Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Week 8 - Samoan Everything

Talofa lava!

This week has just been overwhelmingly Samoan. We've been trying to focus on our area in Bell Block more than going out to the Elders' area in Waitara that we kind of double cover but I love our area!! So many Samoans and the people are just so friendly. I had a member family help me write my testimony in Samoan so I'll be practicing that. I can pronounce the words really well, especially for being white haha. Sometimes I'll say a short prayer in Samoan after the lesson and they all open their eyes and stare at me during the prayer. It's awesome. I'm learning that it's important to respect the language of people's hearts and how the gospel needs to connect to that. We even learned a Samoan siva and performed it at our investigator's 60th birthday party. And then we sang a hymn and shared a scripture with about 30 nonmembers. But we gained heaps of respect from the whole family and even the gay brother, who just made fun of us all the time, told us to come by sometime and talk to him. So that was awesome. Then the next day the lady, Nana Sue, gave us each a puletasi!!! Mine is like bronze silk; it's so pretty. People love giving you things here, it's bomb. Oh and they all said we're part of the family now so the kids made us name tags that all say Sister Falaniko on them. Pretty sweet.

Crazy story of the week: I got attacked by a pit bull. No lie. We stopped by one of SIster Inia's aunty's house to tell her we had to cancel our visit and their dog got out of the gate and was barking at us badly. We got inside before it got to us but when we had to leave, Aunty Lyn was trying to grab her to hold her while we went outside and I was standing behind her just staring into the dog's soul and it charged at me and juked out aunty. It jumped up on me with it's jaws going crazy and I barely pushed it down and was backing up, but then it just ran back out the door. Of course my companions were hiding behind this screen door, nowhere near to help, just watching me almost get eaten alive. But afterward they were telling me how the dog like bounced off me, and how weird it is that it just ran back out without biting me. Honestly, I was so protected. Miracles! It sounds crazy and dumb but mission blessings are real!

This week is transfers so the dream team is getting broken up. Sister Inia is mostly like leaving but they could move sister Pagofie out too and I could get stuck leading out the area. I doubt that will happen but we are really short on drivers in the mission and now I can drive so it doesn't make sense for there to be two drivers in a companionship. But we'll see! Also, driving here is super weird. I feel like I'm gonna die every time I drive.

Oh the elders had a wedding this weekend and all the kids that came had nits (lice) and you could just see them crawling around in their hair - it's super nasty. But nits are a big problem out here and they say you're bound to get it at least once on the mission so pray for me. I might shave my head. 

Well that's about it for this week! Oute iloa o le ekalesia moni lenei. I know this church is true!! 

Love you heaps,
Sister Machen

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