Greeley Letter #6

The Last Super - with Sisters Mangum and Smith

 



New companion: Sister Tafengatoto from Tonga

 

Visiting a friend

 

Working on another Habitat for Humanity project

 

 

My new companion is Sister Tafengatoto. She is from a small village in Tonga and is quite possibly the sweetest girl I've ever met. She is constantly looking for ways to help me, serve me, share with me. Needless to say, I have a lot to learn from her. We have very different upbringings and have struggled to find much in common, but so far we both love Enya and find V8 juice to be repulsive. It's a great start!

 

We've had an amazing week. In one of our first lessons together, we were teaching R (who's wife M just passed away) more about the plan of salvation. I quietly told Sister Tafengatoto to bear her testimony and invite him to be baptized. Without hesitation she did so. She is awesome. She has grown up speaking English is school, but she starts talking fast when she's nervous. I'm not sure R understood her with her accent, but when I clarified what she had asked, he said yes. He told us that he doesn't understand all of what we share sometimes (he's had a stroke and stumbles over saying/understanding some words) but that everytime we come by he feels that our message is true. We've started teaching him more simply and I've realized I should be doing that anyway with everyone. I just get so excited and want people to know everything I do..... One step at a time :)

 

K (the 8 year old) is so cool. We met with her this week and she had a notebook where she had written down five questions. She had questions about Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, the Godhead. We were able to teach her the first discussion and answer all of them. Her father, who is a less active member of the church, was able to explain a few parts. It was really cool to hear all that he still remembered. He expressed how he should be going back to church to be a good example for K. It's so cool to see the spirit working in people. I love being a part of it. We just keep loving people and bearing testimony that God loves them and everything else falls into place.

 

We got to work on the Habitat for Humanity house again this week. Framing!! It was so much fun. One of the Elders said, "You'd be great at whack-a-mole." I thought that might make my father proud :) The ward here has been so kind. I think we've gotten gifts at almost every house we visit for dinner and even from our less active families. I got a pomegranite and a pomegranite deseeder (says it will deseed in 60 seconds.... we'll see about that). Oatmeal and salad, mango lotion, chocolate. These people know me so well haha. I feel so spoiled all the time out here. I can't wait to spoil missionaries when I get home.

 

Hmmm... what else happened. C was at church again after we had another amazing lesson this week. He showed up in a white shirt and tie and just looked happy. It's amazing what the gospel does to someone's disposition. He truly has a light around him. We are really excited and I feel lucky to work with him. I feel lucky to work with all of these people.

 

Love, Sister Rashauna Hoer