18 January 2017 - Staying in Koutio!!

Hi family!

So we got transfers and I'm staying in Koutio with Soeur Davis! #stillstl

We're excited though 'cuz we have an ami [investigator] that is SO READY to be baptized and we're gonna set a date with her this week (hopefully!). We had an awesome lesson with her last week, and ah it was just great. I don't even know how to explain it! The Spirit was there and she just understands and knows it's all true! So that's why we’re gonna push for a baptismal date next time!

Other than that, lots of contacting! This year we're flooding the mission with the Book of Mormon and on Saturday, Soeur Davis and I gave out 6 Books of Mormon in just an hour and a half! It's so easy to do if you're just bold about it. For zone meetings yesterday we talked about that and we challenged all the missionaries to give out 3 LDMs per day to really FLOOD THE MISSION! haha we're excited and our training about that went really well BTW :) We went to both zone meetings in one day! And we're pros at giving trainings now. Haha, yesterday Soeur Davis said, "We've done more trainings together than lessons!" Not exactly true, but pretty close, hahaha :)

With the transfer, they closed the secteur next to ours. It's a secteur without a lot of work but all the members there LOVE feeding the missionaries. We asked the ZLs to see if we could go to members' homes and visit the recent convert in that area (it's still in our ward) and they said yes! So we're probz gonna have more soirees woo hoo!! Kinda feel like we're taking advantage of the situation, but hey, we got permission. So now Yahoue is ours! haha

It was kind of a shock to get on email today and have so much news about housing and BYU. The end is coming soon, and it's very bittersweet! But I still don't know my exact release date yet. I'm thinking it'll be end of May. But I asked President in my email today so hopefully he'll let me know! Stay tuned!

Not a lot to say this week, but JE VOUS AIME!!

Bonne semaine!
Tata!
Soeur Matheson

elder estall's last district mtg

bowling with the district

us with the cutest dog ever

Soeur Matheson, Jacqueline, and Soeur Davis

flooding the mission

raw cerf (deer) on crackers that our neighbor Freddy gave us

random gendarmes [policemen] on horses

me and soeur davis from zone meeting yesterday

me and soeur davis from zone meeting yesterday

11 January 2017 - Miracles in Koutio!

Bonjour ma famille!

This week was a good week! We had our exchanges with Paita/Dumbea and Dumbea Sur Mer. I got to go to Paita with Soeur Tatahio and we had a good day even though it was really hot and humid. It's been really humid and rainy the past couple of days. Earlier this week it was SO HOT but now it's finally cooled a little. With Soeur Pahio here in Koutio we did a lot of contacting in the rain and gave away 4 Livres de Mormon!! I really enjoyed going out working in the rain. It wasn't pouring rain but just a steady light rain, so it wasn't too bad. We also found an inactive sister (miracle!) and set a lesson for the next morning, buuutttt she wasn't there... C'est la vie missionnaire et on va reessayer plus tard! [That's missionary life and we'll try again later!]

Also this week, Soeur Davis and I went out porte-a-porte-ing and on the 3rd door, a man  named Jacques opened up and came out to talk to us. He kept saying how crazy it was that we were the first people to come knocking on his door talking about religion. He's Wallisian and Christian (apparently not Catholic like all the other Wallisians) and he's asking alllll the right questions! We gave him a Book of Mormon and we're going back Saturday for a lesson! Miracle!

BUT THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF THIS WEEK WAS JACQUELINE!!! Jacqueline is friends with la famille Guidi and started coming to church in November. The sisters were teaching her a lot (2-3 times a week) and she was progressing really well. But then she started working more and had other things come up and we didn't get to see her for like a month. But Thursdaynight she called us and said she wants to see us!! We went on Friday morning and here's the story: Moise, being the amazing member missionary that he is, had gone to visit Jacqueline with another ami and really encouraged her to take the lessons again. That and the fact that she finally found the cookies and note we'd left in her mailbox on New Years led her to call us! The lesson was really great (Moise was there too as a member present and I loved seeing the progress he's made) and she's remotivated to keep coming to church. She came on Sunday, was fasting, and they let her bear her testimony! Isn't that crazy? We're going to see her again tomorrow and hopefully set a baptismal date with her. The only problem is that she's been going to the Dumbea ward because that's where the Guidis are, but she lives in the Riviere Salee ward boundary. So we'd need to figure out how that would work. Honestly here, they don't always go to the ward they're supposed to but we baptize them anyway because we need to build up the church, haha, and they're willing, donc voila quoi! So we'll see about that!

On Sunday, Soeur Vagner invited us for lunch and it was great to be invited and spend some time with a member. She's also been struggling a little and we're able to support her spiritually and help her to reactivate her daughter. We might be going over on Friday to help clean a little and she wants to invite her daughter just so we're all in the same place at the same time and create a relationship with her to start off. So we'll see!

This week we should be getting the transfer news so next week I'll let you know if I'm still in Koutio or not!

JE VOUS AIME BEAUCOUP!!! 

Tata nana bisous!

Soeur Matheson

4 January 2017 - It’s 2017!!

Happy New Year!

Bonjour!

It's 2017 and so weird to think that I spent allllll of 2016 here in New Cal!

This week was really chill and quiet because a lot of people are gone or just with family, so we couldn't see many people. But for New Years we baked some cookies that turned out really good and went out contacting! We gave people cookies and wished them "bonne annee!"  We got a few good contacts out of it! So that's exciting!

We also had two exchanges. One with Magenta where I went to Magenta with Soeur Chard and the other with Paita where Soeur Decady came to Koutio with me. In Magenta, we focused a lot on making sure their baptism would happen on the 31st. There was a little drama, but honestly I feel like that's to be expected here in New Cal. Baptisms are never super easy to make happen. But in the end everything worked out, and their ami was baptized! Hers is a miracle story and it HAD to happen on the 31st so we were super happy that it worked out! :) Soeur Chard and Soeur Decady are both awesome missionaries, and I loved getting to work with them during the exchanges! We just have two more exchanges for this transfer and they're both this coming week, so I'll tell y'all about them next time!

I made banana bread this week, and it was delicious. I think I ate most of it by myself... haha but that recipe book we got from Soeur Granger is really great and we're loving it so far.

For New Years we went to bed at 10:30 planning to get up at midnight to celebrate a little, but when the time came around neither of us could wake up hahaha. But there were lots of parties going on all around us--loud music and loud fireworks that we couldn't see because of all the trees around the house. But we had a good new years, and the next day we celebrated a little and popped the confetti things and played with the confetti haha.

OH YEAH I got to try green coconut--the water and the fruit inside! We went to see a returning inactive family. They had gone to Plum earlier in the day, and the dad had climbed the cocotiers [coconut trees] to get the coconuts! It was pretty good! I've definitely come to like coconut since being here! And the family was telling us all the things you can make out of coconuts and coconut trees. In the islands, people make everything out of what they have, and they use every bit they can. You can make mats, tables, chairs, oils, etc. all from coconuts or the trees. The family was getting really excited about it and it was just fun to see their love for their culture and way of life :)

I'm loving New Cal! Maybe not how hot it is right now, but c'est la vie ici!

Je vous aime et je vous souhaite une bonne annee et une bonne semaine!

Tata nana bisous!

Soeur Matheson