Monday, June 27, 2016

ou te le mana'o tusia lenei imaili

lo'u aiga...

I don't want to write this email...

I don't have much to say...

Sister Puaina sprained her jaw (in basketball.... someone hit her.... we were having a zone basketball game..) last p-day and it swelled up really big... so we weren't able to work hardly at all this week. It keeps giving her these killer headaches... I'm worried about her but the doctor doesn't care... BAHAHA!!! 😝

So I've been cooped up all week. I wanted to die. But I've had lots of really good studies!!

Due to being cooped up I've noticed that we are loosing our war against the mogamoga (cockroaches). They are definitely taking over our flat. Probably because it is warm inside and we seem to have more holes in our flat than actual walls.. LOL!! not really... but kind of!! BAHAHA!!! I think they are basically another plague of Egypt...how many have I had? 1) fleas, 2) Maggots,
3) styes 4) Mogamoga.... just 4? dang... 3 more to go!! (there were 7 plagues of Egypt right??)

Silivelia Is ready for her baptism on the 2nd... Saturday!!!! That has been crazy trying to work out how to do the baptism in a different ward... yikes!! Bishop Taupau (from Manurewa 2nd) has to come and translate for Silivelia in the interview for her baptism on Wednesday!!

It has been raining cats and dogs this week!!! It has been crazy as!!

What else? everyone keeps making me kopai... its delicious...it's my favorite Samoan food (made from koko samoa, coconut cream, flour, water and sugar).

Hopefully next weeks letter will be more interesting!!

Love you all so much!!!
Alofa tele atu!!
Sista Peo

 Sistas Freddie, Puaina, and Peo


 kopai


 Sistas LuaLua, Ete, Puaina, and Peo



 Sista Peo and Puaina


 Sista Peo and Puaina

Monday, June 20, 2016

Peresitene

Lo'u aiga,
This week was awesome!!
We had lunch with President (peresitene) and Sister Rudd!!
They are finishing their missions on the 30th of this month! Hard to believe!! So they came up and had lunch, we got our pictures taken with them and they shared their testimonies with us!! A Maori Stake President down in Hamilton came with them and gave us a presentation about how the Maori's link into the tribes of Israel and it blew my mind!!!
President Rudd gave us some great advice for the rest of our missions and for after we finish our missions. He said that when we go home we should set goals and make plans to be somebody, to make a difference and change lives. We should prepare to become that person by being that person today! He said some other really great things as well but that was one thing that really stood out to me!
Silivelia is wonderful!! We taught her the word of wisdom, law of chastity, and tithes and offerings this week!! She has no concerns and is ready for her baptism!!! YAY!!!! Since her family lives in our area but goes to Manurewa 2nd ward, she will be baptized in Manurewa 2nd ward... our ward is disappointed... that's why fellow-shipping is so important eh? 😝
Hopefully we will begin Taua's lessons this week!! That will be awesome!! She has AWESOME potential and will be baptized as soon as her husband's divorce goes through :)
Thank you so much for your prayers, love and support!!
I love you all so much!!
This gospel is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior and clears the way before us!! All we have to do is want to follow him!! We always get credit for trying!!
Alofa tele atu,
Sista Peo


Sister Tanuvasa (member) is in red
Silivelia is in grey
I am white

My comapnion is young ;)







Sista Peo <3

Sunday, June 12, 2016

THIS WEEK WAS THE BOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lo'u aiga!

Okaoka!!! THIS WEEK!!!

WE HAVE A BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Silivelia Asiata!! She is 71 years old!! She is visiting her recently converted family (Sa'u family... Sister Taituuga baptized them in her time in Manurewa 2nd) from Samoa!! She goes to church with them every week and asked us to give her lessons!! We have taught her every day since then!! After the second lesson, Sister Puaina asked her "will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?" and she gave a really long complicated answer... I thought she was expressing a concern or a question or something...  Puaina asked "will you be baptized by someone holding the priesthood by authority of god?" and she gave another long complicated answer... Puaina then asked it again but relating to the celestial kingdom... and we received another long complicated answer..

I was trying to figure out what her concern was... from what she was saying she didn't have one... so why was it so hard to answer the question??

Puaina and I looked at each other and I shrugged my shoulders... Puaina turned back to her and said the Samoan equivalent of "look... d

o you want to be baptized?"
Silivelia immediately answered "yes!" and then we said "great let's set a date!!"

We were laughing so hard afterwards!!!! Sometimes we make things too fluffy and complicated and we just need to cut down to the core and go from there!!

No rest for the weary for us today! We were hoping to take a nap for our p-day  (we are such exciting missionaries huh? 😴) But instead we have two appointments!! One with Silivelia (we are teaching her word of wisdom... she drinks coffee... this will be the hardest one for her I think..) and a lesson with one of our new investigators!!

More good news ! I got the virus off my memory card for my camera!! YAY!! Bad news... it deleted half my pictures that I had taken after I got the virus... Boo!
But all goods! I can send pictures now!! Yay!!

Here's a picture of Sister Puaina playing with my hair last night...

