Friday, February 24, 2017

22 Feb 2017 - A Good Week

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week we had two exchanges and I got to go to Paita with Soeur Flake and to Dumbea Sur Mer with Soeur Pahio and Soeur Tatahio. I love getting to see the other secteurs and meet the people there and get to know the other soeurs more. While I was with Dumbea Sur Mer, we went to the new hospital to visit a member and it turns out that William from Vallee Des Colons was there with his wife who just had a baby! Aouh! So we got to see them and the baby is so cute and tiny! And it's cool to have been able to be here for so many of William's big life events: baptism, marriage, and now baby! Next thing for them is the temple! But yeah, it was really great to see them and see how happy their little family is! :) I love seeing my recent converts at church or at stake things and to see their progress and just how happy they are! The church is true and the proof is in the happiness it brings us!

We also had the zone meetings this week. We went to both but didn't have to give trainings, woo hoo! haha The zone leaders talked a lot about breaking out of our comfort zones--the things we do and little habits we have that keep us from really progressing personally and keep the work from advancing. It was something that President talked about a bit at zone conference, so in the zone meetings we talked more about specific things in each zone that are the comfort zones. Time wasting is a big one here in New Cal, so we focused on that a lot. Good meetings but they took up the whole day and then we had DMP meeting after, haha. A day of meetings... But to finish off the day we had Mexican food at a member's house. It wasn't spicy because they can't handle spicy here, but it was still good and a little like home :)

I wasn't in my secteur for most of the week, haha, so there's not a lot to say about that. But things are going well! Just waiting for the transfer news this week... President says there'll be lots of change in the whole mission, so we'll see what happens for me!

For now, je vous aime! Bonne semaine!

Soeur Matheson


Flowers

Mangos

Houses

Houses

les Kanak qui porte n'importe quoi


Wednesday, February 15, 2017

15 February 2017 – Happy Valentine’s Day!

Bonjour!

So for Valentine's Day, we had Zone Conference! Feelin' the love from President and Sister Granger! We talked a lot about the basics: our purpose and the Doctrine of Christ. We watched the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast and it was awesome! And the new schedule isn't too different from how we were already modifying the schedule in the mission, but now it's more official and I like it a lot :) For the activity, we had a talent show and everyone had really great talents! Lots of song parodies with the words changed to be about mission life and one district did a skit. My district did a dance with some Tahitian moves :)

Other than that, we've been teaching Jacqueline :) Still no baptism date set, but we're praying and fasting that it'll be March! She's so great and comes to church and loves the classes. She even gives fast offerings on fast Sundays. She's living like a member already, but she's still waiting for her answer on when to be baptized. It's a big choice to make and I'm glad she's taking it seriously, but we're learning patience! We love Jacqueline!

We also started teaching a new ami named Suli. She's Futunian and Catholic and likes studying the Bible. She drinks and smokes and isn't married to her boyfriend that she's living with and told us that she's going to stay Catholic her whole life. BUT she wants to learn from us and that willingness is all we ask for in the beginning. We know that as she learns of the doctrine, especially the Plan of Salvation, she'll start to feel the Spirit and we pray that she'll let it into her heart! Anyone can change and another thing I've learned here is not to judge people based on how they are right now, but to try and see them as who they can become, thanks to the Gospel. You learn to love the people that way.

We're also teaching a recent convert named Claudine and she just got a calling as Young Women's 1st counselor! She's slightly overwhelmed and doesn't feel like she's ready to be a teacher, but we know she is. She has a super strong testimony and understanding of the importance of covenants and obedience. She'll be a great example for the young women here!

The Temaiana's invited us over on Sunday after church and they made boonya! I don't really know how to spell it, but it's delicious! It's taro, manioc, ignam, patate (sweet potato), bananas, and chicken in coconut milk. You cook if for a while so it's all soft and the coconut milk makes it a little sweet and yummy :) Definitely one of my favorite New Cal foods!

Life is good here in Koutio. I love Soeur Davis--she's an amazing companion and I learn a lot from her :) STL life is comme d'hab with exchanges, but no major problems, which we are very grateful for. Transfer calls are coming next week and it's crazy to think that I only have two more transfers. I want to really focus on the work and persevere jusqu'a la fin! [until the end]

Je vous aime beaucoup!! Bonne semaine!
Tata nana bisous!

Soeur Matheson




Tuesday, February 7, 2017

8 February 2017 – STLs to the rescue!!


Cher freres, soeurs, et amis de l'Eglise, BONJOUR!

That's how people start their testimonies and church talks here :)

We got a call yesterday evening while we were sitting in traffic in the rain from the soeurs of Dumbea sur Mer saying that their car died and they needed a jump. The zone leaders are too far away and luckily we have jumper cables in our car, so we got there as soon as we could and we jumped their car! A bunch of sister missionaries can jump a car, so who needs the zone leaders? haha :) We were very proud of ourselves, especially because we did it without our dadies being there. (Shout out to Dad for teaching me some car skills!) Jumpin' cars in the pouring rain is checked off my bucket list. We got a picture but this computer doesn't have more than one usb port so can't sent it. Next time!

We also had an exchange with the soeurs of Paita/Dumbea aka Nogouta. Soeur Brown, our newest sister, came with me. She's great and adjusting well, but a little homesick. She's from California and was in band in high school, so we talked about marching shows, haha. She loves reading and likes to draw. We had a great day together--gave away some Books of Mormon, tried to contact in the rain (no one was outside...), and made some cookies and took them to an inactive sister. She's already a great missionary and isn't afraid to talk to people, even though she doesn't speak the language. It's weird to think about the beginning of my mission and see how much I've grown and how much I've learned from all the experiences that I've had here. 

