another week of CRAZYNESS!

We were so booked this week, I'm still trying to recover from the busyness. Its been great though, Heavenly Father is helping us a TON here. Even though we are having a difficult time getting members to lessons.

SO many MIRACLES.

When I say miracle, its just the fact that the majority of our investigators read the Book of Mormon - how epic is that? We have had some awesome discussions as well. My favorite lesson would have to be the plan of salvation at the moment. You teach it, put everything in perspective, its all explained so eloquently by Lehi in 2 Nephi 2 (ed. note: scripture reference from the Book of Mormon), and people just understand. Absolutely love it. That moment when you see that someone understands why Jesus Christ is so important. Everyone knows or thinks he was important, but not very many people know why, thank you Book of Mormon. Anyways, we had a neat experience this week. I usually don't grab the Family Proclamation to the World* brochure, but one day something told me to grab one.

We had a cancelled lesson and we went contacting old contacts that we needed to visit and start lessons with and one of them was with someone named Teraimateata (the sky with clouds). Something told me to give her the family brochure which was odd because I don't normally give it out, but I gave her one and we fixed a lesson for the next day. When we went to the lesson we started, and she had read the brochure, but not only had she read the brochure she said it was exactly what she felt she had been missing in her life recently. She said it wasn't even difficult for her to read it, it "called to her". Super awesome experience, we have our second contact this week with her.

Elder Olsen is a boss. He's having a great time, and he loves all the biking.

Sadly we won't have a lesson with my favorite Italian investigator Taina this week - she's in Papeete for the vacation.

ummm....I can't think of much else. Those are the highlights, I guess.

Wait NO.

We had Stake conference and a 70** from Tonga came, He's called Elder Adolf Johanson. He WAS AWESOME. Every time he spoke the spirit was so strong. Maybe its because he's an islander 70. But he had some crazy good experiences and he said for every case whenever we do anything in the church he said "its easier if we love". If we do things out of love its infinitely easier, and will work infinitely better.

His conversion story was funny. Hr was a kid and his mother and their family except their father went to the church to see the Joseph Smith film. They'd never had any contact prior to this. They watched the film, then the missionaries got up and asked "what did you feel". His mother raised her hand and responded "the spirit". Then the missionaries asked "what do we do when we feel the spirit" and His mother raised her hand and said "we get baptised". It turned out that someone was inspired and the font was already full and his mother called her husband and told him the family was getting baptised right then. He wasn't happy - 3 months later he was baptised. Pretty cool story. Apparently Tonga is near 50% members of the church right now. That's amazing :O

Well that's my letter!

Love you all

Elder Molinari

Editor's Notes: 

* "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" is a document church leaders published in 1995. It can be found here: https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation

**A "70" is a priesthood office of a church leader.

Not Much TIme This Week!

La cascade

The waterfall and I. We were soaking wet from
the spray and wind that was coming off of it.

This was an epic waterfall we went to visit today 

15 September 2014 Tautira

Highlites:

Found lots of new investigators, the Lord was just handing them to us! The girlfriend of one of our investigators- who wasn’t interested in the lessons- secretly read the Joseph Smith testimony and loved it. But we aren’t allowed to tell her Boyfriend :( However, she said she’s coming to the next lesson!

It rained ALL week again. Which puts a total of 3 weeks it’s rained almost nonstop here. We were pretty wet from waist down every night!

Elder Olsen and I have a hard time getting to bed on time because we talk too much!

The ward didn’t mutiny this Sunday, but that’s because I transposed all the hymns down 2 keys. Third hour I’m in the primary because I play the piano for them and help them practice for the upcoming primary program, Its awesome!

Milo and Sunshine (ed. note: No idea. Sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon!) is delicious with bread and Nutella!

Have a wonderful week!

Ua here au ia outou

Orometua Molinari

To'u hoa api`

08 September 2014, Tautira

My new companion came today. He's pretty awesome. He's from Orem, and was at BYU the same time I was.

It rained all week, and it kinda smells some places now. In fact, it’s rained since I got here. It rains a lot here. I will not eat green eggs and ham, Sam I am.

Lots of biking, we found 5 new investigators. One of them has a father who is from Italy. So I said “Mi ciamo Elder Molinari” and she was shocked. Then she started talking to me in Italian and I didn’t have anything else to say, other than what’s on the back of a shampoo bottle, and what was said to me every night before I went to sleep when I was little.

It gave her a laugh though.

She is awesome and I think she has a lot of potential. Another one of our amis actually came to church on Sunday- I was thrilled. I wasn’t so thrilled by the mutiny of the ward when I played piano; someone decides that the key is too high, so they change it and sing lower. Then the people around them follow, and before you know it everyone is singing a different key, I have to keep plugging along on the piano and the tempo slows down by at least half. I think my ear drums were bleeding by the end, but everyone after said it’s so nice to have a piano. All I can say is we need some practice.

I really don’t have much to say other than something I know everyone knows, but the words jumped out at me, maybe it’s because it’s in French. It was actually just a simpler way to explain something we are all taught.

We teach that we are baptized for the "remission" of sins - but I don't think I've ever met an investigator who can give me a definition of the word remission, so in other words we are baptized to receive the “pardon" in French, or forgiveness of our sins. This event happens at baptism, we receive this remission.

After baptism we can "conserver" is the verb in French or ( keep? in English) the remission or forgiveness of our sins by taking the sacrament and living the gospel; Thereby staying in a "just baptized" state as long as we are trying our best. The remission of sins then becomes not a single event (sometimes after a baptism we like to say "your the cleanest person on the Earth") but a cleanness and purity that lasts with us and is renewed each time we take the sacrament. Just a little tidbit from my studies this week.

Have a great week love you all!

Elder Molinari

First Week in Tautira

2 September 2014 Tautira

Well...I feel like all my letters and journal entries start with "well". At the start of the day we have around 6-8 lessons fixed, then they all get rescheduled...Plan B TRACTING!!! We actually found quite a few new investigators...but usually they are just adventist or JW's that aren't really interested in what we have to say, oh well, you just humbly direct them to the verses in the new testament that show the saints took sacrament in the first day of the week, and for jehovahs witnesses its pretty simple to draw the connection between Jehovah and Jesus (for example Zachariah 11:12-13 cross referenced with Matt. 26:15,27:3-10). Oh well, at least they hear a testimony and sometimes they take a brochure, or a Book of Mormon.

For whats new; Elder Petis is getting transferred Monday, and I think my new companion is an American that recently got here, 6 weeks maybe? His companion is finishing his mission and I'll finish his training here. Let's just hope I remember where and who everything is. He is actually taking my place in Bora for the last 6 weeks of his mission.

President opened 5 new islands up this transfer. Taenga, Raivave, and I dont remember the others. He sent missionaries that are going to finish after these transfers into those islands, I'm pretty sure from the patterns he's establishing, he sends missionaries to finish out in the islands, so hopefully I'll go back someday :)

My new companion's name is Elder Olsen, from I'm not sure where.

ùi didnt really take any photos this week cus all it did was rain.

Oh! and I didnt write yesterday because I was busy vomiting, gah I hate being sick!

Ok well have a great week!

Oh thoughts!

I gave a formation this week on planning lessons and it was based on a section in CH2 of Preach my gospel. When teaching a lesson there are three things that need to be focused on:
What the investigator/student must:
1.Know (Doctrine, baptismal interview questions)
2.Feel (Scriptures, testimony, experiences)
3.Do (engagements, repentance)

Voila! Those are my thoughts!

Bonne semaine à tous

Elder Molinari