited about it. there's a family that the ward gave us to work on and so we're trying to visit them and get them to the temple before it closes in october. we're also visiting another family that hasn't come to church since they were like little kids, and so now we're starting to visit a sister and brother and they're already 24 years old. they have a want to come to church but i think right now they're just scared to because they haven't been there in a long time and they don't have their parents going with them anymore. so we're going really slow with them and hopefully we'll get them back to church soon. 

remember our investigator i was telling you about from samoa?? well he's getting baptized on the 30th of this month hopefully. he is doing really good. he's been through a lot throughout his life and has done lots of things but he is willing to change and be a new person. we taught him the word of wisdom this last week and he told us that he's never going to do any of those things again starting that day. he came to church on sunday and said that he has stayed away from all of that stuff since our lesson. we're so excited for him and his baptism because he's changing as a person and doing everything he can to follow the Savior.

on wednesday we went to a funeral for one of the elder's recent converts. it was a nice funeral. elder johanson gave the closing remarks and gave the best words of comfort for the friends and family that was there. it was held at the chapel and then we all headed up to the cemetery for the burial. when we got up there it started to rain like crazy and here in fiji they still dig the hole and bury the person themselves. so at this certain cemetery, the inmates from the prison do that, kinda weird but yeah. it was a nice funeral. sad but we know she's in a better place now. 

on thursday night we were able to go to the temple to see the johnsons, some recent converts in our ward, go through for the first time. it was such a special night. they were endowed and then sealed for time and all eternity. although they already had a family and were married for a long time, they had that special glow to them. it was such an amazing experience to see recent converts go through the temple. although i didnt teach them the lessons or baptize them, to see how far they've come since ive been here was a blessing. to see people change their lives and become members of the Lord's church and make that first covenant of baptism with their Father in Heaven and then to not give up and make it to the temple is the best thing a missionary can see and experience. that's why im on my mission...to seal families for time and all eternity.

okay funny story for this week....last night sis. matheson and i were lying in bed talking when we heard some weird noises like something was rustling through the trash. so we freaked out because we thought it sounded like a mouse and plus we sleep on the ground!! so we get up and sis. matheson asked me if i could see anything and i was like, "aunty! i can't see a thing i dont have my glasses on!!" hahaha so i found my glasses, put um on, and grabbed a book to protect myself. so we creeped around and turned on the light and searched everywhere to make sure there was nothing. and so we left the light on and sat and waited for the sound to come back so we could catch the mouse. well we waited and heard the sound and saw that it was just the curtains blowing past a paper taped on the wall. oile!! we were laughing so hard because we were literally freaking and praying it wasn't a rat. thank goodness it wasn't!!

au lomani kemudou sara valevu!! loloma yani tu ga!!

lolomazzz,

sista chong

We got soaked at the funeral.

Work is Progressing in Samabula

bula mama!!

we were at our bishop's house for dinner on friday and the wife told me about the two hurricane warnings. i couldn't focus on anything else the rest of dinner and she finally said, "maybe i shouldn't have told you anything." but a lot of the people from the ward have been asking me if my family is okay and im so happy to hear that you're all safe. i definitely prayed very very very very hard since the minute i heard until now. im so relieved now that i know you're all safe.

this week in samabula was a pretty good one. our investigators, though few, are progressing a lot!! they're starting to come to church and to get closer to baptism. it has taken some of them a long time and it's such a blessing for me to see them starting to make the necessary steps needed to prepare for baptism. we have a baptism scheduled for the 23rd of august and she is awesome!! she already has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. from the moment she first opened it she has felt the power and influence of the Book of Mormon in her life. she feels the Spirit every time she reads and when she bares her testimony of it, it strengthens my own testimony.

we have another investigator who we just started teaching. our first lesson with him was at elder johansen's (area of the seventy's) house and it was such a powerful lesson. all day sis. matheson and i were thinking about what we were going to teach him and we were freaking out because it was going to be at a General Authority's house. but once we got there and started the lesson we asked the investigator what he expected from our lessons. he told us that he already knew that Heavenly Father was there for him but what he wanted was to feel the Spirit. to learn how to recognize the Spirit in his life. what an answer!! so we got the impression that we needed to have a testimony meeting with the johansen family and us. we each shared our testimony and almost every single one of us shared about prayer. and the power of prayer. as we were sharing you could just feel the Spirit in that room. there was no way you could deny it. when we were all finished he shared how he felt and told us that he had felt the Spirit that night. when we met with him again we asked him how he felt after our last lesson. he said that the next day at school he was so happy. he said he hadn't felt that way in a long time. and so i told him that that was the purpose of the Gospel. to bring people happiness!! that's why im here on my mission, to bring people happiness that can only from this Gospel of Jesus Christ. in our next lesson we let us know of his willingness to change and to align his life with Christ. he already has that desire and now it's time that act in faith.

on saturday we were able to go to the temple with one of our recent converts to do baptisms for the dead for the first time. it was such an amazing experience!!! she was so nervous to go and was very hesitant, but after it was all done she said that she was so happy and that she enjoyed it. we told her that she made so many people happy as she was baptized for them. they were waiting in the Spirit World waiting for someone to be baptized for them and she did it and made freed them and helped them on their pathway to the Celestial Kingdom. she smiled when she realized how important the temple is. when we teach about the temple it's hard for people to picture or imagine what we do in there and why. it's not until they do it them self that they come to truly appreciate the temple.

also the church is changing a few things in missionary work. our purpose as missionaries was to help others come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. our main focus was getting people to that first ordinance, baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. but now we are looking past that....we're looking to the temple. we'll be seeing our recent converts a lot longer and a lot more than we have in the past, helping them stay active and prepare for the temple. another huge thing that's happening is that we as missionaries are responsible for bringing back less actives. before we would visit them but the ward would also visit and whatever. but now if we bring back a less active to church (following certain requirements) it has the same amount of importance as if we baptized a new convert into the church. there are so many people getting baptized all over the world but dont stay active. and that's why the church has made less actives a huge part of missionary work now. it's genius!!! so me and sis. matheson have decided that we're going to really focus on getting people back to church and helping them get reconverted to the Gospel. im excited!!

well i think that's all for this week. me and sis. matheson are having a party here in samabula. i love being her companion and i love serving with her as sister training leaders. i dont think there's one hour that goes by that we dont laugh together at something. missionary work is fun!!! au lomani kemudou!! loloma yani!!

lolomazzzz,

sista chong