Miracles and Smiles!

6/8/15

Bonjour ma belle famille et mes amis!!
Soeur Shariatmadari and I had a fantastic week! I love my companion! We are constantly working so hard. We are either talking to everyone, studying, or laughing. I have love love loved my other companions, but it has been fun getting to talk and joke about American things together. It is interesting being two Americans together in a foreign mission. I do not know if people just know that the struggle is always real or what but we have been so blessed together. People are so nice and we literally just keep receiving blessings after blessings and miracles after miracles. When Soeur Shariatmadari and I started our companionship, we set a lot of specific goals that we wanted to achieve together. It is amazing as we go throughout our days as we really do try our best, to notice the hands of God in the lives of others and watch the Holy Ghost lead our paths as well. Also, it is so cool how God gives us opportunities to improve ourselves, to find again our weaknesses, and to discover again that we are capable of so much and that we have an unlimited potential. In the last three weeks with Soeur Shariatmadari, I have really learned how to be bold. I have never liked making decisions in life maybe because I am a little bit indecisive and maybe I am just scared that if I pick one thing there was something else that could have been the better option. I have been thinking a lot about decisions and choices this week. I think I already shared this thought but there was a conference talk from last fall that talked about decisions and choices that we are faced with each and every day. Of course we always have the choice between the good and the bad. At times we might be tempted to choose the bad but at least it is easy to distinguish the good. After this, we have the choice which is good and a choice which is better. In this situation it is easy to settle for the good and not take the extra effort to go for the better. But in this state of mind, we re still cutting ourselves short. There is something else that God has in store for us. And that is the BEST CHOICE. After all of this. . . the bad, the good, and the better . . . we always will be given the option to chose the best thing. This is hard. The best choice in life will always be the thing that brings us closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. On a mission, this requires going the extra mile. That exact obedience, that happy diligence, that hopeful faith! But in these moments of loyalness to our Heavenly Father is when He provides us with the rest. When He provides us with His grace, and allows us to feel His love through His son. So this week we had one day where several of our lessons fell through and we were left talking to everyone we saw. We successfully filled our day with good things. We found several potential investigators. As the day started to come to a close, we were faced with the choice to head early to our dinner appointment or to try to talk to a few more people. We were in a tiny street and drove past several little children. They all said hello as we rode by. We decided to turn around and to talk to them. They all looked a little young and we need to ask their parents permission before teaching them so I asked where they lived and if there parents were home. We were secretly thinking that we could win a lesson with one of their parents. One of the little girls ran into the woods and a minute later came out with her mom. This woman was very special and from the minute we started talking to her I could feel the spirit prompting me as I asked questions. Not even asking the daughter if she had ever talked to the missionaries, if she knew what the church was or if she even wanted the lessons. I told the mom that her daughter was in need of our Heavenly Father in her life and asked her if we could start the lessons. The mom looked to the daughter and the daughter without hesitating got a big smile on her face and accepted immediately! I then asked the mom if she would accept the baptism of her daughter for the day when she would know for herself it was true. Normally I do not ask this question this soon or this straight up, but it just came out and sure enough the mom accepted. So last week we started the lessons with the daughter, Teaviu. Soon her little brother joined with us and of course the mom was present at every lesson. The two children knew the church was true after the Plan of Salvation lesson. Their baptisms will be on Saturday the 13th. God is amazing and totally lead our path that day. I asked these two young children, Tau and Teaviu, how they knew the church was true and why they wanted to be baptized. They both replied that it was because they knew it was a good thing. I asked them how they knew it was a good thing. They replied that they knew that God wants to see them again and they want to live with Him again one day. It is crazy how true the church is, even the young children can feel the truthfulness of it and the love of God. I know that God has something amazing planned for these two children and I am happy that we could be in tune with the spirit being able to make the BEST choice to help these special people find their identity and true potential in life. I know that this church is true. I know that God knows us and loves us individually. And I am happy to be living my life for Him. Thank you for everything!! The love, support, friendships, everything! I love you all! I hope you have a fantastic week making only the BEST choices! 

With lots of love, Soeur Heather Kofford

Tau and Teaviu at church with us yesterday!

Soeur Shariatmadari and I with Papi on his birthday!

The Sun Has Come Out at Papeari!

6/1/15

Iaorana friends and family!

