Hey all, 

It's been a good week over here in Tonga and a lot of things have happened. I think I'll go for 1-10.

1. Atata- we went out to Atata again this past week. It was OK. After 4 trips already I'm starting to get tired out from it. We went to the island using the tourist boat and slept the night. I went with Elder Lomu who's on his second transfer so it was good to give him the island experience. We played soccer with all the guys on the island (surprisingly a big thing on Atata) then we visited members. We were able to find one new investigator and teach one lesson which was great.

2. Lavenia- Lavenia is finally going to get baptized this Saturday. It's been good to see her testimony of the Gospel and her desire to be baptized. 

3. Uenita- definitely has not yet given birth. She will be baptized as soon as she does, haha. Her due date was two weeks ago #Tonga.

4. Huge change to Mission Tonga. We are now able to wear Western gear instead of the normal Tupenu and Ta'ovala. Our mission is in a little bit of an uproar about it, but we shall see how long that lasts. I have already given all my pants away so it doesn't really effect me.

5. We are teaching a family! The mom's name is Talafungani and it's been real fun to get close with her 5 kids. Nobody is really progressing from that family so we will be working together this week to try and get them progressing.

6. I had a good spiritual experience yesterday - as we were walking from one appointment to another,  my eyes hit on this one house. We kept walking for another 20 seconds but I couldn't take my eyes off the house, so we went back and knocked on the door and found a potential investigator. Listen to the Spirit.

7. I'm killing it in darts this transfer. I think my form has been getting a lot better. I'm already up 4 on Elder Vaisa this transfer.

8. On the way back from Atata we were on the boat with a guy from Switzerland. It was funny talking about Roger Federer. I tried sharing the gospel with him as we got off the boat and boom he was gone. haha

9. I have been really bad about doing language study for the past while. I think I've gotten to a point where my Tongan is alright but if I want to be good at it I gotta start studying.  We've been trying to speak Tongan all the time and we're trying to fit in language study every day.

10. We have really high goals this transfer. President set a goal of 40 baptisms for every zone. Last transfer we had 13, so our faith and hard work are going to have to grow a lot.

Love you all. 

Have a great week,

Elder Wilson

Stayin'

Malo Tua Lava,

Sorry for the delay, P-day got changed to Wednesday and will be the emailing day from now on. Life has stayed the same on this side of the world. Transfers came and went this past week and we are staying here in Hofoa and Puke. I heard a rumor I was supposed to go to an outer island but I think I'm supposed to be here. We planted a lot of seeds last transfer that we will be able to harvest now so that will be good. I am actually pretty excited to see what comes out of all of our work. I also think that during this next transfer our branch in Puke is going to be made a ward and our island of Atata will be getting a branch. So, I'm going to be eating a lot of pig this next month or so.

We continue to teach Uenita in Hofoa, who is super prepared. I learned from our surprise MLC [Mission Leader's Conference] this past week and from General Conference that I need to be better at emphasizing the book of Mormon. We have been trying this with Uenita and it has really helped us become better teachers. Not that we're doing anything else, but the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost working together is spiritually unstoppable. We have set up a baptismal date for her the 28th of this month, but who knows because she needs to give birth before she can be baptized.

I am short on Time.  I testify of the Book of Mormon and the blessings that come from reading it day to day.

OFA ATU,

Elder Wilson

Hey Everybody,

Life is good on this side of the ocean. This past week Elder Vaisa and I finally set up a system to go out to Atata [the small island in his area] and we made the trip this week. The history of the Church on this island is pretty cool and very new. Last year a couple in Hofoa (where we live) got called to move out to Atata and start the church there. When the Stake President and the couple headed out to Atata, the town officer was there on the beach with a knife. The Stake President happened to be a retired lawyer and made sure that everything went smoothly with the first transition of the Church on the island. The first Sunday there were 3 members. The Tauhi kolo (whatever that is in English [leader?]), his wife, and his son. It stayed that way for about 3 months until another member family moved to the island. During the last year two families have been baptized and there are now 31 members in Atata with 7 priesthood holders. It's pretty crazy, because of how small the island is, that there are that many members. It is really cool to be able to go out to the island and help the work out there.

Other than that, we were able to find and commit a lot of people to baptism this week. Who knows how many will work out but we will keep trying. Every week my testimony grows stronger that missionary work needs to be done through the members.

We had Zone conference last week which went really well. I really enjoy listening to president Tui'one and his instructions on how I can become a better missionary.  General conference was probably the highlight of last week. I did the same thing I did last time and wrote 5 questions and all were answered again, except for 1 which I believe will be answered when I review the talks. The Book of Mormon and the power from it was what hit me hardest. It's the one thing that is most important to my investigators, that they have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. It's kind of pointless to continue with the lessons if they don't read it and pray about it.

- I am up by 5 wins against Elder Vaisa in Darts.

- Our neighbor has a person living there who is an absolutely amazing singer.

- I played tennis this morning for the first time in a year. It was way fun. There are people in my area who come from Eua which is know for playing tennis. I definitely need to get back in the game though.

