"Now that's the mission!" Catching the wave (Vairao - week #16)

Ia ora na tatou paatoa!

Elder Pearson, Elder Tera, Elder Ball, President Bize

What a week, what a week! I have absolutely no idea where to start, since everything awesome happened. I guess I'll start with the fact that we were totally blessed to have Elder Pearson of the Seventy come to the mission to train us all. On Thursday we had a leadership meeting at President Bize's home and Elder Pearson assisted. It was funny since it was all in English. We did our normal zone reports (a little nerve wracking in front of a general authority, and it didn't help that doing it in English messes with your head) and then Elder Pearson taught us how to be good leaders and how to truly help and

Leadership Meeting

love the other missionaries in the zone. He also came by Friday and we had a mission conference, and taught us how to truly serve with all our heart, might, mind and strength. Definitely boosted our morale and pumped us up to get working. He's a truly powerful man, called of God, and it was a blessing to hear from him.

We also had an amazing experience this weekend. We had a temple trip that we've been planning for a few weeks now. A couple buses were rented to pick up investigators and their member friends for our ward and the neighboring ward Toahotu, and we went off to the temple where we had groups go into the temple garden for a tour, and other groups go into the visitors center for a small lesson from the sister missionaries. It was concluded by our stake president, and finally everyone feasted a well prepared meal. It was an absolute success! Between 40 and 50 investigators came, and the Spirit was absolutely powerful the whole way through. Some of our investigators, such as Pamela and Tuare, Karl and Arieta and Aranui were all there and were super touched. The whole thing fell into place, and it was truly a blessing to see that happen.

I'll end quickly with our experience for today. It is the middle of August in Teahupoo, and guess what that means? Billabong Pro surf competition, of course! Since such a thing would interest Elder Tera and I, we worked up the courage to ask President if we could catch a boat to go watch some of the competition. Surprisingly, he said yes! Under one condition... that we go in our missionary attire. Well, we won't complain! So we went with some other Elders, bought ourselves onto a taxi boat and headed out there to the spot. Oh man, when we arrived, you wouldn't believe the ruckus we caused. Everyone's chillin' on their boats with their shorts and tank tops and hats and bathing suits, and a boat pulls up with well-dressed men sporting black name tags. Everyone pulls out their cameras and starts taking pictures, and even the television crew on their boat pulls up to film us. Were all just laughing and waving all stoked to watch some surfing. A member pulled up in his boat and said to us, "now THAT's the mission!" We had an awesome time, the waves were so fat, its not often you see awesomeness such as that.

Found on surfingmagazine.com

We understand a little why President told us to go in our missionary attire. His goal is to make the church known to the world, and no doubt, we were well behaved in that boat, and we took every opportunity to talk to people about the message we carry. Just make sure to look in the next edition of Billabong magazine. Maybe you'll find a picture of a boat full of missionaries inside. :)

That's a little of the week. So awesome. I love you all.

Elder Ball

Pineapples (i didnt know what to put as the subject so voila) Week #15 - Vairao

Ia ora na!

Life is beautiful again here in Vairao. Finally the vacation season is about to end so people will stop leaving and doing all sorts of dumb things and get back into a gospel-learning mood. Elder Tera and I have found another new investigator named T------. She's the cousin of a ward missionary in our ward, who actually wanted to talk to us just to ask why her boyfriend on another island was being faithless going out with a member of the church. Basically it started out with her a little ticked off, asking why her boyfriend would start to leave her and what the heck was so special about our church. Happily, we started to teach about the Restoration of the church of Jesus Christ and that families can be together for ever. We gave her a Book of Mormon and told her to read it to find more answers to questions. Thankfully she started to calm down a little bit. At the end of the lesson, she said "hey, I heard your church gives blessings. How can I get one of those?" Just a question that gets missionaries excited. She happened to have a broken ankle that was in the process of healing. We gave her a sweet blessing, and before we even started the Spirit filled her room and she started to ball, seriously. At the end, without us even asking, she told us to come back again next week and keep teaching her the gospel. Whatever you want Sista!

We also had the blessing to go to the temple this week. Its always good to get an endowment session done, and receive inspiration for the work. Since the zone has been struggling to find new investigators and fix new baptisms in the past few weeks, the temple was the best moment to seek counsel from the Lord. Naturally, I had the revelation that I needed to report with the other missionaries in the zone more frequently, to help them more personally and know more thoroughly their investigators. It was a chance to evaluate myself, and I felt so motivated leaving the temple to go work my guts out. My love for the other missionaries grew as I thought about them and their hard work, same for the investigators in our ward. Man, you gotta love the temple!

Its been a real workout, but also a privilege to be a zone leader. After thinking about this privilege, I realize that it is most definitely preparing me for future callings, but more importantly it is shaping me and molding me to become like our Heavenly Father. Only in being a leader or in having any responsibility in the church can we learn to love others, make just decisions, make plans and help and guide others along the way. The Lord gives us these responsibilities for this purpose. As President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Jesus gave people truths and tasks that were matched to their capacity. He did not overwhelm them with more than they could manage, but gave them enough to stretch their souls." https://www.lds.org/liahona/2014/07/leading-like-the-savior?cid=HPMO080414376&lang=eng

I love this work, and i couldn't be happier to be a part of it, even though it is stretching the heck out of my soul. I love you all, thanks for you love and support and your prayers!

