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

Spiritually Sensitized

Hey everyone! 

This won't be a big email. We're super busy and we've got to go soon. 

We didn't have a lot of lessons this week but it was still a really good week. Elder Jessop is still recovering so It was me and Elder Garbutt for a lot of the lessons. We tried to get a lot of members involved which turned out really cool. We invited one member who's never come with us before and after the lesson he was super pumped. He talked about it at church and how it really motivated him and how his faith was strengthened. It was amazing to see how how the Spirit works in Missionary work. 

I read a lot this week in the Old Testament. It's crazy to see how disobedient the Jews were. They were shown so many signs and wonders and yet they just couldn't believe. Its kind of like a talk an apostle gave. We grow spiritually desensitized and its hard to recognize the spirit when we feel it constantly. For example, the other day we were teaching a couple and they both started crying because they felt the spirit and felt so much peace, but I didn't feel it. I've grown accustomed to the spirit so its harder for me to recognize. I want to work on my abilities to feel the Spirit and to be affected more by it. I don't want to be spiritually desensitized. I want to be spiritually "sensitized"!!! 

I love you all!! Talk to you next week!

Elder Porter 

Me, visiting elder Gouttin. We got to visit him in the hospital last Monday. He has something wrong with his leg.

Me, Elder Paxman and my old comp Elder Warren at the Farepiti concert.

New comp and new bike seat!

So this week was interesting. Tuesday Elder Jessop and I were out teaching and proselyting when we got a phone call from the assistants. We were told that we were recieving a new comp. His name is Elder Garbutt and he's from Tahiti. He's supposed to go to Australia on his mission but he's waitng for his visa. So he's gonna stay with us till he gets his visa. It was actually very fortunate that he showed up because Elder Jessop got a really bad infection. 3 weeks ago he got an operation for his ingrown toenail. However, it got really infected. The day Elder Garbutt arrived is the day it was hurting him the worst.  Elder jessop has to take it easy for a week or two till it starts Healing normally again. So Elder Garbutt and I have taught a lot of lessons this week and it's been awesome working with him. His English is really good so we speak English to each other so he can practice for Australia. 

        Also, I seem to have the worst luck with bikes!!! I broke my bike seat on tuesday and I called the         couple in charge of bikes and they came to get me a new one...but while they were on their way to get one for me they stopped by their house and they were moving something and they found a perfectly new seat exactly like mine behind a box...​so i thought that was pretty cool.

We had just one interesting lesson this week. We have been teaching two sisters named Orinella and Vaiata. They both have a testimony that this Church is true but they have a hard time letting the things of this world go. So we had a lesson with one of the sisters, Vaiata. We asked her how she was doing and the first thing she told us was that " I have chosen the world"....and I was like "what?" and then she said..."you guys told me that I can either chose God and Christ or the world and Satan. I choose the world and Satan. I am using my free agency"...and then I told her that in choosing the world she forfeits the help and blessings of heaven and that her life will get harder. She understands but she's just too lazy or scared or prideful to let go. We didn't really know how to help her so we asked for one more lesson with her and her sister and we invited President Bize to come. We are going to see if he can help us make a difference in the way they think.

This week I studied the Old Testament Institute study book. It was awesome. I loved reading about the symbolism in the Mosaic law. It showed me that all things point to Christ. It drew deep symbolism from the sacrifices at the altar to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One part talked about what the "mercy seat" means in hebrew. It means "where mercy happens or where the Atonement happens or where the sins of man and god meet". And then the book talks about how Christ is a mercy seat and that Christ is where the sins of man and the Love of God meet to form an Atonement. I'm grateful for the Atonement and the chance it gives us to start again. I love you all!!!

HAve a great week!!!

Orometua Porter

Air Conditioning and French Walmart

Hey Everybody!!!! So life is good here in Pira'e. My new comp is Elder Jessop from Fielding, Utah. He's so awesome! So this week was pretty much just me getting used to city life. We are pretty much in the equivalent of downtown Phoenix. We are just outside of Papeete. There are so many cars and so many buildings. We live next door to the French version of Walmart. Its pretty much the same thing and everything is so cheap!!! I love it! There's also a Mcdonalds in our sector! But a big mac is like 10 bucks. The house is awesome too. IT has air conditioning! I sleep with a blanket again!! 

So we had some pretty cool lessons. We taught a couple named Dorinella and Thierry. They have a son who's on a mission that I actually knew at the MTC. They were super nice. They are going to pray this week to find out if they should get married. I'm really excited. 

Last night we had a giant missionary concert. We went to the town hall in Papeete and sang. All the missionaries on the island of Tahiti came. It was awesome to see some of my good friends who I haven't seen in awhile. The concert was cool too. There was a not too bad of a turnout. There will be one once a week until the middle of August. We are going to visit each stake. 

I don't really have a deep spiritual thought for this week. I'm just glad to be serving the Lord and I love working and doing missionary work. I love you all!!! Have a good week!!

Ma to'u here,

Orometua Porter

My last day on Rangiroa. Me, my comp Elder Polumbo, and his new comp. We're at the Rangiroa airport getting ready to fly back to Tahiti.

Aerial view of my new area and that little icon is where my new ward is. It's the Pira'e 1st ward.

Another view of my area, while riding my bike. That's the back of Elder Jessop's head.

Missionary concert on the steps of the Papeete town hall.

View from my zone leaders house. 

Last day in Rangiroa

Hey everyone! So This will be my last email from Rangiroa! I'm a little sad but I'm excited to go to Pirae. This week was slow for us lesson wise. There are a lot of people who have left on vacation. This week I got to say goodbye to all the members and the investigators. It was sad to say goodbye but also happy to see that through me, the Lord was able to bless a few people here. I'm very grateful for the chance I had to serve here. 

I was sad to hear that Elder Packer died. He was always my favorite to listen to. It was shocking to hear because all this week, I've been reading a book with just talks from Elder Packer. One thing he says more often than anything else is that 
"The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is to see a husband and his wife and their children happy at home, protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenants of the everlasting priesthood." I love this quote because it simplifies everything. It explains why we do everything. I'm very grateful for my family and I'm grateful for a mission and the chance I have to make myself into someone who will be a good and worthy priesthood holder, husband,  and father.  i love you all and I hope you all have an amazing week! 
I have to go hop on a plane back to Tahiti now! Bye!

Love,
Elder Porter 

A pic of me and my "fancy" beach cruiser I've been using to get around. I'm pretty sure it's 8 different bikes pieced together to make one bike...

One last view....