IAORANA ma famille et mes amis!! It has been a successful but hard week! But nothing I could not do with the help of our Savior. The truthfulness of this amazing gospel is made manifest to me day after day through the small experiences that occur, the thoughts that are put into my mind, and the things I learn from the scriptures and lessons. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is so true. So for some things that happened this last week . . . I talked in church yesterday . . . yep in Tahitian and French! Haha the struggle was so real and it was definitely a stressful process trying to write the talk. But Soeur Hunter helped me edit it after it was written and to my surprise she could not find very many errors! I am sure the pronunciation was a bit rough for some words when I actually gave the talk but I think that it went fairly well! My topic was on missionary work but Soeur Hunter and I decided to talk on the gifts our Savior has given to us and the gifts we can give to our Savior. I talked about the gifts that we can give our Savior. My good cousin Casey wrote me a letter and told me that I could find the answer for the most precious gift that we can offer our Savior in D&C 18:13. So naturally I read the scripture, learning that the best gift we can possibly give is repentance. So that is what I talked about. I hope that through my broken French and Tahitian that I could leave the people thinking about what they could change in their lives and what they could repent of this Christmas. For me, I had kind of a cool realization with what I am going to give. The very moment that I read that scripture, the song "I Feel My Saviors Love" was playing on my mp3. And the words "Give all your life to Him" rang through my mind. So that is what I am giving my Savior this Christmas. I have challenged myself to truly be the most diligent, hardworking, obedient, loving missionary I can possibly be. So I am challenging you all as Casey challenged me . . . look for one thing in your life that you can give up for the Savior. He has done everything for us so its the least we can do to just change one thing for Him.
Another realization that I had this past week is that God truly is in everything. I guess that before this point in my life, I thought that God would come in and out of our lives. Helping us when we needed help and humbling us when we needed to learn a lesson. This thought was indeed very false. God knows us perfectly. He knows every feeling, thought, and action. As I have been here in Tahiti on my mission I have learned that this is true. Thoughts will be put into my mind and scriptures will come to my rememberence when I need them for lessons. He gives me hope to press on and I truly do know that He knows us and loves us individually.
I am still struggling quite a bit with the languages. Not as badly as last week which is good but yes it is a challenge. There was one lesson which was completely in Tahitian. These lessons are always very hard for me because it takes a lot of brain power to try and understand what is being said. So I got lost towards the end of the lesson and just shared my testimony when it was over. Afterwards, I asked my companion in French what was said. She explained that our investigator, Elie, was having trouble understanding why bad things happen to good people. At the time, Soeur Hunter could not think of anything to say apparently which made me sad because if I would have known what the issue was, I could have answered her question. God gives us trials specifically for us individually. He would not put us through anything that we could not overcome. I would have shared part of D&C 121 and expounded on that. I plan on doing this next time we meet with her but it was frusterating for me to find out after the fact that I could have hopefully helped her.
It is always very hot here and whether its rain or whether its sweat I am always wet. Haha I definitely miss air conditioning. I have over 50 mosquito bites which is also very fun haha. The food is always interesting as well. There are endless new adventures with this new culture. All is well for me though, life is a process not an event and as long as I continue to improve each day with the languages and with myself as a person, then I will be content! Thank you for thinking of me and for your prayers! I can definitely feel them!!! I hope you all have a magical week with the Christmas Spirit in the air. Remember the true meaning of Christmas and remember to give your gift to our Savior! Thanks again! I love you all!
Love, Soeur Kofford
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They were all a little shocked when they learned I could play!
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