Subject: Week 2 in Independence

Date: March 31, 2014 8:15:19 AM PDT

This week went awesome. We found lots of new people to teach, which is great when you are in a brand new area/ward. And as luck would have it, 2 of the families we found to teach only speak Spanish so I get to practice a bit :D Well, more than a bit because I have to do ALL the talking/teaching since Elder Javeloza doesn't speak Spanish. So hopefully I'll be able to improve on the language a bit. But yeah, I love it here in Independence. The members are awesome, the leadership is awesome, and there is always someone to teach.

 

Q & A Time. Yes I get your letters each week ma. Thank you for taking the time to write me. I don't reference them often because I don't bring them with me to the library because I already have to much stuff to carry around :o So yes my area does have Spanish speaking, just not nearly as much as my last area. But I still get to use it at least once a day usually. I got the hole punch. Thank you :D I have not seen the travel blog and I don't believe I am able to view it. I need to check with some other people first. I have about 2 more months of Lialda. Sister Faitau is from Samoa.

 

Something Josh might appreciate. I don't know if he has heard of Pukaru before. Pukaru is a Samoan/Hawaiian music artist that I guess is fairly popular in Polynesia. He's played on the radio and stuff there so he's decently well known. Well... I met him. He's actually in our ward and he is an awesome guy. His name is really Suni Tauiliili. So now I can be proud that I know a poly-famous guy hahaha.

 

Mom talked about going into a goodwill store the other day. It brings up a funny story from this week. Last P-Day we went to Ross (yeah I know its a little different) and I saw a pair of slip on dress shoes and said "Man, I really want some slip on dress shoes like those because I hate tying my shoe laces". We'll Elder Javeloza goes up and says "Hey, these are my size. Hey, they only cost $3". So he bought the shoes that I wanted that were a half-size too small for $3! Needless to say, I'm pretty jealous because they are a pretty nice pair of shoes and now I have to see him wear them... for $3....

 

This Sunday we talked a lot about the Atonement in church. Well I was thinking about how everyone says that "Christ suffered and died for ME." It was just a really cool thought because I was thinking about how if there were only 1 Billion people ever to live on the Earth, Christ still would have come to suffer and die for them. If there were only 1 Million people ever to live on the Earth, Christ still would have come to suffer and die for them. If there were only a thousand people ever to live on the Earth, Christ still would have come to suffer and die for them. If there were only a hundred people ever to live on the Earth, Christ still would have come to suffer and die for them. If there was only ME ever to live on the Earth, Christ still would have come to suffer and die for ME. Thats something that never really came to my mind before and that helped me to really make the Atonement personal in my life. He came to suffer and die and take upon the sins of each and every person in the world so that each on of us can return to live with our Heavenly Father. Its really powerful when you think about it that way. Heres a quote (or scripture) I really like from Linda K Burton that applies. "Is faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ written in our hearts?". If its not, it should be. So lets all work on that this week :D

 

About the Faitau's. They are awesome. Their son decided that he would serve a mission and left a year ago... today. Now, after a year of visits by the missionaries, they have given up smoking, given up alcohol, stopping swearing, starting coming to church. At first they came for Sacrament and left. Then for the second hour, and left. Last week was their first week at church in several years in which they stayed for all 3 hours. Yesterday was their second. Brother Faitau shared an awesome testimony yesterday I know that everyone in that chapel felt the Spirit radiate from him. It was his first time bearing his testimony in 16 years. Needless to say, I love their family and I am soooo excited for Brother and Sister Faitau. The thing to remember is that it has taken them a years of visits by missionaries to come this far. So when you feel like you are sharing the Gospel with people and they are just not getting it, give them time, they will change.

 

That's pretty much it for the week. I hope you are all doing well and staying safe and healthy. Thank you to all those who take the time to write to me. I really appreciate it, even if it is just a small note. I love you all! Bye!

   Love

     -Elder Nyholm