Happy New Year!

12/28/15

Iaorana friends and family! I love you all and I hope that you all had an amazing Christmas! My Christmas was one to remember! We had a great week full of good things! On Wednesday, we participated in our Tahiti missionary activity! We did lots of fun things and I had to think to myself, "I don't think that I have ever been in a room with so many people I love so much!" I love these missionaries and I know they love our Heavenly Father! The Christmas spirit was so strong and we enjoyed the joy that comes through the message of the restored gospel that we know so well. On Thursday, we had one marriage and three baptisms! Tane, Marwinda, and Cecile were ready and so happy to make their covenants with our Heavenly Father! It was amazing to see these three changed people come out of the water clean and ready to recommit their lives to God! Friday was Christmas! We exercised, got ready, studied, and spent some time making cookies. Each companionship chose three people to go and see. We sang Christmas hymns and shared a message with each of these chosen investigators! What a fun experience! Then we skyped! I have the most amazing family and it was incredible getting to see their faces and hear their voices at the same time! I am so thankful for these people and would not be where I am today without them! Thank you father Kent, mother Holly, Shaylee, and Nathan!!!

As the year 2015 wraps itself up, I think that we all find ourselves pondering and reflecting over all of the things that happened during the year! A year is a long time and a lot can happen! For me, 2015 was the year that I was redeemed! My mission saved my life! I have learned so much and have truly come to know better who I am thanks to my relationship with my Heavenly Father! As I discovered on skype, words can never explain all that is learned on a mission! In our hearts, we know that Heavenly Father has trusted us with his most precious knowledge and that he has confidence that we will use it to the best of our ability! Life is a process of changing! We are either always progressing or digressing! So for the new year of 2016, I want to invite you all to have a year of increasing progression! Its easy to say, but can be difficult to do. In life we have two key things that can help us with this continuing progression! Working and learning! If we come to know and love these two things in life, our life will serve as a place of joy and accomplishment! As a missionary, I truly have loved learning how to work. Every minute is an opportunity to do something good, to serve, or to simply be a light in the life of another! Losing ourselves for God really gives us the chance to find ourselves! Serving others also helps us come to know Heavenly Father and his specific plan for each of us, his children! There is always more to give than to receive! So do not waste time! Go out and work! As I like to say, productive days are the best days! Learning is also something that is very imortant in life! Our knowledge will be a great advantage to us in the afterlife, which is why we need to do all that we can to learn all that we can in this life! God commands us to learn! I love the quote from Joseph Smith, "Knowledge does away with darkness, anxiety, and doubt; for these cannot exist where knowledge is." Working and learning are keys to success and our doorway to possibility! But it is always our choice to choose to love these things enough to do them to the best of our ability! Remember also that, "It is often in the trial of adversity that we learn the most critical lessons that form our character and shape our destiny." Even when life gets a little tough, we can learn and grow! Our extremity is Gods opportunity! So with this new year, work and learn and let him change you! Life is beautiful! He knows us and loves us! This church is true! I love you all! Thanks again for all that you do for me! Have a great week!

Love, Soeur Kofford

Making cookies on Christmas!

Skyping my family on Christmas day!

Tahiti mission Christmas party!

I love my district!

I love Krizia Pehau!

District dinner!

Merry Christmas!

12/21/15

Iaorana friends and family! I love and miss you all! I look up to you all and am so thankful for all that you do for me in my life! I hope that you are all loving your life and enjoying this wonderful season of  Noel! The Christmas spirit is real and I hope that you are feeling it as much as I am! We had a great week! Yesterday, we taught the YW and did a question and answer lesson! One of the questions was, "What has been the funniest moment on your mission?" I had a hard time responding, because we laugh everyday! I love my life and my mission! I love you and I love our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ! So much to love in life! Never let a day go by without loving! One of our new converts pulled me aside the other day and asked me if my face hurt . . . haha  I did not quite know how to respond. Confused I told her no and asked why. She explained that everytime she sees me, I smile! I was happy with this comment and smiled again! There is so much to smile about! This Church is so true! I am convinced with the very ends of my heart strings of the truthfulness of the restored gospel here on the earth! I am happy and not a bit ashamed to share the message that has changed my life! So, remember to smile each day! Your life is beautiful because of this gospel! We had two baptisms of two little boys! Both of them have members in their families that have fallen inactive because of lack of effort! Through their children, these two families were reactivated right in time for Christmas! To give a little bit back to he who gave us all! Such a great week and another one yet to come!

