Learning by the Spirit

HOLA TODA MI FAMILIA

This week has been sooooo awesome!!! First off I'm so glad to hear about you guys and how well the moving went. I´be been praying for you guys all week and I´m so glad all is well and that you love your new ward. I thought of you guys when reading about the Jaredites crossing through the sea and how they had to go through "furious winds that never did cease" in order to actually move to the promised land. I hope you guys are having as much fun in your new place as I am in mine. This week we have been working as official intermedios and it is awesome. We are talking solo  en Espanol en las classes and we try to do it as much as we can outside of class as well. This Saturday we actually go out and proselyte for almost 6 hours!!! IM SO PUMPED but i was also kinda nervous earlier this week. Earlier this week I learned the importance though of how the lessons are not just for your investigators but for you!! I bore testimony in one of our lessons about Repentance and the Atonement and I got really choked up but honestly I think I increased my testimony on the power of teaching the Atonement.

Also, I LOVE MY DISTRICT. The Elders in our district are so on top of their lives and so are the Hermana's. It never ceases to surprise me how much the Lord has blessed me. Kanoah, so there is an Elder here that i told you reminds me of you. Seriously, its sometimes weird how similar you guys are. But he has the strongest testimony for an 18 year old boy and he is not afraid to share it. While in class one day all the Elders were not studying like they were supposed to and Elder Wilde was the only one doing his work. In his testimony, you can see that his hard work really pays off. So in one of our mini district testimony meetings I told him (but in general all the elders so they didn't feel bad) how i hope that one day you, Kanoah, will be like them. Elder Wilde started crying and so did Elder Vance. I'm glad that not only are we here to strengthen and lift investigators but also each other!! Don´t forget that you can always bless someones life!

On Friday, at special request from the first presidency we watched the funeral for Elder L. Tom Perry live. It was so touching and beautiful to see how much the plan of salvation changes things like death for us. From the words of President Monson during the funeral I decided to create this logo/poster thingie. It´s not quite finished yet but when it is I will send you a picture.

On Saturday we had service and I did probably one of the most disgusting things of my life next to cleaning that apartment that was filled with cockroaches. We had to wash and scrub out the trashcans with the food for the CCM in it. I literally reeked so bad afterwards and i could´t get the smell of my hands for a day. The workers here are so kind and I have so much more respect for them. We also started our fast and I did my first 24 hour fast, into Sunday. During my fast on Sunday i was so surprised at how much more attention i payed during classes and how much more the Sabbath meant to me. We plan to fast before proselyting as a district and I AM THRILLED. I literally cannot wait. 

Also, on Sunday was KEANU´S BIRTHDAY!!! I hope your birthday was awesome dude and i wish i could just give you the biggest squeeze right now. Keep being awesome and don´t forget how much i love you. I cant wait to hear how everything goes at your new school and football and all that fun jazz.

Also I have felt nonstop love here from my Heavenly Father. Every time i have had the smallest struggle or feeling slightly awkward or left out, someone gives a devotional, or i read a scripture, or someone invites me to join them in something and i just know that its the power of the spirit working with people and in me to feel the love that god has for me. So on Tuesday we had TRC. Which basically was that we didn't know anything about our investigator but that we had to teach them about something for 40 MINUTES!! At first we were all kind of anxious but when we went inside for the lesson we asked the right questions and then she told us how her husband had died. We taught the plan of salvation and when i testified SHE STARTED TO CRY. I was so shocked because it wasn't actually real but the spirit was still there!! However one of my companions was really struggling and when we turned the time over to her she freaked out and said she didn't know what to say and to move on. She started to breakdown down, especially afterwards she started crying. The Elders also came back struggling in spirit. I think this was kind of a reawakening for many of us that the mission is not just memorized lessons. We have to understand the gospel and then work by the spirit. It was so powerful and later we talked and worked things out together.

So we are finally at today which has been THE BEST DAY EVER. We decided as a goal for this week for our district to talk to at least three people and then give away at least one book of mormon while we were out on the streets. So we first saw two girls and we gave them pass along cards. Then we saw this one lady and we asked her if she new about the church dn all the basic questions. She spoke so so so fast but guess what..... I UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING. I asked her if she believed in prophets and she said yes that she believed that people today had the powers of prophecy and seer ship and the gift of tongues. My heart leaped up as I knew at that moment that God was giving me the gift of tongues. We gave her a Book of Mormon ad we were so thrilled!!! I really cannot wait to get out in the field and start this work. i love the CCM, i love my district and I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!! Don´t be afraid of teach the gospel because people are ready!!

I love love love you guys and miss you tons. Also bros and lei listen to dad and memorize the scripture masteries!!1 YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HELPFUL IT WILL BE!!!

LOVE, Hermana Tanuvasa