Samoa

Samoa

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Great week in Samoa (week of the cyclone)

I really like these pictures. :) The one is our fancy Taco dinner at Taeipo's house. It was sooo good! Theres no such thing as Mexican food here in Samoa so that meal was very desireable and delicous to the taste. We've been talking about it for months now and it finally happened because we thought we'd get transferred but then we stayed and we're so pumped about it! :)
So the afa! It was basically just fantastic. I really had a great time! That day the hwole island seemed to be in commotion and the Ocean was angry too. You could tell cause of how it is. ;) We were out all day just working and trying our best to love the crap out of these people because we had a bit of a rude awakening at a meeting the day eofre which was actually great because we had been super troubled about it the day before. So we said a prayer about it and it got answered the next mornign at a surprise meeting with the area presidency. It was sooooooo cool!!! ANyways we were just really working on it and striving to stay focused because Elder Redd and I just talk talk talk talk talk talk... Its crazy how muc hwe can talk to eachother thsi will for only talking to eachother for over 3 months. Cool huh! Its a huge blessing! BUt once a gain!! We were focusing really hard on loving these people and I really feel like Heavenly Father gave me a pretty good glimpse of it but then the storm sent us home early. Mandated by the Zone leaders. So then we got home and decided to make a very nice soup and an even better workout. Elder Redd was the chef and I was the personal trainer. Then we just destroyed our entire bodies and even took showers outside in the rain. It was so cool!! Then when we came inside to eat water just started blowing in the window right above my bed. Basically it was just a freaking blast!!!! I'm all in for another one and sorry to cut this short but we have a family history lady waiting on us for the computer soooo I love you! I love you I love you1!!!! 
Be sure you say all your prayers all of the time and focus on loving every one. The key to that is charity so be on the knees for that like all of the time!! Also whenever you see anyone new at church just go and dump buckets of love on them because you'll always always always make the missionaries days and relive al ot of stress for them but more so you'll be bringing one of Gods lost sheep unto the fold. Until next week! 
Love Elder Jones!

Monday, April 18, 2016

Fafaga

It sure sounds like you had a great week! I'm so glad!! This week was pretty fun mo ma`ua fo`i. WE had a really good time!
The pictures are not enough. We had a bunch this week. One is from fafaga. THe family next door to our dinner appointment had a death in the family so they were doing all the faasamoa type preparations so we got a good picture out of it. Samoan deaths are nuts!! They cook a HUGE pig, make massive fine mats, give away hundreds of pounds of meat, give away money, etc... I don't get it.. In samoan its called a faalavelave or in English a disruption/disturbance. Thats exactly what it is. Samoan dies and no one has time to mourn they just have to get to work in order to be ready for the big ceremony where they give all kinds of expensive things back and forth between the families who are related... O le olaga faasamoa faapena! 
The other one is just a good glamour shot of the two of us. Elder Redd was messings with his camera while I tried to make some repairs on my shoe, its falling apart, and then I fixed it and we decided to do a little photoshoot because all of our plans kept falling through. :) It was a good time!

Here's some more stories for ya!
So at FHE last monday Taeipo told the riddle and it went like this; Theres a Fat guy a skinny guy and a train the fat guy gets on but the skinny guy can't. WHy not? We kept guessing and guessing and guessing but no one got it and then the old lady, Taeipos mom, said in here hilariously FOB english, "It's Ajawas" referring to this HUGE guy in the ward. We all were dying for a good 5 minutes or so and then we gave up on the riddle. The train is the world the fat guy is the Bible and the skinny guy is the BOM. The world accepts the bible but no one accepts the BOM. ata ata. ;) 
Also this week I heard the Be brave song come on. I don't remember where but I wrote it down so I could tell you and commend you on how brave you're beeing. :) I love ya! 
On wednesday we got fala's, Samoan woven mats to sleep on at night instea of beds but we're both waiting till transfers to switch to them because we've got not one mattress each but two. We're pretty blessed in our little house. 
So you know how you sent me a ctr ring while I was in the MTC? well I wear it everyday and I swear every day someone teases about it. THey say its from my girl back home and then Elder Redd just egges them on and I just look like a liar because I always say its rom my mom. It's a good laugh! :) 
We met this new lady this week named Lagi and she started crying when we told her that some people turn us away. hse got so saddened by it and it was so sweet! I thought it was kind of funny too because we've only been turned away like 3 or 4 times total so far. But it sure did break her little heart. :) 
We might have gotten another baby named after us. This drunk guy stopped us on the road and ask us for our names so that He could name his baby. He said He's blend the names. It was pretty interesting. :) 
Also this teenage boy stopped us to take a picture of us and then walked off. It was weird but Samoans make us feel like we're half royal and half celebrities all the time! 
Basically Samoa is just the greatest! I'm so blessed to be here and learning so much. We haven't had much success towards baptism or anything in the last two weeks but we sure are learning a lot. Plus Elder redd and I are just having a great time together. Our relationship has gotten so much better in the last two weeks we're always having a good time! 
I love it mom! 
Elder Jones