In life, I know there are ups and downs, there are good times and hard ones. There are blessings and trials. Always opposition in all things! I know that we are destined to fail at times, but to be able to pick ourselves back up and go forward again! As a Missionary, I have made lots of promises with our Heavenly Father, one of which is to do my best to never fall inactive. I learned something this week that helped me realize how this will come to be. When building something in life, the first thing we have to do is construct the foundation. For a sturdy house, we need a sure foundation. Even with the lesson of the restoration, we teach everyone that this Church was built with a foundation of prophets and apostles. This is how the Church functions today with our modern day leaders of the Church! God is good and he is very orgainized and clear. In our everyday life, we too need to be living on a sure foundation. Our foundation is Jesus Christ, like we learn in Helaman 5:12. I know that as we center our lives on Christ, everything else will unfold itself and in our circle of living, things will be balanced and good. I love a quote from President Monson in the October General Conference. He says, "When firmly planted, our testimonies of the gospel, of the Savior, and of our Heavenly Father will influence all that we do." I want this kind of life. I want to honor my baptismal covenants and take the name of Christ upon me and remember Him in all that I do. I want to live a life that will allow me to stay firmly planted in my testimony of these things. There are no limits when Christ is at our side. He is capable of everything and so are we! I am so thankful for the gospel in my life! I am thankful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, that I came to know at a young age and the relationships that I have gained with them as a Missionary! I love my Heavenly Father! He is the reason I am here! He is the reason for my life! So, as you go throughout your lives this week and in the future, find something to do to better build your foundation on Christ! Especially with the season of Christmas and everything good that is happening! Keep these thoughts and feelings and be a Christlike person everyday! Joy is promised and it does and will come! Thanks again for everything! I love you all! Thank you for your Christlike examples to me! Have a great week and a very Merry Christmas!!!

Love, Sœur Kofford

Fun to see Elder Nelson from my home ward!

Our tree and presents!

Merry Christmas from Sister Kofford and Sister James!

Zone leadership!

Zone Christmas concert!

I love Soeur James! She is a best friend for sure!

WOW MOM!

Sisters in our zone!

I love Sister Olson!

I love serving with Sister Cromar!

Sacrifice Brings Forth the Blessings of Heaven!

12/14/15
Bonjour friends and family and everyone Love!

Christmas is drawing very near and I hope that you are all enjoying the warm spirit in the air (even if it is not as warm as the spirit here in Tahiti! hahaha) and preparing yourselves for this wonderful holiday that will soon be here! Christmas on a mission is really cool! People's hearts really do seem to soften when they remember our Savior and his sacrifice for each of us. Sacrifices are extremely important and I will tell you why, but first I will give you a little update of things.

We had a great week with lots of good things. We prayed to be led by the spirit to the people who needed us most and we found some great new investigators! It is crazy to think about how much I love meeting people! People are amazing and I love getting to know them and their stories and finding how the gospel can help them! With the spirit, there is always something in the gospel that can touch a heart and  change a life. Marwinda and Tane finalized their wedding papers this week, their wedding and baptism should be the 24th of  December. Keep them in your prayers, because their parents are having a hard time accepting this change in their lives. They are amazing people who have sacrificed so much for God. 

