Week 22 - Boot Scootin' Christmas

For Christmas I line danced :)

Sister Behling and I have done a lot to keep the branch together, and Saturday was the branch Christmas party. It was a mess of running back and forth and back and forth. It was suppose to start at 5. It started at 7:30. It was just a mess that no one should ever have to live through. The Branch President just came and dropped off his kids then left. So i wont give details ;) But for the Christmas party, sister Behling and I preformed the line dances to Boot Scootin Boogie and Fishin in the Dark, and It. Was. AWESOME. I felt SO normal! The youth loved it too and caught on to some of the dance!

Yesterday for Christmas Eve we went to Pohnrakied and performed the nativity with zero practice. There were many songs and it was quite an interesting experience. I was a shepherd and so was Sister petrus. the rest were all Elders. It was kinda awkward when the shepherds sang the very tenor shepherd song. After the performance we got presents from the local people and they danced for us and it was great :) It's VERY entertaining watching elders try not to watch a hula dance haha

We showered at the Kolonia house so that was great! First actual shower I've had in a while. We've been taking bucket showers cuz our pump is out again. After that, we drove home and listened to christmas music, made chestnuts and had grahm crackers and milk :) I was very happy. Then we read the christmas story and went to bed at like midnight. this morning we slept in and then opened presents!! It was very fun and we felt oh so cozy :)

Chestnuts roasting on an open broiler

This week I've learned SO much about Love. That's really all people need. In the Kitti Branch, there are many things wrong, and there are many unworthy priesthood holders, there are many falsish doctrine ideas, and there are many bad feelings, people are frustrated, people are late, people don't care, and people get offended. For many many years, the missionaries in the Kitti Branch area(s) have seen it like a technician, an engineer I guess you could say ;) It's a problem, and it needs to be fixed. The priesthood isn't worthy, so we need to tell them to be worthy, the people are late, so we need to tell them to be on time. The people aren't being happy, so we need to tell them to be happy. But I don't think that's proved much success.

What Kitti Branch needs, what people need, is just love. So what if the priesthood isn't worthy, that can be fixed. So what if people are late, that can be fixed. So on and so forth, but really, how I've found that we fix it is through just truly loving and showing a genuine interest in the individual. Loving them and supporting them, flaws and all! I had an experience yesterday that really strengthened my testimony and was truly seeing things through the eyes of a loving God. A few sundays ago Sister P's daughter was bawling and bawling through sacrament meeting. She of course smacked her to make her be quiet (that's just what the people here do), but that made the girl more and more upset and threw her into a wailing tantrum. So she stood up and walked just a little ways into the jungle (like 10 yards away) and started pretty much beating her telling her to be quiet. That didn't work so she just left her there to bawl on the ground. Then she got louder, so Sister P got up again and grabbed a long skinny branch from a nearby bush and stripped it and went to start whipping her child with it (she looks about 2 years old). Thankfully, Megan (The strength of Kitti Branch and an RM) Got up and picked up the little girl and the three of them went off a little farther and just talked.

This week, as we were waiting for Branch President to arrive, the same little girl got her toy stolen from her by probably her older brother. and she started bawling and screaming. So the brother hit her and told her to be quiet. Her mother was off somewhere, and everyone was just staring at her. So I jumped up, and I went over to her. I just knelt down and wiped her tears away and gently told her it's okay, we all love her and she doesn't need to cry. It was all okay. Immediately she stopped wailing and just sniffled as I simply loved her. Even the boy who took her toy kinda stopped and stared. But as I was wiping her tears away, I just felt how much God really loves us. so perfectly. Yes, the girl could have just let the boy take her toy and sit down and deal with it, as many children do. and Yes, the boy was wrong in stealing her things. But I didn't address any of that,I just loved her. Everyone kind of stared in reverent awe. Someone handed me a sucker and I gave it to her. I asked her if she wanted to sit down and she nodded her head and came and sat by me. And for the rest of the meeting, there was very much a reverent peace as everyone felt a little taste of the saviors perfect love for us. It was lovely :)

From that experience and seeing the results of pure Charity, I can truly testify that the quickest way to influence someone for good is to love them. Natural man and everything. It makes the missionary work a lot more enjoyable, and it makes the people a lot happier. It's been a darn good week :) I hope you can all feel my love for you!!!

It's been a rainy chilly Christmas!! And I love it :) Elders are waiting to get on the computer.. I'll talk to you all tomorrow!! Love you!!

Better watch out, better not cry, better not pout

Merry Christmas!
Sister Nicole Felt

Week 21 - All I want for Christmas is My Companion

This week was crazy fun! But also it really dragged..

