FEBRUARY 11, 2013

well this week has been great. and very busy. monday we played rugby. fun times. good to run around and side step again (im too fat to play this sport anymore) but ill get back and train. tuesday we had our last zone conference of the transfer. it went awesome. i loved my training and the other trainings that were given. the spirit was strong and i learned a lot, even though ive heard it 6 times. haha. wednesday we had our zone training meeting as the warm springs zone and then we met with president to begin transfers. its so awesome to feel the spirit as were trying to see where missionaries can be moved to strengthen one another. the spiirt is very strong. its awesome. i love every minute. thursday was much of the same. we had more time to work in our area then in any other day in the transfer. so thats always nice. friday we planned. and then helped president with transfers again. saturday was the best day ever!!!! in the morning we drove over to a chapel close to sam boyd staidum and president talked to all of us about our conduct and reaching a referral goal. we drove over and watched the byu game and talked to all of the members there. that was fun. then we went into the stadium. it was awesome!!! i loved every minute. i saw paane there also! it was awesome to see that guy. then i bought some stuff, met a couple of members that handed us 20 dollar bills. good times good times. haha. sunday was good too. i let our family ward bishop know that i was leaving and he had me bare my testimony over the pulpit and starting crying and stuff. i was like, oh gosh.... aha. but ive grown to love this ward a lot. this has been my favorite ward on my mission and will probably stay that way. but ill miss everyone here soooooo much. but everything else is good. im not going to east (the hood) with elder tagilala hes fijian and about 6'4". hes awesome!!!! and from redwood city. pretty swwet huh.

love you!!!!!

ELDER NONU

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

this week has been not too exciting. monday we played rugby. it was actually fun. i taught everyone how to play and they actually had a good time. tuesday we had another zone conference that went well. (after 5 youd think i knew what i was doing.) president rebuked my companion for talking so much while conducting. dude does talk your ear off. but its all good. haha. wednesday we had zone leader council which went well also. WAYYY! better then the last one. i was super iritated the first one because our training was horrible. but it got better. i actually spoke this time and we looked like a team. haha. honestly. this week well be looking over the transfer board and seeing who should go where. so im looking forward to seeing where ill be at. until then, ill work my butt off here. thursday we had our 2nd to last zone conference and it went well also. had fun and trainings were great. friday we had exchanges (LAST ONE!!!!) FINALLY! i was with elder gustafson. He's really cool and really quiet. when im with ermakov were always laughing and joking around and stuff and yah.... saturday we exchanged back and had our planning session for the week and then worked for the rest of the day. sunday was great! we went to our family ward and the dennis family came to church together. after bermuda ward block we had a linger longer/ break the fast, which was awesome! our investigators got to talk to a lot of the members of the ward and have some fun and food. after we went to our singles ward and found out that a nonmember showed up while we were gone and we talked and had a quick lesson after church. his name is jason and he has a degree in theology from a catholic university and he denounced everything it taught him and saw that ours was true so we set him for baptism 3 weeks from now. only problem is that hes 34 and too old for the singles ward, so that was lame. but still, the fact that even happened was good enough for me. haha. the dennis family is doing well also, They are fired up to get baptized and even traded shifts sunday so he could come to church. it was sweet! other then that. were still working hard and finding as best we can. this tuesday is our last zone conference in kingman and lake havasu. so im excited about that. the only bad part is that will be our whole day. well drive home get here around 7pm and take dinner until 8pm and then maybe have a lesson and go home. but then the real work begins! >:D

anyways!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

ELDER NONU

JANUARY 21, 2013

yo!