This week was a rough week--lots of cancelled lessons and people not being home. We were feeling pretty discouraged because the work isn't advancing, but we decided to fast for our area and to help us stay motivated. During the fast and especially during church that day, I just felt the Spirit a lot and was reminded that Heavenly Father is always there to comfort us and that He cares and answers our prayers. Since then, the work has been better and I've just felt happy and motivated even though it's been pouring rain the past two days. God hears and answers our prayers and He loves each one of us, His children! 

This week has lots of potential with lessons fixed deja and we have zone conference on Monday and Tuesday and I'm excited to learn from President and the other leaders. We're going to watch the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast and talk about that and all the changes that have been made. 

I hope you have a great week and that you're all safe and healthy and happy! :)
Je vous aime! 
Soeur Matheson

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

1 February 2017 - Yahoue and Exchanges

BONJOUR TOUT LE MONDE!

The cyberbase in Koutio is closed today and probably next week but we found the library in Yahoue and they have computers and are open! Yay! So now I have a library card haha :)

Other perks of Yahoue: our DMP invites us to eat every week! They make good food! Especially fries. Now they know me as the sister who loves french fries... This is why I've gained weight on the mission, haha. And then there's Claudine, our recent convert. She's SO strong in her testimony of the Gospel, even in the face of temptations and trials. We love her so much!!! 

We cleaned the house today. The mopping was much needed... I'm always sweeping and there's ALWAYS dirt on the floor. Just know that I'm excited for CARPET, haha. And we washed the car for inspection tomorrow, but now it's raining... mais c'est pas grave! 

Anyway, that was just a random side note. 

This week we did our exchanges with the sisters in Motorpool and Magenta. I went to Motorpool with Soeur Vogel and the team was back together! haha It was fun to be with her again, but in the real mission field. She's always so joyous and happy. She definitely shines the light of Christ and the Gospel and the people love it. We had a 3 hour lesson with an amie (yes, 3 hours...) BUT it was a really great lesson about the Plan of Salvation, something which she needed to hear about. It's so great to teach people according to their needs and personalize the Gospel to them. It was a great exchange!

Then I was with Soeur Snow in Magenta. Soeur Snow is my mission sister--we got here at the same time and we have the same mission "dad" haha, aka we were in the same district in the beginning. She's an AMAZING missionary, and I Ioved seeing her example of obedience and of really caring for the people. We got to see Anaise, an inactive that we'd see before. Not a lot of progress, but still really good to see her! And we saw HENRIETTE!!! I was so happy! She's doing so well and ya pas de soucis for her! She's quiet and humble but she's strong in her testimony! She's still working on her son and wants to start doing FHE with him :) Then to top off the day, we had a soiree with the famille Danguiny, the cutest, most adorable, and most humble and STRONGEST family I have ever met. They Spirit is always so strong in their home and I love it and we passed un bon moment ensemble :) Another great exchange!

Other than that, we're still praying that Jacqueline will get baptized soon! She's still waiting for her answer from God for the "green light" as she says. Trying to find solid amis is tough, but a man we contaced the other week actually started reading the Book of Mormon and when we went back we had a good discussion about how it and the Bible go together. We're going back Saturday and praying that he read some more and has felt the Spirit! We want to work with the members more and help reactivate the inactive members, so we're lucky to have a great DMP and that there's ward council this week, haha. We need to get things going here! The members are all coming back from the temple and there's supposed to be a fireside of testimonies and I'm so excited! Can't wait to go to the temple again!! ahhh :)

Donc voila! C'est la semaine! 

Thanks for all your emails! I love hearing from y'all!!! (btw I say y'all way more now because it's my English way of differentiating tu and vous.)

HAVE A GREAT WEEK! JE VOUS AIME TOUS!! Have a good time at work and school and everything and don't stress too much! 

Tatananabisous!
Soeur Matheson

25 January 2017 - My official release date...

So President Granger got back to me and my official release date is.......

MAY 23rd!

So mark your calendars and make some plans! haha maybe like a family vacation or something 'cuz it's been so long since we've all been together! :)

This week has been pretty good. We had a couple lessons with our ami Jacqueline and she's progressing really well. And she came to our ward on Sunday! We taught the Gospel Principles class and it turned out really well because a lot of amis from Paita came so it was full and everyone was participating. It was great! 

We also get to work in Yahoue now so we saw a recent convert named Claudine. She's awesome! She told us a bunch of life stories and how she was converted. She has such a strong testimony and it was just really great to be with her :)

Yahoue has paved roads and lots of trees. It's really green. There are SO MANY MANGOES.

We did some porte a porte (door to door) on Saturday and met 3 people who are interested. Sadly, one of them already rejected us when we went back (well, her mom did, not her...) But we're still hoping that the others will still be interested when we go back. But we keep trying and moving forward!
It's been rainy this week and it's cooled down the weather so that's been nice :)

Oh yeah, we helped with the transfer on Friday and met the new sister, Soeur Brown. She's cool :) And we did apartment inspections for les soeurs. Exchanges start tomorrow! So STL life is going comme d'hab. C'est bon c'est bon.

Donc voila quoi! That's my week! I hope y'all have a great week this week!

Je vous aime!
Soeur Matheson