We said goodbye to Sister Bowers and Sister Leslie this week, and boy oh boy were they crying up a rivers worth of tears. When people finish their mission on Pohnpei, all the missionaries go to the airport and sing Koht en Ketremwail Kitail Lau Tu, God be with you till we meet again. Its kinda fun :)

After we said goodbye, the three companion-less Sisters (me, sister Milne from Oregon, and Sister Taunauta from Tonga) joined together to make a trio in Uh. We had a party :) Ate with members, had lots of meetings, and twice we left Sister Milne in Uh with a member preparing to serve her mission, and sister Taunauta and I went to Mand. It was really fun! Honestly, I learned SO much from these two sisters.

Sister Milne wants to study neuroscience, so we had a lot of really fun interesting conversations about how the spirit is really connected to our brain, and that's why there is so much we don't know about the brain. Because the brain is mostly spiritual matter. Kinda fun :)

We got transfer calls. Big changes to our area! So the Kitti area is huge, and like Europe in that everyone hates the Elders and no one wants to talk to them. the kitti branch is fed by the people living in the kitti and pehleng mission areas. But now, kitti area and Pehleng area have become one, and there are no longer elders in the kitti branch. Now we're in Pehleng and Kitti. It's just me and Sister Behling managing Kitti branch now. Two other areas on Pohnpei are closing. It's just that time of year honestly. Not many missionaries out, lots of missionaries going home.

Basically this week was a lot of running around to meetings and going back and forth from one end of the island to the other, and also learning from my cool companions. There's so much to people that none of us really understand, and there's so much we don't know. I love all the opportunities we have to learn and I know that truth is found in this Gospel. It's not always just, I know the book of mormon is true, jospeh smith is a true prophet, jesus christ is my savior. Sometimes the truth is that your brain is spiritual matter, and evolution may not be 100% correct. That's still Gospel truth! I love it :) 

Keep the faith, love one another, and have a good week! Gotta go pick Sister Behling up from the airport now.

Love,
Sister Felt

Week 20 - Ngehi Mehn Uh, Watcha gonna do

Heyo Everyone. So this week was crazy. I haven't seen my companion in almost 8 days. So ya. Wont see her for another week.

Last week, Monday evening and Tuesday Morning, we had Zone Conference on Steroids. Elder Gay of the 70 came :) He's the new guy over the Asia North area and holy wow he's a genius!! He used to be Mitt Romney's business partner and had other business man things and would be a multi-billionaire now if he didn't accept the Lords call to be a mission president and then serve in the 70. It was incredible to just soak up all the intelligence and information and testimony from this man as he spoke to us. He said on Monday Evening, it was Zone conference, but not really. He said "tonight is Family Home Evening. So we'll discuss together. What do you have to say?" And we all just talked. He's so incredible.

After Zone Conference on Tuesday Sister Behling headed off with the Zone Leaders to Guam, and I went to Uh (said like "oo" in 'moo') with Sister Bowers and Sister Milne. Sister Bowers is from Idaho and leaves to go home tomorrow. She's finished her mission. And Sister Milne is a transfer older than me and is from Oregon. I learned SO much from those two good sisters. The Majority of yesterday and the day before were filled with tears and goodbyes. Sister Bowers does not want to go home, she loves these people so much and would do anything to stay a little longer. Her testimony is so strong and it's really given me a lot of appreciation for the time I do have to serve. And Sister Milne is an intelligent soul who still wears make up and makes me feel normal. I learned a lot from her about how to pray :)

Uh is pretty dope :) he he... Uh is like the ghettos of Pohnpei. Everyone lives WAAAY up in the jungle, and there's a LOT of Drunk people and Weed. This guy, Georgie, is super awesome and we went and did service for him and his cute little family and they have a massive weed farm. It's just a bunch of Weed and pot and in pots amongst weeds. I thought it was pretty dope. 😏 But really though, I've never seen a more tranquil beautiful scene in my life. A cute quiet waterfall going through the rocky yard, then a nice hut on the edge of it all, and beatiful marijuana plants all over around the stream. It was honestly quite beautiful. And we just sat there drinking fresh coconut and learning about how much a branch of Dope costs.

After that we had ward mission meeting out by a store on the edge of the road around 1pm. And someone came stumbling up to us. SO flat out DRUNK. I've never seen anyone so messed up in my life. Seriously, of all the drunkards on this island, I'd say he's the worst yet. He was stumbling all over creation and barley weaved his way over to us and stuck out his hand telling me congrats on making it here, or something like that, in Pohnpeian. We finally got him to leave without freaking out, and then the rest of the day whenever we drove by him, he saluted us off. I'm surprised he never passed out and stayed drunk for a good couple of days. There was a few people passed out in ditches along the roads some nights.

