Where Did The Week Go?

Okay, once again this week just flew by! I don't even remember everything that happened! 

The big thing is that a couple that has been taught for almost a year finally got baptized this week!! They have six kids, two of which are already baptized, and they are related to the relief society president. So this week was filled with preparation for that, and it was a lot of work and a bit stressful but we pulled it off! On Saturday they were married and baptized and it was beautiful! But my favorite part was when they received the gift of the holy ghost in church on sunday. They were both just glowing!

It was amazing to see the immediate impact on them, their family seemed so much more at peace and united, and I know its because they were following Jesus Christ by being married and baptized. 

Also in church, a member of the stake presidency came with his family, including two sons to bless the sacrament and one to pass it. They filled our little church building with the spirit! It really testified to me just how important and powerful the priesthood is. 

This past monday we were able to go to a waterfall which was so beautiful! Tiny, but surrounded by the beautiful jungle:) 

Honestly, I'm grateful things haven't been so crazy! I'm settling in and Heavenly Father is helping me feel more at home. I feel his love and guidance daily and I feel all of your love and prayers as well! My testimony and faith is growing so much and I know that this Gospel really is the only source of true happiness and peace.

The language is getting better, I still cant teach fully without my companion translating for me, but everyone is always impressed when I pray and Introduce myself. Some of the locals say I'm doing really well and am learning quickly.....others say I need to learn quicker and that I'd better study more.....so I just keep pushing along, understanding and speaking more every day! 

Love,

Sister Milne

Kaselelie Maingko!

Hello friends and family!

This week flew by! seriously, sooooo fast. 

After we emailed last Monday, sister James and I went to a little restaurant for lunch and there ended up being two members of our church that sat down near us. One was from Utah but living in Japan and the other was from Pohnpei but living in Guam. They were here to film the Pohnpei youth trek that happened last week (all of the youth from Uh that were going to go ended up missing the bus so that was sad) but they paid for our lunch which was so nice! And that essentially never happens here. Also, we found a little bakery with a really good Halo-halo drink. Different from when I tried it in Hawaii, but very yummy!  

Then, we went on exchanges with the sister training leaders, and it was so fun! I love them so much! Sister Russell and I were in the middle of a lesson when  two Evangelist missionaries showed up and asked to join our lesson.  Sister Russell did great, she was super kind and brought the spirit with her simple testimony of eternal families. 

On Saturday we had a baptism! It wasn't really ours, the man moved to our area the week before he was supposed to be baptized, so we really just had to wrap everything up and figure out the baptism. It was so rewarding to see his joy though:)

On Sunday we walked to church with our 19 year old investigator who was worried about her parents letting her be baptized. We fasted with her that they would say yes and then Sunday night when we visited we were thrilled to discover that they will allow her to be baptized! Fasting really does work! Also, her cousins walked to church with us, one of them is 16 and she was baptized 3 years ago. The other two are our investigators and they are sisters.. ages 21 and 12. They are all so darn cute and it was so fun walking to church! They know some English so they are helping me with Pohnpeian.

I haven't shared a lot about my companion yet. Her name is Sister James and She's from an outer Pohnpeian Island so English is her 3rd language. She is 23 years old and was baptized when she was 18. She is the only member of her family that is a member except for a sister that was baptized after she came out on her mission. She actually got called to serve in England, but due to her eyesight problems she ended up being unable to go. So she began serving in Pohnpei as a stake missionary. Once they stopped doing stake missionaries, our Mission president got special permission to keep her on as a full time missionary. She truly has a gift of tongues and she is always looking for ways to serve the people! I'm learning a lot about the culture here from her as well! 

I have lost track of my bug bites, I don't know if my feet will ever not be dirty again, the stars out here are unreal, and I had the most delicious pineapple in the world (there was no hard middle part that you couldnt eat, it was all sweet and amazing). 

Our car is making the worst sounds I've ever heard a car make, but we have to wait to get it fixed because there is a mechanic flying in next week. I think its really just running on our prayers and faith...Also I learned how to open a coconut with a machete. And I've begun to crave the local food, mainly the fried stuff. 

