Mom and all:
Thanks so much for the wonderful letters and support. I still haven't gotten Andrew or your package but I did get a package from Roshan that he sent from dearelder.com. It was my first actual mail in a super long time and I literally jumped for joy. Tell Roshan if he can to email me.
This week was a difficult one, and I guess what I mean by difficult I mean a humbling one. We still had success as the work is concerned. We gave away 5 Tohi a Molomonas on Monday night and we committed a family to baptism and they didn't say no. We still need to work with them a little more. But I still am having trouble with the Language and at times feel overwhelmed by all the stuff that I still don't know. But it's okay. A bad week in Tonga is better than a Great week anywhere else.
I love you all so much and hope that all is going good with everyone,every where.
Sorry this is short.
'Ofa atu
Eleta Maikolo
Elder Michael in Niuatoputapu
The Other Side of Heaven
Monday, June 27, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
The best week of my mission
Thank you all for your letters and news from literally around the world. That is so cool that KRissy is heading to Romania in September, the stake is really doing a great job of pumping out missionaries, by the time Krissy goes out how many will be in the field all together, the Downey Stake is well represented through out all the world.
This week was amazing, i think i will say the best week of my mission.
Last Friday we had Two baptisms, one in the morning of Maka and another one in the evening of a girl named Heu. We finished teaching them both a while ago but family trouble delayed their baptisms. The Lord does thinks on His own time not ours. having patience is key to this work especially here in TOnga.
Saturday was really cool it was Stake conference here in Tonga and we were able to go to all the meetings. The presiding authority was Elder Nelson who is a 70 and is in the PAcific area presidency , and there was another 70 Elder Thompson. he is an area authority from new Zealand they talked in english and then had it translated into tongan so it was kinda like language study at the same time. we went to the priesthood meeting and then the saturday evening session which everyone goes to here in TOnga, after the saturday evening session there was a luao in honor of the authorities there was a kaipola (fancy dinner for the authorities) and the youth of the stake performed dances and other cool stuff. Kinda funny after it was over and the authorities had all left Elder Tu'avao and I sat down at the table where there was a ton of food left over and started to eat using the same utensils and everything, we hadn't had a fafanga and the food couldn't go to waste, two bishops joined us after they were done cleaning up. The food was really good, i ate octopus which wow was delicious.
Sunday was the best day of my mission, maybe the best day of my life, i will not be able to wirte enough to do it justice but i was the happiest i have ever been in my life on Sunday. I had the most Spiritual experience of my life. It was the Sunday session of stake conference and Tuavao and i sat near the front in row four in the chapel, the first three rows had no one sitting in them. Then a Minister from another church came and sat in front of us. we knew he was not mormon because of the way he was dressed, the other ministers dress a certain way. The choir began singing the most beautiful song in the world, and i noticed that This minister started to shake, like his whole body was trembling and quivering, Elder Tuavao said "look he is feeling something" and i was like this guy is feeling the spirit, the spirit that can only be felt in Heavenly Fathers one true Church on the Earth today. and i started to cry. then a bunch of things started happening all at once, these people started filling in the three empty rows in front of us, and i noticed that these 'people' were all the recent converts in the last few months, and over half of them were taught by me. They had just gotten out of a meeting with Elder NElson, I had no idea that they were going to be there, and then to see them all there and see their smiles and see the glow that comes when someone accepts the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to have the knowledge that i had helped bring it too them, wow, i did every thing io could to hold back the tears but it wasn't enough, seeing them come in, I felt like i had been granted access to the Celestial Kingdom for 5 mins, maybe it was the choir, but that experience was the greatest most amazing experience of my 19 years here on earth so far. thats how i really felt. Im still tearing up when i tell about it. And to top it all off Sione and Ngalu our investigators came in after the recent baptized and sat in the front, that was the cherry on top. I cant really remember what all was said during conference but i can tell you how i felt. All of our investigators where there. okay thats the experience i erally wanted to share with you all love you so much keep up the great work you all Love you all, sorry this is rushed. I Learned from this experience that This work is not about me, it is all about the investigators, you don't study and have to know the language or be obedient for your self, no you have to do those things for the investigators.
okay got to 'alu
'Ofa atu
Eleta Maikolo
This week was amazing, i think i will say the best week of my mission.
