This missionary's about to get famous (Tavararo week #8)

Ia ora na tatou!

What a week. Probably our best so far.

I’ll start out by saying that yes, I’m gonna be famous. Several other missionaries and I have been chosen to be in a church film about the beginnings of missionary work in Tahiti. On Friday and Saturday we spent time out on the beach doing some sweet film shoots. We get to dress up in ridiculous 1850s outfits and act as some of the first missionaries. We get to do cool manly stuff like build a boat and carry heavy bags and preach the gospel to people. We even got to go in the water a little bit, which was super sweet. A couple other elders got to do some baptism scenes in a river which was cool too. All in all, people are gonna be turning heads every time I walk by, "Hey you were in that movie!" Tahiti's next celebrity.

But not really. The film is gonna be used for missionary work mostly, to teach people about the beginning of the church here and kind of attract people to the church in that way. It really is a cool experience, and pretty low budget but hey what do you expect when it’s us as the actors? Definitely a fun time and I’m kinda excited about how that's gonna turn out.

As for the work we did (yeah sorry it wasn’t all playing around on the beach this week) it’s been the busiest so far! We had so many lessons this week its nuts. We've been going on splits with the members a lot to be able to fit in all these lessons. Among the lessons that we've had, a great one was with Hendrick and his family, one of the families that President invites to his home for family night often. At the end of the lesson, Hendrick said that they've discussed as a family, and they have decided that they all want to get sealed in the temple. Now if that isn’t music to a missionary's ears, nothing is. They all want to get baptised together, and soon we'll figure out a date for them. There's 7 people in that family. They really are a miraculous family. If they are baptized, i have a feeling that most of the neighborhood will follow. The neighborhood would be rid of drugs and alcohol, which would definitely be one of the coolest things ever.

On Sunday we had a sacrament meeting based on the theme of missionary work. So of course, Elder Twede, our DMP Diego, and I gave talks. It was definitely a blessing to have the opportunity to speak to all the members of the ward. We talked about the imortance of Preach My Gospel for every member of the church in doing missionary work, and we committed everyone to start reading it and applying the teachings inside. That is a book that, if everyone read it, would unite members and missionaries in the work forever. So, in addition to the scriptures, read it, all of you! Your life will be blessed if you do just that.

As the days go by here in Tavararo, the amount of criminal activity never ceases to amaze me. Every day we pass by seriously conspicuous drug deals in broad daylight. It's pretty funny, when we pass on our bikes the dealers start to freak out a little because at first they think we're the police, then they see that it's just us and wave to us. On our way to one lesson, we were passing in an alleyway behind a store where there was a huge group of people gambling for marijuana. They started to get scared at first, but then continued playing when they saw that it was us. After the lesson, we pass by the same alleyway and there’s a ton of cops searching the area and some dudes laying on the ground in handcuffs. Busted. The druggy lifestyle here really is pretty sad, because kids start getting into that stuff at like 12 years old. Simply put, they all need the gospel!

Thats about it for this week. To finish I’d just like to bear my testimony about the fact that we are all children of our Heavenly Father. This week I've thought a lot about that and who I really am, what I’m really worth, and our life before this one. I feel so much peace to know that I chose God's plan to come here to Earth, despite the knowledge that this life wouldn't be easy. Thanks to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, now I know what needs to be done in this life to return to God's presence. Unfortunately, there are so many other children of God who have chosen to come here, but have no idea how to return to him. But thankfully, the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know. Let each and every member reach out to their neighbor and share this knowledge that could save their life. "The worth of souls is great in the sight of God." (D&C 18:10).

I love you all, and have an awesome week!

Elder Ball

http://mormon.org

He lives! (Tavararo week #7)

Ia ora na tatou!

Its been a fantastic week this week for Elder Twede and I, very tiring indeed, but we have had some great teaching experiences, as well as some not-so-great... thats the mission right?

Last Monday we had a family night at Y--- and H-----'s home. Im so stoked for the day when Y--- becomes fully active, cuz he'll be a powerhouse in the missionary work. For the family night he invited a couple nonmember friends to come! It was a good family night and the spirit was strong, but sadly one of the friends wasn't to open to our message. The other accepted, but he lives outside of our area. It was a good family night, and  we were way impressed by Y---'s desire to share the gospel already. I love those people.

Tuesday we had another good lesson with H---. This lesson she was way open and talked so much more than she had before, and she said that she knows that this is the true church. So we committed her for baptism for the 31 May, and she said shell pray about it and tell us next week. We're really praying for her so that she can accept this date, because we know its whats best for her! 

