FEB. 16, 2014
"Pictures!"

im too excited about all my pics so im sending them first. :)

we went on a hike thru a mini rain forest to get to the..... 

BEACH!!!!!!!!!!!

 i have a new favorite place in this world. HERE.

on our adventure we...

 found a cave!

it was WINDY as

but i TOUCHED THE WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was very warm! :) a nice place to swim when NOT a representative of Christ.

found a dead fish... ew.

see what i mean? beauty-full

 THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

 

 

me and sister tauasa!

5 sister missionaries stuck in the mud.

 

okay, i know... this is a sick pic. :) photo credit: sister pio.

JuMpInG for joy. :)

i think i was happy... what do you think?

 look at this nasty creature i found. there were heaps! any one know its name? i don't.

me and soa being "FOBs" (stands for Fresh off the Boat, islander term)

 

 

playing with sand.

look at the giant tree!

samoan sisters.

 funny looking bird

FAIL at self timer district picture

my GIANT district leader (right) and his comp.

our car and the awesome DOUBLE RAINBOW on friday!

sweet moon saturday night at the Tepapa Chapel for Ierimia's Bapatisoga

our group after the come and see fireside last night.

 the whole group

 funny license plate

me and VAL! :)

my final, and SKEIA (awesome) hymn book sista H did! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now for the email...

Week 1 of Transfer 2 here in Mt. Roskill!

Talofa lava outou!

Transfers were this week! Good news! Sister Hengehenga and I are staying in Mt. Roskill for another 6 weeks! yay!  I really like it here. :)

i'll respond to the email from you first....

the investigators are doing well! ... well, most of them.  Pepa, now a MEMBER! is great, a little under the weather, but great.  We still meet with her ever few days.  Sam and his family are okay, they went back to drinking coffee, but still read the BOM and pray.  the dad hasn't changed,  but we are hoping for our bishop Fenunuti will go visit the dad and see if he can exercise his priesthood keys and do some softening of the heart. (fingers crossed!)  dorothy has been BUSY so we didnt get much progress with her last week, hoping for a better week this week, maybe even set her for baptism! i know she knows this gospel is true, she just needs to take that leap of faith. :)  lucia has been dodgy as usual, so we are giving her some time, and waiting for her older sister to return from Samoa, then we will be able to get somewhere with them. 

good job mitch and isaac with school! i am SO PROUD OF YOUS!

send the family near and far my love! aunt patty, uncle scott, pages, rileys, hensleys, granparents!


okay details from the week.....

ha! people keep telling ME... "I like your accent, are you from the states?!!?" so funny b/c i dont have the accent, THEY DO! ;-)

Val is getting baptized THIS saturday! we moved it up a week b/c she is READY! woop woop! also she's been reading the BOM like crazy this week and loves it. seeing others read that book for the first time makes me so happy and reminds me of how awesome and TRUE that book really is!

Saturday the other sisters in our ward had a baptism for Ieremia (Jeremiah) an older guy probably early 60s? anyway his conversion story is cool.  so he wanted to be baptized, but hadn't read the BOM yet, therefore didnt have a testimony of it yet, because HE COULDNT READ - he has bad eyes and is totally blind when it comes to things up close.  so 2weeks ago we as a district fasted for him to regain his sight after a blessing from elder Jorgensen. and IT WORKED! Jeremiah got the blessing, read some chapters from the BOM instantly, and was able to pray and gain a testimony of it all in the same day! GOD IS A GOD OF MIRACLES, people!

you got the gist of my pday from the pics and comments. it was AWESOME! i loved every second of it. :)

and of course an email wouldn't be complete without an awkward moment.... on wednesday we were headed to a members home, and we parked the car, saw this guy (about 40yrs old) posting fliers to people mailboxes so isaid hello. because that is what missionaries do.  :)  he is then caught off guard and says, "wait, do i know you??" "um, no, but we just wanted to say hi and see how the day was going for you!" "oh, okay, well i'm david, its GREAT to meet you!" (mind you, he ignores sis H and sophia, and only talks to me) we talk, then he inturrupts me when i'm about to talk about Christ, and say," here, take this flier! and let me write my email... oh and my number too, you can call/email any time!" then forces me to take the flier........ we said goodbye and he continued working and i went and hid behind the car. sister H and sophia bust up laughing and tease me the rest of the day how the 40 yr old palagi tried to get my number. hope you enjoyed that one! :) believe me, IT WAS AWKWARD.

