We are Christ's People!

3/7/16

Iaorana mes amis et ma famille!

Another week has come and gone, and I am very sad to say that my time here in Tahiti as a full time missionary is very limited. I have a week left and will be making the most out of every minute! My mission has become my life . . . a beautiful life! I already know that it is going to be very hard for me to leave the relationships formed, lifestyle lived, languages spoken, things seen, etc. The good thing, however, is that a mission really never ends. All we have to do is remember. God has allowed us to enjoy this higher plane of living for 18 months of our lives to help us continue a meaningful, effective, and happy life afterwards. 

I love the scriptures found in 2 Nephi 2. In the fifth verse, it explains that we have been given the knowledge between good and evil. As human beings, we have the tendency to choose the good. Since our infancy, this proves to be true. In a study, we learn that when a child is given the option to kiss or hit the person next to them, they will always choose the first of the two options. We have this instinct that will literally help us to our salvation. The good thing that comes with choosing the right is that through these righteous decisions, comes the desire to continue doing good. Little by little our decisions shape our destiny. We can describe this as the light of Christ. It is a gift given to the children of God for our benefit in helping us find and follow the right path in life. As we know, even with our common sense, good desires, and correct motivation to do good . . . our proper works will never be enough. Which is why we were provided with a Savior, someone to fill in the gaps. His atonement saves us. In verse 7 of 2 Nephi 2 we learn that this sacrifice is only given to those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Christ gave his life for those who care. He died for you and for me. He loves us. What a blessing that we are part of His people. When we are doing our best, he will do the rest. Unfortunately, there are others who are still struggling in the darkness. In verse 8 we learn that it is an important responsibility to share this knowledge with the people here on earth. It is through grace that we are saved, but one can only be saved if they cared and loved enough to serve God and follow the example of his son, Jesus Christ during life here on earth. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have had to share this knowledge with the people of Tahiti. My life has been eternally changed, thanks to this service and blessing we call a mission. When I return home, I might not have the the name tag or the authority or the companion . . . but I will have the chance to invite people to know the Christ through my example, through the knowledge that I have gained as a missionary, and through the relationship that I have improved with My Heavenly Father and my Savior. Thank you all for your love and support. Thank you for accepting  me for who I am and helping me to become better! I love you all and will see you soon! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

At Venus Point with the comp! Love Soeur Raherimandimby!

Love love love Soeur Bize!

Reunited!

Temple with our new converts and investigators!

Hope!

2/29/16

Iaorana tout le monde! 

We had a great week with lots of miracles! Heavenly Father is truly a merciful being. I know that when we are obedient and endure to the end, He will always bless us with the blessings that we need! I love the fact that He knows us better than we know ourselves. It is such a blessing to be able to trust him and put our life in his hands through our obedience. We had the wonderful blessing of seeing Robert get baptized this week! He is an amazing person. The first time we met him was a little over a month ago. He was working in his yard and did not even want to come greet us at the gate. We left him with a prayer  and followed the spirit that told us to go back and visit him. He made the decision to be baptized which was great, but this did not stop the trials. Everything seemed to be blocking him from going through with this decision. We did the program  and went last Tuesday to do his interview. When the interview was over, he announced that he no longer wanted to be baptized on Saturday, because it was too hard and he thought it would be good to wait a little bit. We were loving but direct and basically told him that if he made this choice, he would be letting Satan win and that the trials would be even harder than before. We had a good conversation and left with a prayer. When we returned to their house on Thursday, things seemed to be different. He came out and his wife was at his side. We started the lesson and did the follow up, we asked if they had any thoughts or questions about what happened the last time and then they fought over who was going to tell us their verdict. By the grace of God, they decided to pray and read the scriptures when we left their house on Tuesday. Everything they read pointed them towards baptism. They prayed as a family and decided that Robert would be baptized, and he was. It was one of the most beautiful services that I have seen as a missionary. God has big things in mind for this family and I know that the mom and daughter will follow this great example of  Robert soon! I love this gospel and know that it is true! I love seeing people make good choices that come with the consequences of  blessings and happiness. 

