January 28, 2012

Ma chere famille,

I can't believe that Elder Santos and I are officially both in the mission

field!! Building the kingdom, shoulder to shoulder. How exciting. I hope

that you feel the blessings that the Lord has and will continue to bless

our family with as we are in the field, doing this marvelous work!

Well, this week was really good. We didn't do anything wildly exciting for

last p-day, we had a picnic on top of a mountain with a BEAUTIFUL view of

the ocean, but I didn't take any pics, sorry. But oh man, I am serving in

paradise. It is beautiful here like I have never seen before. It's the

best. Also last Monday, we found a second spider the size of my had in our

house. (I think I forgot to mention the first one.) But yah. Somehow these

larger than life spiders get into our house. And. I am the spider slayer of

the gang, because Soeur Kailiponi would be fine to just leave it there. But

not me. If it's in the house, it dies. And my killing methods? Throwing

very large books at it. Cause there's something intimidating about trying

to step on it when it's bigger than the width of your foot. It's gross.

But. on the plus side, I do not think I will ever be scared of the wimpy

bugs that we have in 'Merica, ever again.

This week also marks the end of my second transfer here in New Caledonia!

And!! I'm staying in Paita with Soeur Kailiponi for at least 6 more weeks.

So I'm pretty excited about that. We get to continue working hard and being

obedient together, so I'm excited. I also finished my first mission journal

this week. So, I'll be getting a new journal today!

Tuesday, we had my first ZTC (zone training counsel), and that was fun.

President put some new rules into affect, so there will be some changes.

But all good ones. The biggest change is that for pdays, we can only leave

our sectors to do internet and get groceries. After that, back to Paita.

(or where ever you may be serving...) hah. So, we've been asking around,

members and such, what sorts of things there are to do in Paita. The bad

news; this is usually their response. "Il n'y a rien de faire ici." There's

nothing to do here. I can't say I'm surprised, cause we're out in the

boonies. So we'll be exploring and stuff for things to do. But, in the mean

time, if someone wants to google search "things to do in Paita, New

Caledonia" for me, that may be helpful. Maybs not. But it's worth a try!

Today we're doing service for a member when we get back to chez nous, so at

least we may be able to serve and gain the confidence of the members with

this new rule! It'll be good!

Other than that, we did some more finding this week. Thursday we had some

unexpected time cause someone cancelled their lesson, so we were out and

didn't know what to do. I was "leading" all this week as part of my

training. So we said a prayer. And for some reason, these appartments in

centre ville popped inside of my head. I thought it was just a random

thought, but turns out it was the Spirit! So we went to these appartements,

not really knowing what to expect. We went to check and see if Pauline was

home. (An ancien ami), but she wasn't there. So we went to start knocking

on doors the building next door. Nothing the first 3 doors. But the 4th

door we tried, a woman answered. Her name is Varigna, and at first, she

didn't seem at all interested. She talked about how the temoins always pass

and how she usually just answers the door to say she's not interested. So,

we bore testimony and asked if we could leave her with a brochure to read.

But! before we left, we asked if we could say a prayer with her/for her,

just before leaving, and she invited us to come in. We said the prayer, and

then she asked if we wanted something to drink. So she gave us some juice,

and we started to talk. She told us about her family. She has three boys,

and was recently divorced. Also, her father died in July. The whole time, I

was thinking, this woman needs the gospel! She told us some personal stuff

too. She said that she wanted to be happy, but life is hard and she feels

like something is missing. She kept saying how we looked so happy, and how

she wanted to have that joy. And that's when Soeur Kailiponi testified that

it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that could help her more than anyone or

anything else could. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that can bring her

the joy that is on our faces and in our very souls. And she began to weep.

Guys, the gospel melts hearts. It is incredible to see; and I get to

witness it everyday. The spirit was there to testify of the truthes that

had been shared. And! We have an appointment with her for tomorrow! I'm

excited to go back.

And the subject line is something that I said to one of our amis. It means

you're crazy. And I said it to one of our Yvonne's. The one that's from

Dumbea, cause we were talking to her about her bapteme, which is scheduled

for the end of this month. But she was talking about how she's not sure if

she has a testimony. But it's so clear that she does. She goes to church

every week and she knows this gospel is true. She needs to talk to her

husband though, to make sure he's ok with it. So we may be going there this

week to eat and provide moral support when she asks him.

Well, this week was good. And next week will be even better! cause Yvonne

and Leila are getting baptized this Saturday! The 2nd. And I'm stoked!!

They both are more than ready and have such faith in Jesus Christ! And I

getta give the talk on the Holy Ghost. So that should be fun!

Well, my dear family, I love you! I hope that you are doing well! Know that

you are in my prayers! Have a good week!

L'evangile est vrai!

Love, Soeur Santos