Search, Ponder and Pray

Kayla and her new companion, Hermana Vasquez

That is such a cool thing that you and da and studying Doctrinal Mastery with the boys. I told Hna. Howell about my study a bit this week about misunderstanding of an important doctrine such as the Godhead, will interfere with the sincerity of the prayers of our investigators and their faith to find their answers. True doctrine understood, blesses us so much!

So I am doing well!! I never stop laughing with Hna. Vasquez!! She is such a joyful companion (: Yesterday we were dancing to a remix that I made of the hymn "What Was Witnessed" or something like that but literally so funny and it has been in my head all dayahahha. 

Hna. Arce is in Talara, another beach area similar to Paita. I don't know why there was an Emergency Transfer but Presdent Rasmussen asked and we followed. Yes I will finish in Sullana because I have to teach Hna. Vasquez the area and everything. 

Sullana is doing well!! We didn't find Hortensia this entire week )= yes I'm very sad but we will keep trying. We are also working to help her Victoria. She knows that she wants to be baptized but she still is scared to do so now. She didn't come to church again this week, so we are praying and trying to figure out how to best help her. Last week though we found a kid named Jean Pierre. He told us that we could only visit on Sundays because the rest of the week he would be in Piura, and to be honest at first I was a little disappointed, but then we just were diligent in calling and sending messages to ask him how he was going reading his Book of Mormon, within one week he is in I Nephi 8, he accepted the commitment to Keep the Sabbath Day Holy and has come to know that Joseph Smith is a prophet. Wow what amazing diligence! Truly, the promise is real, when we seek we will find. Jean Pierre is a living testimony of that. 

I LOVED the General Women's Broadcast!!!  What inspiration!!! Many things impacted my mind! I loved when they spoke of the need to know and UNDERSTAND the doctrine of Christ, the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration of the gospel. What a privilege it is to live in the dispensation of the fullness of times. Truly faith to obey the Lord will carry us through this vale of sorrow and bring us safely home to live with our Heavenly Father. I know it, I feel it in my heart, and when I live the gospel of Jesus Christ, I feel an immense peace in my life, knowing that God lives and loves me and all men. 

I invite all of you, whom I love so dearly and who have been with me throughout this year and almost a half to seek the Savior in your life. I testify that the love that He has for us is so real and tangible. We can feel it in every moment, if we take the time to ponder and ask questions from the scriptures. Search, ponder and pray is the formula for happiness. 

I love you all I hope you always remember and ponder on the love of our Savior, Brother and Redeemer Jesus Christ. 

Have a great week!!! 

HEY MOM DAD KEIRRA KANOAH KEANU AND KAI!! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!

Hermana Tanuvasa 

Love is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ

OK LOVE LOVE LOVE this story of Kanoah and Dad. I think i might share it in our district meeting tomorrow. And perhaps with Victoria. We did find her and she is well. She attended church this week and she says she received her answer on if she should be baptized but she is still very scared. She reminds me a lot of Kara. (: This week Hortensia as well came to church! I don't remember if I explained who she is ? She is the aunt of a less active youth. One day when we went to visit the youth we shared with her the power of the Book of Mormon and then we asked for referrals and within seconds she told us of her aunt. We wrote down the address and went. When we knocked her door she was at first hesitant but then let us in. She told us that she had gone to the church "La Luz del Mundo" for 30 YEARS! But that in the last year she hadn't gone at all. Well after hearing lesson 1 she accepted a baptism date and everything!!!! Well we then didn't find her for a full week and it worried me, and with good reason because when we did find her she told us that just that week her pastor from La Luz del Mundo had visited her. ): But it was amazing, we used the Book of Mormon to learn of the love of Christ and we bore testimony and what happened, SHE CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!
Also, Thursday we had emergency transfers again. My new companion is Hna. Vasquez and we are still here in Sullana. Hna. Vasquez is from Guayaquil Ecuador and she is so hilarious!!! We are working and laughing and getting to know more wonderful people day by day(: 

So I wanted to share the majority of my study this week. It was all focused on love:
As I was studying this week the story of Joseph of Egypt, I loved seeing the type of Christ in Ruben (I think that's his name). I love how he offers himself as a sacrifice for his brother. Why? Because he knew how much his father loved him and knew that it would break his heart if Benjamin didn't go back home. Christ is the same with us. He understands how much our Father loves each and every one of us and he knows that he would be sad if we couldn't come home, so he offers himself as a sacrifice, so that we might live. Reading this story impacted me so much that it gave me, once again, desires to change. I realized that that was the key!!! To change, one must feel love. Love is what changes us, so if we want our investigators to change, they first need to feel our love, and then, come to understand the love of the Savior, through the restored gospel.
It was a wonderful realization that has taken me too long to truly understand, but I know it was in the time of the Lord. How merciful and wonderful He is to me. (:

We are working hard and the Lord is blessing us. I know that His love is real and it is something that we can truly feel. For every thing we go through in this life, such as death, breakups, heartbreaks, money loss, EVERYTHING!!! God promises His Son who understands it all, and still loves us. Wow.