On Saturday, we had permission to go to the other side of the island to a baptism for an investigator that soeur Cromar taught in one of  her old areas. The baptism was beautiful and I got to see my sweet trainer soeur Hunter and my amazing trainee soeur Shariatmadari, so it was a happy experience! We also got to drive through Papeari which was cool! So many memories came running back through my mind and I loved it! After we passed Papeari the weather starting acting up and it was raining harder than I had ever seen. The ocean was high and the waves started pulling out. All of the sudden we were stopped by the police on the road saying that there was a rock slide and that the road no longer functioned. As we tried to turn around the same thing happened right behind us. We pulled the car off the road and eventually got it into a safe spot. We got on the balcony of a random house and watched the storm. The road was no longer in view and the river that was right next to where we were carried various items like televisions and washing machines down into the ocean. It felt like a dream. We waited for about four hours until things calmed and they were able to repair the road enough for one car to pass. We made it home and meditated in silence. Lots of people lost their houses and other valuables. But the amazing thing is that minutes after this disaster striked, members were in their trucks with their work supplies helping the cause. Lots of members didn't even get to sleep Saturday night and still came to church on Sunday. And though so many lost so much the spirit is still in the air and people are more loving because of the wonderful sacrifices of others.

Sacrifices are so important in our life. As members of this true church, we covenant with God to sacrifice for him. Joseph Smith says that a church without sacrifice is a church without faith! When we sacrifice things for God or others, we are really practicing our faith. Also, when sacrificing, we have to give things that are important or of great worth to us or Heavenly Father. If it's not important to us, it's not important to him and it's not a sacrifice. The three most important things to sacrifice are our sins, our time, and our will. These things are surely things that we love and that are important to us! So why not sacrifice them for a better cause? Knowing that blessings are sure to follow, because like the song says, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven! So as you go throughout your week, look for opportunities to sacrifice these things! Come to know our Heavenly Father by giving secretly and he will reward you openly! Have a broken heart and a contrite spirit and know that he loves you and will bless you with his miracles! I also wanted to thank you all for your sacrifices that you are already doing! Thank you for your sacrifices for me, I truly do appreciate it and I would not be who I am or where I am today without your sacrifices! I love you all and miss you so much! Keep enjoying this Christmas season! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

Three generations of missionaries! I love my trainer and trainee!

Got the stick shift thing down!

Playing in the rain!

Voila the mini cyclone!

Relationships Make up our Lives!

12/7/15
Iaorana friends and family!

   Like always, I hope and pray that you are doing well and loving life! Especially since Christmas time is rolling into the air! Here in Tahiti it is still hot and there is not Christmas music everywhere we go, but despite it all, I think the world hums with the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas! So as we live through this season, try to take a sufficient amount of time each day to remember! Remember Christ. Remember the things that he did for us! Remember his birth. Remember his life. Remember his sacrifice. Remembering is a cool thing that God allows us to do! So do not forget to remember! 

   Soeur Cromar and I had an awesome week! No human words could ever describe the things a missionary lives through in just one week. Often times, we find it difficult to even describe our feelings to ourselves! But through the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the joy and the sorrow, Christ knows it all! And God is willing to listen! So never hesitate to invite these people along with the Holy Ghost into your lives to lead you, to guide you, to listen to you, and to love you!    On Saturday, we had Ani's miracle baptism! We literally found her two weeks ago and she had been preparing long before this day! She will be an outstanding member of this true church and an amazing missionary one day! This truly is Gods work! 

