Baptisms and Visitors

Mauri everyone!

Hope everyone is doing well. This week has been a great week. We got three baptisms on Saturday, Nnee, Teretia (Teresa), and Reetebwa, which went very well. We combined with Teaoraereke 2nd for the baptism. Nnee is a 20 year old college student who lives with members. Teretia is a 38 year old widow with one teenage kid who just wanders around. Reetebwa is an 11 year old girl who is now living with Bishop Terikiai. They are all way awesome and I really enjoyed teaching them. It's been amazing seeing the changes in their lives over time as we taught them the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Also, speaking of visitors, we have two other elders working in our area, Elder Hoggan and Elder Wright, while they wait for their flight to Tab North. There's been problems with Air Kiribati's planes (3 out of their 4 planes have broken down). It's been interesting having 4 elders again in a rather small house.

We also have a family of 5 we're expecting to get baptized this upcoming Saturday. They are so awesome and way strong. One recent visit, Teaeka, the father, told us how ever since their family neighbors found out they were joining the LDS church, that they were hated by them and refused to talk to them. He said Taatuu (20) and Mwaetaake (18), two of his teenage daughters, their friends wouldn't hang out with them anymore. Teaeka told his kids to keep on praying and reading in the Book of Mormon and everything would turn out alright. Such incredible faith. I can't wait to see them enter the waters of baptism and covenant to serve their Father in Heaven throughout their lives. They're so ready.

Thank you all so much for everything! I tangiringkami! Tekeraoi ami Easter!

Elder Schoeny

Pictures

 P-day in the Teaoraereke Stake Center

 Te karewe. This is how they collect coconut tree sap for drinks. They 

shave off the end of the branch regularly to keep it flowing

Baptism, from left to right: Me, Nnee, Teretia, Reetebwa, Elder Wilson

Staying Busy

Mauri-O!

Hope everyone is doing great! The work is still doing strong here in Teaoraereke. We're staying very busy with lots of progressing investigators. We should have several people baptisms these coming weeks. Will keep you updated when happen.

Fun little story I thought I'd share. Background information, Kiribati people are way shy when it comes to new people, so getting them to church can be almost impossible if they don't have someone they know. One of our investigators, Nnee, disappeared right after sacrament meeting. We had told her we would lead her to the YSA class afterwards since she was pretty shy about going to class. Luckily her house is right next to the chapel, so we quickly walked to her house and found her there. She started laughing knowing full well she had tried to run away, but failed. Defeated, she walked back with us to the YSA class. On the way, we caught two more of our investigators trying to run away, Taatuu and Mwaetaake, two young adult girls in Teaeka's family, because they were also too shy to go into the YSA class. Also defeated, they walked back with us to the YSA class. They now have friends and everything is all good with them.

I also went on an exchange with Elder Anani on Thursday and got to work with him in Ambo for the day. I got to see several of my recent converts, which was great.

Not much else to highlight on for now. I tatangiringkami! Thank you all so much for everything!

Elder Schoeny

Pictures

 Me with Teramira, one of my recent converts, and another investigator

 Me with Maiango's family, Maiango and Augustina being my recent converts

A Kiribati mwaneaba under construction

The Work is Booming

Mauri-o!

Hope everyone is doing great back home! Things have been crazy out here in Teaoraereke. The work has been growing a ton! We got 9 new investigators this past week, all of them referrals from members and investigators, which means they're all legitimately interested. Elder Wilson and I are getting ready to start going on splits with YSA members just so we can visit all of our investigators regularly. We also have lessons planned with several new investigators this next week, so things should get interesting and very very busy.

Church was also crazy yesterday. Elder Wilson and I decided to wake up early and remind our investigators about church. We ended up having 11 investigators at church, compared to our usual 3-4 every week. It was rather hectic getting guiding all of them to their classes after sacrament meeting, but everything turned out all right. Our bishop is also way excited with how the work is coming, especially with the number of couples/families we've been picking up. We also had great church attendance overall for our ward, which is awesome. Teaoraereke 1st is starting to look a lot more healthy as a ward.

One highlight, we had a lesson on the Book of Mormon with Vaomala, 24 years old. The lesson was going pretty well, but things got better towards the end. Just when we started bearing our testimonies at the conclusion of our lessons, Vaomala's eyes got huge and she started leaning back, literally looking like a deer in the headlights. We knew she was feeling the Holy Ghost confirm to her the truth of what we were saying. As we finished our testimonies, she started to relax and told us she would pray for the will to join the Church. The Book of Mormon is true!

Not much else to report on. Things are looking bright.

Thank you all for everything! I tatangiringkami!

Elder Schoeny

Pictures

Cooking noodles on a pan because the power was out so 

we couldn't wash our pot

 P-day at the Buota chapel

Gave myself a haircut this morning. Turned out alright...

P-Day at Buota

Mauri everyone!

Sorry, not a lot of time to email today. Just got back from Buota for a combined p-day (the other side of South Tarawa, all the way to the east). It was fun and we played volleyball and stuff.

The work has been going great. We've been staying extremely busy and have a lot of great investigators. One quick highlight is a family we're teaching, Teaeka and Taataua's family. They have three teenage kids who are old enough to lesson, one of which goes to school at Moroni. They are amazing. We taught them the message of the Restoration, and we asked them to pray if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if God and Jesus really did appear to him. Our next visit we asked if they had prayed about it, and Teaeka told us he had, and that he felt something when he prayed. He said he knows its true. It's been amazing seeing the miraculous changes being wrought inside them.

Thank you all so much for everything! Tekeraoi ngkami! I tatangiringkami! Sorry for the short email and lack of pictures.

Elder Schoeny