Last Friday we had Two baptisms, one in the morning of Maka and another one in the evening of a girl named Heu. We finished teaching them both a while ago but family trouble delayed their baptisms. The Lord does thinks on His own time not ours. having patience is key to this work especially here in TOnga.
Saturday was really cool it was Stake conference here in Tonga and we were able to go to all the meetings. The presiding authority was Elder Nelson who is a 70 and is in the PAcific area presidency , and there was another 70 Elder Thompson. he is an area authority from new Zealand they talked in english and then had it translated into tongan so it was kinda like language study at the same time. we went to the priesthood meeting and then the saturday evening session which everyone goes to here in TOnga, after the saturday evening session there was a luao in honor of the authorities there was a kaipola (fancy dinner for the authorities) and the youth of the stake performed dances and other cool stuff. Kinda funny after it was over and the authorities had all left Elder Tu'avao and I sat down at the table where there was a ton of food left over and started to eat using the same utensils and everything, we hadn't had a fafanga and the food couldn't go to waste, two bishops joined us after they were done cleaning up. The food was really good, i ate octopus which wow was delicious.
Sunday was the best day of my mission, maybe the best day of my life, i will not be able to wirte enough to do it justice but i was the happiest i have ever been in my life on Sunday. I had the most Spiritual experience of my life. It was the Sunday session of stake conference and Tuavao and i sat near the front in row four in the chapel, the first three rows had no one sitting in them. Then a Minister from another church came and sat in front of us. we knew he was not mormon because of the way he was dressed, the other ministers dress a certain way. The choir began singing the most beautiful song in the world, and i noticed that This minister started to shake, like his whole body was trembling and quivering, Elder Tuavao said "look he is feeling something" and i was like this guy is feeling the spirit, the spirit that can only be felt in Heavenly Fathers one true Church on the Earth today. and i started to cry. then a bunch of things started happening all at once, these people started filling in the three empty rows in front of us, and i noticed that these 'people' were all the recent converts in the last few months, and over half of them were taught by me. They had just gotten out of a meeting with Elder NElson, I had no idea that they were going to be there, and then to see them all there and see their smiles and see the glow that comes when someone accepts the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to have the knowledge that i had helped bring it too them, wow, i did every thing io could to hold back the tears but it wasn't enough, seeing them come in, I felt like i had been granted access to the Celestial Kingdom for 5 mins, maybe it was the choir, but that experience was the greatest most amazing experience of my 19 years here on earth so far. thats how i really felt. Im still tearing up when i tell about it. And to top it all off Sione and Ngalu our investigators came in after the recent baptized and sat in the front, that was the cherry on top. I cant really remember what all was said during conference but i can tell you how i felt. All of our investigators where there. okay thats the experience i erally wanted to share with you all love you so much keep up the great work you all Love you all, sorry this is rushed. I Learned from this experience that This work is not about me, it is all about the investigators, you don't study and have to know the language or be obedient for your self, no you have to do those things for the investigators.
okay got to 'alu
'Ofa atu
Eleta Maikolo
Thursday, June 9, 2011
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD TOMORROW
Malo 'etau lava
First things first HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD TOMORROW!!!
Second i want to say thanks for all the letters i got this week they were all really great letters. THanks
This week i took notes in my planner about what to write home so i will follow that.
