Cyclone

Hello Mom!! Yes i am ok!!! :D 

Our island was not affected directly. It just passed us. But it hit many other Islands that the missionaries are on. Luckily, my comp and i live in Sarakata and that is not pepsi. So pepsi is always full of mud and puddles. They did flood a lot because it was raining for more than a full day strait!! it was crazy! The wind was so strong as well. Anyway, a lot of the members in pepsi came and slept at the church for a few nights. Tuesday we just stayed in all day with the door wide open, feeling the wonderful cool breeze. I even used my blanket!

The other Islands that the cyclone actually hit im sure have so much greater damage! Crops being pulled out, flooding, and all. Everyone here in our area is safe though. Just a lot of work to clean up. Continue to pray for the families affected by the storm! But know that we are safe :) 

This past week wasnt the greatest for proselyting.. First the cyclone, then my companion dislocated her arm and was out for a day, then we were catching more sicknesses and just a bunch of things. So this week was more of a discouraging week for missionary work unfortunately. But yesterday at church, six of our investigators came! That was great. 

We really wanted to have a baptism this coming saturday but Suzy, the one we want to invite to be baptized, hasnt been home for the past few days. She left to her moms and hasnt come back. So that is a little disappointing for us. Transfers are next week and im really afraid that i might be transferred. I have been here in santo for quite a while. I really want to see our investigators baptized though!! 

Well, today we will go to a family house night with the Yunak family. They have 2 recently returned missionaries and one that is preparing to go. They are a wonderful family! And i am in charge of the activity. I will have many ideas when i come home for activities, so be prepared to have FHE every monday night!! ;) I hope you are doing it now though! Its a wonderful way to keep the family close. 

I dont have much else to say. i love you all so much! I know this gospel is true. I know our Savior lives and gives us strength to face our challenges. I love being a missionary!! Stay safe this week, my prayers are with you! Lavem yufala evriwan! 
Love, Sista Alfin



Our District leader baptized 2 families! 8 people total. It was such a wonderful experience to be there! The spirit was so strong. Our opening hymn was i am a child of God and all us missionaries were just tearing up. The spirit was testifying at that moment of how true this gospel is. it was so wonderful! I was so glad to have been there. I hope i get the chance at some point to baptize a family! 

Missionary Blessings

I've been pretty good. This week was alright. I have been sick since friday night. I have a cold so that isnt terrible but its also really annoying in the heat. But i also was having extremely bad back pain friday night, saturday, and sunday morning. It was so painful! I never have experience it like that before. It hurt just to breath. So saturday morning, we went to the other sister's baptism. After that, i just could not take the pain.. We went back to the house and Sis Tu'uefiafi (not my comp) tried to massage my back. Then they tried putting a hot water bottle on my back. Nothing was really helping. I was taking pain reliever too. So we just went back to the house and i lied on my stomach with the hot water on my back. It was a painful night. :P Then sunday morning, there was no change. I tried sitting every way possible to see which way would help me feel better. Then at 8am i began to get ready to go to church, still feeling a lot of pain. We get to church a little after 9 and we go sit down for relief society. My back was not bothering me. I was so glad that the pain was able to go away and we were able to go to church. Now this morning, there is a little pain still but it isnt bad. And my cold is just annoying but not painful. haha yesterday in church, Mangali was making fun of my voice. She goes, "Garrr voice blo yu..." haha Garrr is just an expression, like goodness. or something. Haha she says she wants me to teach it to my little brother (kaden) when i get home! Anyway, and every time i would sniff because my nose was running, she would make a noise and look at me. Haha she's funny. She always sits next to me in sacrament meeting. And often falls asleep leaning on my shoulder.. haha. And she loves to hold my scriptures and find paper she can draw on.
 Anyway, unfortunately none of our investigators came to church yesterday... it was really disappointing. it was really heavy raining all day (and still is) so that is why a lot of people weren't at church. We do have many investigators though and usually at least 5 come each week. I think we have 15 investigators right now and a couple referrals. 

One new investigator that we just met on wednesday, Andrea, is such a wonderful investigator! She was taking the lessons a couple years ago but then she moved to a different island in the bush. She just now came back and told her aunt, who is a member, that she wanted the missionaries over again. We go over there and we talk and get to know her. She shares with us her feelings of the missionaries teaching her. She says she believes everything they taught is true. She says she believes Joseph Smith is a true prophet and she shares other things. We go into the 3rd lesson, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, as she had mentioned she didnt understand faith and its difference from belief. Anyway, we go through the lesson, and at the end we invite her to be baptized. She accepted. At the end, we continue to story and she tells us that she remembers everything that the sisters taught her previously. She never forgot about it, all that time she was in the bush and away from a church or missionaries. She took all her books with her. She still continued to think about everything! I thought that was amazing! We are so excited to work with her and be there with her as she continues to develop her testimony in this gospel! She will have to get married before she can be baptized, but she is aware and was actually the one that told us thats why she never was baptized. We talked and hope to set a date for next month! I'll keep you updated, unless i transfer... 

Also, mama Antonia told us that she read through lesson 3 pamphlet and has decided that she wants to be baptized! She has a real desire to do it and become a member! My heart was so glad when she shared that with us. We will set a date for her when she comes back from visiting her sick sister on a different island. 

