Ey bonjour!! So this week has been quite exciting. President came to town! Which, here, only happens once every 3 months. For most missions, the mission president is there all the time, in the mission, amongst the missionaries, but for Elder Santos and I it's a bit different. And I dunno how his mission does it, but that's how we do it here. President Brewer lives in Port Vila, on another island, in another country, a thousand miles away. So! It was quite exciting. Also, because we, my district, got to spend quite a bit of time with him for this visit. Soeur Kailiponi got to drive him around, translate for him, take him to lunch at Bishop's house, our lessons, etc. It was great! I LOVE President and Soeur Brewer sooo much! And I wish that they could be here all the time. But more on that later...
Last pday we went up North en district to La Foa. And hiked a bit to this waterfall place. It was great! And beautiful. The first picture is Soeur Kailiponi and I. With the wild orchids? That we found by the falls. They smelled sooo good. And the second pic's my district!! (L-R: Elder Wilson, who's actually going to Lifou soon, so he's just been bouncing back and forth between the Elders of Tontouta and Dumbea til he gets to leave. Which will be next week. Elder Decaires-my district leader, Soeur Kailiponi-my sweeeeeeeeet comp, Elder Finau-who got here the transfer before Soeur Kailiponi and 2 before me, Elder Shumate-Soeur K's bro, I knew him in the MTC, Elder Dawdy-who got here the transfer after me, pup knows him too, and me!) So yah. Our district's SUPER young. Once Elder Wilson leaves Elder Decaires will be the only one that's been in the field for more than 6 months. But they're great! I love these people. And Kalei!! I think of you a lot when I'm with them, cause Elder Decaires is CRAZY talented at the guitar. Like, it's ioncredible. And Elder Finau can play too, he likes singing though. But yah, they'll have jam seshs every once in a while on pday. It's fun! Oh. And on a side note, I've figured out the begining of Bach's Prelude in G on guitar. hah. I'll let you know when I finish that...
But yah, the week was good. We did some cleaning too, cause President came and inspected all the houses when he got here on Wednesday. And I got to throw away a lot of clutter, which was nice. I think I used to be a packrat... But ever since this summer, when I legit got rid of 3/4s of my stuff, I get a weird thrill out of throwing everything in sight away... hah. And Wednesday is when President got here. He came to our apartment in Paita Wednesday morning and we talked for a bit. And he was like, "Now this companionship's a little bit odd, because we put two new American missionaries together... how's that going?" hah. Soeur Kailiponi and I just started laughing. Cause it's true. We have little to no knowledge of this work, the people here, the language, etc. But. We told him it's going well. Cause we're working hard and we're being obedient! So that was our first encounter with President and Soeur Brewer this week.
And then zone conference! It was Friday. And it was wonderful. I LOVE THIS WORK. And I'm so glad that this conference happened. I learned lots. And it kinda set a fire under me. I want to work harder and I want to be better. I want to find my brothers and sisters that want to learn this gospel! President talked about how we're like the armies of Helaman. We are here in the field, trying to do this work that is way bigger than us. We have been taught of goodly parents though, where we can find our strength. And if we remember that and work hard and have charity for those around us and are obedient avec exactitude (Alma 57:21), we will be blessed, and we will be able to do this work. He also talked about the nex missionaries, and how they're coming. And how the biggest job in this mission will be training. All the new missionaries, myself included, got to bear our testimonies for this conference, and he said that we the new missionaries would be training, and soon. So that kinda freaked me out but mostly just gave me motivation to work harder, speak more french, etc. It was a good day. We had our interviews with president too, and mine was about 2 minutes long. He basically just said, I just talked to your companion, you've greatly affected her and the people in your area, we'd love to keep you together for awhile, but we'll need you both as trainers, so we'll have to split you up for that. But keep doing what you're doing." Asked if I had any questions, and that was that. hah.