One of the two villages that i work in is called Fatai, and there is a Sister missionary from Fatai who served in Tonga. She finished last Monday, transfer day. her name is Sister Paongo she was in our Zone and i knew her while she was serving here in Tonga. Let me put this into perspective, her last area was Ha'ateiho, and she is from Fatai. Which is the equivalent to Downey and Hunington Park, she served in the same Zone as that covers her village. This is very common in TOnga and one of the Things that makes it kehe kehe. Any ways it was Fast sunday and she bore her testimony and wow it was really Spiritual all of sunday was really awesome and Spiritual. There was tokolahi (many people) in Church in Fatai the most since i;ve been here, i counted 58 it was because there was two babies being blessed. It was a great meeting. After Church in Fatai we came back to Nukunuku and wow there was a took si'i aupito, super small amount of people. the smallest its been, from one extreme to another. The primary did a program where they had all the kids bear testimonies in different languages, The bishops daughter had spanish Thanks a lot Mom for your testimony. after they were all done i got up and I bore my testimony in English it was kinda different but i am really happy that was
We have been teaching a family in Fatai where the dad is already baptized and even served a mission but fell away from the Church and now wants to come back. He still has a testimony and he wants his wife and kids to have the Gospel. We also have started teaching a woman named Laise her daughter was baptized in 2009 and really strong, and now she wants the know the Gospel. We taught her the first lesson yesterday and it was really good, followed the Spirit and everything. these are the oldest people i have taught so far.
oh okay Mom which Elder Lester is serving in Brisbine because i met an Elder here, Elder Vakameilalo he is going to serve in the Brisbine mission as soon as he gets his Visa. i told him about Elder Lester.
Well thats about al for this week. Sorry this is short compared to my other emails. Love you all a lot. Thanks for all the prayers and support.
Happy birthday again to Dad tomorrow. Hope you have a great day!!
'Ofa Lahi atu
Eleta Maikolo
Oh Dad I saw an Oshkosh shirt here on some little kid the other day. It was really funny. A lot of the clothing out here is from D I. You see all these BYU shirts on non-members. I saw a shirt on some lady a while back that said "Draper Pool and Recreational center" kinda random.
Oh did you get my snail mail letter??
First things first HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD TOMORROW!!!
Second i want to say thanks for all the letters i got this week they were all really great letters. THanks
This week i took notes in my planner about what to write home so i will follow that.
One of the two villages that i work in is called Fatai, and there is a Sister missionary from Fatai who served in Tonga. She finished last Monday, transfer day. her name is Sister Paongo she was in our Zone and i knew her while she was serving here in Tonga. Let me put this into perspective, her last area was Ha'ateiho, and she is from Fatai. Which is the equivalent to Downey and Hunington Park, she served in the same Zone as that covers her village. This is very common in TOnga and one of the Things that makes it kehe kehe. Any ways it was Fast sunday and she bore her testimony and wow it was really Spiritual all of sunday was really awesome and Spiritual. There was tokolahi (many people) in Church in Fatai the most since i;ve been here, i counted 58 it was because there was two babies being blessed. It was a great meeting. After Church in Fatai we came back to Nukunuku and wow there was a took si'i aupito, super small amount of people. the smallest its been, from one extreme to another. The primary did a program where they had all the kids bear testimonies in different languages, The bishops daughter had spanish Thanks a lot Mom for your testimony. after they were all done i got up and I bore my testimony in English it was kinda different but i am really happy that was
We have been teaching a family in Fatai where the dad is already baptized and even served a mission but fell away from the Church and now wants to come back. He still has a testimony and he wants his wife and kids to have the Gospel. We also have started teaching a woman named Laise her daughter was baptized in 2009 and really strong, and now she wants the know the Gospel. We taught her the first lesson yesterday and it was really good, followed the Spirit and everything. these are the oldest people i have taught so far.
oh okay Mom which Elder Lester is serving in Brisbine because i met an Elder here, Elder Vakameilalo he is going to serve in the Brisbine mission as soon as he gets his Visa. i told him about Elder Lester.
Well thats about al for this week. Sorry this is short compared to my other emails. Love you all a lot. Thanks for all the prayers and support.
Happy birthday again to Dad tomorrow. Hope you have a great day!!
'Ofa Lahi atu
Eleta Maikolo
Oh Dad I saw an Oshkosh shirt here on some little kid the other day. It was really funny. A lot of the clothing out here is from D I. You see all these BYU shirts on non-members. I saw a shirt on some lady a while back that said "Draper Pool and Recreational center" kinda random.
Oh did you get my snail mail letter??
Sunday, June 5, 2011
I AM STILL IN NUKUNUKU
I am in the same area, Nukunuku and Fatai, both me and Elder Tu'avao
stayed. Im pretty sure that we stayed because Bishope called
President. At first i was kinda sad because i was kinda looking
forward to transferring, not that i dislike Nukunuku i;ve grown really
close to the members here and it was going to be hard enough leaving
after two transfers now im here another one. Its all good though i've
learned that its not about what i want its what the Lord wants for us.
