Tautu

Raamsomee Takeme!!

Wowza Sakatene! It sounds like you all bin had a great week!!! I do not even want to hear these stories about Rio Grande because when I get home, after I eat my 50 piece McDonalds chicken nuggets, you better believe that we are going to Rio! :) haha.  But that is pretty gross that you found something in your food!! Sometimes when things like that happen out here I just close my eyes and pretend it is a spice! ;) haha.  Thank you too much for sending all my taxes in...haha I am already wanted by the police when I get home as is, so thank you for not making it the FBI too! :) Oh good ol YW basketball! I remember my first game as a beehive and dad came to watch.  In the first 2 quarters all I had done is fouled people and he got so embarrassed at my lack of skills that he snuck out at half time! haha.  Girls "camp"sounds like it is going to be amazing! Sister Wright always knows how to have a good time!! Please pass a hello to her from me!! Sheesh! I hope that you all have to sleep in tents and go to the bathroom outside a few times...if you are staying in nice houses you are not allowed to call it girls camp, but it must be "girls vacation!" I did not even recognize Mase in those pictures!! He is HUGE!!! You really need to make a life size cut out of me so that he will still like me the best when I get home!!

This week has been...haha. Great! It is sooooo hot!!! We have been facing a lot a lot a lot of opposition, but the work is moving slowly. In our area we cover three areas: Litz Litz, Norsup, and Tautu.  On Thursday we were walking to Tautu with a member when it started pouring, pouring, rain. I only had my umbrella and so I gave it to the member so at least she could stay dry! When the rain was not slowing down, my companion and the member kept asking me if we should turn back and wait it out. They were both pretty discouraged when I told them that we needed to keep going.  One thing I have learned on my mission is to never turn back.  Just keep going forward.  Well when we had walked in the rain for an hour, I heard some sniffling and I looked and saw that my companion's new missionary enthusiasam was completely gone(she just got here), and her smile was hidden with tears.  I turned to her and said, "Sista, these are the days of your mission that you will never forget.  Satan will always try his hardest when he knows that there are people waiting for us after the storm."  She took a little courage in my words and an hour later we reached Tautu.  That day we found a young girl Louisanne and her sister Marilyn.  They were sitting on the side of the road when I tried to talk to them a little bit.  They told me that they were Catholic but had not been in a long time.  They invited us to come to their house and now the whole family is investigating the church! We could not be more excited!! Prosperity is a great teacher, but adversity is a greater teacher.  I have learned through the hard times that when we are willing to push through hard things, Papa God will always bless us.  Some blessings come later than we want, but they will always come!!

I hope you all have a great week!!! :) I love you all!!!! :) :)

Litz Litz Malekula

Surprise!!!
I am so glad that you all got your letters!! I thought that I would be in Vila for awhile, so I thought that sending letters would be a good idea.  This week has brought a whirlwind of changes!  Last week my companion continued to be very sick! Finally we got her into a French doctor and he cut open all of her 4 boils and drained them.  They were really infected so he gave her an antibiotic.  She had never taken medication before so we spent a lot of time teaching her how to take them(she HATES it!).  On Tuesday morning last week I got a call from the AP's telling me that President decided to make a slight change of plans.  They told me that I would be leaving to transfer to Malekula (another island) on Thursday.  I was pretty shocked and it was really unexpected, but I have learned a lot about stress on my mission.  I have learned that when we experience unexpected changes in our lives there is no use in using negative stress.  There is no use in freaking out about things that we cannot prevent.  There is no use in excessively worrying about what future challenges we will have to face.  Needless to say Wednesday and Thursday were pretty busy.  

Thursday morning I left to serve in Litz Litz Malekula.  I got to the airport and met one other new sister that was going there too.  When we were checking in when  I noticed they did something a little different: when they weighed our bags and everything they had us get on the scale too.  I didn't think anything of it, and they called us to board the plane.  When I walked out to the runway I saw a small two propeller plane waiting in the runway...my first thought was "This is not going to be happen. There is no way that I am going to get on that plane."  You all know that that is one of my biggest fears.  I closed my eyes and put one foot in front of the other...talk about faith in every footstep.  I got onto the plane and there were about 8 other people on the plane with us.  It was so small that I could see all the controls that the piolts were using.(Dont worry, I was watching carefully the whole flight).  We took off landed on a grass pit stop and then landed in Malekula. 

After awhile of sisters not serving in Malekula us four sisters are the first sisters being let back to serve on the island.  When I got here I went and stayed with two other sisters that just got here while I waited until Monday for my companion.  We were all new to the area, so the next few days we went and met with members and tried to map out the area.  The church is not as developed on this island, but one of our zone goals is to get this island to have a stake before we leave.  We are aiming to work really hard with all of the members and branch presidents to strengthen the church on this island.  I am really excited to jump into this new challenge!! We haven't had the chance to do a whole lot of teaching during this transfer week, but we have been working hard to map out all the areas and make goals for the work here. The Lord blesses those who he calls and those who put Him first.  I love being here. I love being a missionary. 

I hope that you all had a great Valentines day!!!! I miss you all and love you!!! :) :) Make family prayer and scripture study every day..it will change your day every day!!

P.S.  I have no idea when I will get any packages now that I am out this far! But I will let you know when I get it!! Thank you too much!! :) :) 

Dunge Feva

Dear Family!!!

Man time is flying by, it bin seem like just yesterday that I was emailing you all. It sounds like all of you had another busy but great week!  Tell Benny I am proud of him for the Spelling Bee! That is awesome!  As for all the relative news wow...everyone is having a baby and getting married!! Tell everyone congratulations for me!! You no worry mom, when I get home I will go back to being the boss and doing all the grocery shopping!!