Later that day we started the lessons with a new investigator named M---. His story is interesting. He does canoe racing, and in November he took part in the annual races that go from island to island. When he was on the island of Tahaa during the races, he actually took the lessons from Elder Twede and agreed to be baptised. Sadly, after the races ended, he returned to Tahiti and never got in contact with the other missionaries. But, the good news is, we found him last week! It was certainly an answer to Elder Twede's prayers. M--- still wants to change his life and follow Christ. It wasn't coincidence that we crossed paths!

Wednesday night was another great lesson with M---- and her kids. The lesson went very well, and we committed them for baptism like we planned. M---- said that she wasn't sure yet because her husband hasn't been present for the lessons and she would like him to follow her. But her son, K------, agreed to be baptized June 7th! We're hoping that the rest of the family will be able to follow on this day as well. The Spirit is truly working with this family.

After we had our lesson with Y--- and H-----. Sadly they refused to go with May 24th for their baptism. Their family wont be able to make it down in time for their wedding, so they said they'll agree for a date in July, maybe August. When you look at it, July or August is perfectly logical to plan a wedding but for a missionary, waiting that long is an eternity! We asked them to pray more about it, and we'll do a fast here soon to figure out a good date.

Thursday, I participated in probably my first bible bash. We taught this family who was a reference from a member, so we went with the member to visit them. We weren't quite expecting the teach a Sanito, a member from that Reformed Latter-day Saint church. This investigator was a deacon... and she was tough. The whole time she was arguing why women can have the priesthood, with no biblical reference. She was starting to get a little angry, screaming in Tahitian and spitting all over the place. We weren't getting anywhere so we called it quits and thanked her for accepting us. Wasn't really what we had in mind, but for the future i think ill avoid the bible bashing idea. The Holy Ghost ain't there. (And for those who want to understand why God gave only men the priesthood, I'd like to refer you to Dallin H. Oaks' talk during the Priesthood session of the recent General Conference.)

Those are perhaps the highlights of the week. We've had a lot of blessings and miracles occur, and I know its because of obedience. When Elder Twede and I strive to be exactly obedient to the mission rules and the commandments, that's when we succeed.

Spiritual thought, since its Easter! Just a verse from the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi that explains the importance of Christ's atonement and resurrection. "Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, ^asave it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who ^blayeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the ^cresurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise." I know that Jesus Christ lives. He was crucified for our sins, and on the third day he did rise again. Thanks to his sacrifice and resurrection, we can one day be resurrected and live with our Heavenly Father again.

Voila la semaine derniere! Je vous aime, et je vous souhaite une bonne semaine!

Elder Ball

When teachers become students (Tavararo week #6)

Bonjour tout le monde!

Life still continues to roll on in Tavararo. We've had some good experiences with our investigators this week with lots of potential building up. I feel like all of our investigators are progressing at the same rate, so in the end all these investigators will be baptized at once and things will just explode here. Potential.

I’ll start off with Y---and H-----. We taught em an awesome lesson on the Law of Chastity and marriage and things were just going awesome, the Spirit was there and they agreed with what we taught. This was the lesson when we wanted to commit them for a date for marriage and a baptism date for H-----. We originally planned to commit for May 17th, but right before the lesson both Elder Twede and I felt we needed to push it back for the 24th. So we taught, and then proposed the date, and they looked at each other surprised. It was a good thing that we chose to push the date back, because the 24th happens to be Y---'s birthday, and just two days before H----'s birthday. They were impressed that that was the day that they needed to get married and for H----- to be baptized. They agreed, and they said that they will pray to know if that's what really needs to be done. Coincidence? Don't think so. So cool!

We also had another good lesson with M----. She's really been profiting from these family nights at President Sinjoux's home and getting a lot of chances to feel the Spirit. We taught a short and sweet lesson on Christ's mortal ministry, and at the end we asked her if she had any other thoughts or questions, and she thanked us for the lessons and explained that she wanted to learn so much more and that she felt that this was true. She then said "I know Jesus Christ exists." Now if you remember from my last email, I said that this was a woman who didn't believe in God, and now shes testifying that Jesus lives. Needless to say, we committed her for baptism and she said yes. Such a blessing to be able to help her follow the Spirit, and such a blessing to just have the Spirit working in her.

One last experience before I end, we were teaching a new investigator named T---- about the Restoration. He didn't really believe in the story of Joseph Smith or the first vision, so we asked him to pray about it. We taught him the way to pray sincerely to our Heavenly Father, and he was stoked about it. He said "you mean its not just repetitions every time I pray? Awesome, its like talking with God, talking with a real person." Then he says, "We shouldn't pray because we have to, but because we want to." Words of gold from an investigator’s mouth. That taught me a lot, because it gave me a chance to reflect and think "am I praying because I want to, or because I have to?" I found out that sometimes my prayers are pretty half-baked, sometimes lacking in sincerity because of tiredness. Gave me a good kick in the pants to strengthen my prayers a little bit. It was a nice friendly reminder.

