Lots of learning!

SO this week was pretty cool! On Tuesday we had a Multi Zone conference with a lot of other missionaries! It was awesome. All the Zone leaders gave lessons and then President and Soeur Bize gave a lesson on obedience. I learned alot! 

  So I never told my mom, but I've wrecked on my bike 3 times since I've been here. Nothing to major, just my pride, but this time I landed on my elbow (picture below). It doesn't look to bad but it hurts like crazy!

Thursday and Friday, I was sick so we weren't able to get a whole lot done....Then Saturday was really cool, We had two general authorities come down to speak to us. There was Elder Pearson from the seventy and also Elder Lynn G. Robbins! I learned so much from them! Their talks were awesome! One thing that Elder Robbins said is that "Behind every conversion story, there is a miracle"! Such a cool quote.... 

This week we've been tryibg to help one of our investigators get baptized. His name is Angelo and he's been working really hard to prepare himself and he passed the baptismal interview last week so his baptism will be this Saturday! I'm really excited for him! 

We also have been working with a couple named Taaroa and Bertie. They are so ready for baptism, they just have to get married first. However the problem is that Tahitians LOVE picking special dates for another special event. They want to get married on their sons birthday in December. They want enough time to prepare themselves. We are trying to help them see that they are prepared now to get baptized if they just get married. 

Well that's about it for this week! I would just like to finish my email by thanking my family! I'm so grateful for them and all that they do. I love them all so much and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the blessing they are in my life! I love you all so much! Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Porter

My elbow took the brunt of my most recent bike wreck.

Me and Elder Heno at our ward building in Pira'e. 

Me standing in front of our ward bulletin board trying to look contemplative!

The ward building in Pira'e.  The building design is so different from anything back in Arizona. This one is two stories.

Work is good...who knew?

So this week was a blast! My new comp is the bomb. He's like a French version of Robbie (Robbie is one of my best friends. He's on a mission in Santa Rosa, CA right now)!!! Its an awesome companionship! 

This week we had a lot of difficulties with the work. There were alot of cancelled lessons and investigators who wanted to be put on standby. We ended up doing contacting. We were able to find some really cool potentials. 

Today was a pretty cool P-day. We started off by going to a "fiesta". There was a challenge a few weeks back and all the missionaries who succeeded were invited to a fiesta with real Mexican food. It was SO good. I had sour cream....I haven't even seen sour cream since I left on my mission. Best food I've eaten in a long time. Then afterwards we had a sport activity in Faa'a. We played soccer for about two hours then we went to the chapel in Farepiti to play volleyball and basketball. 

We've been teaching this family for awhile now and the parents have a hard time picking a date for marriage. They finally decided that they wanted to get married in april of next year. So this last lesson we tried to convince them to get married by the end of this year. They have son on a mission who's the only member of his family. He gets back next year so we proposed to them the idea of getting baptized by this November so when their son returns next year, they can immediately go to the temple to be sealed as a family. They actually really like the idea. They said they were going to think about it so we'll see if they decide to or not this Thursday when we visit them again.

I didn't have any big spiritual experiences this week, just the realization of how much I like working. I find a lot of satisfaction in working now, especially in the work of the Lord. I know this is his work. 

I love you all! Talk to you all soon.

Love,

Elder Porter 

My new comp Elder Heno, Elder Garbutt, and me

Goodbyes and hellos

So this week was awesome. It was Elder Jessops last week and we worked super hard. We were even able to get standards of excellence. Elder Garbutt got his Visa but he's not going to leave until September 5th. Also, my new comp will be Elder Heno. He's from Paris and he's super French. I'm going to be the senior comp and the district leader which should be fun. He's gonna get here later today. 

So last night we had our last Missionary concert at Mahina, my old zone. I got to see a bunch of members from Papenoo and Faaripo. It was a lot of fun to talk to them. A lot of them still remembered my name which was awesome. The concert went really well and I got to say goodbye to a lot of good friends who are leaving today. 

We had a pretty cool experience Thursday. We teach a family who has a son on a mission in the West Indies. He's the only member of his family but his dad, mom, brother, and sister take the lessons. We teach and eat with them every Thursday. This last lesson, the older brother Steven invited his girlfriend to come. She was extremely intelligent and interested in the gospel and she understood scriptures and had an answer to every question. It was awesome. What makes her special though is that she's a French teenager. French people are so hard to teach. She's the first French person I've taught on my mission. French people are generally more reserved and usually reject the missionaries but she was open and friendly. It was awesome. She might be one of the few French teenagers in Tahiti who's taking the lessons. 

I didn't have any large grand spiritual experience this week, but I'm grateful for all of you and your support. I know this church is true. In my entire life I'll never be able to deny it. I'm grateful for the Saviour and for the Atonement. I know he loves us. As Dieter F Uchtdorf said, " He wants to Forgive". I love you all! 

 

Elder Porter 

Me and some of my friends at the concert in Mahina!

Blessings blessings blessings

Iaorana tatou! Hey everybody!! Everythings awesome here in Pirae! We had a pretty good week here! Both of my comps will be leaving soon. I've had some cool experiences this week. 

So Tuesday, Elder Garbutt and I got a call asking us to go to the hospital to give a blessing. We live like a block away from the hospital so we get calls all the time asking us to give blessings. So we went to the hospital and we were met by a lot of people. The person who needed a blessing was a 15 yr old boy in a coma. Earlier that day he was hit by a car and he fell into a deep coma. His parents are members but inactive. So the dad went with us into the room because only 2 visitors are allowed in the coma unit. His head was wrapped in a cast and there were a billion machines hooked up to him. I asked if we could say a prayer before the blessing. The father asked me to say it. Even before starting I felt the Spirit so strongly. I could feel all the love and prayers of his family and friends. Its a feeling I felt at a members house the other day who's wife has cancer. Its a feeling of deep peace and a dependance on Heavenly Father. Its a feeling I hadn't felt since my Grandma Porter died. My grandma passed away many years ago, but I strongly remember that their house was always reverent and peaceful. It was a powerful feeling and as soon as I started praying I started crying. I felt compassion for this family and I felt their sadness. I know the spirit of the Lord was in that room. After the prayer we blessed him and we left a small message about the temple and Gods plan for us. The family asked us to come back the next day for a prayer and another blessing. Elder Jessop and I went back the next day with our Ward mission leader. The blessing went well but only Heavenly Father knows the what is meant for this boy. 

As we were leaving more people asked us to give other blessings. We ended up spending an hour and a half there and we gave 5 blessings. It was a very special experience.

Last night was the missionary concert here at Pirae. It went awesome. There were alot of investigators and the Tahitian beach soccer team "Tiki Toa" even showed up. It went really well. I hope the concert helped some people feel the Spirit. 

I love you all!! Have a good week!! 

Love Elder Porter