Institute/ YSA Opening Social

           We had our opening social for Institute /YSA and we had a blast. We had hoped to get maybe 25 to 30 young adults, but we had over 50 come and 6 non-members, 3 less actives. All because of the great young adults on the island who went out and found their "brothers and sisters" who have been "lost".
         We started of with a game called "Who Am I". Each person had to write 3 things on a card that no one else knew about them. then we randomly pulled the cards out of a bowl and read them and we all had to guess who the person was. It was a great ice breaker and get to know you game. They loved it.
       Next we went to our Minute to Win It game. Elder LeFevre was in charge of this one and we played 8 challenges. We did the cookies on the face game( check out the blog "fun with the Elders and Sisters" for a demo of this one, then we went to stacking cups, and blowing cups off the table with a straw challenge, plus 4 for. All participated and had a blast.
        Our last game was Scripture Pictionary. We divided into 2 teams, Girls against the Boys, and each team was given one set of scriptures and a bag with 5 scripture references in it. They had to read the scripture reference and then draw a picture on the board the would depict the scripture. No words were allowed and no hints. Once the picture was finished, the other team had 3 minutes to tell us which Scripture story it was and the scripture reference. They loved it and WOW, we have some artists out here.
      Then closing prayer and their favorite treat,  Ice Cream and chocolate syrup.  It was great to see the young adults on the Island gather and greet each other. They all know each other, but most rarely see their friend from the other side of the Island, except at these activities. They don't have many cars here and gas is 5.00 a gallon, so even the cars that are available gas is to expensive.

YSA/Institute Opening Social
This is how many we started with,
by the time we got part way through
the first game, all the seats were filled
 and we had to set up more chairs and
make the circle bigger

Franscisca, the "shoe" catcher

Keep the balloons up for 1 minute

the 'cookies challenge

Make a smily face with M & M's and a straw

Stack the cups and pull out the index card

A. J. and his team, planning their strategy on how to get the index
cards out, without toppling the cups

blow the cups off the table, Jessica and Meagan

Scripture Pictionary

How many men does it take to draw a Pictionary Picture?

Do You know what scripture story this is?, Can you find the referrence/

      I am grateful we have been asked to organize the young adults and Institute on the Island, these amazing 18 - 30 years olds have needed this for a long time. They love it and we all come away edified.

Fun with the Elders & Sister's

Elder Davis and Elder Pierson, getting ready for the challenge

"

The "get the cookie in your mouth without your hands" challenge
Elder Davis won

Elder Cole, dipping the donots

Elder Madill, which one should I eat first?

Elder Lyman & Elder Bunn,  Good Stuff

Elder bunn

Sister Beutler, hey who took the dipping sause/

Sis. Beutler & Sis. Varea,  lean over so you Don't get any on your cloths

 So we have an Institute/ YSA Activity and we are going to do one of our games as "Minute to Win It", so we had to try out one of our challenges on the Elders. If the video does not download, I will put pictures on too. We also took a "sweet" treat to District meeting, a favorite for the missionaries ( I don't care for it , but they all love it)  Donuts and Sweetened Condensed milk to dip them in.

A Day in the life..............................

     We have been so busy with the Institute classes and the Young Adults and the District assignments, we have not had as much time as we would like to go out with our wonderful Elders and Sisters to teach. Well today, we got to spend most of the day with them.
      Our Tuesday Institute class had to be moved to Friday, so we now have 2 Institute classes on Friday and no Institute class on Tuesday. This is great because it has opened up the whole day and night so we can spend it with the Elders and Sisters, traipsing through the Jungle, teaching in homes. Let me share with you our day.
       Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012

            Left our apartment at 7:00 to do apartment inspections. We do these every 6 weeks, always the week before transfers. So we started in Palikir, then on to Kitti, then Mand, then Sapwalap, and last Uh. Tomorrow we will do Nett, Kolonia, and Sekerra. Now some of the apartments were great, and others, well lets say there is a competition for the "Putty Knife" award. This award is given to the apartment that is so dirty, that you need a putty knife to clean it.  I dare not say which Elders or Sisters, or their parents (especially their mothers) would be horrified.

Sis. LeFevre,Sis. Edwards. Elder Gasu, Elder Hansen
The first time we taught Sis. Edwards

           As soon as we were done with that, we grabbed a quick lunch, went to the docks to check to see if the new cars were here yet, then headed straight out to get Elder Gasu and Elder Davis so we could go teaching with them. We are teaching a lady by the name of Sis. Edwards. This is the second time we have gone to visit her with them. She is amazing, and really loves the gospel. The only reason she is not baptized, is because she has not been able to get to church. She lives a little ways away, and transportation is unavailable for her, so when she goes, she has to walk about 3 -4 miles to get to the church. Hopefully she will have a desire to do that. Transportation is one of the biggest challenges here. No one has cars, they can't afford them and missionaries are not allowed to give rides in the church cars. We had a great lesson with her on the importance of reading her Book of Mormon everyday. The spirit was strong and she said she felt something wonderful as we were talking to her. Elder Gasu and Elder Davis explained to her that this was the Holy Ghost bearing witness to her that what we were teaching her was true. It was great.
        Next, we got to go and get 2 of our young adult sisters, Meagan Jonathan and Merleen Seimen, and take them to the dentist and the doctors for examinations. They are both getting ready to put in mission papers and were scared to go by themselves for these appts, so we took them and went with them.