This week, I thought a lot about hope. Without hope and faith in life, there really is no point. I love the scriptures 1 John 3:2-3. When I read these verses, I asked myself three questions. How can we have hope in our lives? What is the foundation of hope? What are the consequences of  hope? I think that hope comes with knowing who we are and our divine identity. We are children of God with lots to accomplish here on earth. To have hope, we cannot just know our identity, we have to have the desire and the drive of actually finding our potential. Anything is possible through God, but these miracles and blessings depend on our faith and actions. The foundation of our hope is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through him, we can hope. We can hope for a better future and for an eternal life. We can hope to be forgiven of our sins. We can hope to receive comfort when the hard times come. We can hope to be on the path of life that Heavenly Father has in mind for us. Our "hopes" in life are limitless. All we have to do is have the faith and the desire to wish for these things. Lastly, thanks to these scriptures in the bible, I learned that if we have hope, we will be purified and sanctified. I love these two words and they are something that we all want and that we all need. Purification is an essential step to our mortal journey. What a great thing to know that our hope purifies us. So when life gets hard and we feel a little lost or not sure if we are living up to the expectations of God, let us not lose HOPE! I love you all and I hope that you are happy and counting on our Heavenly Father for his heavenly help! Have a great week! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

Robert's baptism! Such a miracle!

Still love the cats of Tahiti!

Live Joyfully!

2/22/16

Iaorana friends and family! 

I'm praying you're all doing well and finding joy in your lives as you continue to live the principles of the gospel ! As a missionary I truly have learned to love every day even with the trials, temptations, sadness, and other ups and downs that decide to cross our paths. I learned an important principle as a new missionary, that we have to enjoy the moment we are in .  .  . it is important not to dwell on the past and not to worry too much about the future. Even with this mindset, hard moments come and we are given the choice to look past it and continue with all of the other things that make us happy, or we can let these experiences take the best of us and ruin our day or even long periods or our lives. We need to learn to find joy through the good times and the hard times. To find this joy, we need to understand who we are. I want you all to know that we are children of our Heavenly Father. You are loved. He loves you today with a full understanding of your struggles. He loves you not only for who you are this very day, but also for the person of glory and light you have the potential and the desire to become. Remember who you are and remember the joy God has prepared for you with the blessings he wants to give you each day! We had computer issues today, so I don't have much time and my thoughts are all over the place. Just know that I love you all and appreciate all that you do for me!! I am excited to be heading back home and seeing you all again in just a couple of  weeks, but at the same time my heart is already breaking because I am going to have a hard time leaving this part of my life that I love so much! Keep loving each day! I love you all!!! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

Moi et Marie Ange! She has been inactive for years and just started coming back to church about a month ago. I love her and it has been amazing seeing her life change!

We love serving in Mahina!

Love!

2/15/16
Iaorana tout le monde! 

I hope your week was great and I hope that you all had a Happy Valentines Day! Our week went well! For Valentines Day, Soeur Daniels and I got up and made heart pancakes and french toast for the other sisters which was super fun! I love Soeur Daniels! It has been a blessing again this week to see the progression in our investigators lives. It is amazing how much obedience is directly linked to blessings and happiness. When the investigators follow through with the invitations we give them, God saves them by his grace and allows them to have enough force to continue to improve, to overcome their weaknesses and sins, and find the joy that only comes through this gospel and our Savior, Jesus Christ. One of our investigators, Tuane is battling smoking. Other than this, she is ready to be baptized. If you could keep her in your prayers that would be great! The Tetoe family is doing well. Their son, who is a member, came to visit them and talked to them about the decision to be baptized. There are a few family issues that need to be resolved, but this family can be an eternal family, and it's possible for them to enter into the waters of baptism very soon. If you could keep them in your prayers, that would be great! 