so this has been the best week of my mission. tuesday we had zone conference and we had to give trainings on finding people to teach. i talked about working with the members. it went well, but the group i had the second time i gave my training had no enthusiasm. so that was a little annoying. but its all good. wednesday i went on exchanges with elder leidecker in my last area. hes serving in that ward now. it was sooooo fun! we taught 3 lessons together with the same people i was teaching before i left. so that was nice. and i got to see a couple of the members i got close with. elder leidecker is a really good teacher. i remember in the MTC he barely spoke, but now hes a best! thursday i went on another exchange with elder dubois from minnesota. hes the funniest guy ever, so we had so much fun and had 2 awesome lessons with new investigators. it was sweet!!!! at the end of the night we had cold stone. :P friday was great too! we had exchanges with the kingman and lake havasu zone leaders. where my last 2 companions are. i was with elder taetakua and his companion elder marsee in kingman and elder ermakov went with elder moreno and his companion elder shearer to lake havasu. i always love having mini rode trips out there. its so fun. :) we had a blast. we went to a baptism they had for their investigators and then went out to an indian reservation the next morning for a baptismal interview. i saw a member i loved when i was in kingman and they took us out to lunch which was fun. they have a son serving in michigan and he was out for like 4 months when i was there, now hes coming home in 2. what the heck...... crazy stuff. i swear. and of course the best part of the ENTIRE WEEK! maybe my entire mission. yah lets go with that. well, as you know the jackson family was baptized a year ago. elder van bruggen (my trainer) and elder roedel (my 2nd comp) all taught them. well, i saw them on my exchange before when i was in kingman last transfer and they told me they were taking temple prep classes. well saturday night they knelt across the alter in the vegas temple and were sealed for time and eternity. the spirit was so strong and overwhelming in that room. i loved it so much. they looked so happy as a family. best day on my mission by far!!!! but thats not all ladys and gentlemen!!! sunday we had a special stake conference in our stake and Niel L. Andersen of the quorom of the 12 came and spoke to the stake. it was SWEET!!!!!! we brought 6 of our investigators and they got to meet and talk to him indiviually for a moment. it was awesome!!!! so a recap of my week. 3 exchanges, 1 in kingman, the jacksons are sealed, and i touched the hand of an apostle. what a blessing.

thats my week. i love it! :D

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!

ELDER NONU

JANUARY 14, 2013

wel thats lame. and you wondered why i rode a bike everywhere. that crap doesnt happen to a bike. haha. and its free to ride. and you get a work out! what a blessing. and i know you said id probably grow out of that, but i still plan on biking again. unless im on a date, then yah thats too much. but yah. just saying. ill have to get a job so i can spend some dough on something nice. anyways!!! i pray that i will end my mission on bike. i love it so much! :D

thats too bad about the car though. subarus are always good. :) dependable, last long, and 4wd. but yah. just saying.

anyways! this week has been nuts. we had 4 exchanges. first we started on tuesday and went with the zone leaders in the paradise zone (middle of the valley) it was great, i went with elder bradford. hes from virginia and in the air force. then wednesday i went with elder fischer from chile and then elder jacobs on thursday from seattle washington and finally with elder solorzano from mexico. fun times. we had good lessons this week. the dennis family are still coming along well, they both got jobs now and are working a lot. were happy for their families. they are still excited to be baptized on the 9th, so were looking forward to that a lot!!!!! last night we had a lesson with our investigator mario torres, hes mexican and has been in jail for the past 2 1/2 years. hes coming along really well and says that hes just counting down the days until he gets baptized. his son in law greg was also there. weve tried teaching him a couple of times and yesterday he came to church for the first time. he loved it. he went to all three hours and said he loved how friendly the ward was and how welcomed he felt. so we set him for baptism on the 16th last night also. so the work is going forward. the singles ward is not as fruitful right now though. but were trying to think of ways we can fix it. elder ermakov and i are getting along great still. were not with each other a full day very often, but it happens. lol. bro tiatia, our ward mission leader, is on fire still. hes always energetic and ready to help us out. along with the bishop and basicaly everyone in the ward.

the other day we brought the elders quorom president to our lesson with mario and mario and his son were both asleep when we showed up. well we waited for about 10 minutes, and the eqp got up, walked into his room and woke up mario and his son and got mario to come out and sit down with us, then he went back for his son. his son doesnt like us and is just a punk. well, he grabs him by the arm and drags him out of his bed and has him sit down on the couch. it was hilarious.

anyways, thats my week. hope yours goes well! :D

LOVE YOU!!!!