This week, I thought about the relationships that we have in our lives! I thought about all kinds of relationships that our Heavenly Father encourages us to have. Our relationships with our siblings . . . we are obligated to love them even when we think we have had enough of them haha (but after learn, that we have everything in common and they become our best friends!). Our relationships with our friends. We usually put on a good face and try to be our best around them, we have fun and we learn a lot. Our relationship with our parents, learning to trust and obey. Finding that they are wise and loving and having the desire to become just like them! And then I thought about our relationship that we have specifically with our fathers. They provide, preside, protect, and much more. They are there through it all to love, to correct and to be our friend. How blessed are we in this life to have these amazing relationships? Then I thought about our Savior, Jesus Christ and his relationship he has with his father. In the scriptures we learn that they are "one." They found this perfect love for each other and even through the hard times nothing but good came out of it! How did they find this balance? In a relationship, we have to know the person, trust the person, and love the person. With these three qualifications, things will work out. God knows his son perfectly, he trusted him to atone for the sins of the world, and he loves his son enough to have sent him to earth to show a perfect example. Christ knows his father and his will. He trusted his father enough to obey him with exactness and to live his life for him. He loves God to the point of giving his will  to him. Pretty cool. Then I thought about the relationship that we have with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We know that in a relationship, to find success, it will take the efforts of both sides. Heavenly Father and Christ are doing all that they possibly can to find success in our relationship with them. They know us,to the point to give us weaknesses and occasions in our lives to improve and become better! They trust us to keep the commandments that they have given us and to ultimately make it back to live with them again. We know that they love us because all that they have given us, are giving us, and will continue to give us. Now the question that we need to ask ourselves is, "What am I doing to contribute to my relationship with my Heavenly Father and his son, Christ?" There are numerous things that can be done to contribute to this eternal relationship . . . but for me this past week, I found two very important things. In John 14:15 it says, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Through our obedience, we can help this sacred relationship. In Mosiah 2:17 it says, "When you are in the service of your fellowmen, you are simply in the service of your God." When we serve others and form better relationships with them, we are really improving our relationship with God. So the second question is, "Are my relationships that I have in my life contributing to my eternal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?" Relationships are so important! We are placed into each others lives for lots of reasons, and for the most part, God is the only person aware of these reasons. But when we work on treating people as Christ would, serving, and loving . . . we are really coming to know God, we are gaining trust in him, and we find an endless and burning love through these experiences! I know that God lives! He loves us! Christ lives and he loves us! We are here to love and to be loved! To help each other turn these earthly relationships into an eternal round by inviting everyone to come unto Christ and have eternal life through him! So during this Christmas season, remember who you are and your purpose here on earth! Love those around you and contribute to your relationship with God and Christ! 

Thanks for everything that you do for me! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers! I love and appreciate each one! I hope you have a great week! Keep loving life! Love you all!

Love, Soeur Kofford

Reunited through our leadership callings! Love these three sisters!

Tahiti Papeete Mission leadership counsel.

Moi et Soeur James with out Papaya!

Ani's miracle baptism!

Elder Smith and Soeur Cromar are both finishing their missions in December! Love these missionaries!

Fun p-day with these girls! I moved a little bit in the picture, but Ce nest pas grave... haha!

Every Missionary is a Miracle!

11/30/15

Bonjour friends and family!

I hope that your Thanksgiving was splendid and that you all enjoyed family time together enjoying the many blessings that come from our Heavenly Father! Everything that is good comes from him and we will be eternally grateful! We also had a great Thanksgiving, except for nobody knows about this holiday here in Tahiti and we were so busy and focused all day long and totally forgot it was Thanksgiving until we showed up at our faatamaraa (or dinner appointment) where the Taie family had prepared a beautiful Thanksgiving feast for us both! Soeur Cromar and I were so happy and so blessed! Life is great! Our week was great! Full of happy moments, laughing and of course, miracles! One story is of a girl named Ani! My last day with Soeur Stastny we were stood up by one of our lessons and were walking back down the mountain from his house when we saw a girl in a red shirt. I remember this moment vividly, she stuck out from everything else in view and right as we saw her, we knew we had to talk to "the red shirt girl." I have never met anyone like Ani. After getting to know her, in the middle of our little message we were sharing with her she told us that she would like to serve a mission one day. She then proceeded to ask us how she could become a member of the church. I loved these questions and we were smiling ear to ear when we responded.We set up her first real lesson for the next day she was free, which was at the beginning of  last week. Soeur Cromar and I taught her about the restoration and then committed her to be baptized on December 5th! She accepted and now is preparing to be baptized and wants to eventually go on a mission. 