we had KFC THREE TIMES THIS WEEK (all provided form the members...) :( ! i think i may have a heart attack before i come home, just warning you all....

not much else... we are now entering "finding mode" which means we are, well, looking for new people to teach! hello door knocking.... yaaaay.... :/ haha no worries! we will find people to teach i just know it! Sister Hengehenga and I are hoping to find a FAMILY! so that is our goal for the week!


i love yous all heaps and heaps! have a great week!

love always,
sister camilletti

February 9, 2014
"How long you been growing your dreads?"

Talofa lava, lo'u aiga!  Sa bisi lenei vaiaso! Ia, tatou amata....

monday we played touch in roskill south near sam and robin's house. they came and played with us, that was fun! so stinkin hot and humid though.....

tuesday we had a great lesson with Dorothy! taught her the restoration, and even though she's been thru many sets of missionaries, she learned lots - especially how joseph smith didn't write the BOM, he translated it, and that adam and eve made the right choice to eat of the tree so that we ALL could have the opportunity to live on this earth.  she then texted us later this week and said that she's learning so much when she reads from the BOM! We hope to meet with her tomorrow and maybe even set her for baptism!

wednesday was very slow. you know its going to be a rough/slow day when you fall asleep during personal study time.... but we did have little success everywhere we went. and we had a MCM - missionary coordination meeting - with our Ward Mission Leader and members of the auxiliaries to plan some activity in april.

Thursday we had a zone training where we learned how to be more bold when extending commitments to our investigators. president lekias joined us at the end and gave an awesome spiritual thought from mosiah 3:19.  it was all about how we are to put off the natural man. so this is how be broke it down....

"For the natural man (our own personal will, or our animal instincts) is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and puteth off (or align our will with Heavenly Father's will/the modern day sacrifice of putting it on the alter) the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement (the one thing we can be perfected in and through) of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, (all christlike attributes we should strive to develop) willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit (because Heavenly Father knows best - isaiah 55:8,9) to his father."  SO - our own, personal will (our agency) is the ONLY TRUE thing that belongs to us, and us alone. everything else belongs to the lord because he is the creator of all.  when we've mastered this principle of aligning our will with the father's, THAT is true self mastery.

Anyone elses mind blown? yep. president lekias is a boss with scriptures.


friday was awesome, we had a lesson with Val on the plan of salvation.... and at the end of the lesson we set her for baptism for March 1!  She comes  to church every week with her sister who is a member, so we may move it up to Feb 22nd! so exciting! she is wonderful, and has a funny sarcastic attitude that just makes me laugh. 

saturday was a special day because....... TUSIPEPA was baptized!!!!!!!!!!! so exciting! it was HOT as that day... and so i was all sweaty for the baptism, so excuse my messy hair and shiny face in the pic, but regardless of my appearance, pepa was so happy and that is what matters! Man, it is so exciting having a baptism for someone you've come to love and be your friend.  the spirit was so strong there.  We were planning on the chapel, but a stake thing was going on so we had it in the RS room and BOY it got packed! it was awesome to see support from ward members, friends and family of pepa's!  a very good day.

yesterday was a much better sunday than last week. pepa was confirmed in sacrament, by the stake pres actually, and then we just met with lots of members. sister Aumua is a crack up, man. I'll just say that i would never want to get in a verbal or physical fight with her, because she'd win, hands down. she's in her 50s i'd say and could kick my trash at anything. haha, but she has fun talking to me in samoan and is patient while i translate and reply. ha! she gave us heaps of people to visit this week, so that was awesome too!  we ended the day with a training broadcast from the area presidency of the south pacific. it was all about the hastening the work of salvation, and very cool to think that i am a part of it all! what a BLESSING!

