Eita

So I was supposed to leave Christmas on Wednesday last week but it got cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday morning.  We woke up at 3:30am to go to the airport; when we arrived, we found out it was delayed so we went and ate breakfast.  After we ate we returned to the airport, got on the plane and left.  When we landed it was the afternoon in Fiji. So we hustled onto the  next plane and everyone got all of their stuff stowed away and we were all seated when we were told that the flight would be cancelled so we would need to get off and stay at a hotel paid for by the airport. So we all got off the airplane and waited for like an hour for our hotels to be scheduled and then like another hour for the shuttle to come. Then we got to the hotel (oh and forgot to mention that our flight coincided with the 12 new missionaries coming from the MTC, and a missionary who was a Kiribati person who was returning home from Papua New Guinea, and a member I haven't seen in a while from Temwaiku named Irate so they were all with us) and stayed the night, and then got up at 2:45 in the morning to go back to the airport. Then we got on the plane after going through security and flew to Tarawa where we then were taken to our areas.

I am working in Eita 2nd with Elder Preisler. He will be a great companion. I am his back-up trainer. Eita is the first place on Tarawa that a unit was established in all of Kiribati in 1975. So the ward functions really well. The Bishop's name is Mwea and he is awesome and I know that this area will be great. I have seen so many people over the past few days that I have seen and met over my last year in Kiribati.
It turns out that the night I got in to Tarawa I had dinner with the RM from Papua's family because he lives in my area and we had a scheduled dinner with him, and I have seen his dad before because he came to Temwaiku once to do a training.

So basically God has a large complex plan, but it really isn't complex to Him, and we are given a non-complex basic plan to follow (the Gospel), and in doing so we make these great connections that cannot be doubted as to the hand of God working. It really was a crazy travel but way fun looking back and way awe-inspiring.

I kaotia bwa I tangiringkami ao I taku bwa banen au tai e na waekoa n roko.

Tiabo

Elder Farner

Bwaketi

I am doing good, found out that my companion and I will both be going back to Tarawa on Wednesday, but I think our area will still be open which is good. I don't know where I will be going or who I will be serving with, I just know I am going back to Tarawa on Wednesday.

One  person that was really progressing here was Bwaketi (buh-kess) who came to church, and his wife came this time, which hasn't happened at all in the last 2 months, so he should be getting baptized soon, which would be awesome!

So life goes on, can't believe I first came to Christmas Island like 5 months ago. Time goes by fast.

I will let you know next week where I am at and who I am with!

Elder Farner

A pile of salt

Elder Menzie

Hey everyone.

Today I think I will share some of what the senior missionary Elder Menzie spoke about at our Sacrament meeting yesterday.

He said that when he used to be a Bishop he wanted to schedule interviews with his members to invite them to repent or change, but he would get the impression from the Spirit that he should instead tell them that God loves them. John 3:16- for God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son

Sacrifice is something that both God and Jesus Christ can ask of us because they have already gone through the ultimate sacrifice themselves. A Father sacrificing His Son and a Son sacrificing himself.  God is our loving Heavenly Father. That’s the title of the first doctrinal principle that we are meant to teach as missionaries. First thing we need to know.

Have a great week

Love you all,

Elder Farner

Banana II

Hey Everyone!

Well this past week has been interesting. The area I am serving in is very unique in that it is a very large geographic area but doesn't really have that many people that live within its boundaries. Oh and its called Banana.... so yeah that is interesting

This coming week we have a district conference and we will be doing a Kiribati dance which will be interesting.

Area next to my house

Also our house is probably 100 sq ft. So basic living. Good practice for college life....

My house

Tiabo,

Elder Farner

Well water before bleach tablet

Well water after bleach tablet

Banana

I am working in Banana now which is an interesting place.

So we have 5 Zone Leaders in our mission. There are three zones, 2 on Tarawa and one on Christmas. There are 2 companionships of zone leaders on Tarawa and only me with my comp (who isn't a zl). Plus we only have 4 companionships in this zone and have no district leader so its basically just a district out here. 

My new is Elder F is from Hawaii but he is actually Samoan. He played in March Madness and stuff for University of Hawai'i so he is pretty good at basketball. He has been out since January.