And then the only other day I really wanna focus on was yesterday. Cause we got to be with President and Soeur Brewer all day yesterday, and it was the BEST!! I love them. So much. They are fantastic. And President Brewer is a man of God. You can literally FEEL his presence when he is in the room. I don't exactly know how to describe it, but it's incredible. He's tiny. I've got at least a few inches on him, and he is skinny, but he is incredible. And he holds the keys to direct this work on New Caledonia. He spoke in church during sacrament and Soeur Brewer bore her testimony in french! which was super cute. Neither of them speak french really, but President Guidi (president de pieu) translated for him. But the real miracle happened the third hour of church, when he met and talked to our ami de l'eglise, Yvonne. Yvonne is AMAZING. She has wanted to get baptized for awhile now, but she has been living in the same house with Robert. They have not had any relations for about 20 years now, they just stayed in the same house because its in their name and they are too poor to get a new house. We've been trying to figure out a solution, which has recently included her somehow moving out, even though she has no money. And nowhere to go. But, she is the most faithful person I know, and she has such a desire to be baptized. So, president talked to her yesterday (Soeur Kailiponi translated.) And President talked to her for awhile saying how he was so glad to meet her cause he'd heard so much about her. And he said that he'd heard about her faithfulness and honor from Bishop and from the Stake President here. He said that he could tell the faith that she had and the desire that she had to be baptized. And so, he said, "I'd like to invite you to be baptized." At which point Soeur Kailiponi and I, and Yvonne after Soeur Kailiponi translated, basically just lost it. The Spirit was strong. And I know that President directs this work here and knows what he is doing. After church, we had an interview that we translated for President too. With a 30 year old women that wanted to know if she could serve a mission. He said yes and then shared a story about how sisters even if they are a bit older, have such a great impact on this work. So she's going! Starting her papes next Sunday. I can't exactly describe the feelings that were in both of those interviews. They were incredible.
We then went to Bishop Duperont's house for lunch with President, Soeur Kailiponi translated for most of it, but I gotta do some there too! Which was fun. I love translating! It's the best! But yah, that was the first time I've eaten at like a legit Frenchie's house. The food was beautiful! And in 3 courses. hah. I loved it. And it was nice and light. I didn't eat too much. But yah, that was fun. Translating, eating, all that jazz. And then we went to our lesson with President and Soeur Brewer to Tipanier and Asine. They are getting married in mid February and we're teaching them both. Tipanier has a testimony, and we just started teaching Asine, so he's been praying to find out. But they're great. And it was a really good lesson, and President shared some things too. The spirit. When he is in the room. Man! I can't explain it. I have so much love and respect for him and Soeur Brewer! They are the best. And after that we drove them to the airport so that they could go back to Vanuatu :( Even though we wanted to keep them forever. It was a good week. A good Sabbath. I'm sooo happy! I was DRAINED last night. Like spiritually drained. Like you know that scripture at the end of 1 Nephi 17 I think. That's how I felt last night. But it was good.
So yah! We now have 3 amis with baptismal dates. Yvonne, Leila, (her daughter, who actually doesn't need to be baptized cause she's handicapped, but in order to be sealed in the temple she needs to be baptized,), and Yvonne of Dumbea. I'm sooo stoked! The work is moving forward. This is the Lord's work. And I am sooo happy to be here. To be a servant of the Lord, to wear my name and His EVERYDAY. I never want to not be a missionary. But it's already going by too fast, so I shall continue working chaque jour, til I'm past the point of wanting to keel over!!
Well family, I love you so much! I pray for Heavenly Father to take care of you everyday, multiple times a day. So I know that He will. Thanks for your love and support and prayers! I can feel them on this side of the ocean. Really. Love you all!! Elder Santos!! I'm STOKED you're there!! Les Antilles!! Tear it up. Work hard, be obedient. LOVE the people. And don't worry if it's hard at first, keep the faith! LOVE you. I'm so glad to be serving with you!
Love you all!
L'evangile est vrai!
Love, Soeur Santos
p.s. the last pic is the zone after conference. The best! I'm in yellow.
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