We had another great week together! I love my companion Sœur Shariatmadari and God has definitely been good to us! We have spent our days being diligent and obedient and practicing our faith, but also having fun along the way. Sœur Shariatmadari tells me that I am no longer American. We found a spider bigger than my hand in the bathroom the other day. Naturally I killed it and my cute companion started freaking out! haha It was the funniest thing. Also, we had to buy paper towels, hand soap, and several other items at the store that I had forgotton were necessary before coming to Tahiti! It is fun being two Americans together! People are super nice and life truly is always an adventure! This week we had two sisters from our ward come and work with us for a couple hours one day. They showed us several people that were very interested in taking our lessons. One of which was Poohina. When we arrived at her house, the spirit was already really strong. We introduced ourselves and shared a little message about our Savior Jesus Christ and then we felt like we needed to invite her to be baptized . . .so we did! She accepted. So her baptism will be the 11th of July! We also have two new investigators named Laura and Jiovany! We had two lessons with them and on the third lesson they awkwardly told us that they did not want to continue. This broke us a little bit but we did not lose our faith. Saturday night I decided to call them and invite them to Church just incase they felt like coming. We got to Church not expecting them to be there . . . and to our surprise there they were sitting on the front row! We will be having a family night with them this week and will ask them to see if they want to continue the lessons. It was such a miracle to see them at the chapel! We also ave a cute investigator named Monoihere who is totally ready to be baptized but her parents are not okay with it. Her sister had to wait until she turned 18 to be baptized and now is leaving on her mission tomorrow! Monoiheres sister talked to her parents while we were right there with her. Their hearts were softened and they said that they would think about it. She just has to get the paper signed and then her baptism should be good for August! We have so many miracles that happen each day and it truly is amazing to see the lives of others change through this amazing gospel. I love the scripture Doctrine and Covenants 59:23. It tells us that if we accomplish our works here on the earth, we will be rewarded with peace in this life and with eternal life in the life to come! I know that this is true. I receive the peace that the gospel brings every single day and truly do know that we are not alone in this work! It does get hard sometimes when the plan doesn't go as planned, when people use their agency in negative ways, or when your own weaknesses are put right before your eyes over and over again. But I know that as we do our part, God will save us each and every day. Every minute and hour of every day if neccesary! I love our Heavenly Father! I love you all! Thanks for your love, support, prayers, and everything!

Have a great week!

Love, Sœur Heather Kofford

Sister Shariatmadari and me catching a ride!

The kids we teach gave us gifts for Mother's Day

Sister Shariatmadari and me with our coconuts!

I love my new companion!

First Week as a Trainer!

5/25/15

Iaorana friends and family! Things in the mission life of Soeur Kofford are going well. I still cannot believe that I have been on my mission for a little over eight months. I am now in my second area and training a new missionary! I honestly feel like I got here yesterday and that I am the brand new missionary that has everything to learn. Thinking back on the last eight months, I have learned a lot and I am  so beyond thankful for the choice I made to serve a mission. My new companion is Soeur Shariatmadari and she is from Draper haha. When we tell people that our houses are literally twenty minutes away from each other, they think it is so weird that we did not know each other before the mission. It will be fun getting home from the mission and having her so close! Anyway, like I mentioned in the last weeks letter, my companion was going to be Soeur Gray from Arizona . . .  but in her interview President Bize changed his mind and now I am with Soeur Shariatmadari. So at least we know our companionship is inspired. I truly am trying to be a good trainer for her. I am trying to be exactly obedient, diligent, and nice to everyone. I want her to have a similar experience like I did with my trainer. I know that we are together in this area of Papeari for lots of reasons. Right now, starting out is kind of fun because we get to start our journey together and start to uncover the miracles God has in store for us if we will do our best and learn to rely on Him. We have had some success in this last week! When we were teaching one of the follow up lessons at a new converts house, they had a cute young couple that had moved in with them and will be staying for quite a while. I immediately started talking to them, shared a little message, and committed them to take the missionary discussions! They accepted and even came to church yesterday! Their names are Jiovany and Laura! Please keep them in your prayers! We also received a reference from one of my favorite sisters in the ward. This investigators name is Tepoe. We talked to her one time and shared a message and committed her to the missionary lessons. When we went back for the second lesson, she said that since the day we stopped by and talked to her, everything in her life had been going a lot better. She found out that she is going to have twins and is super happy and also her work is going really well. We also teach two little girls named Chloe and Ravanui. We taught a couple of lessons and they were not really serious. Finally, yesterday we had another lesson, and when we asked if they said their prayers they responded with a yes! Chloe gave the opening prayer for the lesson and it blew my mind! There are all kinds of people with different stories, lives, trials and situations. Everyone whether they know it or not are being prepared for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that God lives and that He loves and knows us. I know that He will willingly give us peace in this life and eternal life in the life to come! All of this is possible through our Savior, Jesus Christ! I am so thankful for the truth that we have and the chance we have to share it! Keep loving life! Let God lead your paths! I love you and He loves you! Thank you again for all of your love and support and just everything!! Have a great week!