Elder Vance and Elder Eyre
Our car may be small, but we can still fit
The Elders in

The Lozano Family, with Elder Vance and Elder Eyre

Getting ready for the Picture

        After that, we met up with Elder Vance and Elder Eyre in Nett. We helped them teach an English class and then we went to visit the Lozano family. Elder Vance and Elder Eyre taught a lesson on the Temple. The Lozano family did not know much about the Temple, So we all explained as best we could about the Temple. At times like these I wish I had one of the Ensigns that is all about Temples. Well we all did the best we could and they loved it. The spirit was strong again and they really liked the thought about families being able to be sealed for eternity. Two of there older children are baptized, hopefully, as they ponder on what we taught them about the Temple, Mom and Dad will want to know more and have a desire to be baptized.

Christ like love

     We went to Joseph's for family home evening last night. We haven't had a chance to go for about a month, so it was good to go and check on them and have family home evening with them.
     Some things happened that really have bothered me, in fact, both Elder LeFevre and I didn't get much sleep last night because of what happened.
      The lesson was given and it was about the rich man asking Jesus what more he needed to do to get to heaven. Christ tells him to sell all he has and give to the poor and the needy and to "Come Follow Me". The rich man can't do it and leaves "sorrowing".  Then the story from the Book of Mormon about King Limhi's father was told and how when he was taught the gospel, he said " I will give up all my sins, to know God" and he does.
      The spirit was there, until the next part of the lesson, then the spirit left. The person teaching the lesson, then turned to Joseph and Said" Why have you rejected Jesus Christ" and then kept going on about Joseph not be baptized and by not being baptized, he had rejected the Savior.
       For those that don't remember Joseph, he is a 67 year old man, who's whole family has been baptized, except him. He loves the Lord, goes to church every week, teaches his family the gospel, but out of respect for his deceased parents, has never been baptized. Joseph is a good man, who just doesn't understand enough yet about Temples, Eternal Families and the gospel. Elder LeFevre and I have been visiting with him pretty regularly for the last 8 months and we love Joseph and his whole family.
      In just a few minutes time, careless , hurtful  words, spoken by someone who did not know Jospeh,destroyed every thing that we have been working on for the last 8 month. Joseph was backed into a corner and embarrassed  in front of his family, by some one, who's intentions were good, but who had not taken the time to get to know Joseph and the whole situation. And then ,because the answer given by Joseph was not what they wanted to hear, they left very rudely.
     We stayed for the next 30 - 40 minutes undoing the damage. By the time we left, Joseph was feeling less offended. and willing to forgive the hurt that he felt.
      As I have pondered what happened, several things have come to mind. Jesus never forces anyone to get baptized, in fact we had a war in heaven over agency. It was that important. Jesus also, never would have used accusing words, or backed someone in to a corner, or embarrassed them. He loved them and allowed them there agency. We don't force people to accept the Gospel of Christ, or baptism, we love them, teach them, pray for them and invite them to accept. The spirit leaves, when we try to force, embarrass, or manipulate people into the church, because that is NOT the Savior's plan.
     Charity is the Pure Love of Christ, and the Pure Love of Christ would never have treated Joseph the way he was treated last night. In fact if we have Charity, we would not treat anyone that way.
     So we will start again to work with Joseph, and hopefully we will be able to help him understand the things he need to, to accept the gospel and if not, we will still love him, because even when all of us do not do what the Lord wants us to, HE STILL LOVES US.

Always Learning

        You know, it never ceases to amaze me how well the Lord knows us and what we need to learn to be better people, to prompt us to repentance, to help us on the path to "Be ye therefore Perfect".

        Tonight I have been reading though my Institute lesson for next week, the title of the lesson is " Be ye therefore Perfect",  The lesson covers the Beatitudes both in Matthew and in  3Nephi. As I studied and read tonight I realize how prideful  I have been.  As I studied, so many things came to mind that I don't do.

1.) Blessed are the Poor in Spirit.    I don't depend on the Lord the way I should, I get prideful and think, I can do this myself, and I forget to drop to my knees and ask for the Divine guidance, I really do need every single day.

2.) Blessed are they that mourn.   I always thought this referred to actual mourning, like when someone dies, but that is not what this refers to. It actually refers to Blessed are those that feel "Godly sorrow" for their sins, that feel such sorrow that they truly repent, such sorrow that after they have repented and received forgiveness, they never return to that sin again.
     I repent, but then the next week, there I am again, doing the same things all over again. I really want to feel that "Godly" sorrow, so I never repeat the same bad habits again.

3. )Blessed are the Meek.   I let things get to me to much and I get mad. Instead of forgiving, like I know I should, I hold a grudge and don't let things go. Meekness is not Weakness. A Meek person is mighty, and has learned self - mastery. I need to forgive and move on from offenses, or as Elder Bednar taught in his great conference talk, " Choose Not to Take Offense'

4.) Blessed are they that Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness.   I have to admit, I don't always hunger and thirst after righteousness. Sometimes, I just want to stay mad, sometimes I don't want to read my scriptures and sometimes I don't even want to pray. I need to want to be righteous so much, that I give up all my selfish times, and think more on what my Heavenly Father thinks about me. and then do what I know is right and swallow my pride.

