Nov 23 - Secret to Happiness

Manuia lava le aso fa'afetai! Ia! Ou te iloa o le vaiaso nei o le vaiaso o le aso faafetai. O lea, e tatau ai ona tatou fa'aali lo tatou agaga faafetai mo faamanuiaga uma i o tatou olaga. Ou te iloa foi e leai se mea lelei i o tatou olaga vagana e sau mai le Atua.

Family and friends! Talofa!

 

This week we have been very busy due to an exchange that we are doing with Elder Bybee. Due to this week being the week of Thanksgiving I figured that writing about giving thanks would be good.

 

First off I would like to brag about the Samoan people. These people are the most humble and happy people I have ever meet in my life. The reason they are so happy is because they do not think about themselves. These people, well, most of them, are the most selfless people ever. They are so thankful for every little thing in their lives. These people live in a house that consists of a dirt floor, no walls, and a roof made of palm tree leaves. Their clothes usually consist of a square of fabric wrapped around them like a skirt. Their food is usually a few unripe boiled bananas. When one of them can get a job the pay rate in Samoa is 2 tala per hour, about $0.40. They have every reason in the world to be unhappy and look at all the bad things in their lives, but instead they look at all the blessings they have. They always thank God for everything they have, their families, the beautiful peaceful country they live in, the church, etc. Its amazing to me that a people who have so much less then the rest of the world can be so much more thankful for the little that they have.

 

I know that in our lives there are a lot of things that are not easy to deal with, life is hard there is no getting around that. There are many times when we do not have everything we want or need. There are times of hardship, trials, sadness, fatigue, and loneliness. No one has a perfect life. But even though we do not have perfect lives we can still be perfectly happy. If we think about the things that bring the most happiness into our lives then we begin to see how blessed we really are. We do not need worldly things to make us happy. Happiness comes to us when we are grateful for what we have. (BTW I thought up that "But even though we do not have perfect lives we can still be perfectly happy" line by myself) ;)

Anyways, This week has been crazy and stuff but its been good. Not much out of the ordinary happened this week... pretty normal week. But hey, if any one has any questions about samoa or the mission then let me know!

Alofa atu,

-Elder Lamoreaux