Love, Soeur Heather Kofford

Soeur Martin, myself, and Soeur Shariatmadari

Transfers!

5/18/15

Iaorana friends and family! 

I cannot believe that it has already been six weeks since I arrived here at Papeari! Time flies haha even when things are a bit hard. I said goodbye to Soeur Faana this morning which was sad, but good because I am ready to find what the next portion of my mission has in store for me. Change is a good thing, because change equals progress. Soeur Faana and I did find a lot of success together and through the weeks I spent with her, I really came to know God and learned how to better pray. I did my best with her. I did all that I could do and all that I knew how to do and He did grant us with his blessings and miracles! He gave us a wonderful baptism. Morotea was literally waiting to have the gospel in his life and I am so thankful for him and the choice he made to become a member of the true church. We also worked hard and found 15 new investigators! Our days were definitely very different at the end than at the beginning! Soeur Faana learned to be more organized and diligent and I learned how to better go with the flow when the plan did not always go as planned. It was a good 6 weeks, but I can say that I am ready for change!  In fact I have a big change coming my way! My next companion is fresh from the MTC and will be starting her mission here in Tahiti with me! Her name is Soeur Gray and she is from Arizona and I will be training her and that is all I know! I am so excited for this next step of my mission! I was so blessed to be trained by Soeur Hunter who taught me so much and made me want to be the best person I possibly could be! I love her! Then I had the blessing of spending the next transfer with Soeur Martin who I love dearly! She taught me the importance of studying! I now am very familiar with Preach My Gospel, The Book of Mormon, and the Bible.  Soeur Faana and I learned our weaknesses together and I became more patient and humble through our experience together! I know that each one of these companionships was inspired and I am thankful for the person I have become through these amazing Sister missionaries! I hope and pray that now I can apply all of the things that I have learned and be the best trainer I can possibly be for Soeur Gray! I will be honest, I am not perfectly familiar with the area and all of the members. We still have a lot of work to do and baptisms to find. I know that if I do my best, that God will always provide us with the miracles and blessings that He has waiting for us! Through all that I have learned, I have a couple of points that I think are the most important in missionary work. The first of these is obedience. As we know, obedience is the first law of heaven. I have experienced first hand, obedience brings blessings but perfect obedience brings miracles! The next thing is love! Love is the key to happiness in life! I truly have found that the more I love, the better things go! So I will love Soeur Gray and show her how great missionary work is done when you just love! The next thing is to stay positive! Being a missionary is not always easy. . . infact a lot of the time it is really difficult! But in these moments of difficulty, if you stay positive and realize that God is on your side  and that all will be okay, its true . . . everything will be okay! The last thing that I thought about is just how every experience is a blessing! A literal blessing like someone accepting the lessons or seeing the life of an investigator change through our Savior, Jesus Christ . . . or maybe a hard moment giving us the opportunity to choose how to act and respond, or choosing to become the person God knows we can be, or choosing to find our divine potential! I am so thankful for the Church of Jesus Christ! I am thankful for the knowledge that we have that we are children of God and that we have the opportunity to be perfected each and every day through Christ! I love the fact that we can change and improve and progress every minute of every day! We truly are the pieces of coal being refined into the finest diamonds! All we have to do is accept Gods will and learn to rely on Him! I know that all is possible through Him and I will be depending on Him as Soeur Gray and I serve in our area of Papeari! We are not alone! Try to let God help you improve and change! You have an infinite potential in His eyes! It is our responsibility to find it! Make each day count and remember that each experience is a blessing! Thank you for all of your love and support! I love you all! Have an incredible week!

