Healing Blessing & Another Marriage

This morning we got awakened at 5 in the morning by the 2nd counselor of the bishopric knocking on our window. He said that an elderly lady in the ward was sick and wanted a blessing. We got up and put on white shirts and hurried up the mountain to her house. Her name is Velonita Lotomau Fesola`i, she is the oldest member of our ward and she loves missionaries.

Walking up to her house, I got to reflect on the sacred power of the priesthood and the obligation of those that hold it. When I received the priesthood I promised to live in a way that would ensure that I was always worthy to administer to those who need help.

The priesthood is a blessing to those who hold it only if they honor it by using it to bless the lives of others, and you can only use it to serve others if you are living in a way that you can receive guidance from the Lord. The Lord will not dwell in unclean temples, so if you are not living a clean life and you get called on to exercise your priesthood, then you will not have the guidance, or the power, of God with you. Needless to say that trying to give someone a blessing without the power of God, the priesthood, is 100% pointless.

Anyways, we arrived at her house and talked to her and she said that her entire body was numb. We gave her the blessing and I remember telling her that she would receive strength to her body and peace to her body and spirit. I remember saying that her work on the earth was not finished.

After the blessing she tried to get up, we told her not to but she said "leai,uma le ma'i, malosi a'u"  "no, the sickness is gone, I'm strong now". Pretty cool experience. I'm glad that my comp and I were living in a way that we were able to administer to her when she needed it.

We got to marry another couple this week. The guy's name is File and we will be baptizing him this Saturday. :D

Alofa atu ia te outou!

-Elder Lamoreaux

3 Weddings!

This week my companion and I married 3 of our investigators. Like, got them married. ;) We have been working with these investigators for a while now and its awesome to see them take such a big step in their journey to Christ.

Elder Tutunoa and I got to be the witnesses for the weddings and sign the wedding paper and all that cool stuff. The couples that we got married were: Fa`aolataga and Sosefina, Mefi and Tina, and Sina and Puasa. We will be baptizing Sina this Saturday. Sosefina and Mefi will be baptized soon as well.

Everything is going well here, the work is very blessed and my comp and I are working very hard to bring people to Christ. I have found that this area has been totally dead as far as baptisms or anything for a long time. It has the reputation of being a very difficult area, but we have found that as we put in all the effort we can, and most importantly rely on the Lord, He blesses us to find  those who are seeking truth. When we give our weekly and monthly reports to the ward and stake, people are surprised to hear how much success we are having. As we have helped the work get up and moving in this area, the ward members have seen what we are doing and they are trying to help us at every opportunity. Almost every day we have ward members show up asking if they can come to our visits with us that day. Its awesome. The more they help the faster the work goes.

One of my favorite things to do is to take the long jungle walks to visits. We get to hack a trail through the jungle with machetes, heh heh. It makes me smile with savage delight. 

Food here is awesome. Funny story, the first day I got here I ate taro, lu`au, and niu. I tried them and I remember thinking that I had never had anything this nasty in my life. I knew that I would be eating these things every day though, so I prayed that I would be able to like them. The next time I had them I was amazed at how good they were. Now I like them so much that I have gained... a certain amount of weight. ;) haha.

Well, that's all for this week. Always remember to read your scriptures and say your prayers every day.

Alofa atu ia te outou!

-Elder Lamoreaux

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(pretty good subject eh?)

Talofa Lava mai Samoa!

This week has definitely been a week. It had 7 days and each day had 24 hours. (That weren't  supposed to be profound or nuthin') Anyways, its great to be a missionary! :D

This week I have gained a strong testimony of the power of prayer in missionary work. We have been praying that we will be guided by the holy ghost  in our days and our visits.  We have felt the guiding hand of the Lord in our work.  

On Saturday I had the opportunity to baptize two people. The sister missionaries in our district had two investigators ready to be baptized and they asked me if I would be willing to do it. [Brother and Sister Vauga]. Very good people.

