Week 27 - Serehd on the Shoulder

WHOA this week was a blast! Way to go out with a Bang and a Baptism because I'm headed off to Kolonia with a trainee!

This week we ate Ube purple ice cream because why the heck not

Then we baptized Shelly because why the heck not

Then I had a Serehd (parrot) on my shoulder because why the heck not

The Serehd's name is Suzie and she's a pet of my recent convert's (I can say that now!!). Shelly is 8 and has been coming to church her whole life. No one in her family is LDS. So badabing badaboom we've got a recent convert! But about the parrot, It flies around during the day, then at night it flies into their Naus (house) and they feed it and play with it and it sits on your shoulder and dries its feathers in your hair and then it sleeps in the little bed the family has for it. Super cool! It showed up one night in the middle of me saying an opening prayer for the lesson and I freaked out I had no idea what was going on. But this week i got to meet Suzie and hold her and give her kisses as we asked shelly the baptismal interview questions :)

Church yesterday was seriously awesome! It ran about as smooth as ever and the work is definitely improving in this area. I hope I can come back to Kitti someday. The Baptism this week was scheduled for 4:00 but didn't start until 5:30 or 6 :) haha then we had to find Witnesses!! We totally forgot haha but all is well :)

Love you all! don't forget to read the book of mormon every day! I've got a two hour plane ride ahead of me I get to just pour over the scriptures and boy oh boy am I looking forward to it! The Ocean is incredibly beautiful from the plane.

Oh! Here's a little story...

So we drove up to Salapwuk Friday, 3 miles uphill into the jungle. When we got to the spot where we'd get out and hike to the people's house, I just got this feeling that we should turn around and go back. Which doesn't make any sense, we just made the vicious 15 minute drive uphill in a yaris over rivers and bridges to then turn around and not talk to a soul? Weird. But I told Sister Behling and she agreed. Said she had a similar feeling. So we turned around.

Side note, In this mission basically all children up until about age 10ish are usually just running around naked so like, bodies don't really phase me anymore.

On the drive down hill, in the dark, with our headlights, we saw this person, walking up the road. And they were naked. Only, it wasn't a child. It was a full. grown. MAN. Old and workin' a beard like nobody's business. I'm just glad we didn't run into him walking around instead of in our nice cozy protective car.

Another spiritual (does that count as spiritual?) experience. Last night was transfer calls. So we of course stressed all dang day long. Then night time comes and we get home and whooptiedoo, there's no service in our house at all. I think the Cell towers in Kitti were down because there was none anywhere in our yard. Sister Behling suggested getting in the car and driving somewhere to find service, and I felt iffy about it but I said okay. We decided to pray about it first. So we did, then got up to leave and look for our keys. It was about 10:00. I looked where we usually hang them and they were not there. We looked FOREVER and they were no where to be found. So we decided that meant we shouldn't go look for service. So we prayed, told God that we changed our mind and just wanted to find our keys to lock the door for the night. and then whaddaya know, there they were. Just hanging in the spot we usually hang them. Where I very first looked. God literally hid the keys from my eyes to keep us from going out. Heavenly Father sure answers prayers in strange ways. Keeps things interesting ;)

Love you all! Talk to God and he'll help you out. I can surely testify of that. Have a fabulous week!

Week 26 - Leprosy Awareness Week

Legit. It's a thing.

Anywho, Helllooo people of the winter! Today I went and tried to catch fish with my hands under the Kepirohi Waterfall, sooo, Life on the island is good :)

This week has been pretty darn great. Finally got out to proselyting on Thursday and holy wow it's great!! I'm SO glad we have Kitti as part of our area now, we have found so many people who are just PREPARED. It's insane. We have a Baptism this Saturday :) a little 8 y/o girl named Shelly. No one in her family is LDS but she's been coming to church for years and knows the church is true, knows the Book of Mormon, and wants to serve a mission someday. She's SOO sweet! Saturday, 4:00, if all goes well I'll have my first convert baptism :)

Oh my! I saw a Cow! Actually a Karibau, but Still!!! They're local to Pohnpei and I think there might be 3 on the island, 3 in the whole world. We went and contacted a family the Elders in Kitti used to teach. They live at the top of the mountain, 3 miles uphill in the jungle, And I almost wonder if it's above the Coconut tree line. We were walking through the grass to their house, and I heard a deep huffing sound and a cud-chewing sound.. So I investigated and found the Karibau :) My heart LEAPED out of my chest at the sight of a living breathing livestock!! Oh my goodness I felt so giddy :) I legit almost started crying and I think I might again just thinking about it oh my...