ELDER NONU

JANUARY 7, 2012

this week has been eventful to say the least. moday was my last p-day with elder moreno. i love that guy. hes so funny. but its been good. tuesday we had a couple of lessons and said goodbye to a few member families. wednesday we had transfers and got my new companion in the morning. hes a really cool guy. his name is elder ermakov from russia hes a convert of years. and about 6'3". oh and 26. haha. hes the first companion ive had thats bigger and taller then me, so that was a change of pace. in the morning we picked up the new missionaries from the airport. its always funny to see them come down the escalator with that glow. haha. scared and anxious, but ready to work. we drove them all to the mission home and had some breakfast then trained them on the culture here, obedience, and all that good stuff. we had to pick up a missionary that went home for surgery. he had a tumor in his neck, but he was only home for 2 weeks. hes awesome. and lives in modesto, he took out his endowments from the sacramento temple. he told me about how green it is.... -___- lame! after, we had transfers and elder hardy (my past companion) went home. im gonna miss him, but its cool hes going home. and then 2 other missionaries i knew really well went home also. im just another old lame fart of a missionary now. -__- all my buddies are leaving. haha. that night we had no time to work, so we didnt do anything really, but it was still a fun day. thursday we had a new missionary training, so we got to train them and get to know them and hear their experiences and testimonies. it was really cool. i always love those meetings. then we got to work for a few hours. friday we cleaned for a few hours. which was ok, but we plan for our week on fridays, so i wish we would have done that instead, but it still worked out. elder ermakov is a clean freak, so yah. its cleaner. well just say that. haha. then we got some work done. thursday night we actually had gone on splits and while we were waiting for my comp to show up the friend of the guy i was with was waiting outside of his house and i invited him to take the lessons, and now hes set for baptism on the 16th of february. so yah. good times. saturday we had a really good day. in the morning we taught the dennis family about the gospel of jesus christ. they loved it! they understood what the importance of baptism is a lot more and the spirit was very strong. afterward we had a baptism for anna chorney. not sure if i talked about her very much. but shes awesome too. during her interview she told our district leader about how her and her member boyfriend had been living together for 10 years and when we taught her about the law of chastity, she kicked him out, because she "wants to go to heaven". haha! it was SICK!!!! the baptism was awesome too! very powerful and the dennis family was there also. sunday we had church and we bore our testimony in both wards. the spirit of missionary work is very powerful in our family ward, its building up in the singles though. lol. but still good. so its been a good week. this week we have zone leader council and 4 exchanges to go on with zone leaders. so yah.... fun times. love you!!! :D

ELDER NONU

DECEMBER 31, 2012

this week has been good. we started on transfers with president. its been interesting. goes to show how important transfers and getting to know every missionary is. i wish they would have kept me as a zone leader longer in different areas because i only got to know a few missionaries really well, and the other almost 200, not so much. haha. but. We had SWEEEEEET lessons with a new family we started teaching. its the dennis family. a husband wife and daughter. they lived in west virginia their whole lives. he owned a car lot, making over 100,000 a year with a big house and living comfortably. they visited vegas a few times and bro dennis said he was compelled to come here, so 2 years ago, they sold everything, packed up everything else in their car with their cat and drove to vegas. now they live in a weekly suite place on vegas blvd and he works at a sandwich shop flipping a sign and couldnt be happier. he told us, he doent know why hes here, but he thinks it might be the church. we set them for baptism that same lesson for the first week in february. theyre awesome! well, with transfers on wednesday, president is sending elder moreno to lake havasu city and im getting a new companion. his name is elder ermakov originally from russia. moreno was companions with him about 6 months ago. i also found out that the blog yall have for me has been followed by one the missionaries moms before he came into the mission. haha. his parents wrote me and stuff it was so cool. so make sure to give a shout out to sister anderson from troy michigan. haha. :D anyways. all is well. Christmas was fun. we hung out with a couple of families and taught 4 lessons also. it was surprisingly busy. i now have a testimony that people are liklier to let you in on holidays. haha. but. yah. christmas eve we went to the littles, this awesome family in the ward. they had a ping pong tournament and elder moreno won a $25 gift card to subway. haha. it was great. we also had a nativity thing that they did, which was hilarious and fun. so yah. thats my week pretty much. :)

