Tipaerui

Ia Orana tatou! (literal translation: May you live, everybody.)

First of all, President made transfers last night and Soeur Naylor will be going to an outer island, Raiatea!!! We cried but she is going to have amazing experiences over there, etc. Difficult quand-meme.

We had a baptism this past Saturday for Mataihau!! I gave the talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost and spoke a little Tahitian. It was a very unique baptismal experience. She is the first in her family and her parents are taking lessons so she's already a great example!

I have officially not yet tried to eat fafaru, fermented fish. It's a big deal here and pretty much all Tahitian missionaries try it at least once on their mission.

I just realized that I will have to give my companion's talk in 2 weeks since she wont be here... But I should mention that my new companion will be Soeur Derrick who is actually in the same house so she'll just move her stuff into my bedroom right next door! Shes great!

1. My comp and I made homemade granola bars with nuts and raisins and it's one of the best stable energy snacks to take and go.

 

2. Mataihau's baptism this past Saturday, she has such a testimony!!

 

3. My incredible companion, Soeur Naylor who is leaving Wednesday afternoon for Raiatea!! So sad last night but Raiatea is going to be incredible.

 

I really love my ward/sector of Tipaerui (Tip-air-oui), the members are really strong and the investigators are by & large progressing!

Person Highlight: Mami Sarah

Mami Sarah is about 86 years old and is so sweet and likes to hold my elbow. She takes care of her 56 year old daughter who has a learning and growth handicap and she is so patient. Lessons are in Tahitian with a little French mixed in. Her husband passed away a few years ago and she loves to share an experience of tears running down the side of his face right after he died. The word in Tahitian for tears is "pape mata" (trad. "water of the eyes"). She has about 3 functioning Ford Mustangs in her yard.

Spiritual thought: (pensée spirituelle) Doctrine and Covenants 33:16 The Book of Mormon is scripture that is written by ancient people to edify and fortify our faith in Jesus Christ. There are three members of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will enlighten our minds with peace and calm when we encounter truth. That is why the promise at the beginning of the Book of Mormon invites all people everywhere to read its content, reflect and meditate on its meaning and application, and to pray. Through prayer, we communicate with Divinity. Never underestimate the power of a sincere prayer. If you feel the warmth and peace of the Holy Ghost, that is God the Father confirming its truthfulness!

I hope everyone is taking vitamins- with all of the running and hiking we do, Ive started taking Iron and Vitamin B-12. Make sure to eat carrots, they make your eyes stronger.

Ua here au ia outou,

xoxoxo Soeur Carter

From a Member in Tahiti

Hi to the parents of Sis. Naylor and Sis. Carter,

I just wanted to send these pictures to you to show you that your daughters helped me a lot today. Hope you like the pictures of us.

It was my birthday today and I asked them to come and help me make plates of food to distribute out to all the people who are in need. Since I'm 61, I made 61 plates (actually there were around 80). So Sis Naylor and Sis Cartier helped put them into plates and wrap them. Then they took some of the plates and gave them out to their investigators that are in need. I so enjoyed being with them and having fun just chatting away while we worked. I just love both of them!

So I thought it would be fun to send you their pictures and see that your daughters are totally AWESOME missionaries. Our ward just loves them and they are just doing a fantastic job! Just know that they are so appreciated by everyone and they are always so happy and so busy doing the Lord's work. I'm sure you are all being blessed through their hard work!!!

God bless your families!!!
Lindy Carlson

 

It is Hot!

It's hot.

Humidity makes people look younger because it fills out wrinkles, your skin is always moisturized, and your hair is shiny and strong... but it's hot. If there isnt air conditioning, youre sweating. 

My name tag says "Soeur Carter" or "Tuahine Carter" but there are a few other names I have picked up here. "Bay" which is what people add on every other sentence, usually to explain themselves. (ex: Bay, regarde un peu... "Babe, look...") "Taty" which is like "Auntie" and is used by kids everywhere for any familiar older girl or woman. (ex: Taty, je veux les bons bons s'il te plait. "Auntie, I want the candy please.) "Carter" by my companions in moments of urgence. (ex: Carter, there's a car!) :)

1. The perfect hibiscus.

 

 

 

2. The word for kitten is "chatton" and that is our new mission-assigned helmet. It looks like a bowling ball. 

 

 

3. Moorea, the gorgeous view from one of our dinner appointments. 

 

 

4. Soeur Naylor and I with a senior missionary couple. He is a psychologist so I'm pretty sure that by the end of dinner he knew my soul.

 

 

 

5. Morning bird.

 

 

 

6. Last night, another spectacular view at another dinner appointment. The photo was taken by a member who told us he invent the ukulele with the hole at the back of the instrument. 

 

 

I love you all and I am hopelessly behind on letters so just know that I love you all and I read the letters over and over and just feel so loved. Ok. Have a fantastic day and read the Bible, it is really interesting. 

love, Soeur Carter

Tipaerui

So.

First of all, when is the Chinese New Year? Our grocery store "Champion" put up a huge dragon on the ceiling so Im guessing that it must be soon.

I am still loving and getting used to Tipaerui but for the most part I just act like Ive been here for a while and that seems to be speeding up the transition process for everybody. People are still astonished when I speak French to them so then I explain that Ive already served in another sector and it's all good.