Well, i know this work is the work of our Father. Im so grateful to be here and to be going through the experiences i am. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and i know He died for each and everyone of my sins. Im grateful for this gospel in my life and for the testimony i have. It is strengthened each day by the people im privileged to serve among. 

I love you all so very much!! I miss you tons, but i pray for your safety and health. Mi lavem yufala evriwan!! Kasem wan gudfala wik! 

Lav, Sista Alfin 

Lessons are coming along

The missionary work is wonderful! Our area is great! We are working with our investigators and have one baptism date set. But we havent been able to see her for 2 weeks... she hasnt been home or she has been sick. her name is julie and she is 15. Another investigator, suzy, we will be inviting to be baptized this week! She is 14 and very sweet. She is also really smart and always remembers the things we talk about and keeps all her commitments.

Again yesterday we practiced for our musical fireside. I was trying to help the tenors with their part... we didnt have a piano or pianist. But i got the notes! haha. It was a long night... Lots of singing.

Im not sure what else to say. The week was good and we did our missionary work! Nothing super mountain moving this week. But i did give the first vision in one lesson and it was perfect! I didnt have any mistakes! That was the first time that i have dont it perfectly without having to look at the paper. I havent said it too many times either so that is why it has taken so long..

Dad:

Shaina, this day March 2nd many years ago in 1985 I took your mom to the Oakland temple to be married. I think that means it is our 29th anniversary. That means next year mom will have a good reason to plan a trip to celebrate our 30th.  She  is always looking for an excuse to plan a vacation.

Sister merrill bore testimony today and talked about dropping off their daughter. It is amazing to me to see how many sisters are leaving from our ward. You are all so strong. Brother Robenheimer commented in sunday school that we turn them over to the lord. I don't think anyone could know what this is like unless you go through it, and it will be slightly different for everyone. I will never forget the moments we had in the parking lot across from the MTC as you gave me a hug and you were trembling like I had never felt anyone tremble before. Perhaps you were cold and I took it as trembling when you were shivering. We are so grateful that you are blessing lives through your  service as a missionary. 

I hope all is well for you , love Dad

Shaina:

Happy anniversary to you and mom!! I always remember when i am at home but being away i forgot! Good thing you said something. And good thing you are a day behind me because today is the 3rd for me.
haha yes she will definitely plan something for next year then! One big trip.

Wow, the wall with all the missionary plaques must be getting very crowded! Did they have to use both sides now? I too will never forget the time in the parking lot. I was going through so many feelings and i knew they were the last moments i would have with you all for 18 months. haha i guess i was really nervous! I knew i would miss you so much! Im grateful for the time i have to be out here in the service of our Lord. Its a time that i will never get back and so i really need to work each day and always be striving to imporve myself as a missionary and a daughter of God. I dont want to come home with any regrets.

Dad i love you so much! Thank you for always writing me. 

Mom: Dad mentioned it was our anniversary and next year will be our 30th. Guess what? MARCH IS WHEN YOU COME HOME! We will have to plan our 30th to come to Vanuatu!! :-) I think the only way it would make sense for us to come, is if you can get released first.  Shaina: YEs that would be a perfect anniversary!!! But guess what... i come home april 7th..haha but close enough right?!

New Baby Niece :)

Hi sweetie,

Well it finally happened, you have a new niece!! Kelsie's took castor oil on Thursday night,I decided I better take the kids that night, good thing. She went in at 11pm and had her at 2:07am (I think).
We went in Friday morning after taking the kids to school,I got to hold her :-) We went back in that night so Halie and Kaden could see her, they couldn't hold her cause they have colds. I had Owen and Sadie Friday and Saturday but they came and took them home last night, when Kelsie was discharged. We have colds in our house and they didn't want the kids getting sick. I feel like I'm useless now! I had such a hard time when they came to get them and I couldn't pick the baby up to cuddle her.

Hello mom!! Happy sabbath day to you! 

Im so happy to hear that Kelsie had her baby girl! and I'm so glad to see her :D she is so beautiful! i just want to hold her!! But sorry that you are all sick and cannot cuddle with her. Thats too bad. 

My week has been good :) My companion came last monday after emailing. Sista Roko. She is great!! She was serving in Fiji for about 3 months waiting for her visa. So she has already been trained and there is no need for us to go through training again. But i am doing my best to help her with Bislama. Its hard to speak it all the time when my companion knows english. But that will be the best way for her to learn, if i just speak bislama. So we will try better this week! :D 

OUr area is great! back to Pepsi. We have quite a few investigators. This week we were trying to find where a lot of them live. We just walk along and ask people if they know them. Its funny how people here sometimes dont even know their neighbors! But the Lord was definitely helping us and directing us were to go and who to ask. A lot of times, the first people we would feel prompted to ask were the people we were looking for! So that was great. We taught Mama Antonia this last week. She is Papa Cyriaques wife, our old investigator that we just baptized before Christmas. She is wonderful! She really is so interested in everything that we discuss. She asks many questions and wants to really understand the principles we go through. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes but she is not ready yet. But she will be ready once we finish all the lessons. She came to church yesterday, along with 4 other of our investigators! :D We were happy to see them all there.  

