Hey mom! 

Sorry for not emailing so much. But Elder Ah Chee his ward is in my zone. I actually right now am emailing at his Chapel! Tell him I love him for doing the fathers work and know that the work is doing so well over here! Hey just a quick story, so we are teaching this investigator her name is Paese. She is blind. We have been teaching her for a while and she has expressed so many times how hard this is for her. But we just have taught her all of the lessons, but this last visit was very special. We walked in and sat down, and immediately after the prayer she started crying, we asked what was wrong and then she looks at us and says that ever sense she has started taking lessons, praying, and learning more that slowly she has been getting her eye sight back. I am not joking when I say she is getting her sight back because she has faith by our words that this gospel is true. I am telling you that this gospel is a gospel of miracles, and this is a miracle that we have been blessed to experience. 

My new companion is Elder Vaa Sioka. He is a Samoa samoa. And one of the best missionaries in the mission. I love it out here mom and don't ever think that I complain because with God nothing is hard. I want you to know this gospel is true God lives and that with His son we can overcome all things. I love this gospel and most importantly I love the people of Samoa! 

I hope you have an amazing week. I will try to write land to tell you more stories and I am starting on christmas gifts so if there is anything specific you would like from samoa let me know I am not scared to ask anyone for anything.

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

-You sound like you are doing amazing.  If you see Elder Ah Chee's family, tell them to check FB for a message, and find me on FB.   I hope they got the picture this morning!!! What a blessing when I know I am switching sons with faithful people in Samoa.  

I am glad you get a long with Elder Vaa Sioka.  I hope you want to leave those islands in nine months ;)

-HECK NO I DONT WANT TO LEAVEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey yeah no I had no thought in my mind that I would get transferred. The reason I did was because Elder Mouga told President that I was a good leader as well as my companion now told president that I was a good elder. My new comp is awesome he was the old AP and we are killing it out here. The area is huge and we are lucky to move around with a car. There are three sets of Zone Leaders on Savaii are we are one of them and Elder Mounga is another. We see each other a lot! I am having a good time but am pretty nervous still about how I can help this Zone produce how it needs to be! I love that I have this opportunity and that God has trusted me to look over all of these Elders but I am praying every day for guidance. I don't know how I did anything before my mission because I never asked for the Lords help. I see now how true and precious this opportunity is for us to use our Heavenly Father in our everyday life!!!!! I am so grateful for this opportunity I will write letters to make it easier for you all to understand how I really am doing but I literally have no time today! I love you mom and I did get those packages. Two of them. I will send that SD card in the letter I send to you. It will probably be a package...with some gifts from Savaii. Love you and keep staying strong!!!'

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

I would like to first appologize for last week. No internet and yes this week I do, but it will be short. I am now in Savaii and I have a native companion. Don't worry mom he is the old AP. We are serving in Sili and I am a new Zone leader. The work has been going awesome and I am so sad I got transferred. We had three baptisms that we had planned for this week and two more in the coming weeks. But I am grateful for the opportunity I have to serve in this area. I hope that your week goes well! 

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

The lower we go the higher we get.

We have been doing some serious fun walking these past couple of days. (due to popped bike tires). Although we have been just doing everything that we can to find the people that God has prepared for us. There came Saturday and we had our baptisms on Thursday so we were planning on a full day of walking. But when we woke my companion was feeling very sick. I thought that we would take the day so he didn't get worse. Turns out he showered then said no we need to go out today. He bore through such a hard day that literally when we got home he could barely stay up. Through his efforts and through his sincere desire to work we were able to find a new family to teach but not only that but were able to set 3 new baptismal dates. How humbled I was to see how the Lord works through His servants so long as we are WILLING! If we are not willing to listen, work, and to truly find the Holy Spirit in our days we miss out on opportunities like what we had on Saturday. The Lord truly works through us when we put ourselves below that what we think that we can stand. When we put ourselves lower the stronger the Atonement works in us and we are able to shine brighter. We were at district meeting this last Monday and our Zone Leader told us how our baptisms in the zone have been going down and how we should use fasting and prayer to truly allow all of our investigators or potentials come unto Christ through baptism. I decided to fast yesterday to truly find those that my Heavenly Father has prepared for us. We ran into a situation at the start of the day that caused me to break my fast early. I was upset and very down that I wasn't able to fulfill my promise to God. As the day went I had a prayer in my heart to truly allow us to find those that needed us. We had little success in that day until we were riding up a hill and a young woman was standing on the side of the road. When she yelled, "Hey Elders" I knew I needed to stop. We stopped talked and it turns out that she was a member but has been living with her family that isn't. And she asked that we go back to teach them the following week. How great was my joy as we rode away from that conversation knowing that because I had done all that I could that God was still blessing me because of my efforts. We are "looking forward with a steadfastness in Christ" every day so we can truly become better servants in his hands, and we have been blessed!