Missionary News:

We taught 15 lessons with a member and 14 other lessons last week, one of the best weeks ever since I started my mission!

 

We have a baptism next Saturday for Mataihau, shes great.

 

The Mission is participating in the 170th Anniversary of the Church in French Polynesia, its a big show with dancing and singing and we have singing practice every P day until May. Might be on TV, not totally sure.

1. Soeur Johnson turned 22!! (teal shirt, big eyes) I spear-headed the wall-decorating committee and we made her a yogurt cake with lemon glaze.

 

 

I'm going to attempt to respond to several questions now:

 

One of my favorite things about this sector is how much time we spend outside among the people. My sector is roughly a slice of mountain so we do a lot of steep uphill and steep downhill walking and there are plenty of opportunities to talk with people along the way. I did get a rush out of driving stick-shift but now running along the boardwalk every morning and hiking all day is such a joy. Sunsets on the water are so incredible.

I intervened in a dog fight the other day. I wasnt super useful but I had a surge of pity for this one particularly sick dog so I had the brilliant idea to clap my hands really loudly next to the mean dog's ear and I think it deranged him for a moment. Then the man came out and was a little more effective because of all of the yelling so the dogs are doing better now.

I finished reading the New Testament and started reading the Old Testament. Super interesting. Also very useful because most people here already believe in the Bible so we use it to explain principles and then support and expound on it with the Book of Mormon.

2. If youre afraid of spiders, dont look too closely at this photo. One time it was raining a lot so we did our studies in an outside basement of someone we know and at the end of our studies we noticed him just chilling on the scooter. We moved.

 

3. My companion Soeur Naylor made a Lord of the Rings reference before we started our ascent.

 

My one-year mark is on February 6th! Everybody read your scriptures and say your prayers, I cannot emphasize that enough.

lots of hugs and love,

Soeur Carter

 

 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Ia Orana and Happy Birthday to the World's Greatest Mom!!!
 

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays in a non-harmful and chocolate-filled way.
 

Tipaerui is fun to say and fun to live in. Its basically a suburb of Papeete as far as I can tell, we live in the house with Papeete sisters and our running route goes along the boardwalk where the big cruise ships come in. We are mostly walking, sometimes biking, because our section is a slice of mountain and it would be death to try and bike it.
 

Story time:

Mataihau is one girl we teach who has dyed blonde cropped hair, big brown eyes, and a chain necklace. She was heavily active in the Seventh-day Adventist church but started taking the lessons a few weeks ago. She has searched for the truth and said if she felt something with this Church, that would be her answer. She has been praying, reading her scriptures, and she felt peace. We invited her to be baptized the 18 January and she accepted!! First baptism I will see here in Tipaerui and shes awesome!
 

Other news: I have exactly one final chapter to read in the French New Testmant before Im done!

Its been pretty funny but a lot of people assume that Im a brand new missionary because Im new to the sector, they ask my companion if I speak French. One time my DMP was talking to me and I understood 100 percent but I guess he thought I didnt, so he just stopped talking in the middle of a question. It was pretty funny, I didnt even know what to do. I bore my testimony at church and since then things have improved. :)
 

1. A lovely New Zealand couple invited us for dinner and we loved the heavy multi-grain bread so much that they quickly made us another loaf that was steaming hot and so delicious.

 

 

2. Soeur Naylor and all of the food we received within the span of 24 hours, we are BLESSED.

3. New Year's Eve, the dinner group.

 

Transfer

Bonjiorno principessa!

I am in Fa'aa! (I'll let you decide how you want to say it.) My new companion is Soeur Naylor and she is so great! I love Soeur Taylor, my faamu Soeur Fisher, and Papara but it was time for a change and I know everything happens for a reason. One reason being that I am no longer woken up by roosters.

I want to share a scripture that I shared probably a hundred times this past week and I got something different from it every time. Galates 5:22, "Mais le fruit de l'Esprit, c'est l'amour, la joie, la paix, la patience, la bonté, la bénignité, la fidélité, la douceur, la temperance;" Sorry if thats hard to understand, there is always Google translate to help you out. :) En bref, when the Holy Ghost is in our life, we can feel these things more powerfully.

Ok lets load up on pictures because "pictures say a thousand words" and not a lot of time.

1. An artist at work outside our local grocery store in Papara: Tamanu!

 

2. Sunset my last week in Papara.

3. The whole mission got new helmets, we "love" them. :) Theyre super safe.

4. Papy Pupure. One of the funniest people I have ever met. He speaks Tahitian and when he corrects us he is super serious and then when we get it, he laughs a big toothless laugh and it gets me every time.

 

 

5. Famille Kokovi: LOVE THEM. We have had a soiree familialle/lessons pretty much every week for the past 4 months.

 

 

6. My godson is a cutie.

 

 

I loved Papara for so many reasons: they saw the first half of my mission in Tahiti so they saw how I progressed and changed. I saw a lot of NEED for the gospel and so we were treated like angels. I know that the church is true with all of my heart, the only trick now is making sure I never ever stop living it. I know that when I close my eyes and say a prayer, I am talking to Heavenly Father. When I ask for forgiveness during the week, I receive forgiveness by taking the Sacrament at church. I know that the leaders of this church are chosen by God and the things that they say are meant to be applied.