Week #59

Bula Vinaka Friends and Family! Another week full of miracles......Our district is just working so hard and every day more and more people come closer to Jesus Christ through this awesome restored gospel! It's always a struggle to choose what to share about our week because literally so MUCH HAPPENS! To summarize this entire week with you all, I think the best way would be just through sharing some stories. I'll start by sharing an experience that happened last night. So after church, we went out teaching and tried to see as many of our investigators as we could. All of them were home but all were busy at the moment and wouldn't be available until today.  The sisters had told us earlier that afternoon that some members gave them extra dinner and they were willing to give us the leftovers for dinner last night. So we listened to the promptings of our stomachs and headed over to their area to pick up some dinner for last night. While walking over there Elder Payne and I got the prompting from the spirit this time (not our stomachs) to go and try to visit one of the less active members named Sister Tagimocia.  As we approached her house this older man came out the door and said, "PLEASE COME IN!"  So in we went and after some conversation we found out that it was Sister Tagimocia's father that we were visiting with.  After some getting to know each other he paused for a moment and said, "I need to tell you something!"  He said, "God works in mysterious ways. I know you know my daughter is affiliated with....your faith...and I have kept myself from sitting with you people for years. But this morning I went to church. It was my duty in our congregation to introduce a new preacher who was visiting from the other side of Fiji.  Earlier this morning I had picked up what I thought was my bible and I was going to share some verses with the congregation.  As I got up in front of my church and opened what I thought was my bible I saw that it was the Book of Mormon!"  ...He went on to tell us that later he tried reading some of the words but that he didn’t understand it and that he was praying for someone to come and guide him through it and to help him understand it.  We explained to him how that was our purpose and he was so grateful!  I'd call this the definition of a person who is prepared to receive the gospel!  He told us to come and visit him every day and so we will hahaha! Heavenly Father leads us to those who are ready and many are being prepared around us everyday-Alma 13:24.  So another witness of the power of the Book of Mormon was with our investigator Jovesa.  For weeks we have been trying to help him receive an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. He has read 20 chapters and we were just waiting.....So Tuesday morning we went over to visit him.  We felt good about reading 3 Nephi 11 with him.  I can just say it WORKED MIRACLES.  After he read we knelt down with him and he offered a sincere prayer to know.  We sat in silence after the prayer for about 5 minutes or so and then he asked us what the date was..... We replied that it was the 21st.  He said,  “the 21st of September is the day I found out that this is all true!”  It was a way powerful moment and we were so excited that he had finally received an answer!  We walked to our next appointment singing  "Do you remember? The twenty first night of September...Ba de ya! Say do you remember!  Ba de ya!”...HAHA  I thought we were pretty clever!  Earlier that day we received a referral from one of our members, brother Qionitoga, and he introduced us to his friend Domoniko.  He told us he was interested in hearing the lessons so we went and shared with him all this week with Brother Qionitoga! Domoniko is like this 60 year old retired methodist preacher and he explained to us that he was interested in family history.  He had 2 grandchildren pass away recently and the idea that he could be baptized in their behalf touched his heart. His softened heart and desire to know if this church was true allowed him to apply Moroni's Promise (Moroni 10:3-5).  He received his answer and came to church with us this Sunday and wants to be baptized on the 15th of next month! We've been visiting with Josaia, Bano, Ana, and Josaia Sr. the majority of this week. Josaia and Bano know the book of mormon is true and have been coming to church with us and loved church yesterday!  Their parents Ana and Josaia Sr. understand that they need to be baptized but we're trying to help them read the book of mormon and the mom asked us if we could come over and read the Book of Mormon with them everyday to help them know.  Tonight we are going to take John (the sisters recent convert) to share his testimony of the Book of Mormon with them.  We are way pumped for that and have been praying like crazy to be able to touch their hearts.  Sister Heritage had to miss her baptismal interview and is re-scheduled for this week. The sisters in Makoi had 4 baptisms this Saturday.  I got to interview all 4 of the 9 year old kids and it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.  Children just know the Savior and are so sincere.  It made my entire week.  The work here is led by the Lord and I'm just happy I get to follow Him.  Last Tuesday we had a District meeting based off of Taylor Swift hahaha so that was fun. We learned how to "shake it off" and we were "feelin 22" this week!  (22 lessons!) So standards of excellence in our mission is 20 lessons a week.  So our district decided to go above and beyond. All of us worked way hard this week and our district got more united and close. Everyone got above 22 and we felt the Lord working through all of us! I'm praying for all of our investigators and we're coming to love them so much. The gospel changes lives and I feel so privileged to be a witness to the Saviors living work! I love you all and can't wait to share about next week! 

