Week 35 - 8 Months

Wellll.

This week I put the fear of God into some 6 year old kids. We were having a lesson with our 8 year old investigator who introduced herself to us as "Mormon". Her aunt is a member and we have lessons at her place. Her aunt has these two twin boys about 6 years old. They're absolutely insane. Throw rocks at us for fun even though we're their "friends". This week during a lesson, I had just asked Lulu (the 8 y/o) if she had read. She said no and I showed that disappointment Elder Holland askes us to show, for really the first time in my mission. I got really really serious. Lulu got real serious too and I explained to her how it is VERY important that she reads the Book of Mormon if she wants to be baptized. She nodded her head and for once, I think, really absorbed what we were saying. Then, one of the twins came up and said "look" opened his mouth to show it was full of Betelnut. "I'm chewing" and then proceeded to sassily chew in front of us (Betel nut is against the word of wisdom). normally everyone just yells at the twins and smacks them. But this time I just got real serious and just looked at him with the most "don't. you. dare." silent stare down ever. The kid froze and his jaw dropped. His eyes widened with fear and then his mom yelled at him and he ran away. Missionaries 1 Children 0 (okay, maybe more like 17 but still. We got 1!)

But the work has been improving. My leg is healed and we've had people running up to us asking us to teach them. In one lesson, a stranger joined and sat in the back. I felt impressed to invite our investigators to be baptized on April 28th. They both said they need time, but then the stranger waved her hand in the back and asked if she could ask something. She asked when that day was and if she could be baptized on that day. Haha of course!! She was just about to go to her other friend's baptism, which turned out to be the Nett Elders investigators, and said she wanted to follow them because she now knows this is the one and only true Church of Jesus Christ. Amazing!! She then asked us to come over every day or so so we could understand together and prepare her for her baptism. Later that day, we were walking around and a man came running up to us late at night. Asked us who we were and then said he has family in Salt Lake. He would love to be taught by Mormons and learn more about our church. Haha God truly is preparing souls! Not one effort is wasted in this marvelous work! I'm sure there are plenty of missionaries who, years ago, were walking around in our area preparing these people.

Also this week our car got locked into the school parking lot. New area, didn't know they locked it after 7. But we squeezed through the gate to get to our car to get our stuff, then prayed, went back and the gate was unlocked. What?!? Power of God what can I say.

We've also had lots of landslides this week. Lots of rain so lots of fun.

One area that we go to down by the dock has a lot of our teaching pool living there. But for the past couple of days, every time we go there, after about 20 minutes of being there Sister Schow and I both get very very uncomfortable and feel itching to leave! The spirit is just yucky and we don't want to be there anymore. Haven't figured out why yet. Maybe it's best we don't' ;)

God is Great! Taro is Good! Old Ladies are Crazy!

But really though, I have a lot of love for all of you back home. You have a special place in my heart and I care for you and your salvation as much as these Pohnpeians I'm serving out here. Remember who loves you most. Remember who's beckoning you back home. Remember where peace and happiness come from. Love one another and Serve God 😇

Much Love,
Sister Nicole Felt

Running out of food so I made eggs with tomato sauce
and we had ramen cooked with kool-aid. For breakfast.

Week 34 - Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight

Well. It's been an interesting week. As always.

Tuesday morning I fell down walking. I felt pretty dumb. It was a random fall. But enough to mess up my knee and we had to stay in a couple of days while I iced it and elevated it. And then when the day came we thought we could go out again, the Assistants called and told all of Pohnpei to stay in.

Thursday night, it began raining. Hard. It did not stop until Saturday night/Sunday morning. You can only imgaine the roads!! Those sewer cap things in the road were just bursting with water out of them like a fountain. Bridges were collapsing and everything was just a mess. So all the missionaries had to stay in on Saturday.

But it was okay :) Because me and Sister Schow had some cool experiences.

We were pretty depressed and let down because of rain and no appointments and broken knees and what not. But On Saturday we went out in the morning and then came in for lunch and studies and we were just done. So done. I put on my hoodie, and fuzzy socks, I was cold and hungry. So we're sitting there moping just wishing one of us would get sick so we could stay in. When it rains, people sleep. So we didn't get to talk to anyone when we did go out. So we're sitting there, really just feeling like we should not/don't want to go out again, when whaddayaknow we get a call :) Telling us to stay in. It was truly divine, and God taking care of us.

We decided if we were given this tender mercy, we'd make the best out of it we could. Sister Schow and I learned so much. We studied a lot about the Plan of Salvation and I learned a lot about Satan's plan for us. Did you know his plan was evil from the beginning? It was proposed as a method to dethrone God and take his power for himself. I had always thought it was proposed more innocently in the beginning and then grew to something evil. But understanding the nature of Satan helps me understand more about who I am as someone who chose to reject his plan and follow Jesus Christ.

