Elder Grotepas : Area 4, Week 19, Naduna, Vanua Levu, Fiji

Ni sa bula vinaka,

How is everyone doing this week? I hope that this week has been a really good week for you all just like it was for me. It has yet been another way fast week and I cannot really recall much that went on. It was just one of those weeks. Just nice and smooth.

I think that one of the highlights for the week was what happened at church on Sunday. We were able to have 32 people come to church. This was the highest attended service that I have seen in the Naduna Branch. The past high was about 27. I don't know exactly what happened but it was a really good thing to help lift our spirits out of the sorrow that we have been feeling. We had about 2 less active families come to church.

About last Sunday, we went over to one of our less active family's home to have dinner with them. We also prepared to share a spiritual thought with them. So, what do you think we shared with them??????? Well iw was none other than dad's famous "Jimmy Club!" I thought it was always weird when dad played it so much. But now I can really see what the point of it is. We then explained to them that you have to pay attention to hear the spirit. Some of us will just catch on quick, some of us need a little help to understand it, and still others just don't want to hear it at all. We explained that we need to be listening and wanting to receive answers from the Holy Ghost and be willing to act on that answer.

So we had a really good lesson with them. Then, this Sunday, they all came to church and the father of the house was able to bless his new born baby in Sacrament meeting. It was really cool to see this because I could tell that they really loved it and enjoyed it. I hope that they will continue to come and feel the spirit.

I read something this week that stuck out to me. It says in Moroni 10, we have to be praying with a "sincere desire". So I thought to myself, "what does it mean to pray with a sincere desire?" Later on in the talk it kind of explained what a sincere desire was. When you have a sincere desire to pray, you will do whatever is told of you to do. If you receive an answer that something is true (ex. if the church is true), you do it without hesitation and you follow that feeling. I think that most of the time people have that desire but when they recieve the answer, they get scared or think that it is not right for them to follow. I have to admit that it is a really hard thing to do but we just have to do it. I invite you all to do the same thing, try to pray with a sincere desire and then follow the promptings.

We were able this week to have a branch party that was a really big success. We had about 8 to 9 non-members come to the activity and see the chapel/members. We as missionaries did not really force anything on them. We just talked with them and let the members do the sharing. I know that it is better if the members do this because it is more comfortable for them to talk to people they know and not strangers. So we had a good turn out and had lots of fun.

We did get to see a few of our investigators this week but most of them were busy. So we just said hello and scheduled another date to go see them. Me and Elder Walls are wanting to make the branch stronger so we are going to be working more with them this next week. We are going to start mutual for the youth and hope that this will start bringing more of their friends into the church. We are trying to think outside of the box.

But I had a really good week this week. Time is going by way to fast. I think that these next few months are just going to fly by like nothing.

Thanks so much for everything and I wish you all a good week. I know that the Lord lives and this is his church!

Love,
Elder Grotepas