Week 36 - To The Pain

Relief Society Service

This week our investigator Mither, who approached us last week and told us she needs us to come over everyday to teach her, was finally established as OUR investigator. Here's the story.

So last week, when we contacted her, she had gone and had a couple lessons with the Elders in Paliker (there are two chapels between her house and paliker, and three sets of missionaries). Paliker has some recent converts who live in our area, but they're in paliker everyday so they were baptized into that ward. Mither is their friend, so she went with them to a couple lessons. She felt the spirit and wanted to be baptized. Shortly after she saw us, she had a lessons with the Paliker elders and they put her on date to be baptized into their ward. This is where the "To the Pain" comes in. 

When we called Paliker to get on the same page with them about this investigator of ours, and they said she was going to be baptized in their ward, oooohhhhhh boy I was LIVID. This woman, who does not own a car, has family and friends she's ALREADY begun fellowshipping, and who lives a 10 minute walk away from our churchouse, was OUR investigator, and she needed to be baptized in our ward. I was ready to FIIIGHTT. I just udahn sto perenki Elders mehn Paliker akei pahk. Mwaing I kak wewehki ahpw dahme ira anahne pirapki naht investigator?!? gah!

But. It's okay. Because I know that anger and anxiety are just not godly things that we need to feel. So I poured out my soul in prayer and then devoured the scriptures, Full faith God was going to teach me. And he did :) Alma 42:26 isn't a scripture of real significance doctrinally, but it touched my soul. It reads "And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world." I felt so much peace just remembering, God has EVERYTHING prepared. Everything. If we really had faith in that, if we really knew that, we would never worry or ever be anxious, and never be angry. I had so much peace brought to my soul, which was then validated that night when Mither asked us if she's allowed to be baptized in Pahnasan ward :) (our ward) Even though she's been taught by Paliker Elders. It was a really cool opportunity to testify of and witness the truthfullness of the gospel, as it is the same. No matter where you go. Paliker to Pahnasang, Pohnpei to Yap, Yap to Utah. It's always the same :)

My new skirt. Thanks, Grandma!

So Mither has been amazing. We went to go see her on Saturday and brought Bishop Edward and his wife with us. We showed up to the house (which honestly looks like a disney tarzan house but pirates of the carribean style. kinda taking place in that time period/those sort of buildings) and she had pulled out her old couch and covered it with a white sheet, then put out a table and covered it with white lace, almost similar to the sacrament table lace. Then set up chairs all around for everyone to sit and sarawi (lesson/holy) together :) I've always only had lessons sitting on rocks or the ground or outside in a naus and what not. Mither just showed us so much respect! then her 80 y/o Dad put on his oversized blue suit coat, and his long grey suit pants to join the lesson too. This woman is amazing!! She came to church yesterday with us and can't wait to be baptized April 14. She's 51 years old.

No one usually prepares to treat us with this much respect, but I just thought as we received this huge amount of respect and service, Jesus Christ received this much respect and more. And he humbly accepted it and let people serve him. As representatives of Christ, we should do the same. Humbly accepting it because it's appropriate.

The coconut garden wall we made for relief society service. It's made out of coconut husks.

One of the relief society ladies helping with service.

So to answer your question, Mom, prosetlying is pretty normal I think? I don't know. We just walk around to our appointments and investigators, and if we see people we talk to them. People are pretty nice and open. If we talk to them and the subject of religion comes up, everyone usually says "Oh yes, and it's all one God so all same, right?" No. ugh. I'm working on my response to that. In fact last night we had some investigators who we were teaching and I kept saying "you will know these things are true" and they'd say "we know already, we beleive it. it's true. but we also beleive all other churches." I'm fed up with people beleiving all other churches (cuz I'm impatient and human) so I just kept saying "you'll know these things are true" untill finally, the woman said "I know, and I want to be baptized. But I beleive all are true because if they're not then my parents wont make it into heaven, right? Or wait... what happens after we die? What about those who aren't baptized like I want to be" Hahaha I had just a *Lightbulb* *pay attention sister felt!* Moment :) 

But people don't usually stick around to one place, so honestly the most difficult thing is keeping track of your investigators. Everyone just kind of lives everywhere. So there's a little bit of missionaries picking up other missionaries investigators because they chill out in their area for a while. Kolonia is especially like that, because it's the town, the main center, of Pohnpei. Everyone comes here for food and things they need. 

Finding investigators usually involves just walking up to an area where all the houses are and just saying hello to everyone, walking into their property. Which I am still not comfortable with, but it's totally normal here. And then we say we're missionaries and we teach people. We want to teach them and help them grow their faith. They're usually like "yes yes, of course, Jesus is great, same God, we love Jesus, sure you can come back, anytime" Weather they mean it or not. So we set up a time to come back and then after a couple lessons and baptismal invitations we weed out the serious ones from the not so open hearted ones. 

We haven't done much today. Just cleaning and finding computers to email at. Church didn't have power so it was back to the library we went! People tell me I'm fluent now so thats cool even though clearly I'm not. That's about it. I'll talk to you next week! I love you all!!

It's been good real fun :) Happy easter y'all!

My Easter Eggs!