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.

 

Merry Christmas

Oaoa i te Noela! Joyeux Noel! MERRY CHRISTMAS.

 

Literally 3 minutes, my Mavis Beacon typing course learning is being put to use every P-day.

 

Normally, we will find out tonight about our transfers. That is BIG for me because I have been in the same crazy/beautiful Papara sector since I started my mission and President said he is definitely going to transfer me. People keep guessing islands for me but I have NO idea. I would really love to go somewhere I can really speak a lot of Tahitian...

I just saw Sr Taylor in the hospital, prayers work!! She is still hooked up but when I held her hand, she held mine back. I kissed her hand and she squeezed my hand. Her eyes are opened a little and her parents are full of faith and hope. They're so amazing, I cant even explain how impressed I am by their example of calm and patience. And theyre so cute! 

I am training Sr Taylor and Sr Fisher right now so we're working Papara and Mahaiatea right up until the transfers. I dont have the plug in thing for pictures so DESOLEE but you all can just look at last week's pictures and add a week's worth of age and thats what I look like right now.

Holy toledo it is TIME so Merry Christmas and be careful of drunk drivers on the road, seriously. And if you normally drink and drive, don't. Thats not just me speaking, its the law. 

 

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me so many emails and letters, you all are WONDERFUL and so good-looking. :) I am trying my hardest to send off replies, as usual not succeeding in a timely manner. Eh eh. 

lots of love and big hugs, Soeur Carter 

Farewells and Challenges

Hello people!

This past week has been intense. We have seen miracles and lives changed for the better and for the worse. I have been to 3 funerals in the past 2 weeks. I have fasted and prayed with people who really have changed their life with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This life is to test us and it all matters on how we react and progress. 

One of my missionaries was hit by a drunk driver while riding her bike at 6 on a Friday, she's currently in the hospital and she needs all of our prayers. I had the blessing of visiting her yesterday and talked briefly with her incredible parents. Faaitoito, stay strong. Please keep her in her prayers, she is still in a coma and she needs all of our love and support. Please stop and offer a prayer for her right now.

1. The last morning with Soeur Weller before she finished her mission. :( We're wearing our mission t-shirts and our pario wrap skirts!

 

 

2. I did an island tour yesterday, "tour d'isle", and took pictures like this one. Tahiti is gorgeous!

 

 

3. Vaheana and us at the Ward Christmas Party, after literally running around with her two kids.

 

 

 

4. Soeur Weller and I at the Mission Christmas Party! Miss her. 

 

 

5. Cute little future missionary right there, Hereani!

I love you and we're going to do our Weekly Planning now. Please give everyone in your family a hug this Christmas. "They do not love who do not show their love." Shakespeare

love, Soeur Carter

Baking and Investigators

Bonjour!

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season and baking a lot of things. We have been cooking up Mautini (the long pumpkin) and realized comp Soeur Taylor has the Gift of Making Pumpkin Bread. We even found a little Christmas tree in one of the cupboards so we set that up and strung a whole thing of lights around it. There is a button on the light string so you can make it flash in different sequences.

So this past week has been crazy. We had massive highs and massive lows with our investigators and their progression. I really feel like there is a huge power force in Tahiti right now, the Second Coming could really happen any day now and it would not surprise me in the least. Everybody read your scriptures and say your prayers, I mean it.

1. Gorgeous red-flower-tree outside a lesson.

 

 

2. Puppy sitting on my lap right now while I do my email. There are puppies EVERYWHERE right now.

3. Adorable picture of Soeur T and Soeur F after their split when they had to bike in the rain all day! (Soeur W and I had our Leader's Meeting in Papeete)

We had Nuihau's baptism this past Saturday and it was POWERFUL. (Nuihau: training to be a police officer in France, goes to university, his friend/member integrator is a return missionary) He has such a solid testimony and he is so motivated to do so much more with his life now. His testimony had us all crying and laughing because it was such a dramtic change in his life but he also said that he had rejected missionaries several times before but then the SISTER missionaries came and changed everything, flattered. I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and Soeur T gave the talk on baptism. We picked up 2 other sister missionaries and sang a musical number (dont know how I keep getting involved with the singing stuff) "Oh, j'ai besoin de toi" which is "I Need Thee Every Hour." I am so proud of him!!

4. Right before Nuihau's baptism! Don't ask me why my bun is way off to the side of my head, I don't know.

 

5. My godson, Kaleb!!!

6. Moi et Moorea, the island just next-door.



I only had zeka for a tiny moment, prayers and the priesthood work. I was semi-functioning for a total of 3 days and then I was right back in business. This Church is more true than you know, read the Book of Mormon and live the Gospel to know for yourself. Take care of yourselves during the holiday season and remember to recycle.

love, Soeur Carter


P.S. There is a huge surprise that I am right in the middle of doing but Im not sure how much I can explain in this moment so stay tuned until next P-day. :)

Zika disease and Thanksgiving

Hola!!

Como estas? This week went by very quickly, did anyone else feel like that? So in terms of news, I have "zeka" (rhymes with 'eurkea') which is a tropical disease that i got from a mosquito! Normally it takes people out of business but I've just been sleeping a lot and so far, not bad (definitely a miracle). We had Charles, Willy's baptism on Saturday and we were all so smiley, it was so great. That kid smiles all the times, he should do Colgate commericals.

1. Zone Activity: Soeur Weller and Moorea :)

 

 

 

2. "Brave" poster, in French.

 

 

3. The whole clan of missionaries for the Zone Activity!



We celebrated Thanksgiving with The House, so much fun. We had breaded chicken, pasta with white cheese sauce, oreo pudding pie, and strawberry-lime juice! I hope everyone enjoyed their Turkey day, its one of the better holidays, for sure.

4. Thanksgiving!

5. Such a useful postcard, I look at it when people talk to know where the heck everything is.

 

6. DELICIOUS omelette I made for myself, I've gotten really nifty with cooking breakfasts on my mission.

 

7. Interesting plant, no idea what it is. Let me know if you find out.



8. The baptism of Charles Willy!! (a few hours before I got taken down with zeka)

 

 

9. "Bird of paradise" flower from our hike this morning!

 

I got to go buy food coloring for the Mahaiatea soeurs, so I'll end it there. :) I love you all, I'm loving my mission.

love and grand bisou, Soeur Carter