Week #33

Bulaaa Family! I guess I can just stop saying my week was crazy because literally so far every week of my mission has been crazy hahaha. Last Tuesday we had our Zone Conference and it was exactly what I needed. We had awesome lessons by our zone leaders, mission president (and his wife) and our AP's! Something that really stuck out to me in the whole conference was that as a missionary I have been literally commanded to call people to repentance. I sat down with my mission president and we talked about that. I think every day Satan works on us. Something I've had to learn how to deal with is faith and confidence. Sometimes while sitting in a lesson Satan will try every little thing he can to make us lose confidence. It's something I've had to learn to get over. The saddest thing about satan is that he knows the gospel is true. He knows whoever comes to accept it will find happiness and become enemies unto him which is why he does every little thing he can to drag us further and further away from the truth. The gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be denied. I cannot deny what I know to be true. As I've sat down with people and bore to them my testimony earnestly my faith grows. Something I love about being a missionary so far is to be able to feel the spirit every day and to see others feel it as well. I've had to realize on my mission that the Spirit does not have to be this huge crazy powerful feeling. It is almost always just a soft, peaceful feeling that helps you feel love and know that something is true. On Tuesday night I went out on splits with Elder Harris. He's one of our zone leaders and he is the man! I went and saw these two guys with him and they were hilarious. They made us hash browns and eggs for dinner and it was awesome. I couldn't remember the last time I had breakfast for dinner. Oh I forgot to mention something about my interview with president. Me and Elder Bond have been working with this investigator who is dying to be baptized! President informed us that it would be awhile until he was baptized because of some of the things he has done in the past. Despite his past he is a changed man. We sat down with him on Friday and he committed to live the word of wisdom and prove that he is truly converted to the Lord. This Sunday, along with one of our other investigators, he came to church. His wife is less active so it was a win WIN BULLAA! Elder Bond and I got back from Suva Wednesday night and so we haven't had a full weeks work but man we worked hard. I think we might of worked a little too hard because I started getting sick last night and today but I don't even care! Honestly, I just love going out and doing everything I can. I have a strong testimony that I'm serving Heavenly Father's children. My spiritual brothers and sisters. I feel guilty when maybe a few minutes are wasted because I know there’s at least one person who needs to see us. I told president in my interview that the branch called me to be 2nd counselor and he said the stake president never asked for his permission so he said as of now I’m not to be the 2nd counselor. We really want to focus on the branch using the other priesthood holders for callings rather than just relying on the missionaries. It will help strengthen the branch more! Anyways, it’s been raining a lot here! At first I thought it was awesome but coming home soaking wet every night is starting to wear thin on me hahaha! But it’s all fun! Saturday was a way awesome inspired day. All of our appts fell through so we just decided to walk along the island and try to find people! We met like 5 people along the way. Some of them were less actives visiting Levuka and were wondering where the church was! If we hadn't been there we wouldn't have been able to tell them where to go. For service on Thursday we helped this family in our branch, the Swanns. She had us weed IBE plants. Elder Bond and I are hoping she's gonna make us both IBE's! It’s pronounced EEMBAYS haha. They are those way cool fijian mats made out of leaves from an IBE plant. We can only dream. Thursday night we had a lot of spare time so we just talked to everyone in town and passed out flyers. It was way fun. The work is still slow here but I feel the Lord helping us day by day. Next week we are traveling to Moturiki and are going to spend the night at a less actives house.......should be fun hahaha. Some of the things we are allowed to do in this mission still leave me in shock haha. I’m pretty positive I have the best mission in the world. I miss all of you and want you all to know Jesus Christ truly is our Savior. One of my favorite things about Fiji is that 99% of the people believe in Jesus Christ. My job is to help add on to their knowledge of Him and help them find a fulness in their lives. Missionary work is hard. Sometimes it’s hard to keep confidence but then I just remind myself that I have a Savior and a Loving Heavenly Father who walk with me every day. I would not have been able to get this far without their help. In fact, we wouldn't be able to do anything without them. I love this gospel so much. Every time I’m struggling and I’m studying for someone else instead of myself I find my answer. We truly do find ourselves when we lose ourselves in the service of others. I hope you all enjoy your Easter this year. If we spend this time serving others we will better come to know Jesus Christ. I share all these things with you because I know for a fact that they are true. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Love, Elder Jonati