Sister Kofford in Tahiti: Week 7

11/4/14
Life continues to delight me here in the MTC. It has been a great week! It still blows my mind that I have actually been here for 7 weeks and that we have less than a month left now. We still continue to work hard and continue to progress at rapid rates. The French language is coming along great! Sister Erekson and I love teaching our lessons and feeling the spirit strongly each time we do. We also made a goal a week ago to memorize 40 words a day. Twenty in Tahitian and twenty in French.So far we have been successful at this goal and figured that if we continue at this rate, we will learn 1,400 words by the time we leave. Not including learning things through our lessons and other studies. I totally believe that if you put your mind to something, anything is possible with the help of God. Last Tuesday at our devotional, the speaker actually mentioned this exact topic. He shared a quote that said something along the lines of, "I love the people who strive for the impossible." And then backed it up with the scripture Philippians 4:13. It is true. We can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. The speaker also asked us, "What think ye of Christ?" How can we truly come to know, follow, and love our Savior? We can know Him through asking ourselves if He is our best friend. We can follow Him by imitating His example. Through this, people will want to imitate our example as well. We can also follow Him through living one of our baptisim commitments and ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM. We can love Him through doing the things that please Him. If we need to, we can pray for this love. We need to concentrate on loving people into the gospel. Another thing that I love is the Mormon Message, "You Never Know." If you have not seen it yet, I would strongly suggest watching it. I watch it every Sunday because I love it so much. Strive each day to do a little more to be a little better and you will never know the difference you make in someone's life! We can also witness blessings through being the best we can and serving others. A quote from Elder Holland is, "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some do not come until heaven, but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ they come." We need to watch for blessings and miracles in our life because they happen everyday. I think we should even learn to expect blessings and miracles each day. If we are asking for them and seeking them out, they will come. So . . . some funny things that happened this week are, one day as Sister Erekson and I were teaching a lesson, our investigator needed to learn how to pray. So Sister Erekson said something and then somehow I mixed up my words and said, "When you pray, you start with In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen." It was hilarious because of course that is in fact how you end a prayer, not how you start one. Also, once when I was sharing my testimony in Tahitian I called Jesus Christ my husband instead of our brother. The struggle still continues to be real, but it makes things interesting and fun so all is well! hahaha. Mixing French and Tahitian happens on the occasion and what is funny is whoever is doing the mixing usually does not even notice. So apparently in one lesson (which was in French) I said the word "about" in Tahitian instead of French like 5 times. My teacher gave me a hard time about this afterwards. Too funny. The French Elders continue to make me laugh. As their English improves they try to use it more and more often. One day while we were waiting in line for lunch, Elder Darguence yelled to some random missionary to please hand him a k.... nife. Of course not realizing that the "K" is in fact silent. Elder Kokona is always a good time as well. He is always singing something and trying to mimic different voices. A few days ago, he walked into our classroom with a white rag around his head as a bonnet and in all seriousness sang, "Everyday is new!" We all about died hahaha so funny! I really do love it here at the MTC. We have all become very close and I consider the people in my district to be some of my very best friends. It is going to be a hard day when we all have to go our separate ways. But we can do hard things with a smile. As a district, we strive each day to become less of who we were and more of who God wants us to be. I realize that it is in fact impossible to be perfect. Even though I am on a mission, I am still human. I still get homesick, I have times where I am not as motivated as I should be, there are times when I get discouraged and even a little scared, and of course times where I need to practice increased patience. This week I came to know that it is okay if I am not perfect, as long as I am trying my hardest to become so each day. If we humble ourselves before God, He will make our weaknesses into strengths and we will become strong. (Ether 12:27) I truly do know that when we lose our lives in God is when we will really find our life. (Matthew 16:25) I am so thankful for the gospel in my life. I am cherish the happiness that the truth brings to me. I love being a missionary and I have truly felt the blessings that come from it! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Kofford