I talked in church yesterday which was good. I have loved learning to follow the spirit and each time I give talks or speak in big groups of people, I pray to have the spirit guide me in my ideas and thoughts. I know the spirit is always with me, and he is definitely a best friend. My talk was about love. I had to laugh a little bit when I was given the topic because here I am, a missionary, asked to speak on Valentines Day, on the topic of love. I twisted things a little bit and actually learned a lot. In life, I think we over complicate this word. Love is powerful and life changing. It is our drive and motivation. It comforts us and allows us to do and overcome hard things. Love is essential and necessary in life. Why? Because our goal is to try to follow the example of Christ. To walk as he walked, talk as he talked, live as he lived, and ultimately become like him one day. The overpowering Christlike attributes that he had were charity and love. His love changed the world. He made God's plan real and through his everlasting love, we are able to love and inherit eternal life one day. In life, there are five ways of showing love. Nice words, time, gifts, touch, and service. Christ was the perfect example of all five of these. His teachings were sincere words of his concern and love for us. Especially during his atonement when he was on the cross and pleaded these nice words to his father, "forgive them for they know not what they do." Christ dedicated his life to us and gave us more time than we could ever offer to someone else. Also he spent the time in the Garden of Gethsemane to live through each of our lives and sins to allow us to made clean. He gave us the gift of immortality and the remission of sins. We will all live again after this life, and if we walk the path of righteousness during this life, we will have eternal life as well one day! He showed us his love through touch, when he came back to earth as a resurrected being and asked his people to come unto him and touch the nail marks in his hand. Even though Christ is not here with us in flesh and blood today, we have this same invitation in 3 Nephi 11. To touch his hands through our repentance and desire to become more like him. He served us all through doing only the will of the father and doing it with exactness. We learn through this example that when we are doing the will of our Heavenly Father by serving others, we are serving him as well! So let us take this Valentines experience as an opportunity to love as Christ loves! We will be forever changed! I love you all! Thanks for all that you do for me and for your love for me! Have a great week!! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

This morning at the airport!

My cute companion! Glad to be staying with her for this last transfer!

Gotta love my twin Soeur Daniels!!

Deserving that Which He has Prepared for Us

2/8/16
Iaorana!

Hey family and friends! I love you! I feel like I always start these emails out the same way, but I really do love you all and am thankful for you and hope and pray that you are doing well! Things are going great for me and Soeur Raherimandimby! In all honesty, I think that last week was the fastest week of my life! Time is a weird thing. Sometimes as missionaries, we find ourselves out on the street in the afternoon with what seems like hours of work ahead of us. Through these moments on my mission, I learned how to take advantage of every hour. Sharing the gospel is something that should be fun and bring us joy. Like everything, it is a choice. We have to accept these blessings by our attitude. Anyway, over these last couple of weeks and especially this last week, there were no moments like that. Time flew by. I love my mission and know that I am going to miss this in the "after missionary life." It is truly the most amazing thing watching peoples' lives change. Even showing up to a lesson and seeing that the investigators read in the Book of Mormon or that they prayed or seeing people walk through the chapel doors at church on Sunday for the first time in their lives. This church is true and it changes people for the better! 

This week my companion shared a scripture with me that I loved. It is Doctrine and Covenants 136:29,31. If we are sad we need to consult with the Lord and our soul will be filled with joy! In verse 31 we learn that Christs people have to be tried to prepare themselves for the glory that God has prepared for them. Those who do not support his correction will not be worthy of his kingdom. I feel like as members of the church, we know real trials in life. We have these hard times because we are able to overcome them with God and his grace. He is making us into something better, into the thing that he needs us to be to continue building his kingdom here on earth and to bring him and us joy. During the good and hard times we need to put our trust in him! So, this week when you might seem to be having one of those "hard missionary days" where you are in the heat of the sun and your lesson got canceled . . . or you just might feel a little bit lost or sad, remember to love every moment and know that God is there and he knows you! He loves those who he corrects! Keep enduring and soon you will find that you find joy in the little things and you no longer notice the things that were once so hard. Life is good! The gospel is amazing! Try to find the joy that an investigator or new convert does when applying the most simple principles! Thanks again for everything! Love and miss you all! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

Best friends!