Keep that in mind this week and keep pushing forward. CARRY ON CARRY ON CARRY ON!!!! You can do it Kanoah, and Keanu and Kai, Mom Dad and Keirra, Grandmas and Grandpas, Cousins, Dear Friends who are truly Family, I love you. God loves you. Christ loves you. Find the love of Christ, seek it. I promise it will change everything. Love you all, 

Hna Tanuvasa

La Palabra de Sabaduria :)

I am doing great!!! Working my butt off over here with the short time I have left. I am  feeling the pressure of time more than ever. Victoria wasnt baptized this week and she didn't come to church ): we still havent found her... I am a little worried but not much she is an amazing girl and she reminds me a lot of Kara so I imagine she is just a little fearful. 

So this week was super fun!!!! And so full of blessings (: Since Thursday I haven't been able to hold down any food and I walk around like a dead zombie. But I was determined  The last week Dad wrote me again encouraging me to give my all and I started the week with all the excitement to give 150%. When Thursday came with the sickness I decided to not let me down and with lots of prayers and the bathrooms of incredibly loving members I made it through and we didn't stay one day in!!! I know that God strengthens us when our strength lacks. I put my faith to the test and God opened the way. I think my favorite experience was Friday. We were teaching one of our investigators right outside her house and the Testigos (Jehovahs witnesses) began knocking doors around us, it made me laugh as they both knocked the doors around us as we taught. We finished the lesson we were teaching and we walked down the same street a little ways. We saw one testigo (Jehovahs witness) finish speaking with a woman and shortly after we passed by her. We said "buenos tardes" to her as we walked by, but she then calls to us and asks "do you guys read the bible?" We told her that we do and then asked if we could teach her and she said yes!!! And we set a date and everything!! Hahah los testigos had prepared her for us (: 

Another funny experience; Haha every other saturday we go to Cerromucho to help a Family Group (i think you call it that) and on our drive home we had fun with a borracho (drunk) ahhahaha fun times. He got into the taxi we were riding in so we gave him a Word of Wisdom pamphlet and took a picture of him. :)
Well I love, love, love you all. CARRY ON CARRY ON CARRY ON!!! hHAHA I love to sing in the streets and it makes the street people happy too so onward ever onward!!! ahahha
LOVE YOU ALL!  TAKE CARE THIS WEEK AND READ YOUR SCRIPTURES SIEMPRE (always) !!!
hermana Tanuvasa

Cerromucho

El Boracho

The Challenge to Become

So I am still doing great (: Yes we had transfers two weeks ago and yes Hna. Arce and I are still together working hard in Sullana, but it does have a lot of sun so it can be Solana ahahhaha. I love Hna. Arce and we are growing closer together. She teaches me so much. Im pretty sure that I will finish my mission here in Sulana. I'm happy it's a huge area with so much potential still and lots of good members to work with. 

This week we decided to challenge our Ward Council to "Hold to the Rod"

21 And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again, saying: What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a dream? What meaneth the tree which he saw?

22And I said unto them: It was a representation of the tree of life.

 23 And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?

 24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.

We read in 1 Nephi 15  that we are all working to obtain eternal life, but to get there we need to hold fast to the word of God, constantly reading each day. We gifted each member of our ward council with a little grey tube with the words "The Word of God" written on it. They were challenged to carry their tube, wherever they went, keeping in mind that they must always read the word of God and remember it and carry it with them. We have found several members of the council waving us their little tubes in the street. (: (i must thank an amazing seminary teacher for this great idea) hahaha 

I have seen the blessings, and consequencs that come from reading and not reading scriptures daily. They truly can carry us" beyond this vale of sorrow" and to each of our promised lands. Mom, you are very right, in that reading daily is a step of faith. So is Sunday observance! We make a promise to every new investigator, that if they read their scriptures and pray to know they are true daily and attend church, within three weeks they will not only receive their answer but they will fell sure and ready to be baptized and Ive seen it and know it is true.  

Sometimes people don't act because of fear, fear of the unknown, or sometimes because they truly forget. We, as missionaries, and the members must do everything in our power to help them create these new habits and keep them. Signs in the room, sticky notes, phone calls, visits, anything and everything! 

I've seen in myself what an increase of faith can do. Faith to contact the person that looks busy or faith to wake up "one more time" at 630 or faith to take off running to our room to be home by 930 ahhaha. Faith that moves us to act leaves us with the security and peace that the Lord offers. That way when he comes, we will not fear, "for we shall see him as he is, for we shall be like him". He is full of peace and love and truth, because He always obeys and acts with faith. 

This week my study was focused on a talk that Elder Tanuvasa (Pepe) sent me, called "The Challenge to Become". This gospel and the principles therein are to help mold and make us like Jesus Christ, not just fill us with good information. One of the ways we can verify if we are changing is through making and keeping sacred covenants. This week I took the time to study each part of the baptismal covenants we make and I saw how I could BECOME more like my Savior and God as I keep his commandments, take his name upon me and always remember him. What a blessing it is to make and keep sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father. I invite each one of you to evaluate the covenants you have made and see what more you can to do. I love this gospel. God is so merciful and so full of justice. He is perfect an He sent His perfect Son to die for us. Through Christ, all of us can be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. Thanks be to God as He has restored these ordinances through His prophet Joseph Smith and that Thomas S. Monson continues to hold the keys and authority to bless and help us return to live with God. 

I love and miss you all(: Pray for Victoria! We are hoping to have her baptism this upcoming week!!!! Love and miss you all! 

Hermana Tanuvasa