New Companion

Hey everyone!!! I won't have a large email today. This week has been kind of slow. Elder Warren arrived monday night. He's awesome!! He's from Dallas Texas. We've gotten along nicely! We didn't have alot of lessons this week. We did have one with our investigator Tumata. We're hoping she's decided to get married soon. We'll find out tomorrow. We have a lot of referrals to contact and sort through this week, 65 to be exact. We're hoping to find at least 5 new investigators this week!! We also have a clean house now. We did a lot of cleaning this week and now its clean!!! We also might be going to the temple this saturday as a trip for our investigators but that depends on if our investigators can get there. 

This week was awesome and I feel as if my french is improving each day! 

I love being in a lesson and feeling the Holy Ghost testify of the Gospel to people. I also love seeing the happiness the gospel brings to peoples lives. I love you all and I know this is the most important work!!! Thanks for all you do.

Still using the computers at the church building to send our emails, so we can't send pictures. Sorry mom.

Transfers

So transfers were this week. My companion, Elder Langlois, got sent to Punaauia to be companions with Elder Brunet (my buddy from the MTC). My new comp will be Elder Warren!! He's from Texas and he's been at this tiny island in the middle of nowhere called Hao. I'm pretty sure he's fluent in Tahitian! I hope he's ready to get to work because we are going to be really busy this week! There's already 9 lessons planned for tomorrow and our goal is 30 overall for this week! We also want 3 new investigators. We have a few people who are very willing to work with us!

We didn't have too many lessons this week. A lot of this week was spent planning and preparing to work really hard this week! A lot of contacting and calling and engaging.

Saturday was Valentines Day and the Papeno'o  ward threw a big party! They played some really funny games. There was also really good food and awesome music!

Yesterday we did a tour of Papeno'o and Faaripo so that Elder Langlois and Elder Tama could say goodbye to all of the investigators and members. They were given so many necklaces!! I also ate so much fish yesterday. Poisson Crue (Tahitian salad) is the best!!! It's raw fish marinated in citrus juice and coconut milk.

One thing I learned this week was the immensity of the sacrifice Christ made for us. His sacrifice was so grand and so difficult. He paid for everything and he's willing to forgive us of all our debts. All He asks is that we keep His commandments. What he asks in return is infinitely small compared what He went through. 

I love you all!!! Thanks for all you do!!!!

Elder Cole Porter

Faaripo Ward party pictures....

Feed my sheep

Hey Everybody!!! Hows it goin!!? All's well here in Faaripo!

 

This week has been awesome!! We were pretty busy and we did a lot of service! We teach this really young couple. The boyfriend is inactive and his girlfriend is not a member. Our goal this week was to invite them soon to get married because they have a young son. They're planning on next year but this week we're going to invite them to get married in March!

 

I went to the Tahiti temple for the first time too! I could pretty much understand all that was said. I only messed up a couple times! It's so beautiful in there! And then on the way back I ate Mcdonalds. It's the only fast food in Tahiti and its so expensive!

 

We did a lot of service on Saturday. We built a brick wall and placed wood pièces on their house. It was so hot! but it was a good experience!

 

I gave a 15 minute talk yesterday in Church. I was actually able to say pretty much all that I wanted to say. It was a miracle. Then I played the piano for a special musical number. I guess my mom was right about knowing how to play the piano coming in handy on my mission.

 

While preparing for my talk I learned a lot about the importance of member missionary work. When we were baptized we covenanted to follow all of Christs commandments and in Matthew we learn that the first and great commandment is to love the Lord thy God! And as Christ asked Peter " Simon, do you love me?" to which peter and all of us respond "YES" To which Christ directs "Then Feed My Sheep"...that is our task as members, to teach all nations. 

 

​i Love you all!!! Have a prodigious week!!!

​

"Try"

Hey everybody!!! So this week has been pretty good. This week has been a lot of planning. We didn't have a lot of lessons but we did a lot of planning. We decided to start doing a bunch of missionary activities and involve everyone in the Area. We also worked with the Young Men and Young Women Presidencies to start mutual up again here. They haven't had mutual in like 3 months. So we worked with them to plan mutual activities that investigators and inactives would go to. We also worked with bishop to plan how we're going to involve members to teach inactives and new converts. This week is going to be awesome! We have so many lessons planned. I also get to go to the Tahiti temple tomorrow!

So last Monday elder Sorensen and I were bored so we watched Ephraims Rescue in French! and the main character said something I really liked. He was giving a blessing and he was talking about how he isn't perfect and how he makes a lot of mistakes. Then someone asked him how he can perform so many miracles and his reply was that he "tried". I really like that. We're not expected to be perfect but we are expected to try. Christ will make up the difference if we try!

Anyways love you all. Thank you for your prayers! talk to you all next week!

Picture of me contemplating the world. All those pictures behind me are from my sisters and nieces! I miss them!

Teaching with spirit...