Love, Elder Jonutz

Elder Payne took a picture of me after Thursday night.....One of the most tiring days ever hahaha

The sisters baptism. So cool to see so many kids dressed in white!

Sums up nightly planning

Week #58

Bula Vin'a Family! Well...here goes another attempt at trying to explain a week full of miracles! We've been working like crazy horses here and absolutely loving every trial and every blessing. I wish you all could just witness what miracles we see every day here in Naulu! So I don't know if I've introduced you to Ana and her family yet! They are some of our new investigators. Ana is the mom and Josefa is the father. They have 2 sons who have been taking lessons and they are slowly coming to know the truth and their light just gets brighter and brighter. Josefa just returned from Syria and he is in the Army. Thursday night we walked into their house to follow up on how their Book of Mormon reading was going. I don't remember much of what was said in that lesson but I do know that they all committed to being baptized on the 8th of October! BULLLA! Before we were about to leave, one of their older sons, Josaia, walked in who had also been taking lessons. We told him how we had talked to his family about being baptized on the 8th and asked him if he would commit as well. After a long pause and a look of confusion on his face he said, "Could I move the date?" I told him yes.  At first I was worried he meant move the date till later but he responded by saying with so much confidence, "I want to be baptized on the first of October!" Elder Payne and I looked at each other and didn't even know what to say! I couldn't help but laugh and be like...."UMM Yeah, I think we can make that work!"  We walked out of that lesson giving thanks to Heavenly Father for leading us to this wonderful family and for helping us know what to say to them! Okay, so funny story...the other day we were walking back to our flat and one of our members walked up to us to say hello. In fiji, to shake hands sometimes they just stick out one finger and you are supposed to stick your finger out too and kind of like swipe fingers and it's the equivalent of a hand shake. So our member walked up to Elder Payne and stuck her finger out at him and he had no idea what to do! He thought she was like trying to poke his belly or something so he kept trying to dodge it and he gave her like the dirtiest look and we both just died laughing and I had to explain to him that it is like a handshake! HAHAHA! I love the culture here so much!! It makes life so much fun! This week I got to conduct some baptismal interviews and it was an experience I will never forget! Literally anyone can change.....even if you were the most wicked person on the face of the planet the gospel can touch your heart and change you.  No matter how far away you feel you are from Christ it is never too far away for His atonement to heal you. Just to sit down with such humble people who have had divine witnesses that this is the true church of Jesus Christ hit me so hard. I think about those who are lost and don't even know they are lost. When sitting down with Josaia again yesterday after having him attend church with us, we asked him if he had prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true.  His reply was, "I pray after every verse I read, and I feel so good and I know it’s true."  He told us he has even decided to just stop swearing.  We didn't even teach him that.......THE BOOK OF MORMON IS JUST THAT POWERFUL!  It inspires people to be good and do good!  Honestly, if everyone would just humble themselves and read the book and ask God to know if it is true...there is no doubt in my mind that everyone on this earth would all KNOW that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that a prophet leads and directs this church today! We've also been working in Wainibuku where we've met Enoke. This 15 year old boy has decided to start taking lessons. Saturday we sat down with him and he said he read the book of mormon and he knew it was true and he said he wants to be baptized on the 8th of October as well! Even a 15 year old boy can read the book and know it is true. I just testify that this book is so true and that all who read it with a willing heart will know! I love you all! Oh and mom Sister Johnson, Aunt Natalie's friend, came to our ward on Sunday and surprised me with my package!!  It made my week!  I love you all and the work of the Lord is still hastening! There’s so much more I could say but not enough time!  Talk to you all soon!

Love, Elder Jonutz

A picture with Satan:)

This is John, the sister's investigator!, I had the opportunity to baptize him. One of the coolest guys I've ever met!

Don't know what face I'm making haha! 

We call it "in and out" point....It makes us want in and out!