I am so grateful for our savior and that we can, through Him, return to our heavnly home to live with our eternal family forever. Families are my favorite thing <3

Love you all! Hope you have a good week!!

Love, Sister Nicole Felt

The WHOLE sky was this color of orange pink purple last evening. It was AMAZING. 

Week 33 - The Black Eel and Taro

Can you guess what I've eaten this week? That's right. Black eel. The long, fat, water snake from the depths of the ocean. It actually tasted surprisingly good! Lots of meat, not a lot of bones. Tastes more like fish back home than the fish here taste like fish.

Our lovely basket of fried fish, fried banana, Taro, and the Black Eel.

We also took out a Member Present this week. Shanya. She's from Fiji and her Dad is from India. Very cute! Her whole family is very active and strong. When we dropped her back home, her Mom invited us in for dinner, we smelled strong Indian spices so of course we said yes!

They had made chicken gizzard curry and lamb stew. Both, AMAZING. Very very good authentic Indian food, with homemade tortilla/naan bread. The best part? We were in a home. A beautiful, nice, clean american house. But what really made it a home, was all coming together at the end, reading a couple scriptures, and then everyone willingly, and anxiously, gathering together to kneel in prayer. Gospel centered families and homes are so so powerful. I am forever grateful for mine.

So the member present we took out has these new neighbors. A couple and their little baby. The wife is from central america, the husband is VERY German. We met them and they were very nice. The German, Chris said his Dad's brother is the leader of the Mormon church in German or somewhere. Anywho, just the day before we met him, I was unpacking some more, and I found the random pamphlet I brought from the MTC that was in German! Crazy coincidence, eh? I totally forgot I even brought it. We'll see what happens eh?

Our district

On Saturday, it felt like a pretty darn chill summer day. Sunny and warm, and we walked down to the dock of Pohnrakied (The village of Kapingamarangi people who speak Kirinit) to do service. The people we were going to do laundry with, the local way, weren't home. So we sat in a hammock at the members house, while she sewed a handicraft, and we taught her the "saturday is a special day" Primary song for a little bit. It was quite lovely :) You may be thinking, "What? You just sat and talked in a hammock? And didn't share a gospel message? You're wasting your time as a missionary." That might be true in some aspects. But, in reality, I look at it more from the perspective of we took the time needed to show someone the love we're called to share. That's what this gospel is :) And sometimes, in the mission, you need to just take a couple extra minutes, sit down with someone, and just lovingly converse. Sometimes all people need is your time. Not your words, not your work, or your gifts, but your time. The member we sat with is an older woman who we haven't had the greatest connection with yet. But after that short 20 minute rest with her, I feel we all love each other a whole lot more! Yesterday, three of the less actives from that area came to church. and the week before, two others came. It's pretty amazing :)

The O.G. Kitti gang!

So I'm trying really really hard to learn Kirinit as fast as I can!! Kinda hard though because there are NO materials at all. I'm going to try and buy a Kirinit Bible from the Protestant pastor in Pohnrakied. Just gotta meet him this week. But that's all that's translated. Wish me luck!

I'm glad all is well back home and the gospel is alive and thriving in Wellsville! I hope you've all had a wonderful week! Love you so much!! Pet a horse for me and share the Good word of God <3

Love,
Sister Nicole Felt

Pretty sure this cat's got brain damage

Week 32 - MUTINY and Bible Bashing with a Drunk Man

This week was long and hard.
Lots of walking, lots of rain,
lots of drunkards, going insane.
People are listening, people are not.
Some day's its cold, some days it's hot.
Well life on the mission, it's good once you see,
Some blessings from God, are the good company.
Not sure what I'm doing. I've just started to rhyme.
But now, what to do? Not much rhyme's with rhyme.
This week was long and hard.

I just got a high five from my companion for that :)

Legit though, It's been an AMAZING learning experience. All through out my mission I've progressed at an accelerated rate of learning. But it's so cool to see the different ways and in the different areas I can learn. And the different variety of experiences I run into that give me chances to learn. This life time truly is such an incredibly prepared experience for us to simply learn. It sure takes us a while, but we slowly but surely get there.

