Families are Eternal 1/25/2015

Elder Freer, Elder Loketi and Elder Swan

Family,

I just wanna start by saying I LOVE YOU ALL!

So working in Pangai has been very hard! It has been slow and there are so many less-actives it is crazy! We find new less-actives everyday. Anyway, last Monday we started off by e-mailing you all and then yes, eating a nice delicious dog... I'm upset that it is against the law in America.. I do love dogs but they do make a good treat! Hahaha. On Tuesday we had our Zone Conference. President Tupou was supposed to come but he got sick and wasn't able to make it. So it was just our Zone and the AP's. It went from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Man I love going to those! I learn so much every time. We learned about the "Balancing Act" again and went into more detail. The entire zone was assigned to teach a principal but it ended up just being me and my companion and the Zones. A few nights before the meeting I was praying and thinking of an activity that would show teamwork and help people understand the importance of balancing everything out. I thought of the activity where everyone gets in a circle and grabs hands from people across from them and everyone is tangled up. The point is to not let go and to untangle it so you are all standing in a circle holding hands. It worked and it really helped people understand!

The next few days were weird. Elder Freer stayed with me and my companion as he waited to fly back to Tonga on Thursday. So we got to work with him for 2 days! Man I love that kid! We both learned a lot from each other. We taught an older couple, he is 78 and his wife is 53... Yep weird, but it went really well. We taught about families and how important they are. Afterwards he shared something really wonderful. He said, as tears rolled down his soft brown cheeks, we can know that God loves us because of our families and we can know that God lives because of our families. The Spirit was so strong and as I listened to him explain his love for his family I felt this fire burst through my body! The Spirit was there and testified to each of us that families are eternal and they are ordained of God. At the end of the lesson I invited them to be baptized and follow Christ's perfect example for them. They explained that they believe in everything we taught (even Joseph Smith) but they wanted to stay in their own church. They are embarrassed to leave and scared of what others may think...

We teach Kalisi tonight and are planning on setting up a baptismal date for her. I am thinking it will be next week! I am excited!

I also met a boy named Taiono if you remember him. He was baptized in Ta'anea and I did his interview. He lives in my area and has fallen away already. We have been teaching him and his friend and are trying to get them to come back to church and I'm praying it will bring his family of 11 to this Gospel and to the truth. I know God has a plan for him and I know I am here for a reason! 

I love this work and I am sad it is going by so fast! I pray time slows down for me and speeds up for you! I love you all so much!
Elder Swan