November 15th, 2015

My Pohneian is actually getting kinda good! I can teach a basic first lesson now and understand most of the conversations to a point. I'm learning really fast now because now it's just kinda filling in little words and learning the big ones. Really being thrown into the language was a really big struggle at first but now I think it really did help just because I was forced to learn the language instead of just getting away with talking English. I'm excited to write talks and stuff in Pohnpeian and then send a copy home to you all to see what it looks like. Everyone keeps saying that I will lead my area this transfer which I'm super nervous for. Because I pretty much lead the lessons and lead most of the stuff. It will be hard at first but I know I will learn a lot. Seriously a mission is really just a big learning experience for life. All of the stuff that we didn't learn in school about life I am now learning. It's so weird to be actually teaching real people with real lives and to become such a big part of their lives so fast. I'm excited to keep in touch with my converts. Speaking of converts, we will have our first baptism this Saturday! His name is Andero and he is a super nice guy and loves his daughter so much! We are asking him tomorrow who he wants to baptize him and I could get my first baptism this week! I really do feel all of the prayers and all of the love from everyone! I know that the excitement is starting to die down about my mission at home but here the spiritual party is still going!!;) Every day we have little cool experiences with the spirit and then every week almost without fail there are really cool things that happen that are just the cherry on top. Me and my companion really do work pretty hard and are always working towards more people to teach. We consistently hit out mission standard of excellence which is something that I want to do my whole mission. Really the harder you work the more you are rewarded. We do work a lot but the work seems so easy. Because we aren't working for ourselves we are working for others. I don't know if I will hit my wall soon or what but to me missionary work is awesome. I just love being able to help people but it doesn't feel like we are preaching to them and shoving repentance down their throats. We are simply inviting them and when they finally let the spirit break down their human side they realize that they are sons and daughters of God. I've been learning so much about our relationship to God and to Jesus Christ and everything like that on my mission. But it's not that I go searching for it it just kinda happens and then it finally clicks in my mind. I've been trying to do a lot of object lessons for the people here because words sometimes just bounce right off them but if you get them to get up and do something they remember it and mention it a lot. One of the ones I've used is using a Nipe or what we call a machete. I ask them what a machete is used for and they say Meht, which means pretty much cut back the jungle or do yard work. I explain that it is an instrument to accomplish sometime, it's a tool. I then ask what is a machete made out of and they say metal. I ask where that metal came from and usually they don't know. I then explain how metal comes from rocks that are heated up a lot and put under a lot of pressure until after you heat it up and separate all the bad rock, you have metal that can be used. I tell them that after you get the metal then you pour it in to a mold. That mold gives us a basic shape but the machete isn't finished yet. After you get the basic shape then comes the refining and the sharpening. I explain that after you get it really sharp you have to keep sharpening it because it gets dull every time you use it. I then explain that that is how we are to God. When we first came to Earth we were raw metal ore. But as God put us through trials and through the hard times, we were melted down, all of the bad that is in us is separated until we are humble enough to be molded. After we admit and submit ourselves to God then comes the sharpening. Sharpening a blade is a slow process that takes a little bit of metal off at a time until you get to a fine point. Then I bring it all together and say that God can't use metal ore or a rock to cut grass or meht the jungle but He can use a machete. He needs us to constantly be sharpening ourselves and to constantly read the scriptures and to pray to sharpen our blade so He can use us. I explain it a lot better in lessons but I think you get the jist of it. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that even though sometimes we may not see why we have to go through the "refiners fire" that God has a much bigger plan for us than we can imagine. Sometimes people think that God is a god and that He is so far above us that He doesn't know us. Though he is God and is far above us, He is still our Father. He created us and He watched our Spirits grow. He knows each and every one of us and He created a life for each one of us that has the potential to make us the best that we can be. I would like to leave you all with a challenge. To every time you go through a hard situation or sometime doesn't go your way, I want you to think of something good in that situation and what God wants you to learn. Sometimes the problems we run into are meant to be problems to show us that that way isn't the right way. It's God giving us a little nudge that we need to get back on the path. As I've met all these missionaries so far on my mission I've notices that the ones who truly work the hardest and that are the best teachers, are the ones that first had to be taught. The ones that opened their ears instead of their mouths. Our Zone Leader Elder Nelson said a really good quote that I like that goes like this. "Satan once laughed at me when he saw that my head was down, until I looked up and said Amen." One thing that I really want to accomplish on my mission is to every morning when I wake up, I want Satan to think "Oh crap, he's awake" . I want Satan to be afraid of me and of the power that I have, we really don't realize the power that we have over Satan and that he can't have any power over us unless we let him. I know that God is our loving heavenly father and that He will and wants to help us. I love you all more that I can express and I know that God loves you all more than you can imagine. I hope you never feel down on yourself and if you are looking down to look up, look up to Heaven and ask for help. HE WILL HELP YOU! I know He will help you. I love you all and so does He!