This gospel truly is amazing! It is the good news of a lifetime that literally changes a life! A cool realization that I had this week is that, EVERY MISSIONARY IS A MIRACLE! This is so true! Missions are not easy. It takes a lot to prepare mentally, physically, temporally, financially, and in every other way possible! Missionaries are set up to such high expectations and have to be worthy to take the name of Christ upon them and act as his representatives each and every day! Missionaries have to preach about commandments, obedience, and Christlike attributes hourly when they themselves are not perfect at these things. They have to give up the things they knew and loved in normal life to be able to know and love our Heavenly Father on a deeper level! Missionaries have to be refined and polished to have the spirit constantly with them in order to be the person Heavenly Father needs them to be. Each missionary has their own story, and each of these stories is truly a miraculous thing! It has been a blast getting to know other amazing missionaries in the mission of Papeete, Tahiti. One elder from France went to the library one day and found a Book of Mormon sitting on one of the shelves. Of all the other books he could have picked to read, it was the simple blue book with gold letters that changed his life. He is the only member in his family and went through a lot to get where he is today, here as a trainer in this mission. Another sister missionary just got here from Vanuatu. We have had the privilege of having her in our house. She was converted with her mother only a couple years ago. She worked and sacrificed so much to get where she is today, a noble daughter of our Heavenly Father here in Tahiti! 

God loves His missionaries! He knows us. He calls us, He chooses us, and qualifies us! He allows each and every one of us to use the wonderful gift of the atonement to grow and progress, to become something better and to continue to be a miracle in the lives of others! Missions are truly something that could never be described in human words. I am excited for the miracle I am and to have made it this far! I am thankful for my Heavenly Father and his love for me! I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and his sacrifice he gave us so that we could progress and improve! I am thankful for my fellow missionaries, the noble and great ones called from on high! The stories of Ani and these two missionaries that are close to me are only a couple of the million missionary stories in the world! So now, when you see the missionaries, remember who and what they are. They are representatives of Christ, called as miracles to be miracles in countless lives! When you see the missionaries, take a minute and ask them their story! Maybe they will even help you to find that you are a walking miracle as well! 

Well, know that I love and miss you all! You will all be in my thoughts and prayers especially during this holiday season! Thanks for all of your love and support! Love you all! Have a great week! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

Somewhere over the rainbow!

Up early dropping sisters off at church! Our joke of the week: "We woke up like this!" hahaha

My Huahine family came to visit me again!!! Love them!!

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We even got to eat a pumpkin pie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

11/23/15
Iaorana friends and family! 

I hope all is well for you and that you are all getting excited for this holiday season! Thanksgiving is this week which is awesome! What a great opportunity we have to remember what we are thankful for! Life is full of blessings, all we have to do is notice them! So Happy Thanksgiving! 

This week was one of the refiners fire! There is no way that I could explain everything that has happened, but it has been a week that has forever changed my life! It was cool for me to see that even through all of the trials and hard aches we were faced with this week, my first reflex was turning to our Heavenly Father through prayer! Faith in him is a big thing and one that is not always simple or easy! It is learning to give our will over to him and put full trust and confidence in him. Knowing that he knows all from the beginning and that he is not there just to watch us suffer, rather to help us out of the fire that we are in and to help us realize that we are capable. We are all just part of something bigger and better. A scripture that I found and loved this week is Ether 3:14. It starts out by describing our Savior. He was prepared from the foundation of the world to save HIS PEOPLE! Christ died for those who cared. He died for those who would love him and those who would use his atonement in their lives. So this week, I kept my head up and I told my Heavenly Father that I was one who cared. I am becoming one of Christs people. I can honestly tell you that I have come to know my Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ on my mission. I love them and I live for them. This takes a whole new meaning when a person says "My mission changed my life." For me I think it was on my mission that I found my life! I am so happy to not only be able to say that I have a testimony of this church, but that I am converted by the true faith. I want to live my life for God to be able to become the person he needs me to be! I love being guided by the spirit each day and trying my best to do his will. I am so thankful for this gospel and the opportunity that I have to share this knowledge with everyone we see! I am thankful for our trials and weaknesses that give us insights and hints to our future strengths and to a better future. I am thankful for the people in my life and for the impact they have had on me. I am thankful for my friends and family and for their support and love. I am thankful for our Savior, who is Christ and for his atoning sacrifice for each of us! I know he died for me and I know he died for you, because we are the people who care. We are his people! He is waiting to deliver us so come unto him in all that you do! 