Anywho haha the family we went to go contact actually told us to never come back. The Mom is kinda crazy and a little slow, but that was the first time I've been rejected in my mission. Weird, huh? but it's okay cuz we met Francine yesterday :)

We went to Mayleens house to have a Sarawi (lesson) and they were all playing a sort of volleyball with a plastic ball. So we joined and just played for a bit, and while we were playing Francine walked up and joined the game too. It was really fun :) Then when it was over we all came together for the lesson. Francine and her brother joined. She knew English REALLY well. We taught Mayleen the Plan of Salvation, from where we came from to our life on earth and this important time we have to live the gospel (we didn't teach Adam and Eve, or the Creation because most Pohnpeians know that and the spirit just didn't place importance on those subjects at the time. Plus, it's silly to go around telling everyone the Sky is blue when they already know that and they think the grass is pink. So that's what we do. We tell them the grass is green(they need to be baptized and they've been given agency) and not the sky is blue(teaching the creation).). Francine was really paying attention and after the lesson, we were walking away and she walked up and said: "hey wait, where do you guys have church on Sunday?" (In English too. So it was weird) I was so flustered by the English, and the question that I actually told her the wrong direction, then pointed her the right way. Then she asked if we'd be able to come get her to join our lesson again when we have it. What?! Awesome :) She's so so cool. And she grew up in Arizona which is cool.

Anywho, that's our week really. Transfers are next week. Lol I REALLY don't want to leave Kitti or Sister Behling haha but we'll see :) I'm really honestly cool with whatever.

Love y'all! Kedehr manokelah en Kapakap!

Love,
Sister Nicole Felt

Week 25 - "We have permission to gently destroy them"

Weeelll This week was one for the books. Here's the missionary work first. 😏

We found an investigator who followed Sister Behling from Kolonia, Mayleen. She's come to church twice now (!!!) and we've taught her one lesson, the restoration. She LOVES it! She also really likes the gospel principles book and stole it from the church to read. I'm fine with it :) She lives by the church with one of our best most faithful members, Sister Nanpei. At the end of our lesson we asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she was silent staring at the floor for like a full two minutes, and then she lifted her head up with tears and nodded and said "I pahn nantiong" which being translated is "I will press on". Whaaaatt??! this is awesome :) I'm going to have an investigator I've taught be baptized for the first time in my mission! VERY unusual for this mission. Everyone usually has lots of baptisms.

This week Sister Behling and I have been in sick since Thursday. Sister Behling's leg is infected and my Lungs are infected. Not realated in anyway, but it's nice we're sick at the same time. It's actually been SUPER fun :) done a lot of studying, reading, talking, and then every night we squish our beds together, pop some kettle corn, grab some candy, and watch movies in our PJ's as we blow our noses cuz we both have colds too :) It's been awesome! Haha I miss proselyting but it honestly hasn't been too bad.

Zone Conference
Pohnpei Sisters with Sister Beaumont, Sister Poston, and Sister Fulton

Except for Saturday. This is where the subject line comes in. We were home and doing personal study. I'm reading romans btw and Have really enjoyed learning the gospel from the bible and from paul's testimony. Now that I understand the Gospel through reading the book of mormon, I can see the True Gospel in the Bible. I can also see how it can be very confusing and easy to misunderstand the doctrine of Christ in the bible alone.

But while we were studying, our little Smoke/CO2 alarm that all missionaries have in their homes went off. We put it outside to see if it'd go off in the fresh air, but it didn't so we threw it in our freezer like all missionaries do. It shut off and we went back to studying. After a while, it started chirping again. 3 beeps every minute. It was driving sister behling CRAZY. It did it for about a half hour before Sister Behling gave up and pulled it out of the freezer. We pushed the button to silence it and it stopped, then began beeping very loudly like a fire alarm does, over and over and over. It wasn't stopping. At. All. I put ear plugs in, and since my ears were already clogged it couldn't hear the alarm too bad anyways. Sister Behling plugged her ears and we spent an hour messing with it trying not to break it, but trying to turn it off. We also tried calling our Zone leaders, district leader, ANYONE!! No one answered!! Finally we called East Zone leaders (we shoved the alarm under 3 mattresses) and they told us "you know, we actually have permission to gently destroy them." So we drowned it immediately. Pulled it out of the water after a while and it was still going off. We've just left it in the water ever since Saturday, and I don't know if it's still alive or not. Might be. But we cant hear it in the water so all is well :)