God is good and I know that he answers our prayers and will never leave us alone!

Sister Milne

Week 2 on Pohnpei

This weeks adventures consisted of: hiking up streams in the dark to investigators houses (literally uphill, in water/mud, for 5-10 minutes till we reach their homes), river crossings (while holding a plate of bananas and coconuts in one hand and trying to not get my skirt too wet with the other), losing a croc in knee deep mud (I got it back though), dropping my camera case and SD card reader in the jungle at night (so no pics this week, sorry), getting my Nikes stolen off our front porch, waking up in the middle of the night to tapping on the window above my head (not sure if it was a lizard cuz they make this weird laughing noise but it sounded like a person knocking and it freaked me out), an 80 year old women going off in pohnpeian about how I was a pretty white girl that she could find a husband for (of course I didnt know what was happening or why everyone was laughing until my companion explained it to me later), and finally lots of cute kids hugging me and trying to talk to me and then laughing at me as I just repeat "Ih sese lokaian pohnpei" over and over (that means I dont know how to speak pohnpeian).

We are so incredibly busy though! So many people to teach its hard to keep up with it all! But I see the lord blessing our lives and helping us every step of the way. We have a lot of people on date to be baptized, the hard part is helping them overcome word of wisdom problems, get married, and get them to church...We have one really great investigator that is 19 and she does all her commitments and loves  the gospel. She wants to get baptized but her parents are unsure about it. Shes so funny and sweet! We parked at her house on sunday and walked with her to church. It was 25 minutes both there and walking back, uphill and pouring down rain on the way there (I dont think I dried until I went to bed), and then it was downhill and blistering hot on our walk back. But it was worth it! And it gave me a taste of what all the members have to do each week, and most live further away. 

We just started teaching her 21 year old cousin who is also so sweet and seems so prepared to receive the gospel! Again the problem is whether her family will allow her to be baptized.

We met our new mission president this week, he flew to our Island and held a zone conference. The spirit was so strong! I know that he is supposed to be here and I can tell that great things are to come, its all dependent on our faithfulness and our obedience! 

The language is coming line upon line and precept upon precept. Every day I can say a bit more and can understand a bit more. I teach out of my language packets and I said a mostly pohnpeian prayer in sacrament meeting yesterday so its coming:) 

I love hearing about all this missionary experiences you are all having and I love getting pics so keep sending them!

Ih Poakepoakeiuhk

Sister Milne

Kamry's Zone with Mission President and Wife

Kamry's new mission president is from Idaho. He visited their zone this past week which is all of the island of Pohnpei. The mission president and his wife are island hopping as they visit all the missionaries in the Micronesia Guam mission. I love finding pics like this one because it shows she is happy and healthy. Her cute companion is native from Pohnpei. She is the one leaning into Kamry. Thank you Robynn Fulton for posting pics and updates. I so appreciate it!

This is a size comparison of the Micronesia Guam Mission. The arrows show the 7 islands in the mission. Kamry is on Pohnpei.

This picture was posted on Facebook by an older Sister Missionary:

Eating on the floor with their hands no utensils!

Kamry's companion is the one in the solid dark shirt.

So good! AND so hard!

​This week has been so good! AND so hard! I'm trying to learn the language but its a slow processes.......We are teaching so many people but appointments don't really exist here because its Island life, so that is both good and bad. Even though I look stupid every time I open my mouth to speak to people, everyone is so nice:) There is a lot of inactive people and a ton of people that have been taught before so we are really working with all people, members included, to build up the church. Honestly word of wisdom, modesty, and law of chastity don't really exist around here which is hard. There's quite a few returned missionaries actually, but we need to work at reactivating a lot of them.

 Yesterday on Sunday there was about 30 people in our little run down church building. The Uh Branch mainly consists on women and children because all the men drink a ton. Our branch president is a 21 year old returned missionary and he's one of 4 men in our branch that holds the priesthood. We are the only ones with a car, and yesterday it was pouring rain so a lot of people couldn't make the walk.

