An Instrument in His Hands: Na Noqu Ito'ani Vou! (My New Companion)

Ni sa bula vina'a!

Holy Cow! Like always.... a TON has happened this week. For starters, I have a new companion! Monday night after Family Home Evening, we got a call and found out that Sister Bechu was leaving in the morning. At first we thought it was a joke. Turns out it wasn't. We both cried all. night. long. We talked then cried then packed a little bit. Repeat. It was really hard because she didn't get to say goodbye. I was so scared because I wasn't ready. And my Fijian is rocky to say the least. And we've grown really close. And she's my mom and my sister. But sometimes you just have to do hard things. So the next morning we went to the airport and sent her off to Naulu with Sister Iro (from the MTC). And we picked up my new companion..... Sister Laru! She rocks. She's also Fijian and so sweet and nice and patient and humble and such a good teacher. I already love her so so much! I've learned a ton and my Fijian is improving a ton. I'm soooo thankful for her. But I also miss Sister Bechu. Change is hard but good.

Tuesday was Jyoti's birthday so we got ice cream with her then had a lesson. She is seriously the sweetest girl. Both she and her sister come to church every week and have such strong testimonies but their dad hasn't given them permission to be baptized yet. Jyoti is working so hard on her personal progress and we're so proud of her. They also both gave talks in church on Sunday. Man, I admire them both so much. We're just praying for their dad and continuing to strengthen them.

We also had a Baptism this week! Resina! She has been waiting to be baptized for like 3 years. I don't know how we got to be the lucky ones here to see it happen. She was baptized with her two sisters and her brother in law. They live pretty far away though and were late to the baptism so it went into the beginning of church. Whoops. Also, no one brought a towel so we ran to our flat in the middle to get a towel and a skirt. 2nd craziest baptism experience. After the flood of course. Nothing quite compares to the flood. Ha.

Vilise and Meli will be baptized this Sunday as well! So exciting! They are both so ready. I have seen HUGE changes in their lives. They physically look different. It's so exciting to see how the Gospel truly changes lives. I cried when they bore their testimonies in our last lesson. I'm convinced I learn more from this mission than I could ever teach anyone in this 18 months.

Our two most recent converts Elena and Orisi had a stellar week too! Brother Orisi was soooo excited to receive the priesthood after our lesson with him. I love him so much! He is solid. And Elena brought a friend to church after our lesson about missionary work! Rock on Elena! Then they both came teaching with us.

Speaking of converts and baptisms..... we got a text this morning that said we reached 123 baptisms this month! Wahoo!!!! The standing record in one month for the Fiji Suva Mission was 45. So we almost tripled it! :) It's an exciting time here! I'm so excited for the month of April as well. We have some sweet goals set and we are ready to work hard! :) I love this work!

Loloma Levu,

Sister Matheson