Personal sacrifice gives value to the things we sacrifice for

Dear Family and Friends,

There it went, my mission in Polynesie Francais!

100 things to say.... the work is rigorous and doesn't slow down, even when you're at the end!

      

 Met the President of Polynesie Francais.

Participated in a unique Rurutu Heiva Tradition, -"The Torch March", the three cities march their dancers up and down the streets with Bamboo torches and they all end up in by the beach.  There they present their dances.  It was an exciting night.  There's a woman starting her own cult here, and while filming the dance, she kept talking to us about how wicked Tahitian traditions are.   Haha, I was a little miffed

      

 The Gift of Tongues still helps Sr. Kendall and I so much!! I have seen a greater understanding in our amis (who speak Tahitian), as we teach.  What a wonderful promise, the gift of tongues.  

Gave a last minute, 20 minute, talk in church :) 

     

 I don't know if anyone remembers the Papi Desire, from my first sector

 Here's what I said at the beginning of my mission about him 

                    

 "We dropped into this big ravine, where Papi Desire lives, in his tiny hut, with his pigs.  I knew that I would need to share a message with this man, but I only had my Tahitian Book of Mormon in hand.  So I prayed that I might be able to share something, from God to this man.  

I honestly chose two verses that I saw had the word "Christ" in them, and then asked the papi, in broken Tahitian, to read these two verses.  I bore my simple testimony of Christ.  For the first time, That man lit up and asked for the reference and asked we could come back the next day.   I looked up the verse later in English, Mosiah 15:6-9.  It talks about how Christ broke the bands of death for us."

  

Just yesterday,  a member told me that this Papi, Papi Desire, passed away.  I was taken aback, and remembered immediately this scripture that had given him so much comfort.  I know that this man will recognize The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Spirit World, and I pray that he will once and for all accept the saving ordinances.  

A talk really hit home to me, called "One More Day".  

He says.  

"If we were told we had a short time to live, we too might plead for more days of life in the name of things we should have done or done differently.  Regardless of the time, the Lord, in His wisdom, determines to grant each of us, of one thing we can be sure: we all have a “today” to live, and the key to making our day successful is to be willing to sacrifice.  The Lord said, “Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice” (D&C 64:23) "

I understand firsthand what he means by "personal sacrifice strengthens us and gives value to the things we sacrifice for."  I am thankful for the sacrifices, we as missionaries, get to make, for the Savior.   It has strengthened me and given me a glance of the real value of the Gospel.   

I love all the people we have taught, and how grateful I am for the many faithful members of the Church here in Tahiti!

I know that the Savior really did work beside me, these last 18 months.  I cannot ignore or deny his presence.  He often prepared the houses and people that we went to visit.   He softened so many hard hearts, and directed us to those in need.  He frequently softened my own heart and taught me many important truths.  I testify that God the Father lives.  And that he has a marvelous work to do.  I invite us all to be engaged in this work.  Jacob 5:70-72.  This is the actual Church of Jesus Christ.  Let us live as true disciples of Jesus Christ! 

I love you all! 

Sr Spencer 

e rave rahi te mau hoho'a

Dear Family and Friends,

Tahitian Drum, and my leggings and socks that I bring around in my backpack for warmth :)

And Me :)

And me:)

Our cute little chapel

Faatamaaraa Family Ariiotima and Omer

Family of our DMP Eretaia!

Their cute daughter

A member, Koba, in her get up for the Heiva event

The Dance!

Our ami Pauro, in Yellow, getting awarded for his musical talent

Walking home in the pouring rain haha good memories

Add caption

Rurutu may be a tiny island, but they have 4 bakeries, Pizzaria, and a Waffle Luv

Dear Family and Friends,

We found the one Pizzeria on the island, run by a French man.  He was actually super friendly and courteous, like turning off the Spanish Soap Opera, and he gave us free juice.  He was excited to see that there are missionaries back on the island, and asked us lots of questions about the Book of Mormon.  He doesn't understand why Native Americans don't talk about Jesus, if he actually visited them(as told in the Book of Mormon).  Haha that is a new question, it's exciting to get new questions to study :)

 

The Jehovah's Witnesses have this food stand, wednesdays and thursdays with Belgian Waffles and German Bread. We go there every week, haha we'll just chalk it up to Rapport de Confiance. 

Sr. Kendall doubling as Neal Armstrong #Tour de (Polynesie) France

 

My long hair, check it out mom. What do you think, butch cut right before I go home?

Lessons in Rurutu: We have several amis that follow the lessons but are in concubinage,  are not yet married with their boyfriend/girlfriend.  So we whipped out a Couple's Night, to help them work towards marriage.  Wellllllll, it was an awesome activity but none of our amis came hahaha.  So we'll have to try another tactic. We incorporated some fun American Wedding games, that the members really liked and our Ward Missionary Leader gave a fantastic lesson. You snooze, you lose I guess ;)

Jackie, is a Protestant Diacre/Leader that started the lessons thanks to a member.  He is partially deaf and speaks the Rurutu dialetic of Tahitian.  The lessons can be a struggle but he's a good sport about it.  

Anabelle and Elisabeth are two new amis that are incredibly powerful! One told us, "Sister ma, I already told my boyfriend that I will fight my way into this church. I will become a member."  She has been praying to see a sign of mormons on Rurutu and then saw us at the store.  She was too afraid to talk to us but prayed again that we could come to her house.  Well a member made it over to her house and invited her to take the lessons that week.  She has a long road to take, because she has to get married first, but we are happy to see these miracles happening in our ami's lives!

This mission road is also coming to an end, as I put most of my belongings on the boat, to wait for me in Tahiti. 

I didn't get to say much about eatting with that Muslim Family, but it was a wonderful rare occasion to learn a lot about Islam and life on La Reunion at Madagascar, where they grew up.  We ate together to celebrate the end of their month long fast.  

I don't think that I will see another person baptized on my mission,as the work progresses slowly and surely.  But how grateful I am to have this time to teach the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!

At a FHE, we heard two members bear powerful testimony of Joseph Smith.  Bringing it back to the basics.  Crazy how we see so many diverse problems and circumstances all around the world, but the message the most important to teach is Joseph Smith and the Restored Gospel.  If they can understand all the implications of this message, their lives, all of their lives can and will change. "The Gospel is perfectly simple and simply perfect."--Elder Larsen

All my love and encouragement to those at home and on missions!!! 

Photo Hoe: A member caught some tasty lobsters, so we had that with a side of fries. So Good!!!!

Photo Piti: Cruisin by Unaa, our biking game is on point :)

Photo Toru: Rurutu has some gorgeous sunsets.  God is the best artist

Photo Maha: Couple's Night! Lesson by our deticated DMB Eretaia

Love,
Soeur Spencer