Week #57

Bula Vinaka everybody! One of the craziest weeks of my life and no breaks in between hahaha! Hard work is the best! So this week we had interviews with President and Sister Layton and Zone Conference! This week was spiritually on fire and how to explain it all to you I do not know! So we're finally starting to get to know some members here and we had a way fun family home evening with the Gounder family! They are a part fijian/indian family and are so amazing! They had us organize a game for all of them to play and Elder Payne and I blew them away with our “Psychic Missionary Powers”. HAHA I'll explain that one day ;) At the beginning of this week we were assigned to go and visit this less active lady who lives in some of the sisters area. We were told that the sisters were not permitted to go there because it's a little more sketchy than most areas in Fiji. So in other words....."We were volunteered as tribute".  At the beginning of our usual day on Tuesday things did not go as planned. For any future missionaries out there the best thing you can learn to do is to just trust in the Lord and go with the flow. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE CALLED TO SERVE IN FIJI!  So we were just walking to one of our investigators house when this mini bus pulled over next to us and said, “get in the van!” Normally...not exactly the 4 words you want to hear but he insisted we get in and that he knew where our flat was and that he was going to drive us there. We saw it as a free ride hahaha. 5 minutes later he passed our flat and ended up driving all the way to the sisters flat and so we were like all great....let’s just get off!  So we got off and remembered our assignment to go and visit the less active member from their area. So we found the road and started our search for Sister Tagimocia! For those of you who don't know Fijian (haha that’s all of yous!) Tagimocia is that famous flower from Taveuni! We didn't think it would be that big of a deal but as we started asking people if they knew a “Sister Tagimocia” they all replied. "No...No tagimocia here. That flower only exists in Taveuni”.  Long story short, we didn't end up finding her but we did get another random ride out in the middle of nowhere and we ended up at this member’s home. They said they hadn't been visited by missionaries in 2 years so they were way excited to have missionaries over again. The Lord leads us to those he needs us to and sometimes it’s just so unplanned and out of the ordinary.  As a missionary I've just learned to enjoy whatever happens in a day because I know it's led by Heavenly Father! Thursday we had Zone Conference and it was incredible. "No grit no Pearl" was the theme and it was all on how trials can make us the people God plans for us to become. It was exactly what I needed. That night after Zone Conference we went to go do a baptismal interview for one of our investigators! Sela Toloa! He was baptized on Saturday and it was an amazing experience for Elder Payne! His first baptism...Let’s GO! So because of my past areas I had no idea that this new ward likes to create baptismal programs. In all of my past areas they haven't had any printers so I just always made hand written ones.  Elder Payne and I spent awhile making some pretty awesome programs and the Sisters were way impressed and so was the Bishop so yeah....We won hahaha! Jovesa is doing awesome! Two days ago he committed to a baptismal date. We talked a lot about trials before faith with him and he now knows what he has to do do be baptized! Our Sisters in the district are just working way hard! We're going to have a combined baptism with them this Saturday.  The work is keeping us busy here in Fiji and trials are awesome!

Love Elder Jonutz

Sela's Baptism

This is a strange dog

The primary wrote us letters on Sunday :)

Week #56

Bula Vinaka Noqu Itokani kei Matavuvale!  What a week! I can say with more surety than I ever have that Heavenly Father is involved in missionary work 24/7 with each individual missionary all over the world. I don't even know where to begin. Elder Payne and I have both just felt so awesome about this past week. Elder Payne is literally the perfect companion and the Lord knew we would be a good team for the Naulu area. We are witnesses to miracles this week.... Honestly no words can describe the work of the Lord. I testify that if we just trust in the Lord then there doesn't need to be any doubt that He will show us exactly what we need to do. I think it was Tuesday night where I just felt all of my anxiety go away and I just felt comforted. I realized that I don't have to know exactly every thing that I need to do because the Lord already has all of that planned out! My job is just to be obedient to Him in exactness and be willing to work as hard as I can. I can't describe it in words but Elder Payne and I were literally led where to go and what to say every single day this week. Neither of us really knew much of anything about the area but He led us to people who were ready.... He's guiding me as a trainer and leading us to those who are ready. We made a goal as a district this month to receive 6 saints. I'm not aware of every way we are going to achieve this goal but I know that Heavenly Father is. As missionaries we are His disciples. The work is definitely not easy but it is the most rewarding. So just to begin explaining about this week...let's see...we found one of my friends from Taveuni!!!! Her name is Ela. My trainer and I were teaching her back in my very first area and now she is baptized and her husband is not yet a member and he stopped us on the street and said we could come over and teach him. I am way excited to be teaching him! On Tuesday night we were just walking around knocking on doors and talking with everyone we could. We felt prompted to go to this house where we met Jovesa! He's this 20 year old man who is way cool! He immediately welcomed us into his house and we began to share with him why we were there. At the end of the lesson he was thanking us profusely and it was so humbling to see someone so grateful for our message. Later last week we went to visit him and shared with him about the Book of Mormon and he was so interested in the middle of the lesson when we asked him if he would read the book he said, OF COURSE! GO AND GET ME THAT BOOK OF MORMON PLEASE! Earlier we had sat down with his nephew, Alifreti, and we had asked him to pray about if he should read the Book of Mormon. We had to run back to the flat to grab Jovesa a Book of Mormon because we had run out of them that day. When we returned to his house to give him the Book of Mormon he looked way excited and as we were walking away his nephew walked up behind us and grabbed my shoulder and said, "Hey, I prayed like you guys said and I would like to read that book too!" HOORAH FOR ISRAEL! It was awesome to see Elder Payne so excited about missionary work. We are way pumped. Last night we visited Jovesa and we invited him to be baptized when he knows the Book of Mormon is true and he said yes! HOORAH FOR ISRAEL AGAIN ;)! On top of that we've been meeting with a young boy (in this village called Wainibuku) named Sela! He had taken most of the lessons before with the past elders it had just been awhile since they had last seen him so we reviewed the lessons and he said he wanted to be baptized this Saturday. We were hesitant to ask his mom in fear that she might say no but she said yes! I don't understand every way the Lord works but I can testify that all my companion and I have been doing is striving to be exact in our obedience and working till our feet bleed. I love this work. I'm finding  our brothers and sisters who I didn't even know were ready to accept the gospel. This next week is Zone conference and we're way excited for that. I love you all. The work of the Lord is hastening in every land.

