GUESS WHO'S IN TONGA!!!!!

Mama, I made it! 

Weird to think that we left on October 29th and arrived on October 31st! We time traveled! October 30, 2018 does not exist in my lifetime!!

I love it here and I love the mission president and his wife! They are really cool and sweet! 

I find out who my trainer is and where my first area is...so stay tuned! I hope you've been watching!! 

I love you mom! Tell everyone I love them!

ps I ran out of minutes right after I finished calling you! So tell my sisters I am sorry!!

Love you all,

Eleta Nomani

Rode Frontrunner from Provo to airport 

Saying my final "see you later" to my family through the train window...that was hard!

Elder Tausinga's Mom came to the airport with musubi for us all

Elders Tausinga, Tavake, Mahe, Moleni, Vaitohi, Pulu, Nomani, and Makaafi

Tired and ready to get on the plane

Mom's friend and stake member, William Tenney

 

End of MTC testimony

Last Pday in the MTC

Well the time has come, I am leaving the MTC next Monday, the 29th! 

The MTC has taught me so much and my testimony has grown SO MUCH.  My district and I have become so close I think that is going to be one of the hardest things about leaving this place is leaving some of my district behind and being spread across Tonga and not seeing everyone everyday and spending literally every second of every day together. So many memories have been made here and I will forever cherish them. Some friendships have been made that I know will carry on after the mission!  
The language is slowly coming and I don't know how I am gonna do in Tonga. It's gonna be embarrassing for a little bit, haha. I am so excited but also very nervous, but I know that that's where I am supposed to be for the next 2 years. I am so grateful to be able to serve amongst the people there! 

Nothing much has happened this week lol, once again. We get into the schedule and that is what we do all day everyday! But I started playing 4 square anddddd long story short, I am a killer on the court haha. But other than that nothing to exciting has happened lol. 

I know it will be different next week! I love you all thank you for the prayers and emails! Really means a lot!

Next time you guys hear from me I will be in the Kingdom!

Ofa Atu!

Eleta Nomani

HERE ARE A FEW PICS WITH MY AWESOME DISTRICT

One Month Down!!!

Well I have officially been a missionary for a month now! Where has the time gone?! We leave the MTC in just over a week! I am so excited to get out there but along with that I am really, really nervous! 

The language is coming but slowly... I am loving it here and I am cherishing every moment here with my district and experiences!

On Tuesday, we had the president of the Seventy come talk to us! His talk was really good and it was really uplifting! He brought these new converts up to the pulpit and they bore their testimonies. One of them was just baptized the Saturday before! It was amazing how strong and spiritual their testimonies were!! THEN he brought up the Elder (missionary) that was responsible for their conversion! He bore his testimony and talked about it, and it got me so excited to get out there and work! The converts were all 17-19 years old. It was awesome!!

Other than that, that's basically all that happened. It really is the same thing every day, LOL. I'm excited to get out there and do the work!

Thanks for all the prayers and for the support. 

Ofas

Elder Norman

Package from my Mom and sisters!

Me and Elder Angilau

Katsu Chicken....but nothing like Mo' Bettahs!

The mirror selfie...hehe

Skype TRC (STRAIGHT TONGAN)

WEEEEEEEK THREEEE!

And yet another week has flown by! Feels like my last P day was 2 days ago! 

Update on me:
I'm loving it here, but this weather is killing me! I can't wait to get out there to Tonga in the heat!! It was 30 degrees one morning. That was the first time I just wanted to stay in the residents. But I am half way there! 3 more weeks and I will be in Tonga!! 

The language is slowly coming. I love it and can't wait until I can speak confidently! The gift of tongues is real!! We had our first TRC (We role play with members as if they're investigators), and we can only speak Tongan. Absolutely no English! I was so nervous and I felt so unprepared. But when we knocked on the door and opened my mouth, I just started speaking! I was making my own sentences and everything! My companion even said I was talking faster than he's ever heard me speak before. That was a crazy experience!

CONFERENCE!!!!! 

I absolutely loved conference! 2 hour church?! 12 temples?! No more saying we're Mormons?! lol The talk that stood out to me the most was Elder Holland's, I related to it a lot and I loved the story he shared in his talk! Presidents Nelson's talk was amazing too!  I loved his remarks that we should never take out Jesus's name when we introduce ourselves or when people ask! Which is a very good point because this is the Lords church so we shouldn't stray away from that! We're called The Church of Jesus Christ for a reason! If you didn't watch conference I challenge you to! You can find them on LDS.org! 

Nothing to eventful happens here in the MTC. We have a schedule and it's the same every week. Unfortunately, one of the Elders this week, got appendicitis and is in surgery today... Prayers to Elder Vaughn and his family! Oh, BIG news!  My companion and I got the calling to be the Sacrament Coordinators! haha We just pick who blesses and passes the sacrament! It's  really easy! 

But that is all for this week!

I would love to get an e-mail from all of you! @ chet.norman@myldsmail.net

I will do my best to reply too!

Ofas,

Elder Norman

Both Tongan districts

Every Thursday night we gather in a room to talk and share food that we have received

Thanks to Elder Pulu for letting me use his jacket in this stupid weather... lol

Elder Tausinga still loves my packages more than me!

Shout out to my Aunty Nica for sending me Cinnabon! We all loved them!

District G (the better one) jkjk

Tongan Districts practice for singing in devotional next week!

WEEK 2!!

Another week has flown by!! I'm still loving it here and my district is so awesome! We have had some great devotionals! The MTC president and his wife, the Martinos, spoke and I loved their talks. They talked about the story of Peter, his faith to walk on water with Jesus Christ. When he kept his eyes and attention on Jesus he stayed above the water, but the second he got distracted by the wind and waves, he began to sink. They related that to us missionaries and if we stay focused on the work, we will be blessed and have the Spirit and the power of Heavenly Father with us. It can also relate to people in their everyday lives! If you keep your focus on the gospel, and make it a priority in your life, you will stay afloat. But if you look away and get distracted by the worldly things, you will start to sink! But Jesus was there to save Peter when he was sinking and He is there for all of us too! That is the reason for the Atonement of Jesus Christ! You are never to far in the water to be picked up! To be lifted up! 

HE IS ALWAYS THERE!

BUT CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND!!! I'm so excited for it! There is a rumor going around the MTC saying that President Nelson is dropping some big news regarding missionaries and I cannot wait to see what's in store for all of us. 

Like I said, I am loving it here at the MTC, but the food is a struggle, LOL. It gets really old REALLY fast and a lot of it does not sit well inside my stomach. I'm counting down the days till we get out of here and go to TONGA! My friend, Jase Anderson, is there serving and we've been emailing. It's getting me so excited! The language is coming but really slowly... It is a simple language but the vocabulary is so hard and I'm struggling with that. I can't wait for the day where I can have a full conversation with people!

I am loving it here and shout out to my mom and family for sending me packages! My district and I love them. All the food! Here's some pictures of my week.

And watch out for Elder Pulu, Elder Makaafi, Elder Lake, and Elder Vaughn. They're singing at conference!! They're from my district.

Ofas,

Elder Norman

Chillin' during class

Pday fun...last week

Elder Tausinga likes my packages more than I do jk

Conference handouts from my Mom

Our nightly gathering to eat our snacks! They killed the huge bag of oatmeal choc chip cookies my Mom sent!

The laundry room emailing session today!