My companion knows how to cook, and we had crab on Tuesday! Crab with kumala. IT was really good! She made this coconut milk soup thing that we put the crab in. I really liked it! The only thing was, i was afraid to touch the crab... I dont like when my food can stare at me. Sis Roko helped me to get all the meat out of the crabs. Hahaha she was laughing at me because of the faces and sounds i was making. man it was funny. She bought a fish to make for dinner last night, but i told her only to get enough for herself. I cant push myself too far! haha. She really wanted me to eat some, but i lost my appetite when i looked at the cooked fish with its clouded eye and all.. :P 

Yesterday, we also had practice for our musical fireside that will be in march. We have 2 different groups of YSA that will be singing songs. Our group is singing Joseph Smiths first prayer and A poor wayfaring man of grief. It is coming along pretty great! I just hope that we will have enough time! It is creaping up fast and we have a lot to do still. Us missionaries have to make narrations, in bislama, for inbetween the songs. And we are also going to make a slideshow with pictures about Joseph smith and the restoration. That is the theme, the Restoration. It should be really great! :D 

I love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week!! Im so happy that Ember is here and that she and Kelsie are happy and healthy!! Give her lots of love! 

Waiting fo my New Companion to Arrive!

Well, since i am still in Sharpi with these other 2 sisters, i haven't been able to go to my area. One investigator though, that Sister Takuvaka and i taught once, came back from an outer island. So the 3 of us went and taught him once on Friday. His name is Judah and he has a real desire to be baptized! he asked how long the lessons would take before he could be baptized. I just hope that he will be able to understand these 2 sisters when i leave them. They speak english still. Sister Clement is from martial Islands and Sister Tu'uefiafi is from Tonga. Sis Clement has a very strong accent but she is so adorable! She is very kind and so humble. Sis Tu'uefiafi as well, she is very humble. I love these 2 sisters, but i really want my comp to come so we can work in our area!! There are a lot of investigators in the Pepsi area, and so we need to get back over there!! 
The Dr is still here. We taught him again on Thursday. We watched the testaments and the sisters taught him about the book of Mormon. He seems to be coming along. The language is still a barrier, but i think these new sisters will be great and be able to teach him very well. 

Well, i love you so very much!! I miss you all. Just a little over a year left; time is beginning to fly! Kasem wan gudfala wik ol famle blong mi! Mi stap prea lo yufala yet. Mi glad tumas lo harem long yufala. Lavem yufala evriwan!!! 

With much love, Sista Alfin

My new comps name is a hard one, Sister Rokotuiloma :D So excited to meet her!! 

Hello Dad and happy sabbath day to you! 

Yes, we are in a branch here. There are apparently around 500 members in just our branch but only about 130 show up each sunday. We meet in a chapel but it is very different from the chapels we are used to! I will have to take some pictures of it and send them home. it is a really nice building. I have been in 2 areas but they are both in the same branch. So i have not moved branches yet. And yes, the same island. 

Well this week was good. I am still waiting for my companion to arrive so that we can go to our area. She missed the first flight to Vanuatu and so they had to rebuke it for her. She got to Vila on Saturday and now they just need to send her here to Santo. I still dont know for sure when she will get here... :( Right now i am with the other 2 sisters in the Sharpi area. It is good though because they are both brand new! So i am doing what i can to help them with Bislama and with the area. They are both really doing great :) 

I love you so much dad! miss you

Love your daughter, Shaina 

Kaden's Pinewood Derby.

I am in Cub Scouts now. I like doing to Cub Scouts. and I got my hand book. I am going to make a pinewood derby car in March. I will send you a picture of it when I finish. I love you very much and miss you everyday.

Love Kaden

Wow Kaden, that is so exciting!! I am glad taht you like going to Scouts :) That will be fun to make a car! Yours will probably be the fastest! Make sure you and dad make a really good one :) and send a picture for sure! I would love to see it. I love you so so much Kaden and i too miss you everyday!! But im happy to know you are happy :D Are you getting to school on time? Do you race me in the morning?! I hope so! Sometimes i want to sleep in... ;) haha. love you so much kaden!

Love your sista Shaina

Back to Pepsi again! :)

This week was good :) Sister Nisa flew out on Friday so we are in a trio right now with sister Ipu! She is wonderful! We love her :) 

We have been teaching Shalom and creating a wonderful relationship with her. We share scriptures with her and she really enjoys it. The spirit is always very strong while teaching her. 

On Saturday we went to Pepsi area because that was Ipu's and Nisa's area. It was good! :) It felt so nice teaching a lot of lessons again! There are a lot more people in Pepsi. And i got to teach Mangali again! :) haha it was great. We taught her about Priesthood. This night, we got called for transfers... Everyone was telling me that they thought i would be out of Santo.  But.. I am staying! I am going to the Pepsi area again!! haha! I am so thrilled! :) Sharpi, pepsi, sharpi, back to Pepsi. And i will be training a Fijian! They didn't tell me her name. Oh but i am so excited! I am not as nervous now. Sister Takuvaka will be going to Malekula! It is an island. She will also be training, a PNG. Sister Ipu will be going to a different area in Santo and will be training another Fijian. She just got here last month and will now be training. So yes, probably on Thursday they will all come in and we will being working in our new areas! I am excited! :D

Sunday we went out with the RS to do visiting teaching. They go around and visit with the less actives. I split and went with one Mama, the president of RS. We visited one woman and taught her about love. I shared the scripture about charity in Moronae 7:47-48. I shared how we all must strive each day to have charity for others. We need to develop this Christ-like attribute to have joy in life. Charity can be hard to have, but as we pray each day for help from our Father, He will give us this "bigfala lav". We told her that we love her and tried to show our love for her as well. We hope to see her next sunday! :) Also, her daughter needs to be baptized still and so she will be a new investigator for us in Pepsi! :) 

That is great that you had missionaries speak. Why has our ward never had permanent missionaries? I think that would be good. 