Thank you all for your love and support! Keep fighting the good fight!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

Stand in Holy Places

Many new things have happened this week and the most important is that we have three baptisms tomorrow! I am so excited to help these three enter into the waters! It seriously is the best thing that I can imagine! Nothing super interesting happened this week. I am loving it over here in Faleula! We are seeing success every single day! It is a little harder now that one of the bike tires is popped so we are enjoying walking!

Cool experience this week we went into a store and a drunk man comes up to me really intense and says we need to talk at my house right now. So I took it as this guy is wanting to talk about Jesus and how He can help him...until I saw him buy another bottle of Vodka. But we went anyway, turns out he was baptized and wanted to change his life. We met his friend on the road and immediately his friend said no we are not taking them back to the house, they are missionaries of God, they have been set apart with a holy spirit that should not be in a house with two drunk men. Then he asked us to come back another day so that we could talk when they weren't drunk. Oh this man was baptized as well and wants us to come over and help him get on the right path! It made me think when we were walking away from that conversation how important it is for us to always look for holy places to stand in. We all have a special spirit with us that will get offended if we are not doing all that we can to keep ourselves away from the appearance of sin. Just like in 3Nephi11:1 when they were all standing around the temple. Remember that a temple is a house of God. And they were talking about Jesus. There was not a better situation for Jesus Christ to come down and teach them. Just like us if we are always in a situation that is applicable to the spirit we can and will receive personal testimony builders and will be happier than ever before.

I know that we WILL receive guidance and blessings if we strive to stand in holy places.

Thank you all for all the love and support. Keep fighting the good fight!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

Be a Nephi

Mom! 

So sorry to worry you about those Hives. They have not come back and I am truly 100% okay! But the Benadryl would be lovely! To first answer your questions about the new way of doing our dinners. To be 100% honest they are not even supposed to be dinners. President wants us to be focused on the work so he wants us to switch from dinners to Family Home Evenings. Mostly for the family to invite someone who is not a member or less active to the Family Home Evening so that we can help strengthen the work as well as provide that specific individual with a fellow shipper. Mom this is a way that will progress the work. Many members are not happy with it, but because we have testified and promised blessings they are coming around and are more willing to fulfill the program. So it has been hard, but the Lord is blessing us every single day for our efforts! 

This week has been awesome! The Lord is blessing us like crazy according to how hard we work and our obedience to every rule! We got an amazing referral this week of a family who we could go visit! So yeah we made sure to contact them asap! We went up to the house and the mother (Tasi) tells us she is busy because this is her only day off of work. So I pull the quickest counter blessing and ask if we can speak for only 5 minutes so we can bless her family! She allows and we go in, start talking, turns out she has already finished her lessons but wasn't baptized, and has been waiting for another chance to get in contact with the missionaries! I am grateful that God put us in that situation, because we got to talking and committed her to start reading the Book of Mormon again. Then we left. A couple days later in church we see the most amazing thing. Tasi and her son Ben at church! We talk to her and come to find out her husband had been not allowing her to go to church until the day that we went to her house. After we left her husband came in and told her that it was time for her and Ben to go back to church and he would take them every week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a blessing that not only were we able to contact her but that her husband had a change of mind in the same day! Also forgot to add her and her son are now on date! It has been a true blessing to see how obedience and humility come into play in this work!

But nothing else has happened. Just blessings like crazy! 

Hope you have an amazing week and continue to work hard!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

ps- can you send some more razors. I am almost out....natives love to take stuff....

pps- is there a chance you could tell me some good workouts I can do to get rid of belly love.....

ppps- easy mac. I love that stuff. Elder Rivera was wondering about Kit Kats?