Thanks again for everything! I truly do love and miss you all very much! Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a great week!

Love, Soeur Kofford

The new comp... SOEUR CROMAR! She's awesome and I am happy to be serving with her! She's Tahitian, but don't you worry, she grew up in Springville, Utah! hahaha

Our cute sisters! We had a FHE on smiling and happiness last night! Way fun!

Locked out of the house and naturally I was the one voted to climb in through the window! haha

Fat in the language of Bishlama is "fat fat." So now I can say that I held a "fat fat cat!" I probably have too many picture of me holding cats on my camera but it's all good! I love them! hahaha

Beach soccer with the district!

Surprise Miracles!

11/16/15
Iaorana friends and family!

We had a crazy and amazing week! First of all, my comp Soeur Stastny got a call on Friday night saying that she would be transferred for her last four weeks as a missionary! We were not at all expecting this call and it shattered our world a little bit . . . but all is well and eventually the verdict was that she is going to Huahine! The beautiful island where I started my mission! She is going to love it there and I am so happy and excited for her!! 

This week, we had a leadership meeting that was super cool! One of my favorite things was a story that our mission president, President Bize shared with us. He said that when he was young and married, with his first couple of kids, he had a nice job. He liked this job and it allowed them to live nicely within their means. This stable life suddenly shifted into something insecure, when his job and career were threatened and eventually he lost his job all together. He was lost and did not know what to think or do. So he turned to the Lord. He fasted and prayed and went to the temple. During all of this he pleaded with our Heavenly Father. In his prayers he expressed that he had been an honest tithe payer for his whole life and that then was the moment that he was in need of Heavenly Fathers grace. A couple days passed and sure enough he received a call saying that since he spoke English from his mission, he was selected for a job offer in California. They took a leap of faith and moved the entire family to California. After time, they learned that this new life was a much better life and that this was the path that Heavenly Father had planned for them. This story is cool because President Bize had already earned this blessing through his previous obedience! Then I thought of a story in the Book of Mormon that has the same ring! In Alma 5, Alma the younger talks about his dad. Alma was a priest for King Noah and was eventually rejected from the kingdom. At this time in the Book of Mormon, it says that Alma and his people were protected because of their faith, their change of heart, their humility, and their trust in God. They were delivered from their afflictions because of the things they had already done to show God their love. 

Since we have been here together at Mahina, Soeur Stastny and I have seen lots of potential and lots of success together, but at the same time it has been hard seeing people use their agency in wrong ways and seeing people choose other things before God. When we had the realization that God can bless us for our already existing obedience, we immediately decided to pray like President Bize and to be blessed like Alma and his people! It was a beautiful experience! We shared with God that obviously we are not perfect missionaries, but we do try our best to do his will and that we have experienced the "change of heart" talked about in Alma 5. We had total confidence in God and could honestly feel that good things were coming our way! 

On Saturday, we had our third lesson with Tevahine! She is the mother of a darling sister in our ward. Her husband is a hard Catholic and did not want anything to do with us. In fact, she had to take the lessons in secret because her husband was so scary. This week, somehow he found out about her secret lessons and got really mad. But after everything cooled down, he accepted that she could continue with the lessons. When she got to the lesson, we were going to teach about the Plan of Salvation but the spirit changed our minds and we talked about obedience and how we have to put God first in our lives. We committed her to be baptized on Wednesday and she accepted!!! Her program and interview are done and shes good to go! So blessed! I want you all to know that God lives and he loves us! He listens to us and he answers our prayers! I have such a love in my heart even just writing these special sentences! 