Fiji

*Elder Farner is 'typing' his emails from an old cell phone (the kind that have multiple characters per number) so his emails are quite short - the following entry is a combination of the last two emails we have received:

August 12, 2018

Mauri Ngkami. Cant talk much because I have to go to a meeting right now. I am now a Zone Leader and we are going to be having a meeting with Elder Nattress of the Seventy in like 40 minutes. Still will be working in Christmas and will be leaving Tarawa next Monday so I may not be able to email

Love you all

Elder Farner

P.S. Give my condolences to Brother and Sister Urey, "Ma and Pa"

Sorry to hear that.

August 19, 2018

In Fiji right now. Going back to Christmas, let everyone know, gotta be quick.

Tiabo
Elder Farner

E na bwakara

Sorry everyone for the lack of blogs in recent months as things have been a bit crazy.

So first the house. Up until about 3 weeks ago I have been living in a stick house with a leaky roof made of woven coconut leaves. So when our mission president came, he contracted a new roof to be put on. So about 2 weeks ago we were approached on the street and told that we should gather our stuff and move it because they were going to start replacing the roof.  So we were doing that and our new mission couple showed up;  Elder and Sister Menzie from Tasmania. Way nice people.  Anyway, we moved into the house for Elders in London and have been living there for almost 2 weeks and today just moved back in to our house.

Also on August 13-15th we are having a mission tour where Elder Nattress is coming to Tarawa so on Aug 8th we are all flying to Fiji and then back to Tarawa on the 9th. Then on the 22nd we are coming back (some of us may stay on Tarawa). So that should be interesting.

Investigator pool is starting to increase.

A little about my comp:  Elder Anani from Samoa. His father used to be a Methodist minister but then converted. Elder Anani is turning 21 next month which is a big deal in the culture. He is hilarious.

Things are going well enough. Not perfect but, hey, e na bwakara (it'll have to do)

Tekeraoi

The mission president arrived and things are going well with him. We are going to go on a split with him on Tuesday. He leaves on Wednesday.

So Kiribati celebrates their independence on Thursday the 12th because that is when they separated from Australia or something like that. 1979, July 12th.

What that translates is to a large amount of alcohol and lots of business going on so it may be an interesting week. Also we were previously working two areas but the other area got taken over by our Zone Leader so our teaching pool is way small now. These coming weeks shall be rebuilding weeks.

We all interviewed with President and he shared D&C 100:1-8 with all of the missionaries. He told us to read it and insert our names in it. 

1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friends Sidney and Joseph, your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power.

2 Therefore, follow me, and listen to the counsel which I shall give unto you.

3 Behold, and lo, I have much people in this place, in the regions round about; and an effectual door shall be opened in the regions round about in this eastern land.

4 Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls.

5 Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;

6 For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.

7 But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things.

8 And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.

Also there are 2 Vanuatuan Elders in our mission. They can speak pigeon as well, the language commonly associated with PNG.

Miss you all,

Tekeraoi

Elder Farner

bino

So last Saturday was pretty cool as we were able to do a traditional Kiribati dance called the "bino" which is a sitting dance. I messed up a bit but it was still fun. We did it for a farewell party for our Senior Couple on Christmas Island, the Pilkingtons. They are from Australia and they have been serving for almost 2 years here. They are real warriors for sticking it out here.

On Sunday we had a fireside which was about Fathers and also a farewell for the Pilkingtons. It was good. We may have 2 people who will get baptized on Saturday. One of them is 17 and his name is Tiimi. The other is named Riitang and he is 11. Pray for them that they will remember to read and pray and that they will focus during the lessons....

Also hit my year mark...still a lot more growth to go...

tiabo

Elder Farner

Tabwakea

I made it safely to Christmas Island. I am working in Tabwakea, not Banana, and am working with Elder Anani.

Another cool story from my travel: at night I was waiting at the gate and a American Samoan man came up to me and asked me my name and then told me that he was Bishop L. He is a bishop in Alaska who was traveling back home from American Samoa. I got to talk to him for a while.  Really cool random experience. He is a fairly recent convert who used to smoke like packs a day and then stopped. Apparently he worked as a police man when Gordon B Hinckley came to A. Samoa and he shook his hand.  Pretty cool.

