Samoa

Samoa

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

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