February 23, 2014

"Five Months, this week! WHAT?"

Hey howdy, hey everyone!  O a mai lo outou vaiaso?

Not tooooo much happened this week. We are still in Finding Mode, which is both difficult and goes by slowly.  To be honest, knocking on doors is NO FUN! So i hope all of you are doing all that you can to find friends who are ready to hear the gospel, and sharing them with the missionaries in your homes! that is the best way to bring others to christ. :)  the days went by slow, but the weeks always go by fast. so here we are again on a lovely monday.

highlights of the week... (all of which happened at the end of the week)

THURSDAY we had Mission Conference and all the missionaries of the NZAM got to meet and shake Elder Neil L. Anderson of the TWELVE and Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the Seventy!  THAT, was awesome.  Right when elder Anderson got to the chapel, we lined up and shook his hand, and looked him in the eye!  1. he is the nicest guy. 2. he walks in the room and you KNOW he is a true apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. it was really great to see that even apostles are normal people, who know how to have a good time/joke around.  learned heaps. but my main take aways were as follows:  you life needs a vision.  you need to see where you are, where you want to go, and how you are going to get there.  we serve missions, to of course bring more of our Heavenly Father's precious souls back to him, but also to solidify the members of the church (aka- to deepen the missionary's conversion, so we don't waver after the mission.) the lord needs eternally faithful members, and that is something the mission can help with.  teach doctrine of the gospel, and know there are ETERNAL TRUTHS such as God LIves, Jesus is the Christ, and our Lives are and will be Eternal.  GREAT DAY!

FRIDAY was the horrific day of our FAFAGA (dinner with members). let me explain.... we went to our fafaga like we do every day we have fafaga.... we sit down, and start eating.  this family made delicious food that we ate, but there wasnt anything to drink.  i look up 1/2 way thru dinner and the wife is making this strange drink.  1. fruit cocktail (i've NEVER LIKED THIS my whole life, and now she was putting it in with my drink??)  2. the juice 3. milk 4. HEAPS of sugar 5.  .... peanuts???  she placed it in front of us and i knew i had to drink/eat this concoction... so naturally as a missionary, i said a mini prayer, then drank all the liquid, which had a strange texture itself, then at the peanuts (???), then had to eat the fruit cocktail stuff..... with faith all things are possible people! i finished the drink and didnt gag!  so we were stuffed, thought we were about to leave because we had our investigator's baptism interview to get to. when the knock-from-death knocks on the door.... the neighbor brings over AS MUCH FOOD AS THE LADY HAD MADE as well as banana bread cake and... you guessed it MORE NASTY FRUIT COCKTAIL DRINK. sis H & sophia's eyes got big when sis. peseta said, WAIT dont leave yet, have some more drink and cake! (crap.) we thought she'd just give it to us for the road, but NO.  we had to eat it on the couch. I could not do it. i had about half of the banana bread cake, but could not do the drink. i thought all i had just eaten was going to come right back out if i put one more thing in my stomach. so we awkwardly just said thank you very much and set the plates down to hug and shake hands, went out the door, TRIED running to our car because we were very late by then, but couldn't do it. (you may need to roll me off the plane in a year or so.)  needless to say we didn't eat for a long time. 

SATURDAY was Val's baptism! All things went according to plan. :) she said the water was really hot though... i quote, "I was just baptized by fire water!"  the spirit was really strong there, and she was all smiles. :D  also while door knocking we met a man from the middle east, who raises these birds. sorry idk what they are called, but we got to hold them! not every day you do that! :) dont mind my double chin in the pic. :))  AND. saturday morning our district got to help the stake with a helping hands service project at Roay Oak Intermediate (aka middle school) we took heaps of rubbish, mulch, and other things away, mostly just clean up, but lots of fun to get dirty hands. :)





sunday was the typical slow day, and i'm just happy we got thru it. cool thing: sophia, sis H and i all wore pula tasis, see the pic below. :)  today is monday and i'm ready for a new week.

 thats all for this week! love you all so much! :) enjoy your week! :) give all the boys hugs from me :)

val's little nephew, Niu (translates to "coconut" haha) took this one of me. :)

Val's Baptism!

Poly(nesian) hugs are the best!

sis H and i all wore samoan pula tasis!

Samoan and American Gothic? :)

Feels good to do some dirty work!

Not sure what these are...parrots? lorikeets? ...they were cool though!

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