Well this week I don't think that I am going to send a group email and just send one to you because I haven't done that in a while.  This week was awesome! Me and Elder Vele walked a butt ton! We were able to go and teach a lesson with the Zone Leaders to our golden family. They walked out of that lesson telling me and Elder Vele, "You guys are so going to have seven baptisms this month, that is just a guarantee." So that was really nice especially because the lesson was in Samoan and sad to say my samoan is not at its finest so going into the lesson I felt really unconfident about the whole lesson but when we started I just really decided to focus really on helping the family understanding why we use the Book of Mormon. The lesson wasn't long, I didn't say very much. But all went amazing. He and his family accepted the Book of Mormon and now we are going back tonight to commit them all to a specific date. It was amazing to see how the Lord just worked through the two of us to get his message across even if we weren't able to say a lot of stuff, we were able to say exactly what they needed to hear.

We also got a lot of good news about how our investigators who are waiting to be married. We may be able to get them married in the next week as well as baptized. You should of seen how much joy was in their faces when we told them that they could be baptized in the next couple of weeks. I have never really understood why baptism was so important until I saw their faces and realized that this is probably the most important thing in their lives other than going to the temple to be sealed as a family. I love the idea of giving them the news that the lock that was on the gate that leads them to the strait and narrow path that Jesus talks about can soon be unlocked and that they can now start on that path and receive the Eternal Live that everyone is looking for.

This week is GENERAL CONFERENCE AND I AM MORE EXCITED FOR THIS WEEKEND THAN I WAS TO GO ON A MISSION! I LOVE HEARING FROM THE PROPHET AND HEARING WHAT IT IS THAT WE NEED TO DO IN THESE NEXT FEW MONTHS TO PREPARE OURSELVES FOR MORE BLESSINGS! WHAT A GREATER JOY THAN TO KNOW HOW WE CAN RECEIVE MORE BLESSINGS! Sorry I am really excited for this weekend.

Other than that this week was full of sweat, smelly bums, and happy investigators. I am loving it out here and there is no greater joy in this world than to bring others closer to Christ, whether you are a missionary or you are just sharing the gospel because you really want to. I love this opportunity to see the blessings that come from opening my mouth....I WILL NEVER STOP!

God loves all of us! Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer! I love this Gospel and know without a speck of doubt that it is true! Thomas S. Monson is a prophet and does receive current revelation for this world. I love my Savior and thank Him everyday for the gifts and blessings He gives me every day!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

God Answers Prayers

This week I was able to receive a new companion, Elder Vele. He is an amazing Elder and has brought so much fire back into this area....that I am still in. But this week was full of blessings left and right! I don't have a bunch of time but I will share this experience that truly touched me and my companion. 

So me and Elder Vele were having a really tough few days because a lot of our investigators were no longer interested and the one's that were progressing were not coming to church. So one of the days we were proselyting, no one was home and a lot of people told us they were not interested. Literally, all of our plans and back up plans fell through so we had a lot of time before our fafaga (dinner) and we had no plans or set appointments for the next couple hours. Tala'i tuitui (Door to door proselyting) was fa'asa (banned) by our mission president because 99% of the people turn us down every time and it wasn't an efficient use of our time, so we had no clue what to do. We were literally sitting on the sidewalk, sweating like crazy because it was super humid, trying to figure out what to do and who to contact. It was at this moment that I received a prompting for us to say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father what we should do and who we should contact. So we said a prayer on the sidewalk and right after we said the prayer, I felt a prompting to visit a family I haven't contacted in 6 weeks because they were always busy and didn't have time for us to visit them. Long story short, we went there and it was a coincidence (not really, it was the Lord obviously) because it was their day off. So we talked with them and it was an amazing spiritual experience. They said that they were so grateful that we came because they have been going though some tough times and that the message we shared with them was something they needed to hear (they were literally crying telling us this). They even told us to come back anytime and teach them some more. And the crazy thing was, when I visited them last time, they were kind of rude to us and seemed disinterested. And not long after that lesson, we found another family of 6 who were super interested in our message. They are a family of 8. I had taught him before and hadn't been able to contact him in a very long time. But we decided to go over. We went over and he told us right after the prayer that he has not stopped reading the lesson pamphlet we gave him last time. And he believes without a doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He told us to come back again so we can teach his whole family so they can all convert together. We believe we can baptize in the next couple weeks. It just goes to show that God never abandons his children and that if we ALWAYS put our trust in him, he will bless us with whatever we stand in need of.

I have a testimony of this gospel and know without a doubt in my mind that God is always working with us. We just have to realize what lesson he needs us to learn, then the trials, temptations, hard times will become amazing testimony builders that will help us become the person our Heavenly Father wants us to be.

My blessings and love go out to all of you this week!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

No time

No time today I am alive with new companions my Trainee got sent to upolu so now I am waiting for transfers. Living the life.

So that must of been an awesome experience! Love to hear that all is going well. Haha man this week was full of literally me sitting in my house because my companion was sick. Fun week! love to hear that you all are doing awesome! Keep the boys working so they know what hard work is like! Love you!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

Family History is the Key

This week has been AWESOME! Me and Elder Redd set a goal to push ourselves to the very end of the day! Talking, teaching, inviting, and sharing about the Gospel has blessed our area sooo much! 

