ngaia anne

Today I will talk about the basics. Sometimes the basics are treated as what they sound like; boring, menial and a waste of time. For example: brushing teeth is basic to good health, and very easy to do, but also easy to overlook. Another one, practicing before playing any sport can be boring or difficult. But there is a reason for them. If you haven't practiced your dribbling skills in basketball, you will lose the ball every time (speaking from experience). If you brush your teeth halfheartedly, you will lose your teeth (don't worry, not speaking from experience). If you haven't read the scriptures daily, your testimony will weaken. If you pray halfheartedly, you will lose the power promised from it.

We invite people every day to read, pray, and keep the commandments. If they haven't read and haven't prayed, you can see a trend on how they are keeping the commandments as well.  I guess that we can see this in our own lives as well. I know that my prayers need improvement, that in the past I have skipped reading or done it unwillingly. But that is where the gift of repentance comes in to help us change. I invite all of you (as I will invite myself) to look at the basics and how strong they really are. Also read 2 Nephi 4 and think of all the good that Nephi did and how he still felt that he really was a fallen soul. Should help to know that prophets feel inadequate too (President Hinckley often spoke of how he felt unfit to be the prophet also)

Kiribati phrase: "ngaia anne" which basically means "that's it".  There is this old lady named Tekunrerei that is very catholic that says that phrase when we teach. Basically the Kiribati version of a mini "hallelujah" which is awesome to hear when you teach.

Miss you all, God knows all of us perfectly and what we need, and will often tell us through the Spirit what we can do to feel a greater measure of peace in this life.

-Elder Farner

P.S. We went to this giant party for the mwaneaba which is like a big covered patio. I have a video but I can;t really load it, but just know that it was pretty cool! 

Marakei II

The new island is a lot different from Tarawa. Most of our efforts seem to be reactivation instead of teaching. We work a lot with the branch president to try and get people to go to church. Plus we have 20 miles to cover on half broken bikes.... So much biking!  We have a couple of families and a lot of older people we teach which is a cool change, just the progress is a little slow. We have about 62 people going to church, but probably could have 300 if all the people went to church. Another thing is about 3000 people live on the island and missionaries were first on the island 40 years ago... So tracting usually leads to less actives or people who have already been taught but are very Catholic. Some pretty great people here, very funny. One guy is just always laughing, he was really cool to talk to. Also we had 4 church services on Sunday.... I led one of them, pretty interesting, also I talked in 3 of them...

In won't be able to write too much again, but next week I will. The person whose laptop we use is on the main island right now but she gets back next week.

Have a good week,

-Elder Farner

Marakei

Mauri!

Here in Marakei, they have airplanes that go here every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and it's only a 20 min flight, thank goodness. It was so hot in that plane!

My new comp is good, likes to be obedient. He hasn't been out for a year yet. He is trying his best.

Right after I landed we rested a little and then we went all the way around the island once to give an offering to these shrines they have for these 4 ghosts - it's part of the culture of the island. It's also a 18 mile bike ride.

The church out here is pretty small. One branch, average of about 60 a week, with mostly young kids and that is with us doing three separate sacrament meetings. I also have to do an audit with the branch president...

Right now I am emailing on a phone so I can't write a ton, it'll be the same next week too; but the week after will be good.

Alma 34:32: "For behold, this ^alife is the time for men to ^bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of ^cthis life is the day for men to perform their ^dlabors."

Have a great week!

Elder Farner 

Mimitong

Mauri Ngkami!

I am going to go to an outer island (ibuki). The name of the island is Marakei and it is located north of Tarawa. Should be a cool experience. But I haven't left Bikenibeu yet, so let me update you on that. We have 3 people with baptismal dates, and 2 more investigators who should accept a date this week. This area has good potential, just sometimes the work progresses slowly. So it is in our lives- we all have potential and the work of changing and growing sometimes is slow, confusing, maybe even discouraging IF we try to work it out by ourselves. God has given us so many things to help us with times of difficulty; to name a few: prayer, covenants, parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, scriptures, Church services, service opportunites, modern amenities and most of all, His Son. To know that there is someone who literally know everything that you are going through at all times (see Alma 7: 11-12) should bring great comfort to us all. Even more amazing, Christ willingly "chose to descend from His throne divine" to save people like us, because He loves us perfectly.

So remember to pray, and instead of waiting for the blessings, look for them, because they are already there.

A funny experience: we were teaching our lesson, and our investigator turned to sneeze, and then he sneezed again, and then 5 more times. While he was sneezing I was counting them on my fingers and I almost busted out laughing. The funniest part is that this has happened before with a completely different investigator- when the sneeze, they don't mess around.

And a good word for you all from Kiribati: mimitong, which means "glory".

Have a great week you all! There is a plan for each of us!
-Elder Farner

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