Anyway the new area is good, at first I wanted to go back to the main and but now it's getting a little better. You know they say it takes 6 weeks to get accustomed to a place so I will give it time.🙂

Flashback Photo

McDonalds

I am sending this Email from Nadi, Fiji. I got a call last week on Wednesday that I will be transferring to Christmas Island, and will be working in the area called "Banana".  As part of the transfer to get to Christmas Island, you need to go through Fiji, and stay a night, and then the following night fly to Christmas. So I got in yesterday, and will be leaving close to midnight tonight. Pretty crazy huh. 

Other crazy things: I am the only one transferring to Christmas, which means I am alone in Fiji; I met one Kiribati person who served a mission in Boston, MA; another who is traveling to go to Boston University, and another who married an RM from Utah that had served in Kiribati and then met her when he came back to visit Kiribati. (Also that lady served a mission in Carlsbad, California.)

So the Lord has been watching out for me. I also got to eat McDonalds and take a hot shower and sleep on comfy bed. So all in all it has been a crazy week. So many blessings I have seen as well.

 So yeah that’s where I am at.

More to come for sure....

Tiabo, I tangiringkami

Elder Farner

PS I also was trying to email from an internet cafe that wasn’t open yet, I had been waiting forever, then a recent convert, a Fijian girl, came up to me and helped me find a different internet cafe that was open and way nicer… The Lord is way too kind.

te aii

My new companion is Elder W.  from Orem, Utah (born in Provo and raised in Orem). He is a really hard worker, like more than me.  We will be in a trio in 10 days with an Elder coming in from an outer island. Other than that we have been doing a ton of tracting with very little fruit of the labor, but at least we are getting the message out there.

We also cleaned the house today pretty thoroughly, so we should be having a good week in a nice clean house. 

Before

After

Look what ended up on a doorknob..a coconut crab; looked like a giant spider. Way creepy

te aii

No baptisms, and the closest possible time will probably be the end of June.... Slowly but surely though we can build up the work and the branch here in Tenmwaiku.

Tiabo ngkami

Elder Farner

Tiimou

We got a new branch presidency!  Awesome.  We also should have baptism this Saturday so that is cool.  Her name is Tiimou and she is 15.  She has a lot of support as she is a part-member family.  She currently lives at her brother’s house who is less-active, but her sister is an RM and her brother-in-law just got called to be the new branch president, and she has another sister on a mission right now so she has good support.  Plus she has friends outside of her family who are members as well that live close to her house.  So that should be good.

Another sunset at the bottom of the page, this picture was taken right next to our house.


Get to skype the family this week!

April 29, 2018

Hey Everyone,

This last week was a tough one!  But I am still alive and things are bound to get better.  On a positive note, we just go new copies of the Book of Mormon translated in Kiribati that now have a guide to the scriptures!  Way awesome, should help with the mission.

We have a person who’s should be ready for baptism May 12th, so we will see how things go.  Her name is Tiimou and she is a sister of members, one of which served a mission, and another who is currently serving one and is almost done.  The only problem I foresee is that her father lives on an outer island that is one of the furthest south of the main island, and so getting parental permission might be interesting...please pray for her.

Pictured below is Kanabure and his son, Tokantetaake. Kanabure is the man who got baptized with his wife on March 10th and he just turned 31 last week.  They are an awesome family.

Tekeraoi ngkami
Tiabo ke!

April 22, 2018

We have had an interesting week. Two elders that were in our house left to return home as their time here has finished.  They left Friday.

On Sunday we were biking past a man’s house and he was laying in a hammock and his kid ‘attacked’ Elder Hanks with a stick.  We passed and kept going and I thought we should talk to him but we kept going and I told Elder Hanks.  He then told me we should go back (listen to the first impression).  We went back and he hopped up and invited us into his house.  We didn’t even say anything really about going into his house, he invited us of his own accord.  Way cool. Nice experience.

Tiabo,
Elder Farner

e na bwakara

Mauri Ngkami,

This last week we had another baptism! This kid is awesome. 17 years old. His parents were baptized last year but he was on an outer island when his parents got baptized. He got baptized in the ocean because our font won't fill up, the pump is broken. It still went, so that was good.

Just started reading Jesus the Christ again. I will let you know some things I learn from that.

New phrase for you all: "e na bwakara" ;  it means, "it is all we have, but it is enough" or something like that.

