An Instrument in His Hands: An Appetite for the Gospel

Bula Vinaka!

This week for Zone Conference we had a FEAST! Complete with an appetizer, a three course meal, and dessert! All about one of my favorite sara ga subjects...the Book of Mormon! Here in the islands.... we know how to feast. But something I learned about feasts is that you need two things. First you need....Food! Lots of Food. But equally important.... you need an appetite. The Gospel really is a feast. There is SOO much to learn and to appreciate and to discover and to nourish us, but if we don't have an appetite, it won't do us much good. If we hunger and thirst after righteousness, we will be filled with the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 12:6.)

Sister Kesa and I had so much fun with the work here this week! I would just like to tell the whole world that..... MY DAUGHTER IS A ROCKSTAR! We went on splits with the prospective missionaries this week and she absolutely killed it. Together, we found five new investigators. One investigator, Kelvin, is a stud and already has a baptismal date and came to church! Yay for miracles! We continue to see so many miracles and so many people prepared to receive this Gospel!

On Sunday we had a cool experience! I was asked to give the Gospel Principles lesson at the last minute. I was a little flustered but it worked out well. But the most powerful part was sitting in a room of investigators and recent converts and hearing them each bear witness of the power of the Holy Ghost in their lives and especially in their conversion processes. It was a sweet reminder that we are not the teachers here. The spirit is.

I had a blast this week feasting on the Conference issue of the Liahona! I feel like I've been waiting for it forever and now that I have it, I can't get enough. And I could just share a bajillion and a half things that I learned over these past few days. But one talk that really stood out to me was "The Greatest Generation of Young Adults" by M. Russell Ballard. It made me so excited to not only serve with all I have for these next four weeks, but also to continue to serve and learn and grown when I get home! He says..... "'RM' doesn't mean 'retired Mormon!'" and He also said ...

"Please use the skills you learned on your mission to bless the lives of people around you every day. Do not shift your focus from serving others to focusing exclusively on school, work, or social activities Instead, balance your life with spiritual experiences that remind and prepare you for continued, daily ministering to others."

I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful things I've learned these past 18 months! And I'm so excited to be able to apply them and continue to serve the Lord for the rest of my life! And also to continue to learn and grow and gain even more skills! But until then, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

Loloma Levu,

Sista Matheson :)