Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Changes

Iaorana tatou. Ya everythings been changing around here as well. The leaves are still the same color but everything else. The biggest thing is that Elder Purau is not back and that he is not coming back. Turns out that that problem with his family is a lot bigger than I thought.  I miss him, he was a great missionary and friend. :( I'll also have to take over this sector with my new companion who hasn't arrived yet so that's kindof terrifying. LA FOI!!! I'm going to need the faith a lot to do that but I know God will help me like he has already. I'm out of time and it's really getting difficult to switch back to english because I don't use it anymore.

 - Cool?(french accent), Elder Clements

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Short on time



Hello everybody, I don't have quite as much time this week to email. I am actually not with Elder Purau right now, he'll be back later this week. Until then I will be with Elders Guilleux (a utahn) and Teahua (from Bora Bora). They're great but I already miss my companion.

     Well this week we taught quite a few more lessons and had some cool experiences. We had one of our investigators, Mareto, ASK for a tour of the chapel. That was a miracle this week and almost unheard of. He really hasn't been progressing much until that but now things are looking up for him. We also had a service project with Roger, one of our investigators and a professional boxer. He's really cool and I think that service project softened his heart a little. We will be asking him to be baptized this week I believe.
 
     I actually don't have a lot more to say this week. I've been making lists of things I want to talk about each week but I didn't make one this week. I'm still improving in every aspect of the work and really starting to be able to hold my own with the language and also in lessons. I've started thinking in french a lot more which is making my french a lot better. We are plagued by mosquitoes right now because it rained a bunch and now its hot again but oh well I guess.
 
    Well I've got to get going but I'll send a few pictures this week.
 
Avec amour - Elder Clements
 
      This is Poerani who got baptized and married last week, and her family.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Kite flying in Paea

Bounjour, tout le monde! Coming to you live from Paea, Tahiti. Well this week has been a really great week. Today we started off by having breakfast with Tatie Liline, and flying bamboo kites on the beach whilst waching whales. #thoushaltnotcovet Actually I learned that the ocean knows how to fly kites! We were flying a kite that Elder Purau made with about 300 feet of sewing thread attatched when the string broke right at the bottom and the kite started to fall into the ocean. After that the strangest thing happened: the kite began to rise back up again! I thought it would fall but instead it just continued to stay at the same distance from the ocean while continuing to move out to sea! We sat there and watched with our mouths hanging open as it slowly remained about 70 feet above the ocean and became so small we couldn't see it anymore. Turns out the friction of the string in the water and the amount of wind ballanced to make the kite able to continue to fly. I personally believe that it's possible that that kite is still flying the way that that thing moved. We could not believe our eyes!! Anyway that was our morning. We spent the rest of the day running erands and saying goodbye to some of our friends who are going to Rangiroa (an Island somewhere) for school. Tatie Flo (reminds me so much of a cross between grandma and susan), Teua(her daughter), and Heitini (practically a sister now.) They were some of my best friends here and I'm going to miss them but I'll see them again eventually.

     We didn't have as many lessons this week but we did have a marriage and a baptizm! The marriage was a big deal and because we are basically family with Tatie (Tatie=auntie) Liline and Poerani (who lives with her) we did a lot of the set up and help with the wedding and of course the baptizm (of Poerani). That was an awesome experience! She really has been a lot happier since then and so has Henry (her husband) although he's still not interested in the lessons. But! He did come to church for the first time to see his wife recieve the Holy Ghost.

     We also made 160 T-shirts on saturday for all the missionaries of Tahiti...which we had permission from the president to do and that took basically all day that day too. Elder Purau knows a member in Papeete that does silkscreening at his house for a living. We got to do a little of everything from making the design of the T-shirt, to making and developing the form, to imprinting the shirts, to folding and packaging them. That night we went to "Beach Burger" with Tatie Liline and Tehina (yes, our recent convert who also lives with Tatie Liline) which was awesome. It's a place that's supposed to be just like an American buger joint. Country music, posters of '57 Chevy's, burgers, and a vegas "spin the wheel" game where Elder Purau won the jackpot of 10000 XPF ($100!).

