This week. haha. Let's just be honest, I don't feel like writing much today.
We worked a lot with the members this week which is good. President Bize has asked us to do that more often. He has challenged us to work with at least 4 different members each week.
Sr. Sommers and I felt inspired to start a choir here in TAKAPOTO, so that the members can sing and feel the spirit. Music is powerful and I know that will be something that will help the branch. We found some choir music on lds.org and are going to put it to good use. At times like this, I am grateful for the ward/stake choirs I went to growing up.
Tuesday we did some service for a member. Here they put long cords with plastic on them in the lagoon for little clams to grow on them. Then after the cords are left in the lagoon for about a year it produces a clam and the inside of the clams are shiny and they use the to make jewelry. The metallic clam is called "knack." The service we did was helping arrange the plastic cords to be put in the ocean. The cords are at least 20 yards long.
Well, the next morning after we did that little service, there was a knock on a door. The member, Pres. Pickett, had bought us two HUGE boxes of food. 6L of milk, 4 boxes of cereal, 4 bars of chocolate, a ton of apples and oranges, many packages of cookies. It was a huge blessing. The members really sacrifice to feed us here. Those boxes of food had to have been super expensive, considering a box of cereal here is like $7.
Friday they had local dance competition for HEIVA. Well pretty much every girl on the island danced (literally every Tahitian girl knows how to Tahitian dance), so we went to support our investigators and members. It was super fun to see some culture and dance.
We invited some drunks to church Wednesday. One of them was inactive. Then Saturday we saw this same young man (it is a small island, you see everybody all the time), on his hammock smoking and re-invited him. Sunday he was there at church. It was a great miracle.
We fixed a lesson with him after sacrament meeting and so Sunday afternoon we had a lesson with him.
He told us he had come here to Takapoto to escape his problems back home in a way and think things out. We shared with him how there is ALWAYS hope with Jesus Christ. He told us in tears that he was almost convinced there wasn't hope and thanked us for reminding him.
We then gave him a Book of Mormon and read with him the sentence in the Introduction that reads, "Those who read this book will find the way to have peace in this life." I then bore testimony that through reading the Book of Mormon I find peace every day. He then looked at me and asked, "How do you know I am searching for peace?" I didn't know, but Heavenly Father sure did.
It was so nice to have that miracle lesson Sunday. My companion and I both felt the spirit strongly and it was an encouragement to us.
My companion finishes her mission in 3 weeks (the same time as my sister in Japan), so we have decided we are going to make some sacrifices this coming week to show our commitment. It works out well because yesterday in Sunday School, we talked about the young rich man and sacrifice.
As for me, I am pretty sure God sent me to this island to learn patience, faith, and humility. These past 2.5 months in Takapoto have been super eye opening to me, pushing me to be more and more reliant on God. I am so grateful for Him in my life as a rock, someone who stays constantly there for me. My mentality is becoming more and more, "just forget everything and rely on the Lord."
As for today, I discovered in the bathroom a big spider and didn't scream or kill it (they don't really kill bugs here, that includes cockroaches and bees, the only exception is mosquitos). The bad new is though I think it is still lurking around in there. Oh well, some things are just better left unknown. Then later this afternoon we made fondant (like brownies) with one of the ward members, Sr. MATEHAU.
My sister, Abbee, asked me how we wash our clothes and here is the answer. Well, we have a washer outside our house, and then we hang our clothes out to dry.
Enjoy your summer! I love you all.
Love,
Soeur Campbell
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