Much love, Elder Jonati

A selfie with the village kids from the widow village (Wainibuku)

It's green here too;)

This is how expensive cereal is here hahaha

Week #55

Bula Vinakers family! Well it’s been quite the week! A lot has happened and some new changes have been made. I'm sad to report that my adventures in Levuka have come to an end.....but nevertheless I am excited to report that the Lord needs me in a new area! We received the call from mission president on Tuesday and I had to leave on Wednesday morning at 3:00am to make sure I could be at the mission home to pick up my new trainee! Not going to lie saying goodbye to everyone in Levuka was not the easiest thing I've ever had to do and I am going to miss them all like crazy.... It was also hard to say goodbye to Elder Ruiwhu, but he's going to kill it in Levuka so all is well. You are probably all wondering where I got transferred!  So I am now serving in the city of Naulu! It's a pretty small area but I am so pumped to just get to know everyone! Thursday morning we had a training with President Layton and then we went to go pick up our new trainees!  I was pretty excited as we entered the mission home and there stood about 10 new missionaries and I had no idea which one was going to be mine hahhaha! It was pretty intense. They all got their new call letters to their new areas and read them out loud and read who their new trainers would be! It was quite the experience! So my new companion is Elder Payne from Logan Utah. I just have to say I am so happy I got him! He's the man. I was pretty nervous I was going to get some super hard disobedient missionary but NO! This guy is just the greatest. His Fijian is pretty dang good for just coming out of the MTC and he has lots of entertaining stories to tell from back home so it's been fun. So... something a little different is in my district it's all sister missionaries. I'm what the missionaries call the “Relief Society President” hahaha! I'm pretty nervous and extremely just relying on the Lord right now. We are whitewashing the area and have nothing to go off of. There was an area book at the flat but it wasn't really up to date.  So the past few days we have just been knocking doors! I never thought I'd knock doors hahaha! This area is pretty different from my past areas!  It's a city with residential homes and more people speak English and Hindi than Fijian.  I know the Lord is going to help us find some people who are prepared and I am so excited to just start from scratch.  Although it is nerve-racking, I know I am going to learn so much. I hope I can be the best example for my new "son" and perform this calling the way Heavenly Father intends for me to.  We already have seen some miracles in this area.  On our first day while waking around knocking on doors we came across this big, really nice house. We decided to go up and see who lived there and if they wanted to hear a message about the Savior. Turns out they did. They turned out to be this way cool family and one of the girls who lives there is actually a member. One of the mothers who is living in the house was really sick and we offered to give a blessing. The spirit filled the house and we invited them to be baptized and they said that they were already baptized into the Methodist church. So Elder Payne and I are way excited to explain to them the importance of the priesthood next time we go over! Something else that’s new is I am serving in a ward. I am going to miss my little Levuka branch. This Sunday was intimidating.  Over 100 people came to church and it's like an actual chapel.....with pews and it's like the chapel back home. It felt so weird! I'm pretty overwhelmed at the moment with many things but I know it's going to strengthen me and help me draw closer to the Savior. I love you all and hope that I can fulfill my purpose here.  