Ofa atu.  I invite all to watch, listen, read, or reread the conference talks, literally the best thing in the world. It's like another Christmas for missionaries. 

Do good things, 

Elder Wilson

Hey everybody,

It was another good week. I was able to see a really great miracle this past week. Two transfers ago I had the opportunity to teach an investigator in Longolongo named Neomai. Unfortunately she couldn't get baptized because her dad was a preacher in another church. Three months later, after a LOT of fasting and prayer, her Dad last week gave her permission to get baptized. To be honest I feel like one the biggest things God has tried to teach me on my mission is that fasting works, which kind of sounds weird but has been very true. I have been able to witness miracles because of fasting. I can't change anybody's mind, but I know God can.

Last week we focused our efforts on finding people to teach in Hofoa and knocked every door in Hofoa trying to find new investigators. It actually kind of worked and we were able to find some people to teach, but though none look super promising, we will sure try. For our zone conference tomorrow we have been asked to teach on Chapter 9 from Preach My Gospel on finding people to teach. I'm a little confused on how to teach this because every convert on my mission has come from a member. For example, last week all we did was knock doors and the only 1 investigator that came to church was from a member who brought her. 

Besides that, life has been going great. Elder Vaisa and I have been having darts competitions after every planning session in our house and after being down four I have tied it up with two weeks left in the transfer. 

Ofa atu​​​​, 

Elder Wilson

Hey everybody this week has been about the same as last week, so pretty good. I was able to baptize Sione Ngahe this past Wednesday. A lot of missionaries have worked with Sione and it was a privilege to baptize him.

To be honest the work has been struggling a little in our area. We have been working really hard to find new investigators and we actually have been able to find a lot. The problem is that all of investigators we get from our finding don't usually last very long. I know the best way to do missionary work is through the members, but we don't have a whole bunch of support from the members in our area, which has been a little bit of a struggle. But we are still working hard on trying to progress the investigators and potential investigators we found last week. 

I had a really cool experience this week. We have been teaching a lady named Lavenia for a while. She is willing to be baptized but only under the condition that her husband, who is less active, will return to the church so they can stand together. We went over to their house and read and taught a little about the blessings of obedience and asked the husband what blessings he will get if both of them live the gospel of Jesus Christ. He responded with "eternal family." We were able to testify about the blessings that come from living the gospel and especially about eternal families. It was really powerful and we were able to commit him to try and change and to perform his wife's baptism next month.

I know that families are eternal. It has been a blessing to be in Tonga and in this culture to have learned what is really important. I was talking with a member the other day and he told me the difference between Tonga and Muli (1st world countries) is that in Tonga, 1) nobody goes hungry and 2) everybody is more happy. I definitely believe that that is the case. 

Church is true,

Ofa atu

--

Elder Wilson

Hey fam,

 

It was another good week. It felt like this past week and the week before we were planting a lot of seeds for us to harvest this next week. The work has been progressing a lot and I think we are starting to work together well with the wards we work in. We have one baptism this week. His name is Sione. The missionaries have been teaching him for over a year and now that he has some problems sorted out he can proceed with his baptism. 

We had a Mission Leader's Conference and a temple session this past week which was good. It was a little unfortunate because we had two appointments and had to leave MLC early, but I learned  a lot about repentance and speaking up to other missionaries about obedience. It was really good to see other missionaries from my intake group who I haven't seen for a while. As usual, the Temple session was probably the best part. I know that each time we enter the Temple that we can learn something different. I love being in the Temple and feeling the spirit there.

The zone has been going well. I feel like the biggest difference in our zone is that now we are so, so busy. This week will be a good week for working in our area without any meetings to worry about. 

Sorry for my shortness. I love you all. Keep the commandments.

Elder Wilson

Hey Everybody.

This week has been a very good week with a lot of work to do. This transfer is going to be great. My companion Elder Vaisa and I have been getting along and work really well together. I have been able to learn a lot from him. We have set some really high goals for our area and zone this transfer. We are shooting for 10 baptisms in our area and 20 baptisms in the zone. (The last transfer we had 0 in our area and 9 in our zone.) This past week we spent time exploring leads from the last transfer and as of right now now have a list of 15 real potential investigators.

This next week we have MLC (Mission Leaders Conference) for 2 days. Then we are going to try to get out to Atata our island even though we are going to be pretty busy.  Something I liked this week in my personal study was the Parable in Luke 15. Jesus talked about a women who lost money and tried everything she could to find it. When the money was found the women was so happy she went and told everybody that they had found it. The fakatata to it is that when we repent our Father in Heaven is so happy and we should be too because we qualify to enter into his kingdom. I know we receive happiness when we repent.

Random things:

- I have taken over as driver.

- I played ping-pong at a less active house and took over their small wooden table for an hour.

- Apparently there was supposed to be a tsunami from the earthquake in Mexico but the wave died before it got to Tonga.

Ofa atu,

Elder Wilson