Oh im so happy to hear that everyone could see Halie perform! :) im sure she did so wonderful! :) I want to see it live! She really is a star. So beautiful. 

Love, sista Alfin 

The Blue Hole..Amazing!

Well sorry that I did not email yesterday. The day was full! So we came just for a small time this morning.  I am happy to hear that Kaden was baptized!! :) I'm sorry to hear that things didn't go well in the morning, but you got there eventually :) Did you not get any pictures of him in his suit and all? With dad? Haha I love hearing that about the scriptures and that he loves them :) That is so cute. Did he get to pick out a cool case then? Im sure he will enjoy going to scouts. He will probably be late every time, but hopefully he enjoys it :)

Our baptism went well as well :) haha we started about 30 minutes late because our investigator showed up at 10 as well. It was supposed to start at 10. Yu save (you know), black man time ;) haha that is a phrase they always use here.  So it was just normal to start late. I gave my talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost. It went well and I was thinking of Kaden while speaking as well :) Luckily I was just nervous enough not to cry ;) But during the baptism of Mangali, Sister Nisa turned to me and said something like, "Ok this is your little brother getting baptized now." I just started crying. I watched Mangali and just thought of Kaden the whole time! I was sad but also so happy. My little brother was going to enter into the covenant of baptism and become a member of the only true church-- the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was so happy thinking that we are so blessed to know this gospel. To have been raised inside the gospel. We have the amazing opportunity to live with our family for eternity, if we all live righteously in this life. So I was crying tears of joy as well as sadness :) Thank you for reading what I wrote for Kaden. I thought maybe that would happen to you ;) It happened while I was writing it.. I hope Kaden was paying attention and was able to say that I spoke at his baptism ;) haha. Kaden, I am so proud of you and I love you so much bud!!! :D

Well, on Thursday we had zone conference. I didn't do as well as I would have liked on my training... I thought it was actually a disaster. :P But it is over with now, so all is good :) haha! But the rest of conference was so good!!! I loved it. Sister Brewer gave a wonderful training/talk on integrity. She went through the characteristics of someone with integrity and without. It was such an eye opener for everyone. It really made me want to improve and strive to have more integrity. She says, each day all of us are working to improve our integrity. We will be working on it all the days of our life. She speaks so powerfully and makes you really understand the point she is trying to convey. I loved it. Then President spoke after her and tied some things into what she had said. He talked about "the bridge of repentance" and also how each day we are going through that and working to better ourselves. Its amazing when they speak and you see how much more you can improve on to be a better missionary and better person in general.

So yesterday we went to blue hole! It was so amazing!!  All us sisters wanted to get in the water SO bad! But we didn't :) haha. Sister Nisa was planning this trip with one of her potential investigators and then one YSA was invited so just about all of them ended up coming! haha. We had a blast. We took some food up there and they made a fire and roasted the chicken. All the YSA got to swim in this magical, blue water. It seriously reminds me of a picture from a fairy tale. There were so many trees surrounding this water and they had one huge tree with a rope swim and ladder. We spent most of the day there and then came back and played sports. So that is why we didn't email. Sister Nisa leaves on Friday for Vila and then goes home Wednesday! So she wanted to see this before she left. It is a tourist destination! So when you come, we will have to go back there and I can finally get in the water! I think...

Well, we will find out transfers on Saturday. I will probably be training but I don't know. And I don't know if they will keep me here in Santo. We shall see! My family, I love you all so very much!! This week was a very spiritual one and I was so grateful for it. I know that what I am doing here is the work of our Heavenly Father. I am grateful for this experience and all the support I get from loved ones at home. Have a safe week. I pray for you always! I love and miss you all so much! :)

Love, Sista Alfin

Ps halie, you were amazing, again! ;) love you! Keep up the hard work! And Kaden, keep reading your scriptures! They are the word of God and testify of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Love you!

PPS I am going to send pictures today!!!!!!! I think... ;) Yu save, computers in Vanuatu! haha!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!! I got to watch it!!! :) There was no sound and it was a little choppy with the download, but it was AMAZING!!! I only watched Halie the whole time!!! She is SO beyond beautiful! She was fantastic. I am so happy that I got to see that. Thank you so much! AH!!! I love it! :) And it will only improve!! Haha I was upset when those two blue flags came out at the end... haha. I bet they got a talking to! Lol

Oh but that was wonderful!!!! :D Im so proud of you halie! You are amazing!

Happy Birthday Kaden!