Love, Elder Jonati

Week #54

Bula Vinaka Matavuvale tawamudu! Sa yawa sara ga na macawa sa oti kei sa vuabale na yaloqu ena reki ni noqu Kalou! The work of the Lord just doesn't stop here in Levuka! I am so happy right now and praying that when our Mission President calls us for transfers tomorrow that I will have the privilege to serve the people here just a little longer! So many amazing things have happened this week. I feel too lucky to serve in such an amazing area where many decide to add to our numbers daily! The faith of the Fijians is incredible. Last week on Monday night we had a BOMB family home evening! We talked about the Liahona and how it works according to our faith. When Lehi and his family became idle or lazy (vucesa) the Liahona would cease to work and they wouldn't progress in their journey. We talked about how at this time the work of the Lord is hastening and if we want to continue to increase as a branch we need to exercise more faith in Jesus Christ and we invited them all to go and ask their friends to sit down with us and to start being bold in sharing the gospel.  All of the members and even our investigators who came got so exited to share the gospel and they just started bearing their testimonies and it was so powerful. The rest of the week their testimonies showed through their works. The members this week have been giving us so many of their friends to go and visit! Tuesday we went to go visit Sister Nani. It had been a long time since we had last seen her.  During the lesson we could feel through the spirit her desire to be baptized!  We talked to her about the baptismal covenant and what baptism means!  Elder Ruwhiu and I both knew she was ready.  We invited her to be baptized on the 21st....(which was yesterday!) She was way excited! The only dilemma was that we still had 2 more lessons to teach her and we were planning on going out to Moturiki the next day. We decided that it was much more important to stay and help Sister Nani prepare for her baptism.  Our zone leaders came out on Saturday to interview her and it was pretty funny how nervous she was.  Our zone leaders told us that at the end of the interview she asked, "Did I pass...?" hahaha I thought that was pretty funny!  The rest of the week we spent preparing Aditabua and Diana to be baptized as well.  I can say with certainty that Satan did not want these three women to be baptized.... he worked hard on our investigators and Elder Ruwhiu and I had to push through challenges and work harder to help strengthen them!  It has just been a fulfilling week knowing that satan didn't win and all three of them made it to their baptism!  I am just so happy!  So you probably all heard Fiji won the gold medal for Rugby!  This morning we had this small town parade with the members and everyone from Levuka!  It was pretty fun. Today is a holiday in Fiji so we are having a ward sports day! The whole branch is getting together and we are going to play rugby, soccer and netball!  I'm super pumped.  I love everything about the people here. They are family!  Elder Ruwhiu and I are hoping we get another transfer together because so much is happening in Levuka!  As members of the church we cannot compromise.  The closer we come to Christ the harder satan works.  We cannot miss a day of prayer or scripture study.  I know that to be true.  I know we can strengthen ourselves everyday by praying and reading and allowing all of our decisions to be made through the gift of the Holy Ghost!  I love you all and am loving being in the  service of God! Thank you all for your prayers!

Much Love, Elder Jonati

The jungle life

Comp goals

We put up our flag

Found a starfish with Sisi while waiting for a ride back to town

We ate dear cury from Wakaya island

Baptism of Diana, Aditabua, Sister Nani

The parade! Toso Viti Toso!!!

Seru is still my favorite! Fiji Pride!

