I Am Excited!

Mes chers amis et ma famille,

   I am so excited about missionary work here on Takapoto. Sr. Stosich and I have lived some great experiences this week. 

 We have really buckled down and centered our lessons around commitments. The results are blowing my mind. 

  One of our amis, Jean-Paul, who didn't want anything to do with religion when we first met him, decided this week that he wants to give up his old habits of drinking and smoking, to come closer to Christ. Sr. Stosich and I were thrilled to hear this.

  We then taught him about the power of priesthood blessings and how it could help him to resist temptation. Jean Paul wanted a blessing, so the next day we went over to his house with President MAA (in the branch presidency) and Brother Ruamotu (our branch mission leader) and Marie-Louise (Gloria's daughter). The members were so happy to be there to support. 

  It amazed me how God prepared them to be ready to help us. The day before Pres. MAA shared with us that he couldn't stop thinking about Jean-Paul, and then I called him and asked if he would be willing to give a blessing. It was not by chance that God was preparing him to give that blessing. It was a good experience for me too because I had forgotten to call Pres. MAA for the blessing, but as I was praying the day before the blessing, I had the distinct reminder to call Pres. MAA. 

   That whole experience with Jean-Paul and the members was a miracle. At the end of the blessing, all I could feel was how powerful and real the blessing was. I am so grateful for the priesthood power that blesses my life and the lives of the investigators. 

  During that meeting, we discussed with Jean-Paul about praying to overcome temptation. Pres. MAA said that when he has bad thoughts he says this to the opposition in his head, "Heavenly Father is my God,  you have no place in me." 

  I love that phrase. We have the choice of who we will serve, God or the adversary, and if we would just recognize that Heavenly Father is really our God and He is more powerful than anything else, we wouldn't be so worried about being tempted. 

  This week we also worked with Vaitea, who is reading the Book of Mormon and wants to stop smoking. It is just a pleasure to help these people know it  is possible to stop and overcome. The solution is simple: the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

  One of the things we have been doing is just encouraging the amis to count how many cigarettes the smoke each day and then how many chapters in the Book of Mormon they read. It has been working pretty well. 

  We are excited for Vaitea because he has almost finished the Book of Mormon in two months. He has also had a mighty change of heart since he started reading. Now he has a date that he wants to stop smoking by. 

  We are constantly praying for the amis to have strength to stop. It is on my mind all the time because I know what it could mean for them. The blessings of the gospel are right in their backyard, we as missionaries are just working hard to help them get there. 

  Another miracle we had this week was Mahina. She is the one who came up to us at the boat dock a couple weeks ago. We asked her to pray about the way to be baptized and she did. Now, she knows she wants to be baptized. She is always so happy when she sees us. I love Mahina.

  I love being here. Yeah, I feel like I am in paradise with a lot of responsibility to help people get to the real paradise. 

  The other good thing is that my companion and I are getting really good at killing cockroaches. We have this little racket that shocks the cockroaches. I usually do that step and trap the roach in the racket while shocking it and it paralyzes it, then Sr. Stosich gets her shoe and smooshes it. Then the roach dies and we are happy. CHAMPIONS! and it works.

  Gloria is continuing to prepare to get baptized and the rest of the island is too. they just don't know it yet! :)

  Well, hope you have a great week and when you all feel down remember that "Heavenly Father is our God and that those thoughts have no place in you."

Love,

 Soeur Campbell