Hi everybody,
I hope you are having a great summer. It has actually been "cold" here the last couple of days. It had to have been in the 50's with wind.
I ate duck yesterday for the first time. There isn't any ducks on this atol. It was imported. It wasn't my favorite.
Another great eating experience I had happened Saturday. We were just outside the church eating with our Branch President and his family. He encouraged us to eat with our hands. Well, everyone eats with their hands here, even for steak. So we ate with our hands.
For the 4th of July, we did nothing. haha. I had Sr. Sommers, my Tahitian companion, sing "America the Beautiful" for companionship study. I also read in 1 Nephi 13 when Nephi prophesies about the American colonization and revolution and how God would help them be free from captivity of the mother Gentile nation (England).
This July 4 was special because I was far from America and now I really appreciate America more. I realize more how guided our founding fathers were and how America has been blessed as a nation.
This past week most of our investigators were in TAKAROA (a different atol) for the sport challenges this week. In other words, there was like no one on the island. Sr. Sommers and I would go running in the morning and practically see everyone on the atol within that 30 mins of sport and then we would go see them again throughout the day.
We had some good experiences thinking of people to see this week, because like I said we would see everyone before lunch time.
Saturday we were totally stumped on who to go visit, so we asked ourselves, "First off, who is here on the island?" Then we thought about it..."pretty much everyone is gone and if they are here, we have already seen them." haha.
Saturday we were also at the airport to send off Mami Gloria, the mother of Marie Louise (who we made cake with that one time). Last Monday her leg got infected and swollen, so she was at the little clinic they have here. She also had a really high fever. So Tuesday we went to see her and encouraged her to get a priesthood blessing and she accepted. The next day the swelling went down in her leg, but she spent the rest of the week in and out of the little clinic here. They decided that she needed to go to the hospital on Tahiti, so Saturday she left with Marie Louise.
I am so sad they had to go to Tahiti. They will probably be there for like a month. I will especially miss Marie Louise who has shown us us much love. She doesn't know how to read, but has sooo much faith. She is a huge support to us in missionary work too.
Now that July is here there is something going on called Heiva. Heiva is a month long celebration that happens on all the islands of Polynesia Francais. Here on Takapoto they are going to have more sport competitions like soccer, basket ball, volley ball, and pitonck. They also have built "barracks." A barrack is a structure made out of plywood that the community has built for people to buy out a room and sell their goods. Then everyday from 5-11pm at night. The people who bought a barrack sell their food as concession. So pretty much a barrack is a Tahitian concession stand.
I have started teaching in Tahitian more. We were in a lesson with an inactive this week and I was trying to explain something in French and the member wasn't understanding, so I looked to my companion to help me and then she told me, "try in Tahitian." Then I started teaching in Tahitian and the member seemed to understand. It was truly a miracle and the gift of tongues.
I am learning switching languages during the lesson helps, because Tahitian is a supperrr simple language. You can't confuse the investigator too much in Tahitian, like you can in French.
Yesterday night (Sunday), we had a huge miracle. It was about 5:30pm and we had a meeting at 6pm, but we knew we had to go see someone. I had previously made an attempt to set up a lesson with a family earlier in the week, but they weren't there when we went over thereon Friday afternoon. So Sunday night we went over to their house again and they were all there. It was a miracle. This is like the saddest thing ever, but that was my first time teaching a family who is all not members to put things in perspective. My companion and I were thrilled to be there with all their family, and they were thrilled too. They gladly accepted us. They were happy to be together as a family, because 2/3 kids go to school on a different island during the school year and they aren't often together as a family. It was wonderful.
The other good news is that our investigators all came back today from TAKAROA, so we are going to have people to teach this week. They were supposed to come yesterday (Sunday), but there was a big rain storm. They were smart and didn't want to take the chances of getting caught in the storm trying to make the boat voyage between the islands.
Thanks for your prayers and encouragement and your faith. I love you all!!
Love,
Soeur Campbell
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