Week #53

Bula Vinaka Family! If I could only describe this week in words.....If I could just show you all every thing that sequentially happened this week, I know for a fact anyone who would read it would know that we truly do have a loving Heavenly Father! I didn't even realize it was my year mark until we wrote down the date in my daily planner Friday night. I can't believe it. If I were to be completely honest with you all I feel like I have been here for 6 months at most. I title this week the miracle week. Basically every single week has been full of miracles here and I have not ceased to be amazed by God.  Monday night we had family home evening and Diana came and loved it. Not as many people came this week but the spirit was much stronger!  After family home evening we were walking back to the flat. One thing I've learned to love on my mission so far is kicking frogs at night hahaha. Elder Ruwhiu and I were walking up to our flat when I saw a frog.  It was raining pretty hard and all the sewage gutters were flowing fast with water.  I spotted this huge frog just chilling right on the edge of the gutter so I decided to attempt to kick it..... Turns out my shoe wasn’t very secure and flew off into the water and the swift current swept it right away and it was heading out into the ocean!!  Elder Ruwhiu and I just looked at each other like...oh snAP.....Next thing you know we start booking it as fast as we can to get to the seawall where the sewage drains out into the sea. Within seconds my sandal floats out but the current is just taking it further and further.  Diana and Sister Ana and all the member young men saw me in a panic and ran over to see what the problem was. I told them I tried to kick a frog and now my sandal is floating out to sea. Sister Ana and Diana bursted out laughing calling me an "Ulukau" (Wooden head).  But Timoci our recent convert decided to SAVE MY SHOE! So we watched him jump in and grab it!  The members keep teasing me every time they see me now.  As funny as it was, it was a blessing to me.  I only have those shoes currently with me so it was a miracle that Timoci was there and willing to jump in!  Hope you all enjoyed that story hahaha!  It was pretty funny!  It's been raining here non-stop.  Baba's village rivers were flooded and it was pretty fun to cross them to get to appointments hahaha! ONLY IN FIJI!  So on Tuesday night we went to go visit Diana and she committed to be baptized!  She told us she knows everything we share is true and we were so happy!  This week Elder Ruwhiu and I saw how satan tries to slow down the work. With the pouring rain this week our phone got damaged and no longer works.  Brother Betchu is THE MAN and donated his phone to us for this week until our Zone Leaders come out next week to bring us our new phone!  Aditabua knows the Book of Mormon is true with a surety!  We were sitting down with her Tuesday night and she told us that while we were teaching her it just hit her.  She said, every night when I read my Book of Mormon I get super tired and can only read 2 or so pages and then fall asleep.  She said Satan really works on me when I read and the spirit just testified to me that I know it is true.  She said that after the time you guys first told me that all you have to do is pray and read to know if it is true that she only ever prayed once. She said just lately she started praying more and sacrificing more time to read it. The spirit was so strong as she testified to us, "It's taken me awhile but now I am so happy because the holy ghost has testified to me in this lesson that the Book of Mormon is true!"  The past few lessons we have been helping her prepare for her baptism this Sunday.  Diana and her cousin are both ready to be baptized together this next Sunday. Hoorah for Israel!  So I guess losing my shoe wasn't enough because while trying to run to an appointment Wednesday night...my name tag flew off into the unknown.  For like 30 minutes we had people with flashlights trying to help us find it!  I was praying so hard for a miracle because it's the only name badge I have. We didn't end up finding it. The next day the detective, who has been helping me recover all my stolen items, came to our house and told me he found my name badge along with my speaker, ipod, sd card (with all my mission pictures) my camera, and my charger.... I have felt so blessed this week!... I can testify if we just forget about ourselves and serve God's children who are our brothers and sisters...God will take care of us. It is as simple as that! I love Heavenly Father so much! So Lai has been wanting to be baptized so bad. Only problem is we hadn't yet asked her mom's permission. So Thursday we went to her house and sat down with her and I called up her mom and her mom said "Elda's Kerekere kua ni papitaiso na Luvequ!" In English that means, "Elders, I’m begging you, please do not baptize my daughter."  When I hung up the phone I had no idea what to tell Lai.  I wanted to cry.  She wants to be baptized so bad... We told her that we'd pray harder and in a few days call again. The next day we had been praying non-stop. This time we had her aunt (another one of our investigators)-Sister Tukana, call her mom. People have their agency...This time her mom became even more angry and said absolutely not.  Last night we returned from sitting down with Lai. She was crying because of how badly she wants to be baptized. We told her how God works in His own time and that now is the time that we can strengthen her testimony even more in the gospel until she can be baptized. She asked for a blessing and we all left the lesson feeling content and happy!  God comforts His children when other's agency affects us. Viliame and Kalini were interviewed and baptized this past Sunday.  I was way proud of 9 year old Viliame! He had the choice of going on vacation with his whole family or being baptized with his cousin. He decided to stay.  Both of Viliame and Kalini's parents aren't members. Their parents were surprised at their decision to be baptized and it made them re-think a lot of things.  I know that in time their parents will be taking lessons as well!  I just can't explain all that took place this week.  All I can say is that I love the work.  Pain enables growth and because of the power of Christ...satan will never win.  The work is the work of the Lord and I'm just happy to follow His will and do my best. When we are doing what God wants us to do....there is absolutely no better feeling.

Much Love, Elder Jonati

Viliame and Kalini's Baptism!

Samisone and his wife were way happy to see their grandchildren be baptized. 

Member presents with Brother Betchu. This guy does so much for Levuka!

Proselyting in the rain is the best!

Brother Samisone and Brother Sauwamudu

Sovaya, Lai, Samisen, Sauwamusu, Sakaraia, Baby-Resina

A full chapel is a happy chapel hahaha