I love all of Alma 5, but there is one verse that truly is amazing, verse 26. It asks us a question, it talks about those who have already had a change of heart . . . those who were faithful, humble, stripped of pride and envy, those who put their trust in God and acted, those who not only had the light of God's face shine in our countenance, but His image engraved in us through who we are. It asks if we as these people can feel this change of heart right now? As members of this church, we need to seek for that! The church is a happy thing and we should be happy people! Always changing and improving and finding the joy in the progression! And it is through these acts of obedience and dedication that you will be able to call on God at any moment in life because you have already earned his blessings! He is waiting to bless you all! Like he blessed President Bize, Alma and his people, and Soeur Stastny and I this week! So continue to change your hearts and then don't be afraid to ask! It shall be opened unto him who asketh! 

Thank you all for everything! I love and miss you all! Keep being good! Have a great week!

Love, Soeur Kofford 

Tahitian dress shopping with our dear friend Maeva! Love her!

Playing the piano for our leadership meeting!

Fun family night with Orirau!

Love these two sisters! Also Elder Brown peaking through in the back!

We Shall Be Known by Our Works!

11/9/15
Iaorana ma famille et mes amis!

Another week has come and gone! It was another great week and I am amazed at how the Gospel allows us to be constantly learning! I finished the Book of Mormon in French and it was such an uplifting experience! I want to read it one more time before coming home and I know that these efforts will bless our missionary work here in Mahina! I am so thankful for this piece of truth that we have and the power that comes from it! I have grown to absolutely love the Book of Mormon! If I could give any of you advice on how to improve your life, I would tell you to make friends with this book! It changed my life and it will change yours! 

This week, the scripture that rang through my head was again John 14:15. Christ talks to us telling us about His fathers commandments. Everything good in this life comes from God. His love is obvious and never ending! As we taste of His goodness and love, we too realize that we love Him back! What can we do to show this love? Obey. Obedience is the easiest and the hardest thing to do in the world. It is learning to let go of our wants and desires and to fully trust in the Lord. We are so blessed here on earth because we have the chance to show our dedication and obedience. Now truly is the time that we have to prepare ourselves for the day when we will meet God. Our death will not change anything. If we are obedient in this life, we will be able to continue on this path afterwards. But if we do not learn to obey during our life here on earth, we will not be capable of reaching the standards in the afterlife. Also, our overall goal and objective is to become like God. Obviously God obeys His own commandments, and He is perfect and happy doing so! He loves His commandments. He asks us to trust in His perfect knowledge and gives us hints of true happiness through His sacred commandments. Obedience is the first law of heaven, it started before this life and will continue forever! The things that are bound here on earth will be bound one day on high. So choose today to obey! In every aspect that life provides! A scripture that I love is in Moroni 7. It says, "By your works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also." Something that I learned on the drill team is that, "we will never be perfect, but we can be perfect in trying!" If we spend our life trying, picking ourselves up and continuing when we fall short, and having the desire to serve our God because we love Him . . . God will know us by these works and efforts and we will become good! So whatever the weakness is in your life right now, give it up and get to know God! Be perfect in trying and you will become good! 

Life is beautiful, God is good, the church is true! Mahina is continuing to progress! We have some awesome investigators who are all working hard to come unto Christ! If you could pray for Tane, Marwinda, Rai, Poeiti, Tevahine, Matatoa, Audrey, and Teura that would be great! Miracles are waiting to happen! Thanks again for everything! I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Love, Soeur Kofford

Ate dinner with the Bennett family! This is Becca! Gods special children always have a spot saved in Soeur Koffords heart!

Moi et Soeur James! Pday patio chairs in the ocean!

Decorated for Christmas!

Dancing on the beach!

Soeur James lives in my house! She was on the West Lake drill team! Happy to find that we can still kinda dance!

I miss dancing, but I've still got my flexibility!

There Are Always Blessings!

11/2/15
Hello again friends and family!