It was a good week, and I’m looking forward to another! Love you all, until next time!

Elder Ball

http://mormon.org

What day is it today? (Tavararo week #5)

Ia ora na tatou!

Yet another week in the ghetto, and it just keeps getting busier. Life is definitely good, but when you work so hard every day you kinda start to lose track of where you are. The only reason why I knew what day of the week it was during the week was the fact that we were counting down to general conference (which was most bodacious, by the way). You just start to go with the flow after a while, let the Spirit push you where he wants.

Tuesday night we had yet another family night at President Sinjoux's home. This time he invited the brother of H---- (the guy who was there last time) named M--- and his family. And again, it was another fantastic family night and M--- liked it a lot, so we fixed a lesson for the next day! So Wednesday we arrive, and we find out that M--- went out to drink after work, so we ended up teaching his wife and daughter-in-law (whose names I cant remember right now, I know I'm awful). Anyway it was a good lesson, because M---'s wife really believes in science and evolution and, frankly, has a hard time believing that there is a God. This was the first time in Tahiti that I've taught someone like this since almost everyone is Christian, so it was a great teaching moment to just testify of God's love for us and that he most certainly exists. We kind of started to talk about how science was created by God, and how its sort of the blueprint of how he created the world. It was super interesting to talk about how religion and science most definitely can go together and there are still lots of unsolved mysteries. She accepted our message and felt the Spirit. I'm looking forward to more lessons with this family!

Wednesday night we also had another lesson with I--- and H--- about the Book of Mormon. I just want to say that I love teaching about the Book of Mormon, because it's something that's changed my life and let me feel the love of God. While teaching this lesson I realize more and more how important this book is for the world and without it there would be no fullness of the gospel still lots of questions unanswered. I know that book is true, because the feeling acquired while reading it is like none other, and I have asked of God if its true and he has answered. I'm so excited for when H---- will have the chance to be reading it for the first time.

I honestly have a hard time remembering everything that has happened this week, so I think I'll keep it short and finish with a thought I had about general conference. We were able to go at a nice and early 6 am to watch all the sessions. One that I loved was Elder Russell M. Nelson from Saturday afternoon. He talked about how 'religion' means 'tie back to God', and how we must have faith, or rather tie our faith to our Heavenly Father. The question then arises, what do we tie our faith to in our life? The correct answer is God, and only God, because he's, well, God. There are times when we are swayed by public opinion or popularity that go against God's laws. No matter what the popular choice is, we must always stick with God's commandments, and have faith in his guidelines and standards rather than the world's. He's our Father, and He knows whats best.

That's it for this week! We're always excited to continue teaching our investigators toward making eternal promises with Heavenly Father.

Love you all!
Elder Ball
http://mormon.org
Free Book of Mormon: http://www.mormon.org/free-book-of-mormon

Blessings, but whats new? (Tavararo week #4)

Ia ora na tatou pauroa i teie mahana nehenehe!

Elder Twede and I have just had perhaps the busiest week in our mission. And it'll probably just get busier. Its been a lot of biking, planning, splits with the members, teaching, and of course, a lot of Spirit.

Sunset view over Moorea from our house

First of all, the baptism with Nadine was excellent! This whole week leading up to the baptism, Satan's been doing a good job of poking and prodding her, and people in her neighborhood have been giving her a hard time about her decision. But Nadine is seriously awesome and since she has a testimony none of that stuff mattered to her and of course, she persevered up until the baptism. It was an awesome experience for her and her inactive husband, who was super touched by the Spirit. This was a woman who was prepared by the Lord to enter into the fold. She was ready since the day we found her. We're happy for her, and she'll be a great help to the ward as well.

Me chillin on a wall

Apart from that, I would like to talk about the two investigators that kinda fell into our laps last week. We had a great lesson with Hélene, the woman who came to church last week. She lives with two other inactive woman named Morehu and Stéphanie. It was an amazing lesson because Morehu and Stéphanie felt the Spirit and remembered the importance of the gospel in their lives and how God really does love them. Morehu then bore powerful testimony of how she still knows that these things are true and are a true help for the family, and Hélene began to tear up and say that that is what she truly wants for her family. It was a powerful moment, and these two inactive sisters will play a huge role in the conversion of Hélene, as well as their own conversion. Were gonna have a family night with them tonight and a lesson tomorrow morning. Things will be great with them.