love yall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ELDER NONU

DECEMBER 17, 2012

anyways. this week has been good. monday we played sports and shopped and stuff. tuesday we went to our zone meeting with the zone leaders and stuff. kind of a boring day though. wednesday we had a leadership meeting for the mission. elders moreno and i had to give trainings. his was on companionship study and mine was on obedience. it went really well. i loved elder morenos. hes a good missionary. after we had a christmas talent show for half of the mission. it was sooooo fuinny. i was dying the whole time. elder vaiaoga and his zone did the haka, but the funny and awkward part was when he got on stage all he was wearing was a lava lava. i guess hes ripped his pants the last 3 times he did it. so he took his pants off, but the whole time you could see his garments. it was wierd. we kept telling the sisters to cover their eyes. then we all laughed at him afterwards. thursday was the same thing excpet for the other half of the mission. it was fun. but this talent show wasnt as fun as the last one. so yah. we had a small meetig after all of that for all of the polynesian missionaries. we got permission from the area 70 to go to the sevens tournament in february. our ward mission leader is going to get us tickets. :D so yah! well be there again. im sooooo excited. friday was a whole lot of nothing. we went on an exchange with the zone leaders up by my old area. it was fun. i was with elder dubois from minnesota. we had a lot of fun. saturday we had 2 baptisms to go to. one was for a little 9 year old girl weve been teaching named natasha. shes so cool and smart. it was a fun baptism. that night we went back for a baptism in central for 3 kids i was teaching before i left and they got baptized saturday. so that was awesome!!!! unfortunately i didnt get a picture of them though because we got there as it was starting. but its ok. im glad i was there. sunday was good too. we went to both wards. the singles ward is awkward. its sooooo friggin awkward in there im super quiet because i dont want to talk to anyone. at least not the girls. theyll say hi and i just smile and wave. but everyone else is cool. weve had a lot of work still going on and a lot of baptisms also. weve had a baptism almost every week ive been here. so were really blessed. our ward mission leader is bro. tiatia. he just recently moved here and he was from the eagle mountain tongan stake that were in. or whatever. he was in the high council. hes so awesome!!!!

anyways. i love you all!!!!

ELDER NONU

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Tell uncle thanks for getting me that lotion from Samoa.  I can't go pick it up since he lives out of my area.  Maybe he can drop it off to me?

this week has been good. monday we didnt do a whole lot. we had 2 appointments at night that canceled. although one came up at night with a 9 year old girl that is getting baptized this week. so that was good. tuesday we went to a district meeting in the morning to see how all of the elders are doing. wednesday we had zone leader council which went really well. me and elder moreno trained on helping the district leaders in the mission step up and focus more on their purpose. we had exchanges with the zone leaders in green valley. i was with elder williams. hes from mesa arizona and super cool. we had a lot of fun. and worked really hard. we had dinner with this part member family. they are from modesto and really cool. they had way good food too. nom nom nom. thursday we had exchanges with the zone leaders in black mountain. i was with elder shearer and hes cool too. hes from boston. it was cool. we go on a lot of exchanges and its cool to talk to them and see what experiences theyve had on their missions and their stories and stuff. ive learned a lot. especially when we get to help them with things going on in their zones or stuff going on with us that we get to help out with. friday.... i dont remember..... saturday! i got to go on exchanges with elder taetakua!!!! we had a lot of fun. haha. we taught 6 lessons that day. this area has been so busy its rediculous. but its fun. we got this custard stuff at night and drove back to central to switch back. oh yah!!!!! we had a baptism saturday morning! haha. for russ osborne. it was awesome. it was probably the strongest spirit ive felt at a baptism while on my mission. everyone in there was balling. we had one of our other investigators there as well and hes been praying to know if the church is true but hasnt gotten an answer. we talked to him about it before and he said he hasnt been reading. so we told him that if he reads, prays, and comes to church, then hell recieve an answer. well hes been doing those things because he got an answer!!!! awesome right? so were going to move back his baptismal date, but hell be getting baptized soon. its been a good week. :)

love yall!!!!