5.) Blessed are the Pure in Heart.  -   My heart is anything but pure, I am way to critical of others. I truly need to get the 'beam" out of my eye, so I can see things with a Pure heart and love others as the Savior loves me.

6.) Blessed are the Merciful  -  Our Salvation rests upon the Mercy we show others. More times then I want to admit, I am not very Merciful to others, especially when they have wounded me. I still sometimes want to get back at them. I don't, but sometimes I want to. I must remember, that I don't know all the struggles in their lives that perhaps have made them act the way they have. I need to work a lot on showing more Mercy, because I know I will be needing a lot of Mercy myself.

7.) Blessed are the Peacemakers  -  I need to be less contentious and looking for peaceful solutions to problems, instead of arguing and if I can't, I need to learn to walk away, rather then fight.

    So many more things I need to work on  that sometimes I wonder, Will I ever be perfect?, I know I certainly will not without the help of my Father in Heaven. So I have decided, that instead of feeling overwhelmed at all the things I don't do right, I am going to pick just 1 things and keep working at it until it is not a weakness to me anymore. then I will move on to the next thing.
   I am grateful for a loving Father who knows just what I need, what experiences I need to have in my life to overcome my weaknesses. I know I can't do this without His help. maybe someday, as I keep trying to be better, He will say to me "Well done". And I will be worthy to be in His presence. That is the goal, to be worthy to live with Him again someday.

Pictures

Elder Gasu against Sis. LeFevre,  I WON

Just trying to catch up all the pictures

Sis. Deweyeye and the kind of hats we can get here.

I love the hats, oh and Sis. Varea and Sis Salaiau

The Primary Children in the Kolonia Branch
Dancing at Culture Night

Oh, and it you don't like the hats, just turn them upside down and they
become bowls.

Elder Lefevre, demonstrating rugging your tummy and
patting your head at the same time.

Yes, colored bread, just like Grandma LeFevre use to make

The Missionary/ Seminary Face-off
Elder Hanson and Esmeralda

Elder Vance and Maverick

Elder Bunn & Jefferson

Elder Pierson & Judy

Elder Davis & Safelyann

Elder Vance & Maverick, again

Elder Cole and  I am not sure, sorry

Sis. Salaiau & Joeson

Sis. Varea & Weider

The other Sis. Varea & Ivolani

Elder Eyre & Jefferson

Elder Madill & Esmerelda

Elder Lyman & Awalt

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Sis. Beautler & A.J.

So Much...............

     It seems like life is just flying by, so much to learn, so much service to give, so much young adult and Institute stuff to do, so many people to visit and help. So many opportunities to bear witness of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
     Sometimes, I wonder where to begin and what to tell about.
     We have been back to teaching Institute for 2 weeks now and our classes are growing. I love learning about and teaching about the Savior and that is what we get to do all year. Our lessons this week were on the birth of the Savior and the role of John the Baptist and the 3 temptations of Christ. Sometimes we can think, oh I know all that stuff, I have learned it many times before, but when you are the one preparing the lessons and you are teaching many who have not been taught all their lives the scriptures, you find you prepare a lot differently. And when you really put the effort in with prayer, fasting and study. It is amazing what you learn in the process. For example, did you know that there were 400 years between the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, and the first book of the New Testament, Matthew. And during those 400 years the Israelites had no prophet and they were in captivity for about 380 of those years. By the time it was time for the birth of the Savior, they were not looking for someone to save their souls, they were looking for a mighty warrior that would kill all their earthly enemies. That is why so many did not recognize the Savior for who He was. It gave me a whole new perspective on the Israelites.
      So when John the Baptist started to teach, no one would listen.
    Something else I learned this week in preparing my Institute lesson. Christ went into the wilderness to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. He did this so that he would be prepared spiritually to communicate with His Father. So He would be prepared to start His ministry. Many people believe He went into the wilderness to be tempted. HE DID NOT. No righteous person would go looking for temptation, just living day to day brings enough temptation. HE went to commune with His Father, our Father in Heaven.
  As we taught this week, we had some great discussions, the spirit was strong in each class and we all learned together. I really think Alan and I learn more then any of our students, and as we bear testimony of the Savior, our testimonies become strengthened
     We also had the opportunity to go out teaching with the Elders several times, and that is always a great experience. The Longer we are here, the more we love these amazing people and doing the Lords work. There is so much to do, and not enough time or people to do it.
     So if you are considering going on a mission, as a young Elder or Sister, or as a Sr. couple, stop making and thinking about all the reasons you can't go and just go. Get you life in order and GO. There is so much work all over the world and the Lord only has us to do it. I promise you, the blessings and growth you will receive will far out way any reasons not to go.  And one day when we all stand before Him and give an accounting for our lives, I really hope this will help me, because I need a lot of help.

     Besides that, IT'S TRUE.