Yesterday I tracted for the first time, we have a new program on
Pday, before the start of Pday we tract every house in a certain
village and give away Tohi 'a Molomonas (Book of Mormons). Yesterday
we tracted in Ha'atafu the fathest west village in Tongatapu, and we
gave away an entire box of Book of Mormons!!! it was really cool!!
Ha'atafu's not in our area so we wont be able to teach any of the
people we found but still it was really cool. We are going to do this
every Pday until we have knocked everydoor in Hihifo (the western area
of Tongatapu) we are just going to go to a different village every
Pday with a box of Tohi 'a Molomona and kamata.
I didn't get a weekly letter from Dad this week and just a note from
Mom with the message from Roshans Dad. I did get that amazing story
about Arrio's benefactor from Dad, WOW what a miracle!!! that is such
a coooooool story!!! I've been telling everyone about it. How is
Elder Hoffman, we just got a new Zone Leader who is an Elder Hoffman
too haha i don't think any relation though. How is Billy on his
Minimission? How is Ellen? i didn't get an email from here either this
week. That is so cool that Russ came down for the weekend i bet that
was a fabulous Memorial
day!
The work is going great we have 8 investigators in this time!! Maka
who we tried to pick a day to be baptized two weeks ago but he didn't
want to be baptized because his family would be mad, well we went and
visited with him and he want to be baptized now!! its awesome how the
Lord is always preparing people, we just have to wait until the time
is right. I baptized an 8 yearold this past saturday, her dad is
inactive and we thought her brother was going to baptize her, but when
the family should up for the papi service they were like "Maikolo, te
ke fai papi Lelani" it was a total surprise so i ran home and got my
papi clothes. it was really cool.
I love you all so much and thanks for all the love and Support.
'Ofa atu
Eleta Maikolo
stayed. Im pretty sure that we stayed because Bishope called
President. At first i was kinda sad because i was kinda looking
forward to transferring, not that i dislike Nukunuku i;ve grown really
close to the members here and it was going to be hard enough leaving
after two transfers now im here another one. Its all good though i've
learned that its not about what i want its what the Lord wants for us.
Yesterday I tracted for the first time, we have a new program on
Pday, before the start of Pday we tract every house in a certain
village and give away Tohi 'a Molomonas (Book of Mormons). Yesterday
we tracted in Ha'atafu the fathest west village in Tongatapu, and we
gave away an entire box of Book of Mormons!!! it was really cool!!
Ha'atafu's not in our area so we wont be able to teach any of the
people we found but still it was really cool. We are going to do this
every Pday until we have knocked everydoor in Hihifo (the western area
of Tongatapu) we are just going to go to a different village every
Pday with a box of Tohi 'a Molomona and kamata.
I didn't get a weekly letter from Dad this week and just a note from
Mom with the message from Roshans Dad. I did get that amazing story
about Arrio's benefactor from Dad, WOW what a miracle!!! that is such
a coooooool story!!! I've been telling everyone about it. How is
Elder Hoffman, we just got a new Zone Leader who is an Elder Hoffman
too haha i don't think any relation though. How is Billy on his
Minimission? How is Ellen? i didn't get an email from here either this
week. That is so cool that Russ came down for the weekend i bet that
was a fabulous Memorial
day!
The work is going great we have 8 investigators in this time!! Maka
who we tried to pick a day to be baptized two weeks ago but he didn't
want to be baptized because his family would be mad, well we went and
visited with him and he want to be baptized now!! its awesome how the
Lord is always preparing people, we just have to wait until the time
is right. I baptized an 8 yearold this past saturday, her dad is
inactive and we thought her brother was going to baptize her, but when
the family should up for the papi service they were like "Maikolo, te
ke fai papi Lelani" it was a total surprise so i ran home and got my
papi clothes. it was really cool.
I love you all so much and thanks for all the love and Support.
'Ofa atu
Eleta Maikolo
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