Sorry I'm kind of just writing down all my thoughts of the the week without any order. This week as we have earnestly tried to have the spirit with us we have been able to be guided to the people the Lord has prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel. I look forward to getting to know these people better and helping them receive the blessings of God.

One way that we have been blessed is that people in our ward has really embraced the work and they are helping us a lot. I know that with out the help of members the work would be impossible. Always make sure and help the missionaries, I promise you that they need your help and that you will be blessed as you help them.

Got to break up a fight this week. All kinds of fun.

Alofa atu ia te outou!

-Elder Lamoreaux

A day in the life of a Samoan missionary

Matagofie Samoa

The day starts at 6:30am. It starts with communication with our Father in Heaven. I ask Him to bless us through out the day and guide us with His spirit. Then we exercise. After that we shower, get dressed, comb our hairs, and put on our name tags.

Every day when we put on our name tags we declare that we represent Jesus Christ. Everything we do must be in accordance to what He would do. When ever I put on my name tag I feel the sacred responsibility of the calling as a missionary.

Studies start at 8 am (after a healthy breakfast of Saimini and water.) We do an hour of personal studies, where we study things that help us become better missionaries. Recently I have been studying chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel. This chapter talks about Christlike Attributes and I am studying one of them in depth every week. This week is alofa mama ma alofa, Charity and Love.

After personal studies we do two hours of companion study, one hour of training for me because I am still mosi, and then one hour of preparing for our lessons that day. We look at the needs of all the people we will visit that day and then we plan lessons according to their needs.

After comp study we do an hour of language study. In the language study we...study the language.

We leave the house at 12 and go Tala'i, preach. Before we leave the house we always ask to be guided by the Holy Ghost. In a day we usually teach about 5-7 lessons to investigators and 2-3 to less-actives.

At 6 pm we go to Fafaga. Every night we have a fafaga at a members house. We usually eat Taro, Fish, Bread Fruit, Fried Chicken, some weird soups with lots of leaves in it, and a lot of other stuff. And of course Samoans always cover everything in pe'epe'e or coconut cream, as all you white people call it. ;)

After fafaga we will go continue proselyting till 9 pm when we return to the house. As soon as we get home we plan for the next day, who we will visit, what lessons we will teach, how many lessons, referrals, contacts, new investigators, and lessons taught with a member present we will have during the day. Then we shower. Before we sleep we close our day with an accounting to our Heavenly Father of our actions, thoughts and words during the day. Then we sleep. Wake up, and repeat.

Alofa atu ia te outou!

 Elder Lamoreaux

June 14, 2015

Matagofie Samoa. Seki a Samoa

This week Elder Pearson of the seventy came and spoke in our Stake Conference.

He gave a great talk about agency. He talked about 2nd Nephi chapter 2 where we learn that God created two types of things, things to act and things to be acted upon.

Its up to us to decide if we want to be an object who is acted upon, or an agent to act for ourselves. Do we want to want to be a Child of God who uses their agency? Or do we want to be a tree? A tree doesn't make its own decisions. If it rains, it will get wet. If its hot, it will get hot. If someone tries to offend the tree, it will get offended. If someone tries to make a tree mad, it will get mad. A person who is like a tree reacts to the actions of others.

An agent who uses their agency, or free will, will chose if they want to get wet, hot, offended, or mad. They make their own decisions. This is how our Heavenly Father wants us to be.

Sorry I don't have much time to write any more. Just always remember not to be a tree.

Alofa atu ia te outou!
-Elder Lamoreaux

June 7 2015

Talofa lava mai le nu'u o Faleasi'u!
Well these past 2 weeks have been awesome.  We had two baptisms and set dates for 3 more to be baptized soon.

