Ni sa bula vina'a!
Another great week in good old Taveuni! I love this place so
much! This week started out with a big, huge, nasty toe infection. I had no
idea why. I woke up one morning (after sleeping on the floor of our main room
because the bed room is too hot with no electricity at night) and it
hurt. It got worse and worse and everyone started telling me it was a rat
bite. Ugh. I thought they were joking. But everyone was saying the same thing.
Then they said to warn my whole family. Because a rat bite means someone in
your family might die. So consider this your formal warning....DEAR FAMILY,
PLEASE DON'T DIE. But I don't know if it was really a rat bite. Hopefully not.
Anyways, I got some medicine and it's just dandy now. :)
Sister Bechu and I decided to start cooking more instead of just
eating crackers for every meal. We cooked CURRY! I've always wanted to make
curry. Dream come true. And Dalo and fried rice and Vudi and lots of other
super exciting things.
This week was also monumental for the village because for the
first time ever a cruise boat stopped at the island and we had tourists
swarming the village. They put on a program with a Lovo (like a BBQ feast) and
taught them how to sing and dance and weave and make native crafts. They were
probably not too happy that there was a palagi (white person) polluting their
village pictures. Oh well.
For Service day, Sister Bechu and I FINALLY got to do washing in
the river. So fun. Another dream come true. Although I'm not sure I'm
completely cut out to be a permanent village woman. But the water is so clear I
could see the fish swimming around my feet as I scrubbed the sulu's on the wash
board.
We weren't able to teach as many lessons as I would have liked
this week because we had TONS of fall throughs, but we did get to teach
seminary this week. Which is a blast. It's in English and it's exciting to be
able to actually share my thoughts without getting a huge headache.
One of the miracles I've seen since coming on a mission is the
ability to talk and teach without freaking out. I know that sounds funny, but
if you know me, you know that I stress out way too much before teaching or
giving a talk etc. Now I can do it! This Sunday they just called us
up to speak from the stand. No subject. Nothing. So we went up. I love speaking
now because it's an opportunity to strengthen the whole ward at once. To
bear my testimony and share the truth. I just turn my will over to Heavenly
Father and have faith that the words will come. And they do! Also, they always
have us take over the lesson whenever we step foot in the door. My goodness. So
we're getting pretty good at winging it. Which is a miracle for me. I hope
that's not just a temporary missionary gift, but that it carries over when I
get home.
Satan is smart though. This last week, I've seen some
contention creep into the ward through a seemingly innocent opportunity to
cater and earn some money. It's frustrating. Sometimes I hate the
influence money has on people. But I've found a lot of joy and comfort and
direction from reading the Book of Mormon. I LOVE the missionary stories of
Alma and Amulek and the Sons of Mosiah. They mean so much more to me now that
I'm a missionary. The scriptures are coming alive and it's so exciting! :)
Funny Story of the week........ So it was 110 degrees in our
flat. And the electricity was down. So.... no fan. The sweat was literally
dripping off my nose onto my scriptures in almost a steady stream. And Sister
Bechu was laying under the table. She sighed and said...."Sister Matheson,
I'm just gonna mop the whole floor with my sweat ok?" So funny.
One of the best experiences this week was with our investigator
Brother Orisi. He is struggling with the Word of Wisdom but has a baptismal
date for March 23rd. His daughter is serving a mission right now though
and I've seen the impact that has had on her family and her dad. We were bummed
because we weren't able to meet with him this week. Everything fell
through. But yesterday when we went to visit him the lesson was
incredible. It was about the temple and eternal families. I got the
feeling that we needed to help him build a vision of what it will be like to
have his entire family with him in the temple being sealed. Really help him
imagine the feelings and atmosphere. Then we gave him a Temple pass along
card and told him to imagine the sealing and look at the temple pic when we
wanted to drink or smoke. I saw his eyes light up and he shared with us
his dedication to living this Gospel and his determination to go to the
temple. I'm hoping to be able to go with them to the temple someday. They
are incredible.
This scripture had a big impact on me this week...... "....
yet ye shall be Patient in long suffering and afflictions, that ye may show
forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in
my hands unto the salvation of many souls." Alma 17:11
I love this promise because it tells me how I can be an
instrument in His hands. This promise is given to the Sons of Mosiah right
before they go out among the wild hard-hearted Lamanites. And they truly were
patient in long suffering and afflictions. They were thrown in prison, beat,
mocked, starved etc. over and over again but they were Patient. And they were
an instrument in bring thousands of souls to the Gospel. Missions are NOT
easy. Everyday there is something that is hard. Some days
EVERYTHING is hard. Every second. But the joys are worth it. I love this work
and I love these people. I Love this Gospel.
Loloma
Levu,
Sister Matheson
The cultural Event for the
Tourists. What a party!
Doing Laundry in the river like a true village
woman!
Our water filter after one month. I thought there was no
way it needed to be changed yet. Ha. The white one is new, the brown one is
old.
