September is FLYING!

Bula Vina'a! 

Can I just say.....SEPTEMBER IS FLYING!!! My goodness. But, I guess that's just what missions do. They fly by.  But life is good. Every day is a new adventure here in Samabula! No two days alike! 

Our week started out lovely with our Sister's P-Day Activity! I think it all worked out well. We had a few short words of wisdom from a few of our awesome Senior Sisters and had a talent show. Sister Chong and I Hula-ed of course. And of course I was absolutely pathetic. But I'm glad everyone got a good laugh. :) Even if I did sacrifice my dignity. And we had lunch and treats and watched 17 miracles and all sniffled together. And it was great. I just love all these sisters. :) 

We also did a training for the Train the trainers training. (Confusing... I know). But I was grateful for the opportunity. I stress out about these things and kind of dread them, but at the end of the day I'm glad I got to do it. Because it's a great growing experience. No growing in a comfort zone eh? But it was good. We did it on Companionship. 

This week was also ....... NISHITA'S BAPTISM!!! Yay! She's such a cute girl. She was pretty much dragging Elder Cordner into the font. It was good to see her so excited. I love baptisms. 

Guess what? This week no water again. Well some water. Some days. I'm gonna be SOOO grateful for water the rest of my life. Some days it trickles. Some days just nothing. Some days it spurts a bit. But we keep hearing that it is probably going to be like that for a long time. Maybe till like December when it starts raining again. Who knows. It keeps life interesting for sure though. 

This week was also Election week. Pretty exciting because no one knew what was going to happen. Last election was 6 years ago and there was a coupe. But so far no coupe this time. So I guess that's good. It's way different here though. There was like 250 candidates. And everyone can vote for 1 person. And EVERYONE 18 and older HAS to vote. And gets work off. Then, the person with the most votes becomes president. And the next 35 or so go to parliment. Super interesting. 

This week we also learned how to cook more Indian food. Chutney. etc. and had Uncle come clean the mold off our ceilings.  And practiced weaving. And I finished ACTS! (The end is a thriller! Ya gotta go read it! It's like Swiss Family Robinson!) And I also realized that Elder Leguizamon (Romina's brother) baptized Elder Beilman. One of the elders in my district! Small world. 

One day this week, we had some extra time and no appointments so we decided to walk down one of these streets and just va-bula and talk to people. Look for opportunities to share the Gospel etc. And we saw this young mom get out of a taxi with a little baby and two big suitcases. As she started down this rocky patch we ran over and asked if we could help. She gave us her bags and we started chatting. She invited us in and we got to know her and her friend. It was something simple but a tender mercy from the Lord showing us that if we just put our faith in Him, He will provide. Hopefully we will be able to share the Gospel with her! 

This week I read a talk by Tad R. Callister about becoming a consecrated missionary. SOOOO good. A little scary. And intimidating. But real good. Listen to what he says......

I do not think the Lord expects immediate perfection of us, but I do believe he expects immediate progress, and with that progress comes consecration. I believe that he recognizes and appreciates every step we take forward however small it may be, striving to put our whole soul on the altar of sacrifice. At first consecration may seem like Mt. Everest, unconquerable, unapproachable, unassailable, but every step we take forward however minute it may seem, furthers our ascent, until one day we have attained the summit.  

May we not be content with being a good even a great missionary, when we have the capacity to be consecrated missionaries.  May this be the burning and unquenchable quest of us all. 

Pretty deep eh? I love it. Being a consecrated missionary DOES sound like Mt. Everest sometimes. He got that right. But one step at a time isn't so bad eh? I love what he says about not being content with just good or great. But striving to be 100% consecrated. Willing to give EVERYTHING to the Lord. And it doesn't happen overnight. But I know it's worth it. 

Loloma Levu,

Sista Matheson :)

 All of the SISTAS at our Sister's P-day. It was SO fun! :) I love them ALL!

Sista Chong and I Hula-ing. for our talent. Except I'm not too talented at Hula-ing......

 This cute girl went a little crazy with my Indian head stickers. 

 Sister Chong and I with the adorable Golden security guard that we were teaching. We will miss teaching her but we know the Elders in Nausori will take good care of her!

Nishita's Baptism! YAY! :)