Uh branch is incredible. 6 weeks ago it was worse than Kitti is now. and 6 months ago people were getting in machete fights during sacrament meeting. But now, everyone is so so loving and I wish I could stay! I love those people so much and they're all so sweet. It's because Sister Bowers got there with a fire for her last transfer and literally just served all the less actives and members and just loved them. Now Uh Branch is good :)

About Sister Behling, She missed her flight to Pohnpei. So she wont be back until the 18th and transfers are the 17th. I think I'm gonna kick it with Uh until then because Sister Bowers is leaving so I'll be with Sister Milne. I'm cool with it :) Hope Sister Behling is okay in Guam.

Love y'all!!! #MarainSampah

Sister Nicole Felt

Week 19 - Kamadipw en Wau

This week was a hoot and a holler.

Work was normal, I ate too much, and then I didn't eat enough. My body cant decide if it should gain a ton of weight or lose it all. Is it healthy to fluctuate through 6 pounds every week?

We don't have any active members in our area. And no one from our area came to church this week. That was pretty dumb. Sister Behling is going to Guam this week for Mission Leadership Conference. We don't know who is going with her. The other Sister Training Leader is leaving this next transfer, so usually they send the person who is going to be the new STL to MLC before the transfer they become a STL. We'll see how it all pans out.

Olga is doing aight. Jim still tries to attack the Book of Mormon. I think it's in Alma 7 that one of the Prophet writes that Jesus will be born "at Je​​rusalem". I didn't remember it, but in just casual conversation with Olga and Jim I was talking about my Bible reading (I had read Luke 2 that day) and just chit chatting. Jim says "So where was Jesus Born?" I said, "Well in Bethlehem like it says here" and I read the verse in Luke. He said "Yes, so Bethlehem" I said ya. He said in the Book of Mormon it says he's born in Jerusalem, not Bethlehem, so it's wrong. We literally just ignored him and kept going. Then in personal study I found the verse. When I read it I had a spiritually brought back memory of a time I heard a priesthood person talk about the importance of the word "at" especially in that verse of the Book of Mormon. I have no idea where I've heard that, and I don't remember who said it or why I know it. But I remember everything about how incredible it is that it says "At Jerusalem" and not "in". Kinda cool :) At is more of an "around" and a close to location. And seeing as Bethlehem is like 2 miles away from Jerusalem and the prophet who received that prophecy was in america at the time in like 300 BC, I'd say the Book of Mormon is still true ;)

So the Kamadipw. Said like 'comma deep'. Every municipality has a king, a nanmwarki. And he goes to all the towns once a year, and the people celebrate it like Founders Day in Wellsville. We live in Dien and our Land lord is the Cheif of Dien. So the Kamadipw was at our house. So ALL of Dien was at our house. It would be like if our house was at the Tabernacle in Wellsville, and there was only main street. no other side roads. Our car got blocked in, and everyone living within walking distance of our house was at the Kamadipw. So we joined :) Basically, they present the king with all their things. Rice, skirts, food, sugar cane, coconuts, bananas, chicken, water tanks, everything, as a way to show their thanks. But thing is, they literally give it all to the King. He doesn't rule over them, it's just a cultural thing. But they still do it. After they've done that and they've given all the women's things, they give them mens things. Pigs, Sakau, and Kehp. Lots of animal abuse with the Pigs. They don't kill them till they're gonna roast em. So they tie them to a stick and all the strong men present the pigs to the king on the stick. It gets preeetty loud.

When they present the food, all the women in the town make food baskets for everyone with a title. All the high up there people. Everyone else get's Sais food. We got the Sais food. And then people came to us with baskets. Oh my. People are way too nice. Way way too nice. We also had children peeking through our windows and teenagers standing on our porch during the rain. It was a party on Saturday :)

Then Sunday rolled around and everything was depressing. Not a soul from our area came to church yesterday. 2 cars ready. No one willing to come. We don't have a single active member living in our area. Kitti branch needs help. 32 people at church. Mostly kids. 2 preisthood holders (and the elders). It was really REALLY depressing. Something HAS to change with Kitti Branch in order for it to grow. But it's okay. Because I got to read the Book of Mormon and know that Joseph Smith is a real prophet of God who didn't kill anyone. I hate false doctrine. Also, we had fresh fish to eat, and we fasted from Saturday night, till Sunday at 7. Zone Conference starts at 6 today, and then tomorrow morning, and then Behling flies out to Guam for MLC tomorrow evening. I don't know what this week is going to be like. I might be in Guam, I might be in Kolonia, I might be in Uh, I might be with another Sister In Pehleng. I don't know.

Love Yall!! Read your scriptures, fast and pray :)
Sister Felt