Love you all so much!!! If you're stuck in a rut always remember that that means Satan is trying to prevent you from receiving the next great gift Heavenly Father has waiting for you!!! And that after you have a spiritual high, Satan always tries his best to discourage you!! Don't let him win!! Everything is in our favor to win... all we need is faith!!

Manuia le vaiaso!!
Alofa tele atu,
Sista Peo

Sunday, June 5, 2016

"lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute as an emergency on my part"

Lo'u aiga,

Oh man thanks for all the emails today!! I got heaps eh!!!!
I got so distracted reading all of them that I only have 10 minutes to write my big letter home!! Okaoka!! Thus the quote above... it's something Sister Ritter my AP English teacher would always say... BAHAHAHA!!!

So I am with Sister Puaina now in Manurewa 1st... I just crossed the street again... That's all I ever do eh?? BAHAHA!!! The question is will I end my mission here or will I get transferred one more time?? If I get transferred again (which I think I will... I have a lot of transfers left) I will probably have to go to the English program because I have served in ALL of the Samoan wards open to sisters... *round of applause for me*!!

They closed down Manurewa 2nd for missionaries! Elders went down to Hamilton...
Sister Lualua went to Alema so I sent her with lots of cards for my previous investigators and friends in that ward!!! She will love that area!!! It was hard saying goodbye to Sister Lualua!!

Sister Puaina came and stayed with us last Monday (her companion finished so they just gave her to us until transfers)  and Sister Lualua left on Thursday... It was hard saying goodbye to our investigators... especially Steven, Geoff and Mags... 

Sister Puaina and I have had a good week!!  We have mostly been cleaning... The "new flat" is disgusting... and her companion that just left, left heaps of her stuff behind. So we've been cleaning that flat and my old flat because no one is going to use it for a while... 

Our new flat has heaps of baby cockroaches in it... That's a new one... never have had that problem before... I've been to plenty of houses with lots of cockroaches (they crawl up your legs and make you panic all the time.). but I've never had them in our flat before... we are going to bomb our flat...

But otherwise the week has been good!! We have lots of potential in this area so I'm excited!! And the ward is very eager to help us!!! 

I AM OUT OF TIME SO I'M AM SO SORRY!!!!! LOVE YOU ALLL!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND LOVE!!!!

ALofa atu,
Sista Peo

Oka Oka

26 May 2016
Lo'u Aiga,

This week has been busy as! 
 
It has been raining like crazy!!! Like blue sky for ten minutes and then torrential random down pours sporadically throughout the day! So we were leaving Steven and Geoff and Merina's house on Monday night and Lualua falls and hits her head and it knocks her out. We get home and she can't walk right, and she is having trouble remembering where she puts things and talking in English, and got so mad at me when I wouldn't let her go to sleep. Just a side note Sister Lualua NEVER (never never never) gets mad at me. SO this is really weird for her!  She wouldn't let me call Sister Rudd. She kept saying, "I need a blessing, I need a blessing" but would get so mad when I tried to call the elders. 

So in the morning i helped her find her shoes, bag, brush, and we went to district meeting where she acted like a wacko and I talked to the zone leaders about giving her a blessing. We told them the situation and they told me to call Sister Rudd no matter what she said or did!! LOL!!! I called Sister Rudd, she said take her to the hospital. We went to the hospital, Sister Lualua couldn't remember what we were doing. 

The doctor didn't even do a scan or anything, they tried to ask her questions but when they realized she was crazy and couldn't remember anything they just talked to me. They told me it was a concussion and if she couldn't remember me the next day bring her back! YOU ARE JOKING!!! 

Lol we drove home, and she kept trying to convince me to go other places rather than the flat. That made me laugh and then she got mad at me for laughing!! She refused to leave the car. It took me 30 minutes to get her out of the car and then another 3 to get her to lay down in the bedroom!! We had to spend 3 days in the flat... it took her that long to act normal again!!!

(Side note before the next paragraph, There aren't enough sisters in the Samoan program anymore so we have been trying to guess which area President Rudd would close for the sisters... okay go)

I was worrying about our investigators and about our ward so I called President Rudd during companionship study on Thursday (since my companion was sleeping off her concussion I just had personal study all day). We talked things over and he said to me "well stop worrying because both you and Sister Lualua are being transferred. You are going to Manurewa 1st to be with Sister Puaina and Lualua is going to Alema ward with Sister Ete. So get all your investigators taken care of" BAHAH!!! President Rudd!! 

There was lots of drama with the ward and the elders this weekend as well... I won't explain it here... It sufficeth me to say that the elders were very disobedient and  are being taken out of the area as well. So our ward will no longer have missionaries in it. We will have to refer all of our investigators to the English elders.

Thank you so much for your prayers... they were really needed this week!!! I know that trials come and sometimes they seem completely impossible. But Heavenly Father gives them to us so that we can expand ourselves and become more like Jesus Christ. For every situation you can either respond in a  Christlike way or an unchristlike way. If you think of it that way and break everything down small like that, I find it's easier to take on challenges. I know Heavenly Father loves us and through all of these challenges he is standing right beside us. Look for miracles in your week!

Manuia lou vaiaso!!
Alofa tele atu,
Sista Peo