Yesterday at Church a Stake High councilman was there and just observed church. Then after it was over, he had all the auxillery and us attend a meeting and he had everyone say their needs or concerns. He then told everyone what they need to do to fix all their problems, which was just, fulfill their callings. If everyone does their job, and supports branch president, their needs will be filled. Boom, what! Yes!! I am so happy and so blessed to have a Stake on my island :)

Love you all! Hope you have a fantabulastic week and remember our savior and to love one another. You're all such good support for me and I love it :) Thank you!


Love, Sister Nicole Felt

P.S. We went to Pohnrakied today and saw this tiny tiny oh so cute adorable little pig I was dying!

Week 24 - Utensils in Thine Hands

Yesterday Sister Behling was praying, and she's pretty respectful and reverent in her prayers-because, you know, you're talking to God. We had been fasting in the 24 hour mission wide fast for Chuuk to receive 70 new Melchizedek Priesthood holders so they'd become a Stake. So we were pretty tired and a little out of it. In the prayer-which Sister Behling was taking very seriously as she should-she asked God to help us become better "utensils in thine hands". I just looked up at her, but she kept on praying. After a minute, she started laughing and just ended the prayer because she realized what she said. :D It was great.

This week was MUCH better! Holy cow, the work is easier when you realize YOU'RE not the reason everything is awful, it's actually someone else's fault *cough cough*Stake*cough*. So we were able to get some real good and fun work done! I was with Sister Milne in Kitti/Pehleng from Tuesday till Friday. Friday Behling came back and it's been great :) She went to MLC. Zone Conference is this week and Sister Behling and I get to be a part of the meeting with President Poston and the Stake President. hoowwee I'm stoked.

Our focus has shifted a little now to helping the members do the bare minimum (they figure out the rest) and then meeting and finding as many people as we can. From those people, we'll have God tell us which ones to teach so we don't waste our time teaching those who will not progress. And so we can find those who will be a strength to the branch.

Sister Nanpei is back!! That woman is Chuukese and the most sarcastic, tell it how it is, takes no crap kind of a woman :) I'm so happy she's here and not taking any crap from Branch President Route haha It's good for him ;)

Weather is warm. Yesterday stormed during testimony meeting. A big funeral in our area, so no one is home and everyone is at the iowanis house. Not good for teaching, but it's whatever. there's an 8 year old who wants to be baptized and she's come to church every week. Haha I thought she was a member! But she's not :) So we found her and talked to her mom. Turns out she was on date once upon a time too. We'll see how it all goes :)

I love you all!! Keep the faith!
Moroni 9:25-26

Sister Nicole Felt

Pic of some deer antlers in the fancy shmancy restaurant in town.
Gun's are illegal here so I don't know what that is.

Week 23 - All Men on this Island are Just Cats

The subject line is something Sister Behling said a while ago. It's true.

Monday: Christmas

"I cried when I saw the horse calendar. My heart exploded!"

 Tuesday: Call home

Taking a minute to be sad about her dog.

Wednesday: Language Day

With the Doses family

Gathered around the Sakau rock

Thursday: District Meeting & Exchange to Uh!

Trekking through the jungle with Sister Milne

Friday: Trip to Doctors office (very sketchy. Walked in through the back. Doctor just looked at my elbow at the front desk and then told me to get some drugs. wrote it on a paper. then asked for my name and info. whaaaaatt....) White Cali style beach bums told us to follow them to the resturant in town during a traffic jam. Very hilarious.

Very cool red bark on this tree.

Saturday: Service but no ones home so just threw away trash we gathered around their 'house'. Pretty sad set up actually.

Service with our machetes

Kitchen area of the home pictured above

Sunday: Funday

Celebrating New Years by burning Sister Behling's old ratty t-shirt

And drinking a bowl of Martinelli's cider

For New Years here everyone just gets drunk at 10 o'clock in the morning and hits on you. Also at night everyone just runs around screaming and hitting pots and pans and making loud noise. I'm not even exaggerating. We just went home early last night because EVERYONE was drunk.

Now it's P-day and people are still running around. But not a store in town is open. Not a one. Only one gas station was open, but thankfully it was open!

I'm gonna go now. Hope you have a happy new years! And love one another!

Love,
Sister Felt