oh, and the title of this email, "how long have you been growing your dreads?" was the question i started to talk to this guy on the street with yesterday.  i crack my self up some days.  he was nice, but not interested. got a good laugh when i told him i wanted dreads... i guess he didnt believe me.... :)

well that was basically if for the week. this week is transfers, but sis H and i aren't expecting any changes seeing how we both just got to mt. roskill!

seems like the birthday boys had a good weekend and enjoyed their days!  sorry i wasn't there, but i was thinking of you, dad and mitch! :) i'm glad yous got the cards!  i hope logan gets that job! he'll be walking around the tool store with the work apron and all the girls that come in with their dad's will swoon! ahhhhh! ;) 

now for the pictures!

1. an awesome sunset from last week!
2. i'm starting to look tan? yes?
3. day before pepa's baptism!
4. we're so excited. :)
5. right before the BIG MOMENT!
6. after her baptism with all the family she brought!  the only other member in the pic is her auntie with the white/grey hair!
7. the guy next to pepa is our WML, bro toleafoa, he baptized her... doesn't he look happy? haha... i guess he doesn't smile for pics. :)


i love you all so much! have a great week and i'll be emailing you the same time next week! stay classy. :)
alofa atu,

sista kamaleti

More pictures from February 2!

1. poster of LORDE for logan!
2. me (in a normal t shirt in public) on pday being peter pan.
3. me and pepa!!!
4. sillies
5. goofies
6. more goofies
7.sweet grafiti wall in Mt. Roskill South
8. it was windy that day.... but still smiling! :D
9.more of the wall

love you all heaps and heaps! xoxo

February 2, 2014

its sunny here today, and that makes me happy.

So this is why people live in NZ.... the beautiful sunny days with a light breeze..... ahh.... :)

Talofa lava, lo'u aiga!  O a mai outou?

Well, its definitely been a week.... let's start with the random thoughts first....

-Did Logan apply to BYU?
-Dad, you should read this book called, "The Infinite Atonement" by Tad R. Callister.  Sister Hengehenga is reading it and she shares the coolest insights with the Atonement!  Definitely a good read - i hope to read it after she does.


well lets get on with the week.

on monday when we met with Sam, Rena, Robin, and Upu.. .it was awesome to see how their testimonies have grown.  We had said things like "IF this is true, then this is also true.." and Sam cut us off saying, "Not IF it's true... it IS true."  SOLID!

tuesday we had two YSA members come out with us so we went on mini-splits where we parked the car and two of us went one way, and the other two went another way.  that was fun!  sad news for tuesday evening.... we found out rena moved out unexpectedly - and turns out she is actually a cousin to sam, not a sister... so she now lives in mt. wellington with her other cousin and is sadly no longer our investigator. we hope to get her new address and send the other sisters over to visit her. 
:( 

Wednesday was a breaking point for me.  We were sitting doing language study - trying to do role plays and it wasn't going anywhere, and my frustrations got the best of me from the past week, and i cried.  poor sister H, didn't know what to say or do.  but she did ask if i wanted a blessing from the district leader.  so we met up with him and his companion at the chapel and it went really well.  we all ended up having a mini study session where we talked about strengthening faith and trust in the lord, remembering that i was CALLED by a PROPHET of GOD to this mission with this language, and that i also have to be willing to make a few mistakes. we read matt 21:21,22 and ether 12:27.  Through that time I've come to learn that I've been given weaknesses that i may teach people with authenticity.  God is humbling me and teaching me to be a better person, and it is my responsibility to allow that change to happen through my efforts every day.  After we discussed these things elder Jorgenson gave me a blessing, and woah.  It was one of the most powerful blessings i've ever received.  I could feel the Holy Ghost's comfort as well as the POWER all the way deep into my stomach.  Elder Jorgenson, in the blessing, commanded that my tongue be loosed and for my mind to be open and understand when i listen to people speak to me.  I'm so grateful for an awesome companion who is in tune with the promptings of the holy ghost to help out her stressed and probably dramatic companion (me).