Elder Ball

Small but significant progression (Vairao - week #14)

Ia ora na tatou!

I'll be brief this week, but its been a good one! Elder Tera and I have had a lot of lessons this week, so things are starting to pick back up again after summer vacation. Were really trying to get the members going in the missionary work. Were in the process of planning a temple trip in a couple weeks that should yield much fruit. Were looking forward to exploding this sector. Some solid lessons that we've had, we've started teaching a less active member named E------ whose companion is not a member. They have a son whose a member in the Teacher's quorum whose been having a hard time coming as well. We had a solid lesson about the atonement and repentance. We cut right to the chase and invited E------to get married, and he accepted. Hes someone who wants to change his life and come back to the goodness that he once know as a child, as well as be a good example for his son. Unfortunately his wife hasn't accepted the lessons, but we'll see in the next little bit.

We had an interesting lesson with an Adventist pastor as well. He's actually the father of one of our other investigators, P------, so he was there for her lesson. Surprisingly it wasn't a typical bible bash on the Sabbath day. We started out by teaching P------ and explaining how to recognize the Holy Ghost, then the father starts telling us how he felt similar things one time, when he received the gift of healing... He told us about when he went around at the hospital one week just healing everybody with his gift that he had. My companion and I didn't really know how to respond, but we just said yes that was the Holy Ghost that he felt and the the Holy Ghost could help him know other things, like if the Book of Mormon is true, then we just taught him about that. He's a super nice guy with tons of faith. God must help his children through their faith even without the Priesthood. But next time we meet him, were ready to talk about the Sabbath.

Recently I've been struggling with the fact that a lot of our investigators progress slowly, whether it be not receiving answers to prayers or thanks to many worldly problems in their life, such as drugs, couple abuse, poverty, even crimes that have left them fairly scarred. However, these are people that want the Gospel and want to learn, and find solace in our lessons and in feeling the Spirit. Little by little their life does get better, but like I said, i struggle with the fact that its little by little and not miraculously in one week, and sometimes get impatient. Luckily I saw this video this week. http://bcove.me/0djeoayt

It made me realize that God works with his children according to their needs, little by little, according to a timing that He himself sees fit. Not always will people be able to change their life so quickly like I've seen with other investigators. But as long as they learn the Gospel and strive honestly to apply it, Heavenly Father will bless them and help them simply because He love them. But it takes patience.

That's the week! Thank you all for you love and your prayers, have yourselves a great week as well!

Elder Ball

Tera ava'e no Tiurai (Vairao - week 13)

Ia ora na!

Its been a good week yall. We've had some small successes in finding new investigators this week and some solid progression with our investigators. Aranui, the radio guy I talked about before, has been having a hard time accepting baptism because of family opposition. This week however, we learned that his family has finally accepted that he be baptized! It’s truly the answers to our prayers and surely his prayers. Since our first few lessons, he’s had powerful spiritual moments with the Book of Mormon, and he knows without a doubt that it’s the true church of Jesus Christ. He shall be baptized in August!

We also found a new investigator while we were out on the streets. We talked to him a little bit, and it turns out he had taken the lessons previously but left town for a time and just came back. His name’s Brandon. He’s a 19 year old dude whose dad is an inactive member. He told us about the first time he took a trip to the temple when he was invited for a ward activity about half a year back, and he felt the Spirit super strong when he touched the walls of the temple. We had a super solid first lesson with him, and he accepted right away the invitation to be baptized. He’s super shy, but he’s someone who has a real desire to change his life. I felt a real strong love for him while we taught him. We’re hoping things will continue well with him!

We also had a super great sacrament meeting this week when our stake president, President Tupai, came to speak about missionary work to our members and also teach the Gospel Principles class for the investigators. The Spirit was especially strong during this sacrament meeting, and the members were super motivated to work after such an experience. We had a member bring a new investigator originally from Tubuai that day, and were hoping to start the lessons with him this coming week.

I just wanted to share my thoughts about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Nothing can free us from the stinging burden of sin but the atonement itself. It is only through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can find a true happiness through his sacrifice. Alma in the Book of Mormon lived through it all as he was converted. "I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!" So many people regret or sorrow over poor decisions that they have made in their life, and they often don’t know where to find relief for that. I testify that Jesus Christ is the way to find relief, He offered himself as a sacrifice and carried the burdens of our poor decisions so that we wouldnt have to.

That’s about it for this week! Here’s some pictures of chillin at the beach in Teahupoo. Love you all, have a good week!

Elder Ball

Too busy for an email (Vairao - week #12)

Hey mom, thanks for the email. Sadly, I wont be writing a long email this week, just because we don't have much time today. We have an activity planned, and normally because of emails we don't have time to do much during Pdays so for today I'm taking a break. I hope that doesn't bother you too much! We had a good week, found some good new investigators and we'll be doing some good things in the stake to find new investigators. I love you mom!