Nice rainbow view from our house

And then there's Ioan and Heimiti. Words cannot describe how much I love this couple. Ioan is one of the nicest, chillest dudes I've ever met, and Heimiti is already so in tune to the Holy Ghost that its insane. We taught them the Restoration of the gospel this week. This was a lesson in which we taught simply, clearly and with the Spirit like never before. After teaching this message, we asked Ioan if hes getting all this. He says to us, "Honestly, I've been a member my whole life and I never understood what that means to have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ... now I understand. God truly loves his children." Heimiti said that she felt that what we were saying was true, and that the Holy Ghost was truly testifying to her. So we committed her to baptism, and she said yes! This week, our plan is to talk a little more about marriage, and we hope to fix a date for their baptism and marriage. Such humble people who want to follow the Lord.

Passin a little bit of free time with some amis

I'm actually out of time to say much else. I just want to bear my testimony on the importance of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet, and that God still speaks to his children today. The Church that Jesus Christ himself established is now on the earth.

Love you all, until next week!

Elder Ball

Our District!

Like workin in a gold mine (Tavararo week #3)

Ia ora na tatou!

Another quick, hardworking week for me and Elder Twede here in Tavararo. Time is flying by super fast, it's nuts! Just another month and I'll have been out for a year already. Still feel like a newbie inside.

This week was a pretty solid week. Honestly, this area is just about the equivalent of a gold mine. There are seriously so many people who are down to take the lessons with us. This week we've had two cases where investigators have come up to us asking for lessons. One was just yesterday at church, a woman named H--- who's son was baptized not too long ago. She said she was interested so she came to church yesterday, we met her and introduced her to the Relief Society president, and made an appointment with her for later this week. She says shes not yet sure if she wants to be baptized, but we'll see if she says that again after feeling the Spirit! Shes nice and sincere, we'll see how it goes down.

The other case was while Elder Twede and I were eating lunch Tuesday. We decided to eat lunch at a nice bakery, a little more expensive than we like but we decided to change it up a little bit. Its a good thing we did eat there because not too long after buying our food, this pickup rolls up to us and a guy inside yells out "Hey, you guys the missionaries? I've been looking for you forever!" We then talk to the guy, his name is I--- and hes an inactive member. Hes a pretty young police officer who said that a while ago he called for the missionaries and fixed an appointment, but they never came. Hes been feeling that he needs to come back into the church because he and his nonmember girlfriend want the gospel principles in their home. So later during the week, we visited their home and met his girlfriend H----. She and I--- live together and have recently had a baby. Together they said that they need the gospel in their lives to raise their family, and they realize that they need to get married as well. Its too bad because we were seriously short on time that day so we couldn't stay too long, so we shared a message and fixed another day when we could come. We could see that this family is well prepared by the Lord, and its such a blessing to be a part of this change that they want to make. I'm definitely excited to work with them, really cool and humble people!

In spite of the new investigators we've had, we've also had plenty or lessons cancelled on us this week... That is the worst! We always have a good backup plan to go visit a member or find new areas to do contacting. But still, we'd really like to see our new investigators start to progress. There's just not much you can do when people use their free agency!

Baptism is still good for Nadine! She had her interview and it was good, so it'll be happening on Saturday. Ill be giving one of the talks, and I'm excited for it. All in all we are super happy for Nadine's decision, and were looking forward to this experience!

Just thought Id share a nice experience that I had this week too. I'm pretty sure that in an earlier email I mentioned crazy dreadlocked dudes who pretend to have visions. Yeah, this week we were heading out to the store with the zone leaders to get some lunch, and as we passed I saw the dude with the tattooed face and dreadlocks, and I was like "man, id like to get a picture with him!" But we passed and went into the store to buy our food. When we came out, sure enough there's the dreadlocked guy waiting our by our car, and when he sees us he looks up into the sky and starts having visions. At least that's what it looks like. Elder Twede just says "keep walking, keep walking" and when we get to our car, he says to bow down to him because hes king Leroy, then he says other stuff that I actually didn't understand very well. I was impressed. The dude is pretty huge, tattooed from head to toe with a nice beard to add to that. Sadly, I didn't get my picture with him because I could feel the Spirit saying "get in the dang car and go" so we got outta there pretty quickly. Very strange guy, king Leroy. Just one instance of life in Tavararo.

