28 March 2016 - Week 20: BIG CHANGES!

Hi everyone!! Happy Easter!!

So for the transfer this week, there are BIG changes for me! haha

I'm going to the NORTH!! Yay! I'll be serving in Koutio with Soeur Rooarii (she's Tahitian.) I am going to be DRIVING. And... we're going to be STLs! WHAT WHAT WHAT BIG BIG BIG CHANGEEEE!!! President really likes to have young leaders.... And because I'm going to be an STL, I'll be going to Vanuatu from next Sunday to Wednesday for leadership training. All the zone leaders and STLs in the whole mission will be there, so that's cool!

[Mom's note: STL = Sister Training Leader, a leadership position]

The transfer is on Thursday, so that's when everything will change! This afternoon until tomorrow morning, I'm going to have an exchange with Soeur Caress so that I can have some practice driving the Juke before I have to drive on my own, haha. It'll be so weird to drive again!

[In response to Mom’s questions/concerns] Okay, the "north" isn't even really north, just btw. It's just a little bit more North than Noumea. Yes, there are missionaries there (the STLs have been serving in Koutio for a while) and the juke is the car I'll the driving. I think it's a Nissan... It'll be that for now, and maybe later I'll drive a different car. We'll see! The juke is like a middle-sized car. There are 5 seats. It's smaller than a Sorento.

Soeur Tellus is staying in Vallee des Colons for her last transfer with Soeur Snow. Soeur Vogel is going to be in my zone and she'll be driving too! And Soeur Flake will be training a new Tahitian sister, and she'll be in my district. Soeur Casuga is going to be an STL in the South, and she'll be driving, too, haha. Lots of change this transfer!! 

Oh yeah! We had a special Sacrament Meeting this Sunday. The missionaries planned and prepared it all. The theme was the reasons for our hope, and we based it all off of the Restoration lesson. We had lots of testimonies from members and hymns! It was actually kinda like the primary program, haha. It was great, though! It's part of our effort to get the members interested in working with the missionaries. I won't be in Magenta to see the results, but I really hope it will have helped! 

Oh, btw I didn't email yesterday because it was the day after Easter and a holiday. Everything was closed, so we just spent our p-day at the chapel with the members and played volleyball and ping pong and ate. We had a little FHE last night with them, too. We were literally there all day! Those members are the best members in the ward here. They're all super awesome and invite us to eat every Sunday afternoon at the chapel. 

There was also the baptism of Keyliah Tuahivaatetonohiti on Sunday! She's the cousin of the two recent convert boys we were teaching. It's not a convert baptism, though, because she's 8 and the daughter of members. But anyway, it was great! I gave a talk on baptism because she wanted me and Soeur Tellus to give the talks. We had pretty much been teaching her and preparing her for her baptism while we were teaching her cousins. She was there for pretty much all the lessons. She's adorable, and I'm so happy for her and her family! They're all growing strong in the Gospel and sharing it with the other members in their family. It's so cool! :) 

So yeah, that was pretty much my week... Everyone was just thinking about the transfer all week, hahaha. But our ami Lucien is still going well, and we're still praying for his baptism the 16th of April!

I love you all!!!

Soeur Matheson

OH YEAH BTW I most likely will NOT be emailing next week because I'll be in Vanuatu. SO DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING FROM ME! (MOM, that means you, haha!)