Sunday, April 10, 2016

General Conference Week in Samoa

So this is a picture from last week shucking a Niu and then one from this week watching conference in Englsh and Samoan at the same time because we didn't have the right cords to get rid of the Samoan and just be able to listen. :) It took a lot of work to focus on the talks with 2 languages going on at the same time. :) I learned so much though! I love the words of Prophets! :)
Also thanks for that little picture of Ammon. Not sure why you sent it but Its home so I smiled because of it. :) Also thats a sweet story that dad sent me about brother millers experience in Europe. :) 
Heres 2 pictures for ya! did you not get any from last week? I attached them..

So heres two more I guess! The first one is of me climbing the niu which Elder redd got videos of but I can't send thsoe so you'll just have to wait and see for yourself one day. ;) I need some practice but I did it . :) Its so cool! One of my overall mission goals is to just climb those suckers like a native! 
The other one is from a couple weeks ago when Elder Redd tried to toss me the keys to unlock our house and he threw them on top of the chapel so I had to go get them. It was a pretty funny moment. I'm still waiting on SD card for my camera and once that day comes I'll be so happy! :) Elder Redd has been a big blessing though

So this seems like it was centuries ago ut it was really jjust last weeks family night... We taught the lesson and it was a lot of pain on my part but I learned a lot from it. :) So the lesson was an object lesson. Elder redd has a bag of Candy and I'm on the floor in the middle of the room. He goes to each person one by one to offer a piece of candy. for each piece of candy everyone took I had to do 10 pushups. Luckily there were only 6 people taking candy but Taylor this hilarious guy who lived in America for a while took 3 pieces and I just died. Even if the person chose not to take one I had to do 10 pushups. Every pushup I had to fight for, struggle through, believe in myself that I could do another set of ten. I was making all kinds of sounds as people kept grabbing candy. It took everything I had just to get the job done and finish the pushups so everyone could enjoy the candy. Everyone was satisfied, I was sweating through my clothesand panting, and as I sat down the room kind of lulled. Just the sound of candy being chewed. Elder Redd went on to ask people what they saw and I sat to observe what the answers were. Taeipo our super nice neighbor said that I was a hard worker and made sure to get every single one done without any short cuts. Taylor made fun of me. Paulo the guy in the background while I'm shucking the niu said he felt bad for me but was thankful for the candy. The grandma said thank you. And the little boy Saia said thank you even louder and pointed out how much I was sweating.
The key here is that I was representing Christ, the candy was the blessings of His atonement and gospel. I'm sure you can all see the parallells and meanings now. The coolest part for me was thinking about my role in the midst of the work I had to do. I new my duty and I was set on doing it no matter how much of a weenie I sounded or looked like. Each time the bag got to someone I looked the in the eyes and they'd grab what they wanted tell me the number and I'd put my head down and go to work. Each time i thought "please only take one" but they always took more. I loved them for it though. I was happy that I got to do all the work and they simply enjoyed the blessings. I really felt a lot of love for them as I suffered on their behalf. It was a powerful experience for all of us. I loved it. :) Please just tell everyone to partake of the blessings of this gospel. THey're already payed for just grab them. all that needs to be done is extending your arm and grabbing on. Just do it because I promise that it will always be worth it and that if we don't we are wasting the Saviors atonement.
That was a powerful lesson for me to learn and be a part of. especailly when I got to bear testimony at the  end and invite all of them to come unto Christ. I really felt that invitation coming thorugh the spirit as I shared from my heart.
Love
Elder Jones