With that, ill end with a little spiritual thought. I've started over the Book of Mormon once again, and I've been trying extra hard to apply everything that I read into my life, and how what I read every morning relates to what's happening to me during the week. I read 1 Nephi 7, when Nephi's brothers start to complain again for their problems and circumstances, when Nephi says in verse 11 and 12, "How is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us?... Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all ^athings according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise ^bfaith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him." Because of our lessons cancelled, I've found myself complaining and murmuring from time to time. And sadly, when I read this scripture, I definitely felt like Nephi was chastising me a little bit. The Lord is honestly blessing us in so many ways, there are miracles all around us. So why the heck should I be complaining? Sometimes life is tough. In fact, life is always tough! But we cant let the bad things get us down, when we can be grateful for the good things the Lord has given us and that he can give us even more if we are faithful and don't complain. Simply put, don't complain!

That's it for this week. Love you all, and a faaitoito!

Elder Ball

Bring on the blessings (Tavararo week #2)

Ia ora na tatou!

My first official week in the new area is finished. And I can say that this is already my favorite area so far. Tavararo is the absolute bomb! Elder Twede and I have totally rocked it this week, with 8 new investigators through member coordination and a fixed baptism, despite a case of zika (yep, I finally got it, but that didn’t stop me). The members here are too awesome; seriously I've never seen so many members, not just including the ward mission leader and the bishop, in a ward who love to do missionary work like here in Tavararo! Not to mention there are just opportunities to serve everywhere, with so many people around.

With that, I’ll talk about our baptism that’ll be coming up May 29th. Her name is N----, and there is no question that she is and has been ready for baptism for a while now. All that is missing is a little more knowledge concerning the gospel, but her testimony is already super strong and her desire to follow Christ is simply awesome. We thought that the 29th of May would be the best day for her, so she agreed to that day, and all we got to do know is keep following up with her to encourage her and so forth. We're stoked for that day, and especially her decision to be baptized.

One of the greatest moments and blessings that we have had this week was the chance to have a family night at President Sinjoux's home Tuesday night. Among the guests there was a family of four who are good friends of President, who live in our area. So President invited us to come participate. The Spirit was incredibly strong, naturally since it was President Sinjoux who gave the brief lesson on the Restoration. This family was truly touched, and we had the chance to go teach them again Saturday. This family is H------, his two kids M--- and R---, and his son in law M---. It was awesome when we arrived on Saturday at their home. They just got back from the distribution center and had bought scriptures and True to the Faith and other posters of temples. Needless to say, they’re pretty enthusiastic about what they’ve learned so far. We expect good things with this family!

There really are too many things that happened this week; I’m not really sure what to talk about!

I guess I would like to share just some moments we don’t expect to normally have. Tuesday, we are out riding our bikes to another appointment by the airport, and we see two super blonde chicks with suitcases, totally lost on the sidewalk. Elder Twede and I kind of look at each other, wondering if they need help, when they call out to us saying that they need help. Welp, we went over and talked to them, turns out that they’re from Norway and speak English, and they can’t find their way up to the airport hotel which is just up the hill. So we take their suitcases and walk with them a little bit, getting a chance to introduce ourselves and talk about what we the missionaries do. Then a member in our ward pulls up and offers to take the girls up to the hotel, and just as they leave I say "Hey if you ever get a chance to talk to the missionaries like us talk to em cuz they’re awesome!" but it was just too late and they were gone. Well, it was a good service opportunity and I hope they’ll remember the two weird guys in white shirts and ties who helped em out! Not often you see girls like that in the neighborhood either.

Later that day, we had the chance to go up in a higher neighborhood and knock on some doors. We came upon an older guy named C----- who is Catholic and is a total stud. He can only speak Tahitian and English, French is a no go. He lived for some years in America, so he manages to understand and speak some English still. With that, he was impressed with our ability to speak Tahitian so he let us in. Turns out that he’s got a piano up in his house! He let me and Elder Twede play a little bit, and he was all the more impressed. After that we just talked a little and shared a small message, and he said that what we do is just fantastic and that he would love to have us over again for a lesson. It was an awesome contact experience and a great find, we'll see what will happen with him! Good chance to use our talents to help others come unto Christ.

These are just some of the experiences that we have had this week, that have been spiritually edifying and really good chances to serve and bless the lives of others. I am really, really, really thankful to my Father in Heaven for these blessings that he has given me and Elder Twede. This area is full of potential, and the field certainly is white and ready to harvest. Already we have strengthened the ties and trust with our bishop and the other members of the ward, and things are much better organized than they were before. This certainly is a blessed ward, and I have come to complete gratitude for the hand of the Lord playing a huge part in the work here, preparing people to receive the gospel and blessing us the missionaries with chances to help people everywhere.

That’s the week! I’m sorry, I still have not taken a lot of photos, and I realize that I’m not super good at taking them. I’ll do my best to get some going next week! I love you all, and a faaitoito!

Elder Ball