Below is pictured one of the greatest knockoffs in the history of knockoffs: Sharpie now becomes "Skerple"

Tiabo, 

Elder Farner

P.S. Thanks for the package!

My thoughts on conference:

One of the messages I got was the blessings that come many years afterwards. I liked President Nelson's talk about Brother Cox and how years later there was the blessing of choosing him to be stake patriarch. Then there was the story from I think Renlund's talk about the heart transplant patient who later helped do the temple work for the person who died.

Another message was the importance of the Spirit. Good messages. Very important.

I think the combining of the Elders and High Priests is cool. It’ll be fun to do that later in life after the mission.

We should have a baptism this week. T. is the son of recent converts who is 17. He has a testimony that the church is true and he is a little quiet but he is a little more open than he used to be. Awesome

Miss you all.

Love,

Elder Farner

Mauri Ngkami

How was your Gen conference experience? Pretty awesome announcements. I haven't seen it yet, but I might see it this weekend with our branch.

That couple that got baptized now have callings and the husband is a priesthood holder now!

We have a teenager named Tebaakaro who can get baptized this coming weekend if he passes his interview!

I haven't been transferred as far as I know, so we will see on Wednesday if there is anything new or exciting happening in my area.

Have a great week everyone!

I tangiringkami!

Elder Farner

I tangiri ngkami

I would like to share an experience. Recently we haven't had very many new investigators and it was Sunday and we still had 0 new investigators for the week. We have a large teaching pool so I wasn't too worried about it, but we still read the first section of chapter 9 in PMG about finding people. The blessing came later that day when we lessoned with an investigator that I hadn't seen in a while and when we went to visit, her husband was there and sat in on the lesson in which we re-introduced the Book of Mormon to her and introduced it to him for the first time. His response was one of the most enthusiastic responses about reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. It was a testament to the words in PMG that go along the lines of "there are people being prepared to meet you".

Anyway, this last week was full of animal fatalities. Our landlord's cat got hit by a car or something because it was lying on the side of the road, another cat got hit by a car. And this last one is interesting: So our landlord has a bunch of baby pigs that were born a couple of weeks ago, and right now they are moving some of them from their mother, and to prevent them from always trying to run back to their mother, they stick them into bags and leave them in there for three days without any food (I think the thought is that they won't care where they get food as long as they get it once they get out of the bag, so they don't run to their mother anymore). Our landlord went to another part of the island for the weekend with his family and so one of the pigs that was in the bag got bitten by their dog so that was the third death. Just an interesting glimpse into some of the lesser happenings at the house.

The church is true, missionary work is true. Don't let the small stuff "eclipse' the bigger stuff in life, eternity is too important to lose out on temple blessings.

Tiabo ngkami

I tangiri ngkami

Elder Farner

Teamwork makes the dream work - and crushes phones

First off a shout out to Genna and Keeva for being awesome. That is a very cute baby. Secondly, the title of this post is "Teamwork makes the dream work- and crushes phones".

Let me explain. At night I was using our phone as a light and as I went around a puddle, I dropped it on the ground, at which point Elder Hanks followed up by running over it with his bike. So we bought a new one today... Set, and spike. That phone looked like it belonged to Peter Parker because its screen was spider-webbed.

We have also been having a bit of a rough time this last week, as things haven't been coming to pass the way we planned. But as we all should know, Christ has felt all of the frustrations, disappointments, shame, guilt, sadness, etc. that we have felt. So we really aren't facing any of our problems without someone who understands.

Alma 7: 11-12: 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Keep on keeping on!

Tiabo,

Elder Farner

Kanabure and Tereaua

Starting off this email with a highlight:

Baptism. Kanabure and Tereaua. A couple who we were referred to by Kanabure's mother, Nei Titeebwa. They get baptized, awesome. Kanabure had to go twice because the prayer was wrong the first time. Anyway, after the baptism they share their testimonies. Tereaua shares hers: she explains that it had been a while since she had prayed and now she knows it is true because she had done it and to her had seen that it worked. She was in tears and it was very powerful. Kanabure then goes up and shares his testimony- he tells us he was a bad person, so bad he had to get baptized twice (as a joke, hopefully) and talked a bit about being born again. Way great, spirit was way strong.

