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