Hello, so i realized i forgot to tell Kaden happy birthday!! I talked all about his baptism but never told him happy bday. So today we came down to make the program for the baptaes tomorrow and i just wanted to hop on and say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KADEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that you have a very wonderful day on Saturday!! It will be a very special day :) Are you going to have a party? What will be the theme this year? I remember your phineas and ferb one last year! Well i hope you are happy and have a good day! I hope everyone is nice to you too! :D I love you so much Kaden!!! Talk to you again on Sundei!

Kaden's Baptism Talk

I wrote a few things that mom can say in her talk. I am happy that you want me to speak at your baptism! I wish I could be there to say it, but this is the next best thing! :) Mangali also asked me to speak at her baptism! haha so I will speak in behalf of you both :) I love you, here is what I wrote:

being on a mission, I get the opportunity to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ, including one important gift, the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Some who don't know about the gospel of Jesus Christ don't quite understand what this "Ghost" is. one way we like to explain the Holy Ghost is saying he is like a friend. Heavenly Father promises us this friend can be with us at all times if we always do our best to live as He wants us to live. The Holy Ghost will be there to help us live this way. He can warn us when things might be dangerous. He helps us choose the right and can help us feel better when we feel sad or scared. This friend wants to help us and wants us to be happy. Our loving Father in Heaven gives us this friend, the gift of the Holy Ghost, after we are baptized. Because of His love for us, He gives us a spiritual gift to help us always choose the right. As we listen to the feelings we get from the Holy Ghost, we will be blessed and protected (safe). We will be able to feel the Holy Ghost is always with us. We will know that we are doing those things that our Heavenly Father wants us to do. We will feel His love for us and know He is happy as we follow the Holy Ghost.

(This is the talk part. Sorry it isn't very long and probably very vague. You can use some of the other part below if you feel that it fits in.)  

Kaden, I am so very proud of you for making the decision to be baptized. Heavenly Father is so happy with you as well. He loves you so much! baptism is one of the most important steps you will make in life. As you are baptized and make these promises with Heavenly Father, You are following the example of Jesus Christ. When we follow His example in life, we can be so happy! After we are baptized, we must always do our best to keep our promises with Heavenly Father. We must obei His commandments and in return, He will bless us with the Holy Ghost.

Kaden, I know this church is so true. I know that through the promises we make at baptism, and as we keep them, we can ond day return to live with our Father In heaven and famileis forever. I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you. I know you will be happy as you obei the commandments and try to live like Jesus Christ lived.

Kaden your family loves you so much! We are all so proud of you! I love you so much, more than I can explain. You are a strong boy. You are so funny and always make me laugh! I miss you and am sad I cant be ther for this special day. Just know I love you and am so grateful to have you as my little brother-- my best bud :) Enjoy this day. Remember the feeling you have throughout the day-- they will be special. Thank you for letting me speak at your baptism!

I love you so much Kaden!!!

Love your favorite sister Shaina ;)

Dear Shaina,

On the back of our program there is a thought from Elder Gene R Cook about teaching.

    Who will do the teaching? The comforter. Be sure you don't believe you are the " true teacher" . That is a serious mistake... Be careful you do not get in the way. The major roll of a teacher is to prepare the way such that the people will have a spiritual experience with the lord. You are an instrument , not the teacher. The lord is the one who knows the needs of those being taught. He is the one who can impress someone's heart and cause them to change.

        Have a great week.  I love you, Dad

Halo Dad!

 

Im glad to hear that kaden did well in his interview :) I am so proud of him for wanting to get baptized. it will be a very wonderful day :) We will have a baptism here on the 1st as well. One of our investigators is getting baptized, her name is Maita. She is a 15 year old from a part member family. She has already been coming to church each week, she just needed the missionaries to teach her so she could be baptized. She is wonderful! She is excited to become a member. Also Mangali will be getting baptized the same day. She is my little sister here on the mission. Im sure mom has told you about her. I will be missing kaden's baptism but will have one here in place of his. So I will be thinking of you all on that day :)

That is a wonderful quote, thank you for writing that. It is so true. When we are teaching, we can definitely tell when the spirit is and is not there. The only lessons that count are the ones that the comforter is the teacher. When we are just teaching without the spirit, they are not becoming converted. And that is what needs to happen. Thank you for that today dad.

I love you so much and miss you. have a great week as well.

Love Sista Alfin

Faithful Members

I don't really have much to say about this week, sorry!

It was a normal week in our area. We went and mostly taught less actives and recent converts this week. it is really cool because usually when we go and visit the less actives, they end up coming to church the next week! haha. A lot of them are really old and they have bad knees so that is why they don't come. Because they cant walk down to church and they don't have money for a taxi down to church. But a lot of them show a ton of faith, and come when they can find a way.

We are still teaching Shalom :) She is growing in faith. She said she is going to start reading the Book of Mormon and then when we come, she will ask us about any questions that she might have. She says the BOM is a little difficult for her to understand, so we will try and help her with that :) But she is also reading her bible and really trying to understand each verse. That is her new years resolution, to understand the bible. I really hope that we can get the opportunity to work with her husband and try to gain his trust. We pray that the Lord might soften his heart so that he will allow his wife to get more into this church. As for now, we can just try and help her increase in faith.

mangali will be getting baptized on Feb 1st and guess what, she also asked me if I will speak!! haha so I will be talking on baptism and the Holy Ghost :) I will speak for Kaden as well :) One of our investigators, maita is getting baptized too. She is 15 and in a part member family. She is excited! We are too! She is the first investigator that I have had from start to finish!