This week has been pretty..different!! haha. This week one of my companions went back to the house.  She is from here and so she just took a small bus ride back to the house! haha.  It is crazy to see people go back to the house! But at the beginning of the week we went to a family house night in our area.  Like I said before water is full up in our area and so mosquitos are all over!! My companion got bit by a mosquito and the next day she came down with Dunge Feva.  Man it is bad bad bad.  Every night she cries from night until morning and there is absolutely nothing that anyone can do for her.  It is a viral disease and they call it "broken bones disease" from se it is very pain.  She had a fever for 5 days and she would just sweat and sweat.  Ontop of that she has 4 boils that are pain too.  Needless to say she is in pain too much.  It is kinda not usual for a Native to get the disease, but I guess there is a first for everything.  She can't walk about so we have just been in the house for most of week.

But every week in the mission field brings miracles regardless of all setbacks:  Our first miracle this week was with two of our investigators Claudia and Sussan.  Missionaries have been teaching them for over a year and for that whole time their Abu has told them that they are not allowed to get baptize.  My companion and I have been fasting and praying for the heart of their Abu to soften.  On Monday we asked them to ask her back again and she said yes! Now those two will have their interview on Saturday! Every something works out in the Lord's timing!! Our second miracle this week was with one papa in our area.  He is not a member, but his son and daughter are.  His son just went to Samoa to go to an LDS school and so his heart has been really softened by all of the help and opportunities the church has provided for his son.  I decided that now is a good time to see if he is interested in hearing more about the church.  This week we went and visited him and just talked with him and bin invite to church. But after that day my companion fell sick so we weren't able to go back.  I was shocked when I went to church on Sunday and he was there.  He cried as he sat in Sacrament meeting and heard all the talks. After the meeting I went and talked with him and he said, "Sista, see you at the house on Wednesday" haha. Talk about a miracle!! :) I could not be more glad!

We heard transfers on Saturday and I will be training back again in my same area!!  I have no idea where my companion is from, but I am excited for a new adventure with a new companion!

oh yeah, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!! :) :) :) Lavem yufala big wan!!! :) :)

Yolkokakaeek,

Sista Braon

Super Bowl

Hello all Family! 

It is Super Bowl Monday here in Vanuatu, and all the Elders from the states are dying here!! haha.  Everyone has been emailing family back home to know all of the scores.  Oh boy, I remember all the cooking stations from last year, I hope that Liz took over and made all of them back again this year! Don't worry when I come back I will boss again! ;) Wow, does Lizzy ever take a break?? She is looking so grown up it is freaky! Her costume was so cute, and I am sure that she did great.  She definitely got most of the talent in the family! Those pictures of Meg Sar and Liz are soo cute!! I didn't know that Meg cut her hair! It is so cute!! I will say that I miss all of the girls outings, but I don't missing the shopping yet-haha.  I remember chaperoning last year...oh man what a treat! You are brave to do that back again! I did not know that Liz was doing harp still! Good! Tell her and Ben to keep playing the piano too!! It is good to know! But you forgot to include an update about what you have been doing! How is having meg and quinn living with you all?? Do Sarah and Jordan have any human children yet, or Milo no more? I cannot believe that it is already Feb! Time flies by fast! 

This week has been amazing!!!  Last week I was trying to map out a mission plan for our branch.  I used about a half notebook trying to draft different plans of how to make missionary work come on top in our branch and area.  On Monday last week I finally got the final product and this week put it into effect! This week I learned that Papa God helps those who are willing to help themselves.  In life we will face full up trials and hard times, but if we want the help of Him we must first seek to help ourselves.  That means that we have to be willing to sacrifice our prayers, fasts, time, energy, talents, everything for our goal.  If we are willing to sacrifice everything we have for our goal he will help us.  It reminds me of a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that tells us that we must first study things out in our minds.  After we study it out in our minds He will guide us as to what we need to do.  When we are faced with a challenge or trial we can either sit back and cry and about it and feel sorry for ourselves or we can stand up, tighten our sandals and push through.  

Like I said our area is a place of water and soft mud.  This week when we went to area there was a house that was filled with water.  Every something was soaked and there was about a foot of water inside.  We had come to the area for a few appointments, but after I saw the damage that had been done to all the house, I told Papa to hand each of us a bucket and we began filling up buckets, carrying them over to the "swimming pool" and dumping them.  Let me tell you something..this was no easy task.  The ground at the place was sooo slickery! I knew it was slickery and so I made sure to walk slow and plant my feet well.  Every time my companion would walk I would remind her to walk good.  It was the second to last batch of buckets and my companion about fell.  I was carrying a bucket on my shoulder and I turned to yell at her to be careful.  Next minute I was on the ground covered in soft mud and soaked with the water I had been bailing.  hahahaha I think that was Papa God telling me to stop bossing my companion....oops.  After we finished we were able to stori with a less active family.  We talked to them about the plan of salvation and how even though loved ones of ours pass, we will see them again.  We went back to the house because it got dark, when we came back the next day they gave us 6 referrals of people to teach, and a family.  The blessings of serving others are full up! Teaching in our area is great! We have 12 people including one family on date for baptism and I could not be more excited!! This week we have been able to see a lot of our investigators start to make big changes in the conversion of them.  It has been a great week!!! :) 

I hope that all of you have a great week!! I love and miss you all!!! :) :) 

Yolkokakaeek,

Sista Braon

P.S.  I am now a believer of those oils...my poor companion did not sleep the first two weeks she was here and she kept waking me up because of nightmares.  Now every night at 9 I come and brush her neck with 2 drops of lavender oil and she is out within 26 minutes (yes I do time it... :)) I am a believer!! :) haha