I hope your week went well and that you all had a very Happy Halloween! For those who are wondering, here in Tahiti, Halloween is celebrated. But instead of cute creative costumes, things are scary and dark. Pumpkins are not carved with cute happy faces but rather with evil and frightening ones. Haha a little bit of a different feel this Halloween, but all is well and still had a good time! The transfer happened and surprise . . . Soeur Stastny and I are staying together another transfer! I will be her last companion. We are both happy and excited to be sharing another 6 weeks of our lives together! I love her and look up to her a lot! Amazing missionary! We had a baptism this week which was awesome! Ranihei reactivated her entire family through her choice to be baptized! We have also been blessed with finding new investigators who have been searching for the gospel for a long time whether they know it or not! I pray that we will be able to help them to make the decisions that will change their lives and bless them forever!

Now as we have entered into the month of November, I have already been thinking about the Thanksgiving holiday and everything that I am thankful for in my beautiful life! Honestly, my blessings are endless. I was born in the gospel knowing its principles and truths since childhood. My family has been the best support system that I could have ever asked for! I have an awesome dad who not only has let me be his daughter over the last 20 years, but his son as well! Getting to do all of the boy things like hunting and fishing and stuff! What a blessing! I have a best friend as a mother. Holly is fantastic in every way and I hope that I will be able to be just like her one day! I trust her with everything and have been craving to have a face to face conversation with her for about 14 months now! I have a perfect example of a brother! I am sure that he knows a lot more than I do about the important things in life and am thankful to have him there to learn and to grow! His light and smile fill up an entire room! I have a supermodel little sister who is probably the nicest person I have ever met! She has a heart of gold and is gorgeous inside and out! I have also been blessed with amazing friends that have shaped my path on this adventure called life! I am thankful for their presence in my life! I have been blessed with being from Highland, Utah, where life truly is beautiful! I have been blessed to have made it to the point in my life where I was guided to serve a mission and truly get to know my Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ! I am so thankful for them and their endless love for me! We have so many blessings in life, it's a little crazy! I think that often we do not even recognize all of the blessings we have been given. And then you start a mission and it's a different story!

When I entered into the mission field fourteen short months ago, I agreed to give God my all: my whole heart, might, mind, and strength! I chose to repay our Heavenly Father back by being exactly obedient to Him, His commandments, and His mission rules. I chose to be worthy and invite the Holy Ghost into my life. I chose to take the name of Christ upon me and to represent Him at all times and in all things and in all places. I chose to respect our mission president and obey his counsel. I chose to leave the world and the old me behind me giving everything to God and having trust in Him. All of these things were choices that I made, but having them as an option was a blessing in the first place! God is strengthening me in ways that I did not know were possible! I can honestly say that I have seen miracles through obedience. I have loved getting to know the Holy Ghost and the happiness that is within when he is invited into our lives. I have loved inviting others to come unto Christ and trying to help them feel His love for them each day! I have changed my view of the world through understanding who I truly am, who I can be, and who God knows I can become! I am amazed at all of these amazing blessings and they are not yet done! In a missionary's mission call, it is said that if we choose each of the blessings listed above, we are blessed with even more blessings! I have been and will continue to be rewarded with a knowledge and testimony of the restoration and the truths of this gospel. I will be rewarded with goodness in the later years of my life, and I will come to know a happiness that is only attainable through the truthfulness of this amazing gospel! God is a God of miracles and blessings and happiness! I love Him, and I know that He loves each and everyone of us! As the month of November presses on, make choices that will bring you closer to Him. Show your love and thankfulness for Him through your obedience. And choose blessings that will bless you even more in the end! I love you all! Thank you for the blessings that you are for me in my life! Have a great week! 

Love, Soeur Kofford

These are my second parents! The HAUATAS!!! Love them so much! Best couple missionaries!

Ranihei's baptism!

Moi et Soeur Kaiha! This is the sister I replaced when I first arrived at Papeari and now we live in the same house at Mahina!

Soeur Teaves's birthday!