Well, the work is continuing on! I am striving each day to fulfill all that the Lord requires of me. I am no where near perfect, but I know as I put my faith in Christ, He will help me each day. I want to please Him and do my best each day.

I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers and support! I miss you! Stay safe. My prayers are with you! Mi lavem yufala evriwan!!

Love Sista Alfin

Musical Fireside..

Today we are going to go to the church at 1 and doing a singing practice with some of the YSA. We are organizing a musical fireside for Feruary! It is on the Restoration. It will hopefully be good :) Then we will just play sports after that. And do our wash and stuff. Nothing very exciting.

Yes he said he would send the picture. haha the Dr always comes with flowers for us. The lessons are going... ok. He doesn't understand bislama and so we are teaching in English. But then again, he doesn't understand too much English either. So we have to go really slow. But he has A LOT to say... So we start going into the lesson and he gets so off topic with many other ideas. We tried teaching the Restoration lesson the first time and I don't know how much got through to him. The second lesson was even worse... haha. He just discusses with us some of his philosophies and things. We really need to just go in with a plan and try our best to not get distracted I think... he just wants everyone to believe it if it is true. He wants to know how he can make everyone believe it. He is a communist leader in China I guess, so I think that is where it comes from. We will keep working with him and hope things go well next time.

Flowers for Our Hair!

Sister Allphin,

Sister Kerns and I have twice invited the sister missionaries to dinner and a discussion  with our Chinese doctor friend, Dr. Wang.  Dr. Wang is part of the 8-man medical team sent from China to man the hospital above us. I'm so grateful to know him.  I take our sick missionaries to him, and he performs miracles.  When he comes to the discussions, he always brings flowers to put in the girls' hair.  

All is well in paradise.

Elder Kerns

Fun Times!

Sister Natto and i with the Elders from the island of Ambae on Christmas. This is at Beachfront resort. 

Sister Takuvaka, me, sister Ipu, and Sister Nisa walking in Pepsi area. I was showing Ipu and Nisa around the area and we stopped to look at the amazing river that runs throughout Pepsi. 

Dr Wang

Hello mom! :)

Wow, Linda will finally be going out then!! That is wonderful :)  I got a letter from Sis Squires. I got a whole bunch of letters yesterday!! THey were all the ones that people sent for Christmas, and i just got them! :) It was wonderful to receive! And i got your letter that you sent on the 30th of November!! Thank you! i loved reading it :)

Yes, this last week has been very stormy!! It wasn't scary though. It just was raining all day for 4 days strait. It would be light, and then all of a sudden just start POURING!!! So strong!! It was really cool but also not good for missionary work... If we were to go out when it was pouring all our books would be wet. and also, the roads aren't good. We would be hiking in mud. So we would wait until there was an opportunity to go out when it was just lightly raining. Then as we were out, it would pour again. We got stuck a few times and tired to find shelter under peoples kitchen houses. It was fun though!! :) And it was a lot cooler than it has been!! But now that it isn't raining anymore, it is so hot and humid!! :P

Haha when i saw Elder Kerns on Sunday, he told me you emailed and asked about the storm. I honestly was just wondering when the cyclone was going to hit! I thought we would experience one. I have heard that story about President Hinkley too. That is really neat. I heard though that it was just for a period of 10 years or something. But i have only heard that from other missionaries, so its probably not true.

Yes, Elder Kerns is very excited about that investigator, Dr Wang! haha we have only met him but haven't been able to talk with him very much. That dinner appointment was interesting. Sis Takuvaka and i went over at 5 and it was supposed to begin at 5:30. So close to 5:30 elder kerns goes to pick up the Dr. We wait for about 20 mins and they come back without him and say he wasn't there. So we wait a little longer and they go back to try again. Now we sisters wait for about 40 minutes. Finally they come with the Dr. By this point, we are starving and the food is getting cold haha. But Dr Wang and Elder Williams begin to talk about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Sis kerns tells my comp and i to dish up our plates so it would hurry them along, because time was going and we would be talking about all of that during our lesson after dinner! So we finally begin to eat and Dr Wangs phone keeps ringing. He shoves in all his food and then gets up and says he has to leave.. So Elder Kerns takes him back... hahaha so that was quite the experience. Unfortunately we didn't get to teach him, but at least him and elder kerns talked before after all! :) But, we have another dinner app tomorrow night! haha so we will cross our fingers and pray that this time we ca give him the first lesson! Elder kerns really wants to baptize him before he goes back to China!

This week was good, despite all the rain :) We still don't have very many investigators to teach but we did get one referral! We will teach them next week though. They were going to come to church and we would teach them there, but they didn't end up coming. They are two boys, around age 12, that are in a part member family and have not been baptized. We have been going to teach Shalom and she is doing good. Still not really showing signs that she would get baptized anytime soon. But we will just continue to visit and help invite the spirit into her home so she might have a change of heart :) She loves us coming over, and she almost always has a pineapple for us, because she knows i love pineapple :) haha.