ELDER NONU

DECEMBER 3, 2012

honestly ive been friggin stressed out this whole week. this is the most stress ive had my whole mission... ive felt like im just running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and looking like i have no clue what im doing, because i dont. i can find, teach, and baptize, but as far as office work and organizing area boundaries and other stuff i feel lost. but im getting through it. i know that none of that is really true, but it still lingers in my thoughts, but i just go to work and forget about myself. so yah. luckily i have an awesome companion that i love! hes so awesome! but yah. weve been on 4 exchanges this week with 4 zone leader companionships. theyve been fun, but when im in my own area staying busy and working hard is no problem, but i get stressed out because ive been here for almost 3 weeks now and have n idea how to navigate around here. so yah. but i found my gps. :D and a map. but the map only shows our family ward and the singles ward is the whole stake. so yah. fun times.

 

yah... the bowl games make me so mad. alabama is in the national championship again. im so mad. I HATE THE SEC (south eastern conference) TOO!!!!!!!! the sec is the football conference that the BCS (board of college sports) kisses up too. they think theyre the best teams, the best conference, and they beat everyone. yah theyre good, yah theyre competitive but they get favored for everything. their season schedule has maybe 3 games against top schools and then the rest are against jokes, that are basically like high schools. like after alabama lost to texas a&m they played western carolina or something stupid like that. so they go undefeated, but against crap teams in division 2. so everyone gets mad. especially when you have the pac-12 that oregons in and they play USC, arizona, ASU, stanford, and all these teams that get nationally ranked every year. so yah. lame... but oh well. oregon will destroy kansas state and ill find a shirt about it. i still where my rose bowl sweatshirt i got last year almost every morning for sports and i bought an oregon t-shirt at ross. yay! :D

just a heads up, my skin on my hands and feet has gotten so bad and dry out here that it cracks and bleeds daily. i got a perscription from the doctor out here for an ointment that will help, but idunno what else can help. nothing seems to work. maybe dad has some voodoo samoan healing lotion balm from back home that he can send. just kidding.

anyways. thats my week, love you all.

ELDER NONU

cant wait to skype on christmas. :)

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

oh my gosh. this week has been psychotic. monday was good. we played sports with the zone and everything, but we were so busy in and out of the office that we didnt have time to email until about 1030 at night. we prepared everything for transfers and dint get everything done until about 12 at night. tuesday we picked up all of the new missionaries from the airport which was really cool. :) haha. just watching them coming down the escalator looking confused and excited was pretty amusing. and of course what was even better was the huge smile on their faces when we walked up and gave them a huge hug. haha. they opened up a lot after that. we took them to the mission home and talked to them about our mission and whats expected of them and they we gave a training and everything. it was really fun. :) after, we got everything ready in the chapel for transfers and it was awkward sitting on the stand next to president instead of with my boys. me and elder taetakua just laughed and made faces at each other. haha. i miss that guy SOOOOOOOOO much. elder zelenski (my comp from my second area) was the AP i replaced and he just went home last week. it was really sad to see him go, because i was close with him and loved hanging around him for his last couple of days. haha. after the testimony meeting we assigned the new missionaries with their trainers and sent them on their way. i had the same thinking about APs before the mission too, but we actually get a lot of work done. this area is actually the most work ive had my whole mission. just this past week we set 5 people for baptism and had a baptism saturday. which is always good. we also found 5 new people to teach. our number 1 priority is find teaching and baptizing and on top of that we do a office work and stuff for president to make his life a lot easier. its so fun to be around president so much and his wife. theyre so awesome. :) wednesday we had a training meeting for all the new missionaries and their trainers. it was really good. james' wifes brother is training a new missionary already. hes a boss. elder lilii. thursday we had 2 dinners. 1 with our bishop and his family and then with the 1st counselor and secretary in our mission presidency. they are both in our ward. every night, but 2, this week weve gotten home at about midnight. it sucks, because im exhausted all day. but its ok. i like these areas a lot. so its all good. elder moreno and i are getting a long really well. hes an awesome missionary. im looking forward to this transfer a lot.

all is well in vegas. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

ELDER NONU

ELDER NONU IS THE NEW ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

thats awesome. i wish i could have been there to hear Pres Holland. but no.