Love these girls! I had to stop and share a little message with them before continuing down the street!

This is the Putoa family! If the oldest daughter and son receive their VISA's in time, they might be on the same plane back to America with me for their missions in New York and Louisiana!

Playing marbles with the children! Jaime les enfants!

Just Ask!

2/1/16
Iaorana tout le monde! 

As always, I hope and pray that things are going well at home! I love and miss you all and I am so thankful for your love and support! I know now how blessed I am to have you all in my life as my friends and family! It was another good week for Soeur Raherimandimby and I! Time is flying and I can hardly believe that it is Monday again! We have been seeing plenty of miracles! We fixed Roberts baptism, which was a special experience! He is the dad of the Tetoe family. (one of the families that I knew from Papeari) He told us that since that first day he saw us at his gate, he knew that we had a good thing. Sadly after this first contact, he did not accept us back into his house. We went back anyway the next week, where we met his daughter who accepted the discussions. Our first lesson was with the entire family. We invited them to be baptized and pray to find their answer. For the returning visit, I had a good feeling and a lot of hope for this family. To my surprise, the mom and the daughters had not yet received their answer, but Robert had. He dumped all of his alcohol down the sink and had not consumed any since our first lesson. He also came to church yesterday. His wife is in shock and cannot help but want the same changes for herself. I love loving people and seeing them change! I love seeing people make good decisions and council with the Lord in prayer to know the next step in their lives. 

For us, maybe we are not at the stage of leaving alcohol or praying to know the truth. We have already arrived at this point. But, counciling with the Lord through prayer is a must. My time here as a missionary is limited. I am sad to see that the end is really coming, because I love my mission! Despite my imperfections and weaknesses, I feel like I have done my best up until this point in my mission. I have worked harder than I ever have, suffered longer than ever before, and never been so happy at the same time. I want to continue with these feelings and endure well to the end. I know that this satisfaction is only possible through humility and fervent prayer. I love an example of Alma in the Book of Mormon. In Mosiah 26:13 it says that he was troubled and went to talk with the Lord about what he had to do so he would not act wrongly in the eyes of God. We all need these moments with our Heavenly Father. A little self evaluation and check up. We learn that God answers and reassures his servant Alma that he will be blessed because of his obedience, sacrifice and confidence in the Lord. We too can have similar experiences. When we are not sure what the next step in our progression is or if we are scared to change or are just feeling a little more distanced than normal from our Heavenly Father, all we have to do is ask! He knows the answers and will help us! I have really been trying to turn to our Heavenly Father through prayer for his council and answers. Sometimes I have really cool experiences and I receive answers through ideas, feelings, scriptures, situations, etc. But this is not always the case. Sometimes we do not get answers that are direct and clear. We receive the thought "Its your choice, make the best of it and I will help you." Although this is a comforting thought, agency is difficult and sometimes it's hard to choose for ourselves. But this is part of our progression. God is mindful of us and all that we need to do in all situations is keep turning to him. He is always there and always listening. 

So this week as you continue on the path of life, turn to our Heavenly Father in prayer! He knows the next step in your life and is ready to help you develop Christlike attributes through how you receive your answers and how you act upon them! Never underestimate the power of a sincere prayer! I know that God lives and loves each of us! He loves you! Turn to him and he will turn to you! Thanks again for everything! I love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

Tahiti missionaries and their moms!

Tahiti missionary mom lunch!

Having fun with Sister James!

Dinner out!

Three musketeers!

Last Transfer!

1/25/16

Iaorana family and friends! 