I'm sure halie and her group did amazing!! I hope she has emailed and told me about it! :) I wish i could skype you all today then if you are all over! ;) haha. What is for dinner? I cooked dinner yesterday and it was good!! :) It was chicken in this terriyaki sauce with onions and peppers and we put it over rice :) I guess i did learn a few things on how to cook from Sis Natto!! :) I will make a lot of cake when i get home too ;) haha.

Oh, i almost forgot!!!! Mangali will be getting baptized on February 1!!!! haha can you believe it!!?? The same day as Kaden! How wonderful is that! :D Heavenly Father knew that i would be sad to miss Kaden's baptism, so he sent Mangali so i wouldn't feel so bad :) Now my little sister here in Vanuatu will help me not feel so sad! I will be going to that baptism in place of Kadens. I thought that was really great :) and a tender mercy :)

Ok, i love you all!!! Kasem wan gud wik!!

Love, Sista Alfin

 Dr. Wang (China), Sister Clement (Marshall Islands), Sister Allphin (USA), Sister Tuuefiafi (Tonga).  Dr. Wang will be baptized 22 March.                                                                       

 Oh yum!!! I want brownies!!! Really bad.. you made me crave them.. haha :) and I am starving right now. We don't have a lot of food so I had a piece of beef jerky for breakfast. My comp got a package with beef jerky :) So I think you can send it, even though it says not to. All my comps use ALL their money the first of the month, so I end up paying for food and email and everything... :P But now I am almost out of money so I have to watch out these last two weeks. But we should be fine. I just really need to start teaching them how to budget.. I was told in my setting apart that I would teach my companions how to budget... So far, no good.

No, we never have dinner appointments. Just sometimes, when we go to teach, they will make us up a plate if they are cooking. Sometimes we get normal things. Always rice. Usually either taro, kumala, pumpkin, or something like that. Then some kind of meat with cabbage. Its usually good! I'm getting more used to it. But when they have laplap, I don't take it if I can...

They have kava bars nearly every other house here!! It is crazy! Men love their kava. They get very drunk and then walk around like zombies I hear. 

Yes, I hope to send pictures today. I don't have a ton of money as I said, and I would have to go to another internet café which charges  by the minute. So I will see what I can do. 

Sisterhood across Oceans..

Hay............

This is sister maladiri from Vanuatu and the island of Ambae, and am serving in Utah Temple Square.

Their is a sister from Fiji serving in temple square also,she gave me your address.

And she told me to send you email,so i do.

Maybe she meet your families at temple square and they gave your email address to her to gave it to me. 

But ,am excited to send you email each week.

So what part of Vanuatu a you serving in??

Well sister am looking forward your respond.

Love you sister

Hello sister Maladiri!!

What a small world this is! :) I was excited to receive your email. Temple square is such a beautiful place. Im sure you are just loving your mission! But hopefully are surviving the cold winter temperatures!

Vanuatu is a beautiful place! You live in paradise! Very hot here though, so im not too used to that ;) 

I am serving in Santo, Pepsi area. I have been out 3 months now. Im still working on the Bislama. I love being here though!

Thank you for the email. I too look forward to hearing from you and how your doing in Utah!
Lavem yu!

Love your sista, Sista Allphin

   Wow thanks for you email.Yes is kind of cold here but i can make it.I love here is kind of busy this month because it's Christmas.But i love it.

Wow my grandma live in santo just near U.S.P.near the church building.

Am also out for three month same as you,am still working on my english.But i know that the help of our Heavenly father he can help us.

Well MARRY CHRISTMAS IN VANUATU FOR THE FIRST TIME.I HOPE YOU LIKE IT.

it was different from utah.

ME LOVEM YU!

love your sister,sister Maladiri.

All Is Well in Vanuatu

Letter from Elder Kearns (senior missionary couple)

All is well in Vanuatu.  The cyclone hit the Solomon Islands, but was mostly just sideways rain.  No significant damage.  It then veered off to the west of Vanuatu, will skip our islands, and is zeroing in on New Caledonia.  These three island groups are what compose our mission.  This has been the pattern for cyclones for the past several years.

Sister Brewer, the mission president's wife, told us that in 2003 President Hinckley visited these islands.  As he was leaving, he asked the district president if there was anything he could do for the people of Vanuatu.  The district president told him that they were having a terrible time with cyclones.  One right after the other was devastating houses and gardens.  President Hinckley reportedly said, "I can fix that," left a blessing on the land, and there hasn't been a cyclone since.
                                                                   

Sisters Allphin and Takuvaka were our dinner guests Tuesday night.  We had invited our Chinese doctor friend, and he was to receive his first discussion.  The dinner happened, but the discussion didn't, because Dr. Wang had to hurry back to the hospital to keep a woman from dying.  He is my good friend, and is perhaps the most spiritual person I've ever met.  Sister Allphin will have the privilege of teaching him, and I'll have the privilege of baptizing him.  When I first met him he referred to the Church as "good one Church."  We're now "best one Church."  He came to the branch New Year's Eve party, and to church last Sunday.  I'm so grateful to know him.  He's already saved 3 of my friends' lives.

Sharpi... Kaden's getting Baptized!

Kaden:  Im getting baptized on my birthday. will you give One of the talks?I geT ice creaM Whin I go TO sChooL on Time.I love you.

Shaina: 

Kaden! Im so happy to hear from you!

