Well family and friends, I finally did it! I got to step into the baptismal font for the first time! I'll get to that in a little bit...
I want to tell you all about a cool, little experience we had this past week. We got a referral for this family. The wife is a member, but the rest of the family aren't. Remember them? We finally got to go talk to her husband to hopefully soften his heart so his wife could return to church and have her children baptized into this church she loves so much. His name is Ali and he is from Fiji. He is an Indian, born a Muslim, but baptized into the Catholic church. So we started talking with him. He speaks fluent English, so that was nice! Oh and he is like 6'6", so a little intimidating. He stood up and I almost broke my neck looking up at him...but anyways....we started some small talk, get him laughing, so it helps him warm up to us. We try to ease it over or steer the convo to religion so we can start teaching. But he told us God doesn't love him any more because all that his family has been through with all their trials. I won't share any that he shared with us, but just know that this guy has been through A LOT! So his testimony in the love of God has been a little shaken. We started sharing with him that trials are there to test us and we can learn and grow from them. We told him that we know it is hard and that it can shake your testimony, but you can also get a different perspective and make it so trials can actually strengthen your testimony! But he wasn't feeling it and he just kept on saying, "He doesn't love me, he wouldn't do this to me if he loved me." So me and my comp had no choice but to break out the personal experiences. LOL My comp and I shared some good personal experiences. I want to share with you a quote I saw on twitter a little while back. IDK who wrote it, but it has always stuck with me.
"God gives his hardest trials to his strongest warriors!"
Then my comp shared with him some of his trials and he shared something I will probably never forget. He said when it was a hard time, he would also ask, "Why me?" He then thought to himself "Why not me?". God only gives us trials that we can take and overcome! He never gives us more than we can handle. I encourage all of you to get that mindset and say "Why not me?!" But, long story short, he is STILL thinking God doesn't love him...but for me, I learned heaps of stuff. I loved that my comp shared and I will forever remember what was shared with Ali. When you are feeling down and thinking God is not there, or that he is punishing you with trials, just ask yourself, "Why not me? I can handle this!"
Okay that was a little longer than I thought it was gonna be, but just know God loves you unconditionally and trials are put in your path for you to learn and grow and even strengthen your testimony!
Got my first baptism this last Friday (April 12) and man, there is no better feeling! It was so amazing just seeing that this is the whole reason I came on a mission. So I can help bring others unto Christ! I never felt the Spirit so strong after and during the baptism! Lua was ready and it was a very special day for her. Always going to remember this!
And how about conference? Conference on the mission is the best! Especially when they shout out the missionaries. It makes me feel good about myself hahaha. Another temple in Tonga, on the island of Vava'u! And another in Samoa! I really loved Elder Uchdorf's talk! I liked how he said "Don't just pray for the missionaries to find people, pray for yourself to find people to share the gospel with"! Invite others to "Come and See"! I invite all of you to try and share the gospel with everyone! Even if it's a simple testimony that will go a long way. Trust me! If you didn't get the chance to watch conference, watch it! It was straight fire!
Ofa Lahi Atu kimoutolu. Till next week!
Elder Nomani
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| Our baptismal girl, Lua! |
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| Best day ever! Lua looked like an angel! |
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| They don't mess around with 1st birthday parties |
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| Our zone met our baptismal goal and we got to go to the temple for the day! |
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| Our former Stake President Makai and his wife...love that he is here on a mission. |
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| I challenge you all to find at least one person to share the gospel with! |