Love, Soeur Heather Kofford

Reunited at last! It was great to see my MTC companion Sister Erekson.

Splits with Soeur Tahiata! This is Roiti! She is such a sweetheart!

Morotea's baptism!!!

Our Zone!

Mother's Day!

5/10/15

Skyping Heather was wonderful!

Prayers and Blessings!

5/11/15

God lives and He knows us and He loves us! I had such a great week! Like I have said in the past couple of weeks, this last transfer and the last five weeks have been the hardest days of my mission and my life. Each day I got new opportunities to find my weaknesses and at times to feel lonely and hopeless when things were not perfect with my companion. Ha, I think I was even a little depressed and didn't know it. Through all of this I had found a couple of quotes that really helped me out. The first was on the topic of prayer. It says, “The only way to worry about nothing is to pray for everything." So I did just that. I learned how to really pray and to rely on God. Each day, I witnessed the small blessings and miracles and tender mercies that He granted me. He helped me to be patient with myself and my companion. He helped me to have charity and to love everyone and to see them as he does. He helped me to be brave and confident and to stand up for what was right. I was truly saved by the grace of God. And I even eventually learned to be happy in these times! I knew that God was giving me opportunities to improve, progress, and become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. I love a quote by Thomas S. Monson, "As we strive to place Christ at the center of our lives by learning his words, by following His teachings, and by walking in His path, He has promised to share with us the eternal life that He died to gain. There is no higher end than this, that we should choose to accept His discipline and become His disciples and do His work throughout our lives. Nothing else, no other choice we make, can make of us what He can."  We have only a potential that He knows and if we will humble ourselves before Him and ask for help through sincere prayer, He will make us into the person He knows we can become! This week God showed me His mercy and love for me! It truly was an amazing week! I got to go through the temple for the first time in the last five months. I got to go on splits with my STL's and take a breath of fresh air! We had the baptism of our investigator, Morotea which was such a special experience! I got to talk to my family on Sunday which made my life! I absolutely love my family! And today all of the missionaries on the island of Tahiti were called together for a song practice, so I got to see my MTC companion and talk with her! Now I get to email and talk to my friends and family and start another week of missionary work! I am so blessed and I know God lives and He knows us perfectly and He loves us and He is always willing to save us with His grace and give us the blessings He has prepared for us if we will follow the example of His son Jesus Christ and do our best to endure well to the end. Like in ether 12:6, sometimes the blessings only come after the trial of our faith! So keep enduring well! Put your trust in God! Pray about everything and He will bless you! I love you and pray for you all! Thanks for all of your love and support and prayers! Have a great week! 

Love, Soeur Heather Kofford 

 

Morotea's baptism!

Learning is Loving (:

5/4/15
We had a good week together ! I truly have grown to love my new area of  Papeari, my companion Soeur Faana, our house that is only reached by a fourth mile long pebble path, the members who do so much for us, our new investigators, and just everything ! I have learned so much here in these past weeks. These have been the hardest three weeks of my life, but I would not take them back for anything ! When I first arrived here I was a little bit discouraged, because we did not have any progressing investigators. We only had 6 lessons my first week, my companion was very different, and things were just hard. But I have found the strengths of  Soeur Faana! She is courageous and direct and a very good missionary ! If she wants something . . .she gets it done ! I have learned to respect, trust, follow her lead, and love her. As I have humbled myself and prayed to have charity, to love as Christ loves, I have found that God will always provide a way ! Last week we had 23 lessons together and found lots of new investigators and Stuka is set for baptism on the 9th! When I talked to our Mission President he told me that he was very happy with our work ! He told me that our area has never seen missionary work like that ! I did not even realize what we had accomplished together until president Bize told me and encouraged me to continue! This was my first face to face interview with him! I know that it was only through the grace of God that we received this success. I know that God loves us and is mindful of us and is always willing to help us if we will ask him sincerely ! I have really come to know my God in the last three weeks and I know he will never leave me alone ! He will always provide the rest if  I do my best ! I am so thankful for his mercy, for the blessings, and the miracles that He gives me each day ! Try to know God.  He lives ! He is there and He loves you ! I love you all ! Thank you for everything, for your thoughts and prayers and everything ! I love you and hope you all have a great week ! 
Love, Sour Heather Kofford