Another week has passed by and I am now in my last transfer of my mission! I will stay here in Mahina with Soeur Raherimandimby and I am happy with that news! So unless something crazy happens, I will be here until the end!  We had a great week filled with amazing things! We had the worldwide missionary broadcast which was uplifting and good! We made some goals to be better as missionaries and have already noticed blessings! We also had the blessing of going to the temple last week! I love the temple and we are so blessed to have one here in our mission! I truly do know that it is the house of God and want to invite you all to go more often! Being from Utah, we need to definitely take advantage of all of the beautiful temples that surround us! Going to the temple helps us improve our relationship with our Heavenly Father and gives us the force to continue to do good and progress on the right path! Our investigator Tuane is also doing great! We had a tender mercy with her this week! She told us her story and we found out that she has two children that she gave up for adoption. One who is in the islands . . . and the other who lives at Papeari! Sure enough, I know her son and was able to show her pictures of him which was really touching, because she hadn't seen him for years! Then went back another day to do another lesson with her, and she started talking about her family. She told us that she had one brother who didn't live too far away and was already a member but is inactive. Another brother is totally against the church and has mocked it his whole life. She said that she later found that her inactive brother talked to her rebelious brother and found that he had, in fact, been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Out of curiosity, I asked what ward he was baptized in and again it was Papeari. Then a little bit more excited I asked what his name was, Tapena Opuu! He was one of the people who was baptized while I was at Papeari! It was a way cool experience, and I know I must have some eternal connections with this family! Just a cool little tender mercy! I would love if you could keep praying for Tuane! She needs your faith, love, and support!

This week, we received the February Ensign, and I have already loved reading some of the talks inside! Especially the talk that discusses the bond between happiness and the Book of Mormon! I know that these two things correspond directly and I am so thankful for this key to happiness that we have in our life today! It talked about how we need to have good relationships in our life! The people that are present in our lives are very important! Their standards and decisions will either help and lift us to be better than we are, or tempt and threaten our mortal and eternal happiness through things that are not aligned with Gods will. It also talked about aligning our actions and beliefs to God! I love a quote by Gandhi, "Happiness is when what you think (or believe), what you say, and what you do are in harmony." When we find that we are capable of living this quote in our lives according to the will of God, we have become his disciples. Everything we do revolves around our eternal potential, and we invite and involve God into our everyday lives and decisions. I am currently trying to live this quote! To think, say, and do according to Gods will! We also have to work hard! I have learned to love to work! Working is a critical factor in obtaining happiness! I also love the thought by President Monson that God left us an unfinished world for man to work his skill upon! We all have special gifts and talents. God will put opportunities in front of our eyes to magnify and enhance these blessings, but we are the ones who have to recognize these gifts and have enough faith to act! The temple is also directly related to true happiness and also the law of consecration, to share what we have for the benefit of others! The ultimate source of happiness is found in Christ, and when a family is founded upon him, there is no greater thing! In these family situations, we have to be careful of the spirit of contention. The devil does not want us to enjoy happiness during this life, so he will do all that he can to try our families. During these times, we can totally avoid this contention through becoming peacemakers! To not do or say anything that could cause a dispute or fight. We need to be patient. Patience is a sign of humility. Ultimately this happiness is possible for each of us, the children of God. It is his goal for us! He has given us several helpful tools to help us along the way! So in your lives, try applying some of these things that are suggested in the Ensign! Remember the center of it all is Christ! He loves you and is waiting to deliver you! Allow yourselves to have these sacred experiences with him and our Heavenly Father! I love you all and want you to know that I am happy! This church is so true and everything happens for a reason. Even with the trials and hardships that come, there is a peace that enters our lives when we know we are on the right path, which allows us to be happy even during these hard times! Thanks for everything!! Have a great week! Also, if you could pray for the Patii family and the Tetoe family that would be awesome!! I love you!

 Love, Soeur Kofford

Beautiful day at the temple!!

Best friends!

Selfie with the temple!

Utah missionaries serving in Tahiti!

Moi et Soeur Daniels! Les Soeurs Jumelles! The twin sisters!