4/3/16

So first I wanted to start with a dream that I had earlier this week about you. :) It was very very fun but then I got bery sad... Let me tell ya!
So that day before the dream we had gotten a total of 8 Niu (Coconuts) given to us to dring and man I loved it! Those are like my favorite thing in Samoa! Plus today we learned how to climb them but thats a different story for ya! ANyways!!! So I don't really rembember what was goiung on in the dream but I remember just having a great time and chatting it up with ya! Then I said wait right there and I'll go grab you my favorite piece of Samoa, a niu, and I came back. Ps we're in Samoa... ;) I came back popped the top off all native like and was so proud of what I had just done for my mommy! I climbed a coconut tree, its basically like fighting a dragon for a princess, carefully picked the freshest niu, just like like jack stealing golden eggs from giants, and then presented the winnings to my mommy, the queen. I was so stoked to see your joy after drinking it! Then I was gonna give you a spood to scoop out the pe`epe`e to eat. I was on the moon! you grabbed it gave it a look and refused because you thought it was gross.... I was heartbroken!!! My own mommy wouldn't accept my greatest life accomplishment?!?!?! I was devastated. Then I woke up. So long story short when we get to come back here someday just accept the Niu even if you don't like it else I might cry. ;) I told elder Redd about it too and He try to play Joseph and interpret the dream telling me that I'm scared of my mommy not accepting me. My thought about that was, "thats dumb" but ya never know I'd be pretty sad if my mommy didn't like Nius because man do they make me happy! In fact theres two in the fridge right now waiting for us after tomorrow mornings workout! :) So remember You need to like Nius for my hearts sake. ;) 
I did get your package this week which was AWESOME!!! Thanks for all the notebooks! They'll come very in handy! :) That box was destroyed though! it looked like a bomb went off and then it sat in the rain for 2 days. the contents were alright though except nutella was all over everything. I'd recommend some tighter packing and putting any kind of liquid in ziplock bags... THanks so much though! I was so stoked!!! :) 
Holy giggles from your letters this week! Please don't stop learning Samoan!1 I love what you come up with as you speak to me! Plus byt the time the two years is up maybe we'll be able to have little conversation in Samoan! :) Sorry to hear about all the sad boy stories wearing on your poor little mommy heart. Is there any way I can help besides keep writing you? 
Also I just tried to pay tithing on here and I don't know if it will work so if not will you pay 7.50 for me. Just check LDS.org. Also did you make contact with any of the teachers I used to work with?
I don't really have a Samoan name because the people can Say Jones pretty well. Maybe one of these days when my Samoan is better I'll earn myself a Matai name. Its basically just a name for the high chiefs. So no name but ALL THE TIME people call me Michael Jones!!! I'm pretty sure they mean michael Jordan but man do they get a kick out of that when ever someone calls me that! It's hilarious! :) Samoans are so goofy! :) 
So the phrase vevela tamaloa I haven't ever heard before but holy smokes do you crack me up! also FYI it would be Tamaloa vevela. I just figured you'd like to know for how often you'll use it now. ;) It was great too because then I got to explain #lookwhatidid to Elder Redd! It was great! I don't know hwta he thinks of you to be honest but I don't know if my other companions along the way will understand you either. Thats okay with me because man do I love ya! You're so fun to listen to and each week I read the little letters or big ones I hear your voice, picture what you're doing, and how you say things. It's a blast so don't change it! Just keep writing me whatever way makes you the happiest because thats all that matters to me. I love ya mommy! Also no conference this weekend because the technology in Samoa isn't the best so the church sends CD's to all the stakes to watch conference on the next weekend so thats this coming weekend! I'm pumped!!!! It'll be great! 
Love Elder Jones!