We get fed a lot by both members and investigators, we had like 3 meals in one night on Friday or Saturday and I thought I was going to throw up it was so much food. But its all good stuff: rice every meal, the best fish I've ever had, lots of chicken, fresh pineapple, fresh papaya, fresh breadfruit, bananas and breadfruit soaked in coconut milk. One thing that the Micronesians love is crushed up ramen with a bit of fruit punch or cherry koolaid sprinkled on top. They ALL eat it and its actually pretty good, ya'll should try it. My favorite is this homemade coconut Popsicle thingy they sell right near our house for 25 cents, GODSENT. I really want to try dog but us missionaries aren't allowed to eat it. We were at a families house and they had this cooked dog right in front of them that they were all picking at, its tail and legs and paws were sticking all over the place. It was awesome haha but they made us fish that was also really good. 

I got my Pohnpei license on Thursday and then got pulled over right after because we didn't have the registration sticker on the back. We couldn't find the registration paper in the car for like 5 very scary minutes haha. 

The main town is Kolonia which is where all the missionaries come to shop and email and eat and do laundry at the one laundry mat on P days. There's one main road that goes all the way around the island so its beautiful driving and seeing the ocean. People either live off the road, right next to the ocean, or on the other side of the road up rocky hills in the jungle. I've never driven on such bumpy roads in my whole  life. It was scary at first but good now. 

At first our house felt like I was camping every night when we came home. The water goes in and out and its always cold and we have a massive cockroach problem and it hot and really dirty. But after spending the days in the little huts these people live in, now coming home to our old, mini house feels luxurious. Our beds suck, but at least we don't sleep on the concrete like the people. Only half of our stove works, but at least we have a stove. The windows and doors let a lot of bugs in, but at least we have windows and doors and an actual house. It's all very eye opening and humbling. 

It's hard every single day but every single day the lord provides help and it's incredible. 

Love you all,

Sister Milne

Island of Pohnpei or "Ponape"

Hafa dai!!!! (Chomorro)

Hello!

Wow the last time I emailed seems like a lifetime ago.

We got into Guam late Tuesday night and got our assignments the next day, however due to restricted flights I didn't get to come to my island until this morning! I've been with the sister training leaders on Guam and it was a nice transition because it's the in between in terms of wealth and normal living. I loved it but I'M SO HAPPY TO BE HERE NOW!!!!!!!!

I'm serving on the Island Pohnpei and have already begun learning Pohnpeian! I will seriously need the lords help in this........but i'm so excited! Its gorgeous here! I flew to Chuuk first and then here and Hawaii will never satisfy ever again. I cant wait to take pics and share them. This Island is the rainiest which means jungle everywhere! I love it! I want a machete. 

The people are supposedly the nicest here and theres a couple thousand members I think. There's a stake on this island and one on guam, so i'm lucky in that regard! This also means that there's more missionaries on this island 24 maybe? 8 sisters I think. There's about 100 missionaries in the mission and about 30% sisters:) 

I've already given up makeup and i'm excited to embrace the culture. There's tons of beautiful artisan things that they make here and also they don't use utensils when they eat. For the first time in my life i'm going to be the person with the most manners! (until i learn their ways of course) Also we live in a house cuz there's no apartments here but there's no hot water..

My companion is awesome! I just met her a couple hours ago and I already love her! She's from Pohnpei which will help with the language, but she cant drive which means i'm driving. There's so much more to share but i don't have a lot of time! Its hard to read everyone's emails so if you want to talk to me I would love handwritten letters!! My address is : 

Sister MIlne

Pohnpei Zone

P.O. Box 2203

Kolonia, Pohnpei, FSM 96941

Also I'm in the Uh Zone.

And I'm already blown away with love for these humble people. Getting to teach on Guam with the sisters was incredible, it hurt my heart to see some of the living conditions but they are so giving!

Oh and foods:

Fresh mango AMAZING

fried banana bread mash stuff MAZING

fresh tapioca not my favorite

Cooked and sweetend tapioca SO GOOD

LOVE YOU ALL

Sister Milne