Casey Ball

So much power in one little book part 2 (Vairao - week 11)

Ia ora na!

First week with Elder Tera was a success. He's the bomb, and its good to be the getting the languages down with the native companion. We've had some ups and downs in our area this week, but we're expecting things to improve with the coming weeks. We've been working HARD, man.

First off, there's been tons of things happening here in Vairao this weekend. For one, it's the world cup finals so everyone turns off their brain for a bit to watch the tele. For another, there were town elections, and I'm not joking politics here are like a sporting event. The elections take place Sunday, and the Saturday before is madness. Everyone goes out in the streets with their cars and huge speaker systems and parades around the city with colored flags and T-shirts representing the political group that they support. They play super loud music and honk their horns, and the different groups go into open fields and do cheers... What? Even my Tahitian companion scratches his head about this behavior. Its absolute madness, all about a town election that probably makes no difference in the outcome. Like I said in another email,, Tahitians look for excuses to party!

Its been a pain for Elder Tera and I, mostly because the work dwindles. In spite of the neighborhood family night, the sacrament meeting in which we spoke, and our Sunday night fireside that we put on this week, we didn't have much fruit, since members and amis were out doing other things. Its good to see where everyone's priorities are! We saw it coming, but that's why we pushed for so much activity in the ward for the week. We're hoping that next week will yield greater results in terms of our activities with the ward.

Like I said, we were blessed with some ups to balance out the downs! Friday we had a lot of free time, so Elder Tera and I decided to go out to Fenua Aihere to do look for some teaching opportunities. We met some cool people who are interested in the gospel. Among them is the grandmother of Elder Firuu, my old companion! She's already received the lessons, and she received us and was impressed with our Tahitian, so she wants to see us again. We expect to go even further out into the wilderness some other time to find others who are ready to receive us. Also,I  snapped a sweet photo while we were out there. It was a full moon that night, it was rad.

Full moon in the Fenua Aihere wilderness

We also had a sweet lesson with T-----. He has had a hard time believing the importance of authority in baptizing, since he was already baptized Protestant. Last week we read 3 Nephi 11 with him, and asked him to pray about the Book of Mormon and its teachings on baptism. Sunday we were able to meet with him, and in doing the follow up he said "I thought about it a little bit... I want to be rebaptized." Score! He said in the past week he's had really powerful, spiritual witnesses in reading the Book of Mormon, and he recognized the need for proper baptism. What a blessing to have after a somewhat difficult weekend!

Like I said maybe two weeks ago, the Book of Mormon is absolute power. That was actually the subject of my talk in sacrament meeting on Sunday. When the Spirit testifies to us of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, it all becomes clear what needs to be done in our life. Without the Book of Mormon, we don't have all the information that we need, despite the existence of the Bible. Its pretty clear, seeing how many churches can't agree with one another in their interpretations of the Bible. Surely God didn't want so much confusion among His children. I once again bear my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true, it is the word of God.

That's a wrap for this week! Love you all.

Elder Ball

Good changes (Vairao - week 10)

Ia ora na tatou!

This week brought a ton of new changes into the missionary life. First of all, we had a transfer happen this morning and Elder Larsen was transferred to Hitiaa, on the other side of the island. It was way tough to see him go, because for him he truly loved our ward and him and I grew pretty close. He'll boss it up over there in his new area. That means that Elder Tera will be my new companion! He's from Papeete, and he's already 22 months through his mission. I could be the one to "kill" him (meaning I'm his last companion). He's way chill, hes super into surfing and long boarding, so we get along good. It also means that for a few weeks I'll be taking the reins and leading the area, in addition to the whole zone (gulp...). Hopefully I won't utterly destroy things while leading!

We had some very special opportunities this week. Were continuing the lessons with R------ after a small stand-by, since he's been too busy to see us recently. He's doing great, he's been awesome in terms of the Word of Wisdom and he smokes rarely these days. Even without the lessons he hast ceased to pray or read the scriptures. What a stud!

He also asked us to give blessings to his parents, who also aren't members. So one day Elder Larsen and I show up to their home to do a lesson with R------. He wasn't there, but his parents were, and they asked us to give them blessings for some sicknesses that they have. This is a golden opportunity for any missionary. We gave both S-------, the mother, and M-----, the father, blessings, and the Spirit was so incredibly strong during those moments. After we finished, M----- went to go get us something to drink while S-------, with tears in her eyes, explained to us that she felt a real warm feeling while we gave the blessing. She said it was something that she felt like she needed for a long time. What an incredible blessing it was to take part in that! We feel that this family could be a huge potential. We'll be keeping close contact with them.

We also had a mission conference with our new mission president, President Bize. He truly has a different personality that President Sinjoux, but he is way awesome. He is incredibly energetic and pretty hilarious, and he has a solid testimony on the Book of Mormon, him himself being a convert to the church. He'll bring a lot to this mission, he's someone who is easy to love and very personable.

Life is good in the zone and in the area. Just trying to keep cool and love life. I love you all and have a good week!

Elder Ball