Then the following day was Fast and Testimony meeting because last week we had District Conference. Titeebwa gets up and bears her testimony on the Temple. She told us before that in 2011 (I think) she went to the Temple right after her work was ending with Moroni High School (the church school here) and she wouldn’t have a job. So while she was at the temple, she asked for help, and when she returned, she got a job. Then she went last year to the Temple and prayed for her kids because they weren't members. And now, lo and behold, they are currently some of the coolest people ever that got baptized. So yeah, the Temple should be a priority in our lives for sure.

Lastly, a bit about repentance. Alma 33:11 “And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son.”

Love you all and miss you all

Elder Farner

Mauri ngkami!

This last week I got made a backup trainer and I also saw Elder Rogovakalali for the first time in a while- but he is getting shipped off to Kiritimati Island so I won't see him for probably the next year.

We have a ton of investigators and so we have a ton of work to do! This is good. We also have a very clean house now with A/C- we are going to call the room with the A/C the Ice Man Cave. We have a great setup.  There is also a family that is ready to be baptized and hopefully will be this Saturday. Also we have a large District Conference this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Enjoy the sunrise!

Elder Farner

E a bo te kamwaing

Mauri Ngkami!

E a bo te kamwaing (transfers are happening). My comp will be moved to another part of the same district. I have yet to find out who my new comp will be. We have an awesome investigator family Kanabure and Tereaua who are progressing very well and have a baptismal date for the 3rd of March. They are awesome!

I also ate a dinner at an awesome member family's home and took a picture of them. On the left is Irate who was the one that baptized his brother a couple of weeks ago, and on the right is his wife, and her name is Ruiti (Louise).

More to come next week,

Tiabo ngkami!

E uarereke te aonaaba aio

E uarereke te aonaaba aio -->  This world is small -->  It's a small world

So 1: Dentists came from America to check out people's teeth- I have no cavities! You'd think drinking straight sugar water would cause some problems... But anyway, while I was there, I saw a Kiribati sister who just finished her time last Tuesday-and she was in the MTC when I was there! For those of you confused with the math of that, I have not been out for 18 months yet, there may have been some problems with her visa and already worked in Kiribati prior to her going to the Provo MTC

2: I just found out that the very first person I have taught in Kiribati actually ended up getting baptized! He was the Muslim man (Kiatoa) who I first taught when I came to Kiribati back in those days. Awesome!

So there is a couple of cool stories for you all. Keep on keeping on, God knows exactly what is going on and he knows the desires of our hearts and what we are trying to do, whether or not it gets done. Remember, we get credit for trying! 😁😁😁😁😁

Tekeraoi ngkami

Elder Farner

Tekeraoi ngkami n te wiiki aio

So this week was pretty cool. Last Sunday night, we realized that we didn't really have many progressing investigators/our teaching pool wasn't looking too good. This last week we were blessed to find/be referred to 6 people (2 couples, and 2 individuals) that we will teach this week. One of the individuals is from Papua New Guinea and speaks English, so we will hopefully be teaching a lesson in English this week... Turns out his mom works for Unicef and actually visited the island I was on in October for the global hand-washing day and I saw her give a speech. Pretty cool connection

John 3 :16 helps us learn three things about God  1. God loves us, shown through the sacrifice of his Son  (He loves us because He is our Father) 2. God has a Son (in the spirit and the body, who is Jesus Christ)  3. God's work is to help us, not hurt us (or to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man).
I had an interview with my mission president this last week and he made the comment that God is an optimist. He also explained that God isn't just waiting to point out our mistakes and penalize us for them. The true nature of God is that He is someone who wants us to succeed, and will help us as many times as we will let him.

Jacob 4: 10:  Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.

Tekeraoi ngkami n te wiiki aio!
Elder Farner

kainikatonga

We had a baptism last week and the person was baptized/confirmed by his older half-brother. This guy's half-brother, Irate (pronounced ee-raa-tay) is actually not an angry guy, he is a convert to the church who is one of the most faithful people I know. He works on a boat for 11 month periods (I don’t know how many times he has done it), but right now he and his wife are trying to go to the temple. We had a temple class and he showed up, where he brought his passport and temple recommend which he just renewed for the 3rd time. He was told that he might have to wait 6 weeks for the paperwork to be done, which would mean postponing possibly his departure for a boat, and he said, in English, "This is more important", referring to going to the temple. Just a really cool person. Also his child's name is Randall, so that's cool too.