I am so excited for you to be getting baptized! What a wonderful day it will be. And on your birthday!!?? That is very special! :) I sent you a bday card in the mail on Thursday so it will get to you probably before your bday. I would be so happy to give a talk for your baptism... if i could. haha. I will be sad to miss this very special day for you. But im so happy you will be getting baptized and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints! Heavenly Father is so proud and so is your whole family!! Make sure to make it a happy day. You will be able to feel the Holy Spirit so strongly and you will feel clean.

Wow, you get ice cream!??! I hope you get to school on time each day! I remember all those days we would race each other to get ready! You can get ready really fast! And then i would love to drive you to school. When i get home, can i take you to school again? I love you so much Kaden!! Have a very happy week! Thank you for the puppy and smiley face. Love you so much buddy!

love your sister, Shaina

Sounds like a pretty relaxing week for you all. Glad to hear halie did well in her drama thing. She always does :) I'm sad I'm missing like everything! tell her to slow down and save some things for when i get home! haha. jk.

That is so exciting that he will be getting baptized on his birthday! I'm so excited for him. It makes me really sad that i wont be there. i would have loved to give a talk for it, as he asked me ;) he is ready. Just having parents like you and dad, who are always great examples, is preparation. That is great that you two had a little talk :) haha. I am glad that he has been better so far too! I'm sure things will begin to be wonderful. He has to mature after baptism :) Awe, and halie's first performance... I am so sad to be missing that as well. She is going to be amazing!! :D Good luck to her! and will you buy her a Sobe drink from me and give it to her before her performance? Its good luck :)

Wow, way to go with cleaning! That is impressive. I like when we keep the tree up for a long time. Its a good feeling! Did you ever set up the village?

Ok i will tell you a little about my week now. It hasn't been the most amazing week with appointments and such. Since we are both new to the area, we have been talking with some members and trying to find some people. Sharpi is an area with a TON of less actives. So this week, we have been going and trying to find their houses. We went to one less active on Wednesday, Abu Serah, and she really likes to talk.. haha. She is kind of a gossiper as well, so we sat there and listened to her stories. Then Takuvaka and i began a story lesson, just to share a scripture with her. We opened with a prayer, shared the skripta, and then, as i was about to go into baring my testimony, she started talking again.. ahah! It started out about the lesson, but then went way off topic. She talked for about 20 minutes i would say, as my comp and i continued to try and cut in to get back on track. We would just get cut off.. Eventually we were able to share small testimony and then ask her to give the closing prayer. hahaha she is a wonderful woman. We had a good laugh. 

On Saturday we visited another less active, Esther. The husband comes to church but she didn't. They are an older couple. We visited with them, and shared with each other our thoughts. It was a great experience. Henry, the husband, told us how they want to go to be sealed in  the Fiji temple. They asked us to pray for them that they might be able to find the money to pay for their passports. The church will pay for all other expenses. They are a couple with a lot of faith. Esther came to church yesterday too!! It was good to see her there.

Oh one other thing i have to say about this week. On Saturday, their was a cruise that came. It was the Oosterdam, Holland America. It was HUGE! I got a picture. Anyway, two women from the ship came to the church house and we were there for a baptism put on my the elders. So get this mom, these two women live in American Fork!!! And i know one of their sons! I graduated the same year with him. hahaha. It was so crazy! What a very small world. They said if i had anything to give you, i could send it with them an they would deliver it. Unfortunately i didn't have anything. i sent the calicos already and that's about all i have bought. I gave them your email and they might send a picture they took with us. Their names are Tamara Back and Jodi Hildebrandt. The cruise went out of Australia. They reminded me of you mom. i think you would have so much fun traveling with them! To bad you didn't know them before and come along with them ;) They shared many amazing stories with us about their trip. They are doing the Lords work as they are vacationing. Their stories were inspiring and they are definitely being protected and guided by the Lord. I don't have time to share them all and i have already talked too much about this.

Well, i don't have much else to say. I love you all so much!!! I hope you have a wonderful week! I miss you all heaps. Mi lavem yufala tumas!! Mi hop se yufala stap sev mo protected oltaem. Ale ta ta!

Love your sista, Sista Alfin

Mi no gat wan samting lo mekem naoia mekem se mi bae jus wet blo yu lo sendem wan email i kam. Mo kilim taem. Mi bae jus email ol tingting blo mi lo Bislama. Ol Zone Leada i bin ring las nite mo bin givim mi wan assignment lo zone confrence lo Jan 30. Mi mas givim wan 7 min training lo wan samting insaed lo white handbook. Mi mas prea from wan samting wea ol misinari i struggle wetem mo tok tok lo saed hemia blo 7 MINUTES!! That is so long in bislama!! Mi fraet tumas... Be mi bae jus prea lo Papa God mo askem hem lo givim mi komfort. Mi bae sendem hemia naoia. 

Wash Day

 I didn't get the chance to do wash last Monday so i did it on Friday cause i ran out of clothes... So i don't really have anything to do today. We have a washer and and spinner. It is manule, so we turn the water on and fill it up, then it goes and washes it. then we have to rinse the clothes and then we put them in the spinner and then hang them up to dry. hard work but not as hard as by hand. 

In Tanna they would do it in a stream. hopefully some time while i am serving, they will open up the islands to sisters again. Even if i just serve there for a short time, i would like it :)