well id give a full account of whats gone on this week but, im actually not because not a whole lot is important because of what happened the last couple of days. so friday night we had gotten a call from president but i didnt pick it up because our phone was on silent. well, saturday morning we went to go exercise and as we were driving back president called again and asked if we could come to the office in an hour. so we said ok, not really knowing what was going on. and we drove to the office and the assistants brought taetakua and i into presidents office and told us to sit down. after asking us some questions he told me he wants me to be the new assistant. so i was like.... holy crap.... aha. so yah. so all day saturday i had to wash and pack all of clothes and stuff. it was very hectic and busy. i only got to say goodbye to about 3 familys. lame. but oh well. saturday night we finished going over transfers, where missionaries are going, new comps, etc. it was crazy to go through everything. i was super lost. but ill get over it. we then made phone calls to missionaries and junk then printed out all of the letters for every missionary to tell them where theyre getting transfered to. after printing, labeling, and stuffing letters, we didnt get home until 3am. sunday. we woke up at 630 and got ready for church. we cover a family ward and a singles ward. its wierd covering a singles ward, everyone is close to my age and its very quiet. so ill have to get used to that. it was a good day though. the past couple of days have been crazy trying to get used to everything and adjust. we are a lot busier. but the area is going really well with work and baptisms so im excited to meet and teach everyone in our wards. so there you go. i got transferred 3 days early and im the new assistant. good times.... my new companion is elder moreno hes been out 1 transfer more then me and has been an assistant for 1 transfer more also. hes awesome. weve been on exchanges together before so weve gotten the chance to know each other, i already love him a lot. but i miss taetakua a lot also, and central.. looking forward to this transfer.

love you mom!!!!!!

ELDER NONU

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

this week has been great. monday we didnt do anything really which was pretty lame, but whatever. wednesday we had our zone meeting where we talk about everything that happened and was discussed at zone leader council to our zone. it went well, we realized how much work we all have to do. half of our zone is new missionaries being trained by new missionaries so its a bit crazy trying to help them acclimate and feel comfortable and to make sure their trainer actually knows what hes doing. so yah. unfortunately though the only missionaries that have been out over a year are the ones that are giving us the most problems. one companionship hates each other and dont really work and the other is our district leader in english who doesnt keep the commitments we live or do the things that were being told will help us be successful missionaries and then the other one just plain doesnt really seem to care. he sleeps in, doesnt get dressed on time, sleeps through studies, and his trainee just talks about how he wants to be an AP so he can know about all the stuff going on in the mission. so yah. stupid. me and taetakua have some work cut out for us. thursday nothing special again. honestly the only time something really happened was saturday through today, so well skip ahead. saturday we went to a funeral for a family in our ward, his brother passed. that night we went to a baptism in elder taetakuas last area for someone he set for baptism the week before transfers. it was one of the best ive been to. very spiritual and it was for a family. they visited the SLC temple on their way back home from an LDS funeral, and then wanted to join ever since. :) sunday was interesting. first we had church and our investigator greg came. hes the fiance of a part member family. sacrament was pefect because the night before he expressed that he didnt have a strong relationship with god and we explained that through prayer he can change that. luckily all 3 sacrament meeting talks were on growing a relationship with god. so perfect! well, it went down hill from there. in gospel principles our ward mission leader/ gospel principles teacher brought up politics for about half of the lesson and talked about how obama is a terrorist and that hes pissed off about the results. i was very very very upset to say the least. then in elders quorom our ex-ward mission leader cussed about 3 times and got into an argument with one of the other elders. this isnt the first time this has happened. so we left church super iritated. were going to visit the bishop tomorrow and let him know though. right after church though we got something to eat, and got picked up by the zone leaders in the zone next to us and we drove to the smith's center. we were invited to an orchestra/choir performance called saints and pioneers. its an all youth orchestra and choir and it was themed after the trek west and the saints in nauvoo. it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! all of the zone leaders in the valley were asked to usher people to their seats and we got to watch the show also. it was sick! very spiritual and strong. they fed us and everything. that took up our whole night. monday! was great. we had a zone conferwence with elder stanley g ellis of the seventy. he talked about how we need to work along side the spirit and with gods help and not just on our own. it was aweome. we had a leadership training after and we went over john 10 and how the sheep are the missionaries in our zone and that we are the shephard that they need to trust and be led by. it was great. all in all its been a good week. also. p-day got switched to today because of the conference, so now you know why im late. haha. :D

anyways. thats my week. hope all is well with you guys! and also, my waist size is 42, i can fit a 40 fine though. 42 is just a lot more leg room though. haha. anything more though is way too big. so yah. thanks for the update on football too! :D one of the elders in the zone is an alabama fan so ive been making fun of him. xDDD