This week also has been focused on Family History. President Hannemann has asked a lady who is super good at family history (and is a literal machine when it comes down to family history) to help us use that in our work to open the hearts of the people we talk to everyday. So we went out with her on Tuesday to a couple houses of our recent converts and investigators to gather their Genealogy. We were satisfied and very grateful that Sister Shwankie (Family History Lady) took the time out to come help us in the work. Fast forward to that next morning. She calls us and tells us that she has talked to our bishop and has got a list of less-active people he wants us to visit and try to use Family History. So we spent the entire day on Thursday sharing the message of Family History to these less-active members and a couple more of our investigators! WE TORE IT UP! Seriously everyone we went and talked to were so open to the idea of Family History and wanted to badly to learn more! We are hoping this week to reactivate many people as well as gain some new investigators! 

Elder Redd and I have also been teaching a Baptist Preacher. Very interesting to see his idea of worship and of the gospel. He told us that all we have to do is accept Christ and we are saved. We talked and brought up the BoM. He told us that the only true book is the Bible. We discussed for a while until I built up the courage to just bear witness of the BoM. Holy cow. I have never felt the spirit so strongly before. I couldn't control the words coming out of my mouth! I bore testimony that the book was true and that only through reading and having a true desire will he understand if the book is true or not. Boom Uma. He then accepted to read and says that he will truly search it out. Hopefully that same spirit will testify to him of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. 

Other than that the week has been full of work, work, work. Nothing better to help strengthen a testimony! 

Thank you all for your love and prayers! I keep you in mine as well! Have an amazing week!

Alofa Atu

Elder Bethea 

Patience Brings Blessings

This week we were able to have a Baptism! She was an investigator when we got to the area but we had the opportunity to baptize her. She is amazing and it was awesome to have her husband perform the baptism.

This week was a slow week until the very end. The entire week we were walking and knocking as many houses as we could trying to find new people to share the gospel with. I literally walked through my sandals! But we found no one who was super interested in what we had to say. That got me super discouraged and down about the work. So I decided to fast and pray for the opportunity to find the people who have been prepared to hear our message. It was long and hard to try to find people, but we kept going and kept knocking while relying on the spirit to show us where to go. While we were walking on Saturday (having no success the entire week) a car pulls up and a guy yells at us, "Hey I am a member but none of my family is! Come over later today and teach them!" then drove off to do his shopping. We ended up going over and the family was interested but was busy. So we talked a little and set a date to go back! Then Sunday comes around and we go to teach the Gospel Principles class and there was a new guy! Turns out he is Seventh Day and really wants to get baptized because his wife is a member and they just had a son! So we taught him and are going back on Tuesday! It was amazing how Heavenly Father was just doing as He has always done and was testing our faith! And I guess we passed! So humbling to see the blessings from doing all that you can THEN He will bless you. We have to prove ourselves before we can receive the blessings we desire!

Other than that this week was long and hot, but I love these weeks because they make me rely on the spirit so much more! And I end up with a stronger testimony and a better tan!;)

Thank you all for the love and support this week! Keep strong and know that I love you all!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

I am a secret agent

This week was awesome! I loved the entire thing! We were able to sneak in a BoM to a young mans house because over here the parents determine whether or not they can join the church and his family is against it so we got to sneak a BoM into his room while his parents were sleeping! Crazy!

This week was super awesome! I could feel my Saviors love the entire week. Just one highlight because I don't have very much time. This week we were able to give a blessing to a young woman who is not a member. Her cousin who was called us over and asked for us to help bless her and to cast out a evil spirit that was inside of her. As we walked up the entire family was around her, and when they saw us they looked at us with hope that we would help her. My mind finally got why they were looking at us like that. We were holding a power that no other Church claims. That is the priesthood. After we blessed her we asked her cousin who was a member to keep us informed. But as we were outside talking to her cousin, she started to talk and interact. Her cousin told us that she hasn't been able to do that for a couple of days and that is the fist time she was able to utter something out!

I testify of the power of the Priesthood and all that it can do for us. I love this gospel and know it is true. I hope you all have an amazing week and know that your Father in Heaven loves you all. I know Gods lives and blesses us all constantly.

I hope you all have an amazing week. I love you all and thank you all for your prayers and support.

Alofa Atu

Elder Bethea

Walking is fun

This week has consisted of walking. With adding our new area it gives an even bigger place to walk. I have no reason to complain because by walking it gives us an amazing chance to talk to as many people as possible! 

The Spirit has helped so much this week. We were given the chance to teach some people this week who needed a little taste of what the gospel can bring. We met with a family from Pavaiai 1st ward that the Elders before us had found. They live so very far in the back of the area that walking there is awesome! It gives me and Elder Redd the chance to truly invite the spirit to be with us when we get there. When we got there we were invited in with open arms! The people truly love this gospel! Before I even knew what was going on she talked to us about her beliefs about God, and had made an opportunity for us to teach her about how God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are all different beings with the same purpose! After that we got to teach a little bit more about the Restoration and through that we were able to receive truths that were lost for Centuries! The spirit was strong there. After we called to set up another appointment with them like they had asked when we left. They told us they were going to be busy for the next two weeks! But I guess that didn't satisfy Elder Redd because the next day we went up and visited the family but it was just the father that was home. We taught the importance of the Book of Mormon and he expressed how he wants time but wanted us to come back the next week! Amazing how the spirit will work in their hearts to show the people we teach the importance of the gospel!

Other than that this week was filled with amazing studies about Joseph Smith and the Restoration on the Gospel. I hope you all know about the history and the true and enduring faith that the saints had of this gospel. I know that this gospel is true and I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet who saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. This gospel is true. I know it. 

Thank you everyone for your love and support this week. May God be with you until we meet again.

Alofa atu 

Elder Bethea