The people we baptized were Tutogi and Siaso. Tutogi is 21 and really buff. Siaso is 13. He is special needs and he is one of the coolest kids in Faleasi'u. On the day of the baptism we held the service at 12 and everyone showed up on time... except for Tutogi. We waited for him for a while and then my companion and I decided to go look for him. We went to his fale and it turned out he had gone to another village to do something. We ended up chasing him all around this side of Upolu but we never found him. I was dressed in my white clothes so everybody we met looked at me weird. Tutogi's dad said that he would send him over to the chapel as soon as he turned up, so we finally went back to the chapel and did Siaso's baptism. All went well with that. The spirit was strong and it was an amazing experience. After the baptism we went and canceled all of our visits for the rest of the day (by this time it was about 4ish) so that we could wait for Tutogi and baptize him. As soon as we got back from canceling our visits someone told us that Tutogi had come to the chapel and then left because we weren't there. Argh. Haha we went to the other side of our area to his fale to try to find him but he wasn't there. After looking for him for a while we found him at a member's fale right next to the Chapel. We captured him and put him in white clothes and held a baptismal service for him and then.......Baptized him! :D That was an awesome experience as well. He has a strong testimony and we are now re-teaching the lessons to him.

This week we have been working with a lot of people who are trying to overcome addictions. We have been able to help them and see miracles in their lives as they have turned to the Lord instead of their addictions.

I have also had my testimony of fasting strengthened as my companion and I have been fasting. After fasting we always have the spirit with us so strong and we are able to share that spirit with those we teach.

I know that even if I didn't get any baptisms or anything like that for the rest of my mission, I know that the work I have been able to do has already been worth 2 years of my life. But I plan on getting a lot more work done here while I have the opportunity. These 2 years are one of the biggest blessings of my life. I have never been happier in my whole life than I am now.

Alofa atu ia te outou,
-Elder Lamoreaux

Overcoming Disappointment, Interesting Haircuts & Dodging Kisses

Talofa lava family and friends! O a mai outou?

This week we have had some really good experiences and also some disappointments. 

We were able to teach a lot of  people and get some new investigators and also help our current investigators continue coming unto Christ. It was kind of cool because some of our most productive days this week were on P-day and Sunday, days when we wouldn't usually go out and teach as much as other days. In study time my comp and I read in Preach My Gospel that "nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach", we took this to heart and contacted as many people as possible. We were able to find a lot of people who I am sure will be blessed by the gospel. 

Some of my favorite people to teach are those who seem like they will never have anything to to with the gospel, in fact we have got 2 new investigators while they have been drunk haha. I know that these people are just as important to the Lord as I am or anyone else is. My comp said that when he meets someone new he likes to picture them dressed all in white, he said that this helps him see their potential as children of God. 

While the work has been moving forward we have had to deal with some disappointments as well. This week we were expecting to have a baptism and 4, maybe 5,  investigators at church. It ended up that the baptism had to be postponed and we only had 1 investigator attend church. I'm not going to lie I was really put out that we had worked so had but had so little to show for it. It brought me to my knees asking for guidance from my Heavenly Father. As I prayed I realized that these trials are helping me rely more on the Lord. 

I also remembered some inspired words from my branch president in the MTC. He had told me that I was a perfectionist and that I would sometimes dwell on the things that didn't happen. He told me that when I felt down that I should look at all the good things that I had helped come to pass. As I remembered this I looked at my week from a new perspective and I realized that our work had been very blessed and productive. We had strengthened members of the church and we had helped some people continue their journey to Christ and helped others start the journey. We had helped people overcome challenges, addictions, and disbelief. We had given Priesthood blessings and helped people exercise faith in Jesus Christ. We had, with the help of the Lord, accomplished miracles. Even though we might not have met our goals for church attendance or the number of baptisms, we had accomplished what the Lord wanted us to, and that's what really matters.

A few other things I learned this week:

-If a Samoan is going to cut your hair he doesn't ask you how you want it cut, he just cuts it however he wants.

-Some Samoan girls try to kiss palagi elders. (Don't worry, I've been able to dodge them all)

-Crabs are not easy to catch.