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! HAPPY ALMOST THANKSGIVING!!!!

ELDER NONU

transfers next week..... oh snap!!!! will i leave? who knows!!!

president and the APs thats who....

Nov 5, 2012

This week has been good. monday we played football at the park, kind of lame though. we dont have a very athletic group of missionaries here. so yah... but that night we had dinner and a lesson with the 3 kids that were teaching. we taught about the restoration and it went really well. tuesday we had district meeting in the morning and then our appointment with the drug investigator in the afternoon. haha. it was a good lesson, but shes not progressing. she doesnt read in between appointments and says shell be at church, but weve yet to see her there. so yah. not sure what to do with her. we were supposed to have another lesson with those 3 kids, but they had some ghetto people drama with their mom and long story short, no lesson. lame. but were still positive about it. haha. wednesday was super fun!!! we had zone leader council in the morning, which is always a really good meeting. they talked a lot about diligence and it really helped me gain a love and concern for the welfare of the people we street contact and talk to. so that was good. elder taetakua and i have been chasing people. haha. fun times. :D that night was our halloween mission party and we watched this movie called courageous. it was good and really funny, after we had tons of donuts and candy and fruit to eat and hung out with all the missionaries. i saw elder v and his trainee and james wifes brother also. he and i have gotten to know each other pretty well. hes a cool dude. at the end right after president told us we needed to go home, elder lilii (james wifes brother) screamed and we all did the haka for everyone in the gym and then walked out. haha. it was cool. president thought it was awesome. haha. we didnt get home until almost 1030. :D thursday was good. we went on exchanges with the assistants. i went to their area and we worked. it was really fun. we talked about a couple missionaries were having problems with. but it was a fun exchange. we had cafe rio too. :D nom nom nom. friday was good too. we had a lesson with a less active lady weve brought back into activity. elder taetakua felt prompted to teach her about tithing. about the first 5 minutes as we taught we were both thinking, well she knows about that already, or she probably already pays it. the member we brought (sis. martinez) is the relief society president and she bore her testimony about tithing and just brought the sweetest spirit into the room, it was awesome. then julia (the less active lady) told us that she had been praying about an amount of money that she was going to give to her daughter, but its the last of what she had and her tithing, and she started to cry and said "now i know what to do with that money". that elder taetakua bore his testimony and shared a story and i did the same. it was soo cool to see the spirit working through us into her heart. ive come to learn that that is what makes a successful missionary, its if you follow the spirit and then see it work in the hearts of those you teach and it testifies to them that what you say is true. that night we went to dinner with the tavita family and they told us that their family in that lives next across the street, were contacted by some elders and now they want to come to their ward with them. its a family of 8. 5 of which are baptismal age. so we challenged her to bring them to church and invite them to have a lesson. its awesome. sunday we went to church and it was a great testimony meeting. all of the members highlighted some great gospel topics. a couple of the members said how much they love us. it was really nice. aha. we had a lesson with the husband of a part member family. we taught the restoration, but it went pretty bad. he didnt seem to have much interest or desire and we could feel it. were not sure if hes only doing it for his wife, but we hope to find out soon. he left the room a couple of times as we were teaching and it was just awkward. along with feeling the spirit working with people, you can feel when its not hitting them, in this case because they have a lack of desire. so yah.... it was rough. THATS MY WEEK!!!!!

That's awesome that you get to hear Pres Holland speak at your conference, i wanna hear elder holland talk. He's awesome!!

thank you for that trunky thought.... LOVE YOU!!!!!!

ELDER NONU