So this week has been a little laid back. We had a bunch of lessons on Tuesday and It rained a lot!! There was supposed to be a giant cyclone last week but luckily it changed directions. A cyclone is just a hurricane or tropical storm. Wednesday was a giant Zone meeting with President and his wife. They are super cool. Thursday, we were very busy again. Friday we had district meeting and we taught two lessons that day! Saturday we had a giant service project at Mahina where we went to town on someones yard! And yesterday we just went to church and taught class and then had a FHE night with a super awesome family. The parents are both excommunicated but they want to get baptized and they are extremely nice and strong.

So my mom will be happy to know that I'm basically a testimony bearing machine now. Before my mission, my strength was being able to explain things well and being able to express all my ideas, but now that I can't speak French or Tahitian perfectly, my only weapon is a heartfelt testimony! So, that's usually what I do during most lessons. It's really cool to see the special spirit that enters the room when you bear a simple testimony.

One of my favorite quotes is a section from PMG. It's a quote by Ezra Taft Benson and he basically just says that all questions about the truthfulness of gospel doctrines (abortion, word of wisdom, chastity, etc.) lie upon the Book of Mormon, because if it's true then everything else is true about this gospel. You only need an answer to one question...Is the book true?

Anyways, I love you all!!! Everything's awesome here in Tahiti!!! Im loving being a missionary!!! thanks or all you do!!!

     Elder Porter

Me and Elder Langlois. Just hangin at this natural water spring.

Did I mention I live in paradise???

That is a giant water snake!! They can be found everywhere. No fun to play with, but DELICIOUS to eat!!!

One of my favorite people on the island. I call him "frangine" which means "bro". And the giant cucumber he grew.

My favorite flower in Tahiti. Not sure what it's called. Everything here has really long Tahitian names!

Turtles...Yum!

So where to begin for this week! We were amazingly busy this week.
We had 22 lessons overall. Most of them were with new converts, inactives, and excommunicated members. We also have a new investigator. His name is Michael and him and his wife, who's a recent convert, want to go to the temple. Its awesome! They were really excited to learn. I also taught an inactive member named Rarani, sort of by myself, we had too many lessons so I went with the elders quorum president and I taught her about things she can do to stop smoking. It was the first time I felt I was fluent in French. I understood everything she said and I could express everything I wanted to say. I felt the Spirit so strong there! Then I went on ZL splits on Friday with Elder Tematahotoa. I taught my first lesson in Tahitian with him! Its one of the Zone leaders investigators and he's a man that only speaks Tahitian...he only speaks a little French. So I tried teaching about Prayer and Obedience. Everyone there was really surprised by my Tahitian because not of lot of people speak it. I didn't say a lot but I tried to speak simply and from the heart. I for sure felt the help of the Spirit. The investigator asked me to pray at the beginning and the end of the lesson. Afterwards, he told Elder Tematahotoa that he felt something (the spirit)  as I tried to speak in Tahitian. It was such a cool experience!!

Now I want to talk about food...fruit is amazing here! Everything is fresh and delicious. My favorite fruit so far is mangoes or pears....pears are so good here.
I eat a lot of raw fish. And its delicious. It's usually soaked in lime juice and coconut milk. I love it so much. I also love PuaaToro!! It's canned corned beef and its the scariest thing to look at when you first eat it but you grow to love it! It's really good with breadfruit. Mom, puaatoro would scare you! The Weirdest thing I've eaten so far is turtle. I had it after I taught that guy in Tahitian and it was pretty good. It's highly illegal here but its the food that a lot of elders try to eat because its rare! 
I also ate this thing called Einai...its a bunch of little tadpole fish things that are thrown into batter whole and then fried. It's so good!!

Also I biked a lot this week…in the rain…up a mountain…with a sort of broken bike…it was awesome!! (I can tell my kids that story someday).


Anyways, love you all!!!! Thanks for the support!!! 

Faaitoito e faaipoipo

Me and Elder Langlois. At the ocean, but Not in the ocean!!!

Ahhhh yeah!!!!! And thanks for the sweet bear shirt mom!

I put the things that matter most to me above my bed. Temple. My family. Christ. Bear.

Me and Kevin. He's a guy that lives in our area.

Rahi roa Papa'iraa (Many Big Writings)

Hey Everyone!!! 

So where to begin!? This week has been pretty uneventful. We had a lot of lessons with in-actives and excommunicates. It's really cool to teach people like this. They are so willing to except the gospel and when you teach them something they've forgotten…it's like a light comes on and they can feel the truthfulness of it again. There's a quote in PMG (preach my gospel) from Elder Boyd K. Packer that says, and I'm quoting from memory but I think it says " when you're teaching someone the gospel…you're not introducing something new or foreign, you're telling their spirits something they knew before but now they've forgotten. You're talking to the light of Christ that's already in them" and it's so true. It's honestly like a light going on!! We teach an excommunicated member named Yanki and he is so awesome. The other day I taught him about the Atonement of Christ and afterwards he bore really powerful testimony about it and it was super cool to see that! We also found a lot of potential new investigators and this week is packed with lessons!! Im super excited to find someone new and teach them from the beginning!! I love you ALL!! Thanks for all you do !!!!

Love, 

Elder Cole Porter

Our zone with President and sister Bize..