When Jesus Christ compares us to sheep, he's not far off. We all have a pretty good idea of how stupid sheep are. Like, legit, one of our senior couples told us some stories of watching sheep stare at a raging river, and then after a while, just jump in and then die. Stupid. Yet all throughout history people have taken care of them and valued them and watched over them. Sheep are valuable.
Like I said, Jesus wasn't far off. We're just a bunch of idiots running around and jumping in rivers (parable with me here). But we're still so SO valuable to our Heavenly Father. It's hard to imagine why he values us when he's so perfect and all knowing. But I guess with that, he's perfectly patient too. I sometimes have a hard time dealing with ONE imperfect person. He deals with billions. All. The. Time. He loves us so much. <3

This week, there were a couple days I did NOT want to proselyte. Nu-uh. No way. Not a bone in my body wanted to get up and go back outside in the rain to maybe run into someone who might be there to have a lesson. BUT I wanted to keep the commandments to receive the blessings (literally everything we do is at least somewhat selfishly based. I swear..). So, I bucked up and got out the door. In our mission, the "Goal" or 'Standard of Excellence' is 5 New investigators every week. those of you who've been reading my emails know that in Kitti we surpassed that easily every single week. Here? Not so much. We've gotten zero or one the past few weeks. But I had enough. I told God, this week we were going to get five new investigators. I would work, and he'd better provide. So I did. I put forth my best effort and I'm proud to say I did. And guess what :) We got 8 new investigators.

All of our new Investigators have come from teaching and working with less active families. Been working with the Less Actives a lot and It's been amazing. There are actually results and signs of progress. People have stopped chewing betel nut. People have come to church. Less actives have BROUGHT investigators to church WITH them! I can see how this beautiful tapestry of the lords work is being brought into my view as I watch certain areas of the Lords Vineyard grow and flourish. Some other areas begin to die, and others stay the same. But I can see where I'm needed and I can see where others were needed in the past. This work is beautiful and so divine, I am happy to take a part in furthering the work and loving people when they need it. This work is truly a labor of love.

okay, I'll stop now :) But I do want to say that sometimes we have an attitude of "Lets fix this". But in reality, none of us can to much to really 'fix' anything. All we need to do is just love and support. And then the problems usually work themselves out. If we were really suppose to go around fixing problems, Wouldn't God already be doing that? All he does is love and support our righteous desires. I think we should do the same.

Okay, I'll really stop now. Love you all! I hope you've had a good week!

Love, Sister Felt

Pohnpei Zone at Zone Conference last week

Oh....
I forgot to tell the story of the Mutiny. Ha!

So one of our less actives is named Vicky and she's absolutly stellar. One of our Assistants, Elder Ieru, baptized her on Saipan almost a year ago. Now she's on Pohnpei and is just oh so fabulous :) Hasn't been to church in a while, but the last time she was, she went to Paliker and then found out that on her drive to Paliker she passed TWO other Mormon chapels. So she could have been going to church much closer this whole time. We visited her an she came to church a week ago.
She didn't come this week, so we stopped by to see her at her shop today on P-Day. She said she didn't come cuz her kid was sick. But she told us we needed to pray for her more. We asked why and she explained.

Her husband is from Kiribati and he's a fisherman. He's usually out to sea for 2 months and then comes back, but he's been gone for 7 months now. She just got a call from him yesterday and he's in the Marshall islands. The crew has gone a little Pirates of the Caribbean, and they've started fighting each other. There are mornings where crew members wake up and find their mates dead, assumed to be poisoned by others. Some men are just disappearing, thought to have been thrown overboard by another angry guy. Vicky's husband is the First something, Mate? I don't know. He has a title and is in charge of the crew. They haven't been happy with him and have gotten into lots of fights. So ya. We got to sit and listen to that fun story this morning :)

Also, yesterday was Sunday, and Sunday mornings all the men are drunk. We had a whole group of drunkards walk up to us, and one was trying really hard to be normal and ask if we could have a lesson sometime. I was kindly telling him "Yes of course. If you see us again, let us know and we for sure can." and then trying to walk away. Then one of his buddies comes behind him and his other friends who had walked away yell, "He's a thief! He's a thief!" The man shakes our hands and is staring at our bags trying to walk behind us. I didn't let him. He gave up and left. The whole time the first drunk is still trying to politely ask when we can have a lesson to 'tell stories' and 'learn more about the god man'. And then, the third man walks up. I haven't even talked to him yet and he yells, "pull out your bible!! Pull out your bibles NOW" oh my... "Tell me about Moses, I'll tell you WHATS UP." We didn't listen. and the first guy starts apologizing. "And what about that NOAH guy, huh?! TEll me about him!" We start to walk away "Oh ya, oh YA?! Alright... and DON'T COME BACK!" *stumble and fall down to sit on the side of the road* His friend is still apologizing. We walk away, and go to church.

The End :)