Word of the week: kainikatonga- pride

Jeffrey R Holland: “The Race is against sin, not against each other"

Don’t be prideful, it causes contention!

Pictures will come next week, sorry for not sending them now.

 Tiabo,

Elder Farner

Tai raraoma

Mauri ngkami,

This has been my first full week in Temwaiku and it is very different  from the last area I was in - lots of work, we are teaching a ton of people. This is a good thing =) There are some awesome families in this area, and some good work to be done. More to come next week.

We have this one investigator that we will be doing fast with this week to help him with some of the issues he is having (per the white handbook, I am merely telling you, not inviting you to join in) and this hopefully will help him to make the next couple of steps he needs in his life to prepare for baptism. We have a lot of investigators- it is hard to keep track of them. Kind of a cool example of how powerful God is- it is very difficult for me to remember all of the things my investigators need and sometimes even their names, but God, He knows us all by name.

Here is a quote “I testify to you that God has known you individually … for a long, long time (see D&C 93:23). He has loved you for a long, long time. He not only knows the names of all the stars (see Psalms 147:4; Isa. 40:26); He knows your names and all your heartaches and your joys!”   God remembers everyone, everything, all of his creations. He know us individually and will help us according to our needs.

"Tai raraoma" = don't worry. Someone perfectly better than us is watching over and helping.

Tiabo!
Elder Farner

Temwaiku

Mauri ngkami,

 I am back off of Marakei and am on Tarawa again, in the village of Temwaiku. We have a ton of work to do here, it is awesome. We are apparently going to go to each house in the village and ask if they have been baptized or not... Should be an  interesting week or so, especially since I am now Senior Companion so my language will be tested. But the people here are very helpful. I will keep you all posted....

I will have more info next week after I am settled in. New comp is Elder Breckenridge from Missouri. Other than that, not much else to say except this cool story.

When I was first in Tarawa 5 months ago, my comp had a Kiribati "Mom" that threw a birthday party for him. She lives in my current area right now and I got to see her and talk to her, and she remembers me and told me that I can actually speak Kiribati now. In fact, when I got back on Friday so many people were complimenting my language skills and and I felt better. But the truth is, I am not that good, every once in a while I will get humbled, so another round of humbling will come.

Ether 12:24-27 is such a great passage of scripture:

"24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands.  Behold, thou has not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them

25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our word.

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying:  Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

Remember that the Lord said "Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek"

Have a Great week everyone

Tiabo

Elder Farner

urubekebeke

Island Council

Well this will be my last email from the island of Marakei. I have had lots of experience in the last 2 years with leaving places that feel like home. What I've learned about myself is that I won't miss a place until I have left it. So I am expecting some sadness as the plane lifts off and it hits me that there is a very slim chance of me ever coming back here. But until then I won't worry about it as much.

These last 4 and a half months flew by, especially this last transfer. I am being transferred on Friday. I should find out Wednesday where I will be going.

I haven't had any convert baptisms in my time here, but the results of my work have yet to all unfold so I will keep on moving forward.

Word of the week = Urubekebeke: homeless/broke

 3 Nephi 18:19-20  -  "19: Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name; 20: And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you."

Ao tekeraoi te ririki ae boou!

Mauri o!

Ao tekeraoi te ririki ae boou!

Happy new year!

This last week was the 2nd to last week in the transfer so I am gearing up to get a call to be transferred in a week or so, but we will see what the plan really is.

We have a person who has accepted a baptismal invitation! Her name is Veronica (sometimes they have English names out here) and she has been investigating for a couple of years. We were waiting on her husband's divorce to get finalized so that they could get married so that she could get baptized (I don't know why it has taken three years but it doesn't matter).  Her husband is a member and they feed us almost every Sunday. She should get baptized on the 13th of January.

So other than that not much has happened, for Christmas we ate the mashed potatoes that mom sent me. They were awesome! Apparently there is a big announcement coming in our mission in a week or so, so we will see what that's about soon.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Elder Farner

Remember to get your priorities in order this new year for your resolutions

Ether 12:4 - 

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."