Later on wednesday, a potential family we were hoping to teach told us (kindly) to not come back. we had a re-cap lesson on the plan of salvation with sam and robin and upu at the park by their house, then pepa walked by! so she joined with us.  we walked back to her house after their lesson and she asked us what she can do to help sam and all them with their baptism! how awesome is she!?? she is better help than the members here.... i nearly jumped and gave her a big old bear hug when she asked that. :)  also she reads her book of mormon in between her classes and her friends ask what she is doing and she tells them, "reading the book of mormon, duh!" hahahaha.... love her! I CAN"T WAIT FOR SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

thursday we met dorothy, who is finally back from Australia.  she has met with missionaries over the past year or so, and so she knows a lot about the chruch. basicaly it comes down to the fact that she knows she needs to be baptized in order to receive salvation, but doesn't want to leave her AOG (assembly of god) church.... we will see what we can do to help her out. she is hilarious though! 20 years old, and full of spark and so funny.

friday we had a Sister's Specialized Training Meeting, so ALL the sisters in the NZAM met! I got to see sister Pe'a!  The training was awesome!. All about the scripture in 1 chronicles 28:20. LOOK IT UP. :)  President and Sister Lekias gave trainings on being strong and of a good courage, as well as other things.  sister pe'a could tell i was still stressing with the language, and so she showed me D&C 35:13.... I am weak, therefore i will THRASH the nations! :) hahaha... love her. Needless to say i got heaps out of the training, and i hope to apply it to my work daily.  there was a portion on training about learning a language. and at the end of it, the tongan Sister training leaders called on my randomly (or INSPIRED) to share my experience so far in  learning samoan. HA.  I was already teary-eyed at that point, but i got up and did my best to share my testimony and experience in learning samoan.  many sisters knew where i was coming from, and afterwards many told me how much they felt for me in this.  It was really nice to have all that support.  I think Heavenly Father has overloaded me with love an support... now it is time for me to learn and speak this language.  Each day gets better whether is it one work or a sentence, i am learning and i need to look at it that way, not what i don't know yet.

Saturday we got to take our new investigatior, Lucia (14 yrs old) to another baptism.  She was a little alarmed by it, but is still all good with us teachign her.  after the baptism we ended up at a members house, and they gave us more american stuff like cheetos, and peanut butter and twizlers and sunflower seeds. haha it makes them so happy to give us this stuff, and we are so grateful for it!

Sunday........... man before the mission i loved sudnays...now apart from chruch... i hate sundays. no one is out to talk to, and even the members don't want you to come over for a visit.  they are slow days.  we went up north closer to downtown auckland in the afternoon to see if there were any samoans there.... NOPE. not a brown person in sight. only palagi. and they were all grouchy people!  so we weren't there long, just long enough for some pictures... and i dropped my camera. it still works just fine, just a faded screen for now.  in the evening we stopped by sam and robin and upu.  sam had asked his parents if he could get baptized on friday night and it was a firm, straight NO. But Sam was so happy when we got there because he got permission from his dad to go to the fireside that night. so we were working on getting him a ride while he got ready for it. then his dad and mom came home and (without making eye contact with us) sad on the bench on the porch and said (in Samoan), "Look, this is the last time you can come to my house. Do not visit here anymore.  We go to chruch, okay? So no more of this."  ..........saddest news! :(  also, he is terrifying.  when he said that all words english and samoan left my head.  so we said bye to upu and told her she and the boys could ask the parents if if would be okay to continue lessons, just at the park not the house....  but we never wan to go behind their parents backs so we may have to take a break from meeting with them, which is so not fair because Sam and Robin and Upu all want to be baptized!  They sadly can't do so without permission form the parents. :(  ironic thing is that we all were fasting yesterday for softened hearts with their parents... i think this is just a trial of all our faith. :) it will happen, i just don't know WHEN. :)

so that was our week!  now for the pictures!

1 and 2 - me and sista pe'a!
3 me and a cow
4 the cow was praying ha!
5 a lovely day
6 (when we traveled up north) I CAN SEETHE OCEAN! probably never touch it... it i saw it! from a distance
7 me and the beach

more to come in another email!

i love you all have a great week!!!

alofa atu, sista kamaleti