     I had the very special opportunity yesterday to have a discussion with Jehova's Witnesses missionaries. That was...interesting. We all were very kind to each other although many a bible verse were shared. That actually strengthened my testimony in the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints quite a bit. I realized that no matter how much the bible says about something, a real, solid testimony built upon the rock of Jesus Christ is necessary to know if something is true. To gain that testimony, we have to pray and then act upon our faith.
     I have also been playing the guitar a lot this week!!! Tatie Liline has a guitar that I always pick up and play when ever we're over there. We all sing hymns along to it and of course I can't help but playing "murder in the city" "wish you were here", and "sunshine on my shoulders" and whatever else I can remember I know how to play. That has been a great blessing to me as you can all imagine.
     Other than all that this week, I'm really getting adjusted to being a Tahitian. The french is coming very quickly now and I even forgot a couple words in english this week. I'm also tanning strangly well which I did not expect. My stomach is fine this week, and I never considered the fruit being a problem. I have also been excercising a lot more.
      Have a good week back home, and I'll do the same here. Keep praying for things that are neccesary and keep praying to give thanks for all the things that God has already given.
-Elder Clements

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Fruits of our Labor

 
Well, another great week preaching the gospel in Tahiti! I guess I'll start off with why I gave this email such a title. On Thursday, we went and taught Georges. I had never met him before and it actually turns out he's Elder Purau's uncle. #smallworld Anyway we had an interesting lesson with him about obedience to God's commandments and some other side topics because he talks a lot. He's a very interesting man. I think he really wants to know this church is true, and I think he's even felt that it is before but he just needs to...realize that I guess. He's very interested in our testimonies and how we know this church is true. After that lesson, we were about to leave when he asked us if we wanted some fruit. Naturally we accepted because you would have to be raving mad to decline fruit here. He gave us a pineapple and a Corosol (coroselle maybe? I don't know how to write it) and I thought that was all. He led us to his garden/orchard and let us pick all the citreons(limes basically) and oranges that we wanted. It was awesome. We walked into the  garden and instantly I was fairly sure that this was the real Garden of Eden. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. about a hundred fruit trees with all different types of fruit that you forget grows in real life. Lemons, limes, oranges, hairy leechy (?), bananas, coconuts, grapefruit, mango, mangosteen, corosol, and bunches of others. It was far up one of the canyons too so it was just beautiful. Actually all week long, people just gave us loads and loads of fruit, it was great. So I figured for us we were literally tasting the fruits of our labors.
     Another different experience this week was when we went to an activity at the Maraa ward. We showed up and it sounded like someone was having a big old party next door because of the heavy muffled music we heard. We open the doors to the chapel and to my surprise I just got louder. We went up stairs and opened the doors to the chapel to the priests quarum and bishopric dancing to YMCA for the rest of the ward! What in the world?! I learned shortly after that they were having an 80's themed ward talent show. They went all out too. They had all the seats in the chapel turned around and were using the over flow as the stage, They had the lights all different colors, everything was all decorated, they had this giant speaker system out, the works. The rest of the show was every group in the church (young women, young men, relief society, and other) doing a dance to an American 80's song. It was a hoot. The best part is they did it all and invited tons of nonmembers to come too to build up unity around the ward. I've got pics. It made me think we need to do stuff like that back home. It really surprises me that literally everyone is nice here. Even the sketchiest of people smile and shake your hand when they see you...usually.
 
     As far as how everything's going here, It's going pretty well. Our investigators are progressing really well and we're getting more and more. In fact this week we'll be baptizing Poerani and possibly Heitini and Steven in the next couple weeks too.
     I've been a bit sick in the guts lately but I hear that's normal because of the newness of the food and water and such and that it'll pass. The mosquitoes are still devouring me but it's getting better. Our power went out last night and my fan that keeps the mosquitoes away died so I woke up with a bunch this morning. We got whipped with rain like I've never seen it last night. I guess there's a big hurricane that hit some of the other islands and we got a little bit of it but not as much as the other islands. 
     All goes well here, and I'm starting to get used to being a missionary. The French is getting a lot better but still has some work. The Tahitian goes a lot slower but I'm trying to use it more.
     Well I've got to go. We're going to go eat some more fish and rice under a coconut tree or something. #islandlife I miss you all and pray for you every day! Infact that's one thing that I've been pondering on lately is the importance of family and God's purpose for them on this earth. I think of you all when I testify of the power of families. Without my family, there's no way I would be out here teaching the gospel, so thank you all and God bless.

-Elder Clements