Yesterday, we had our first baptism! But before that, we left on Wednesday to go to Nadi (pronounced Nandi) for a Train the Trainers meeting. So Sister Aoina made our way on the Taveuni Princess again, to take the bumpy road all the way to Labasa, then to Nadi for a 4 hour meeting...long way to travel for such a short time! But actually it was really great, a lot of things were said that I needed to hear.
Lately, I've been really madua (shy) because I always get nervous before I start talking in the event that I accidentally say a curse word instead of what I"m trying to say..so it takes me a little while to start talking. But when we were at training, the AP's shared a message about OYM'ing, or opening your mouth. And they shared a scripture from 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." I have to keep reminding myself that even though I'm still working on my Fijian, I still need to open my mouth and say the things that come to mind because it's not me that converts people, it's the Spirit. And I've been called to be an instrument of the Spirit, to say the words that I do know, so that the people can feel the Spirit! So my motto from now on is "Kua ni madua!" (Dont be shy!)
So our baptism yesterday was such a sweet experience! Vuki was SO happy! It's so funny, looking back on it, the first time we met Vuki, he saw us coming and tried to run and hide from us hahaha but I think we are friends now. So the baptism is at 8, but since everyone is on FijiTime here, aka that means when they are late, they aren't late the event just started early. Vuki and Jerry (his friend who baptized him) didn't even show up til like almost 8:30 haha. but it was still awesome. There were only 11 people there, but the Spirit was still really strong. One of his friends, Sami, spoke on baptism, and then I spoke on the Holy Ghost, and then he was baptized. Jerry is leaving on his mission in one week to Ghana, so it was really nice that he was able to baptize his best friend before leaving. And then Vuki received the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting. It was just a great feeling to be able to witness Vuki's baptism, and I'm really excited for him! Sister Aoina and I gave him a PreachMyGospel so he can start thinking about a mission, which he already wants to do, so thats awesome. And yesterday, we went on some Rescue Visits with the YSA of the branch, so we visited some Less Actives and invited them to church next week and to a fireside, so that's exciting!
There was one downfall of last week...our volleyball popped. On Monday's, we play volleyball at the chapel at the volleyball court. And then everyone from Somosomo and Naqara come play, and things get intense...so intense that they popped Wilson! He was only 2 weeks old, and now...well now he's been laid to rest. But then we bought another Volleyball, so hopefully Mikasa lasts a little longer.
A quick shout-out to the Young Women who wrote me letters from Girls camp! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I finally got the letters last week, since we only get mail when someone comes to the island...but thanks a lot! It was great to hear from all of you. Anyways, things are still great out here, I'm in love. I am already sad at the thought that one day I'll have to leave Somosomo, but I'm just making the most out of the time that I have here. I hope everything's going great at home. LOVE YOU!
Love,
Sister Trammell
Train the Trainers meeting in Nadi
