The voice in the Chicken Coop

Dear Friends and Family,

"Toute victoire et gloire se réalisent pour vous par votre diligence, votre fidélité et les prières de la foi" D & C 103:36

No emails on New Years day, sorry,  we had to do Spring cleaning for our house. 

Change of heart

Warren has been one of our biggest miracles here in Papeari.  Him and his Girlfriend/Partner are investigators. (haha Here in Tahiti we say, Concubine, I don't really know if they have a direct translation in English)  They are around 55 years old and their 23 year old daughter just got baptized, Poehere.  His Concubine would love to get baptized because she felt the spirit so strongly at her daughter's baptism.  Well her companion, Warren, does not want baptism or marriage yet,  he's not sure God is even there.  So we engaged him just to pray, and he said "maybe"

Come back, one week later, after lots of discussion and prayers between me and my companion, for the next lesson.  Warren, starts by saying that he fasted this week. ... ... Um, woah!  Alright! thanks to a neighbor who asked if he wanted to fast.  And then he pauses and says,  Me and Marceline need to get married this month and we want to be baptized the same day.  God helped me to know that.     Well we were so elated that this man would be humble enough to fast and ask God.  His prayer to finish the lesson was simple and sincere, thanking God for the answer to his questions, and helping him know that his is a Son of God.  

The next lesson he talked about the week he spent working at his big chicken farm, and one day, while helping the chickens he heard someone tell him (in Tahitian though, I think this is the translation) "Warren, you need to change, and this change needs to be permanent." 

He asked the person nearest to him if he had spoken to him, but he said no.  He knew then that the spirit had spoken to him.  I am so thankful that God answers prayers, even sends a voice sometimes.  Personally I have never heard a voice, but I know God needed Warren to know these things.  And if God ever needs to talk to me like that, well,  I'll be ready ;) 

We have had so much rain here that our yard is now a pool, 8 inches deep.  Don't worry President, if you are reading this email, I didn't not even once go swimming.  

Ellie, our new convert just got the Priesthood and we hope to do a temple trip this week with him and Poehere!  He bore his testimony at Church again, ah we are super happy for this change in his life.  

Emails sometimes make you forget the real struggles.  And to say that everything runs wonderfully and smoothly --of course is never true. Even in this magical Tahitian paradise hahaha 

I thought I would just include some other realities 

Real Life Lesson

Taumata and Clara who read the Family Proclamation, don't want to hear anything else about God because they don't want to change the way they pray.

Dorris, an inactif, and Damas, her nonmember husband, had fixed his baptism, but he prefers still to attend his catholic Church, so we will wait for a while, revisit all the lessons with them. 

We plan FHE's with tons of food and sometimes one inactif comes out of the 25 people invited.  

More than half of the time our lessons loop, meaning, they don't show up or reschedule.  

I have so much respect for all of my friends and family serving the Lord in other parts of the world, maybe still in their home town, maybe in cold cold lands, maybe among very cold-hearted people.  But we all have the same loving Master, who understands and pushes us and the work forward.  

I love you all!  Happy New Year, make good goals!  D & C 137: 9

Sr Spencer

PS We got to talk to Brooke on Sunday it was awesome!!!