Devine Design

The work really goes by much faster when you have a lot of investigators and this week we found a lot of prepared investigators! We saw Heavenly Father leading and guiding us in so many little ways. 

1. We met a family with 4 special needs children on walking wednesday. We went back and had an amazing lesson, the mom considers herself to be a seeker in terms of religion and says she's ready to settle down spiritually. We were more than happy to assure her that she has found what she has been looking for. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she asked, "Where can I get one?!" 

2. We found a woman who is from Pohnpei. Her last name is Fredrick and she is from Kitti. There is an Elder that served with us last transfer on Pohnpei who is the only member in hi family. He is Elder Fredrick and he is from Kitti. When we mentioned this she opened up for the first time, he is in fact her nephew and we have now started to teach her. 

3. We met a man who is from Pohnpei and he is married to a less active woman.  He told us where he is from on pohnpei and I said " Thats a really long road, I only know one family that lives at the end of that road, their last name is Ludrick" the man replies "....I"M a Ludrick!" We will begin teaching him soon as well.

4. We met with the manager of our apartment to discuss some sewage problems and we discovered he is a pohnpeian and a member. He gave a list of tenants he has been "working on". With one nonmember family, he helped them get an apartment for their father who is a member, on the condition that they drive him to church every week. They have come to church 2 times so far and we just began teaching them on saturday. The man (whose father in law is the member) told us he had been thinking that he wanted us to teach his children and so when we asked if we could have a lesson it was an answer from God. 

5. We met with a nice young man who said he was open to learn new things but that he was " a science guy" because "it just makes more sense". I was able to share that I love school, and that I will return to college after my mission to continue studying neuroscience, so I actually consider myself a "science girl". I assured him that God is the greatest scientist and that religion gives me far more understanding than just science alone. The spirit was very strong and I'm grateful Heavenly Father had prepared me to give him that special witness. 

I know there is no such thing as coincidences, only divine design. I know I'm on guam for a special purpose, Heavenly Father has a work for me here. I'm grateful to be an instrument in His hand. I'm learning that Heavenly Father really can use me despite my weaknesses. In fact I think He likes it when I'm a little weak and broken, because it makes me rely more on Him. I love Him. 

Sister Kamry Milne

Adjusting!

This week was just full of adjustments. Going from jungles and river crossings to walking down the side of the highway is hard. My body is enjoying the cleanliness and whatnot but my heart is still struggling, along with my stomach (it no longer knows how to process vegetables). 

The best part of being on Guam is just that there is a lot of people. This means way more opportunities to meet people, teach people, and baptize people. 

I have started to learn chuukese which is actually a bit simpler than pohnpeian, just not as pretty sounding. We mostly just speak in english because there are so many people from so many places. We've talked to people from Chuuk, Yap, Kosrea, Phillippines, Palau, Mortulak, Marshall Islands, Pingelap, Pohnpei, and the Chomorro people who are native to Guam. Plus in our ward there are a lot of white people who are in the military. 

Anyone who has watched "The District" will know of Elder Tuitu (the dark one from guam). He is in our ward, his family is super nice. 

I got to see sister Laulusa this week which was such a blessing, also we had a fun luau for the military on saturday, so all the missionaries got to help serve food. 

I miss Pohnpei but I know God has a work for me to do here and I am trying my best. I will do whatever Heavenly Father asks of me. 

Sister Milne

My Heart Is In Pohnpei

So much happened this week:

• Sister Higgins stayed with us because Sister Taunauta went to MLC. The best part of this was that I got to visit 2 girls in Uh that I found and taught with sister Bowers and then with Sister Taunauta and they both got baptized in February. It was amazing to see the change in them and in their whole family. And it was rewarding seeing some of the fruits of my labors. I LOVE THOSE GIRLS!
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• We came home one night to a dog with his head stuck in a plastic jar and it was really cute and sad. I laughed and quickly grabbed my camera while sister stewarts first response was to go save it.
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• I finally faced my fear and held one of the big spiders the kids play with. I didn't get so far as letting it run up my face like they do, up my arm was more than enough. 
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• Also I hit my 9 months mark! This means I am halfway through which is crazy. Its going by way too fast.
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• We got the call yesterday that both sister stewart and I are going to Guam and whitewashing another area together. My heart hurts but I'm grateful for the spirit which has been preparing me for this all week. Saying goodbye yesterday and today to these people that have become my family was so hard. I love them. I'm hopeful that I will one day return to Pohnpei either further down on my mission, or one day after my mission. These are my people!! I'm hoping our area in Guam (which we know nothing about) has a lot of Pohnpeians in it! Mostly I'm grateful that Sister Stewart and I are staying together! White washing on a new island with your same companion doesn't really ever happen. Although my heart is in Pohnpei, I know that the work is the same wherever I go and I love the work and my God who I am serving more than anything. I'm so grateful for the time He blessed me to live on Pohnpei and meet these incredible people. 

2 additional things:

1. Good news!  I had a lot of weird bruising, but the blood work all came back clear so no worries! Although I do appreciate all the additional prayers:)
2. New rules for email are no email chatting and email for 1 hour only. I know I'm already super bad at replying to emails, and now I'm probably going to get even worse at it. Just know that I read every single email and I appreciate them all SO MUCH!!! 

Here's a nice quote I found on Tuesday that I felt applied to my life and gave me comfort and will hopefully do the same to someone who reads this: 

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple waves simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding and compassion, which polish you for your everlasting benefit. TO get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain" -Elder Richard G. Scott

Sister Milne

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength

This past Monday was difficult as I learned my Mother has breast cancer. That's not news anyone wants to receive while they are on their mission, trying to give all their heart, might, mind, and strength to the Lord. However, I have already seen so many blessings in my life and in my families life. One of which is the birth of my beautiful new niece Hadley Grace Brian! 

I kept the news about my mom to myself on monday, so that I could process it privately. But I did share the information with a senior couple that was visiting, the Beaumonts. They had us show them around some of the local shops and then took us out to dinner. It was nice to have someone take their time to pause life for a moment to let me know they care. I also had them take a picture and send it to my mom because I knew that as much as I was worrying about my mom, she was worrying about me more. I am so incredibly grateful for prayer, it keeps my family and I connected and I know that Heavenly Father can look out for them a lot better than I can.  

In terms of the work, we have been blessed with a few very prepared investigators. Unfortunately, due to a funeral that took place, we weren't able to meet with John all week, which means his baptism will just be pushed back to next week.
 

Right now, our investigator Rolihne has my heart. She is 18 and has an adorable 5 month old baby. She is so willing to listen. She doesn't know how to read so we have been teaching her a little bit each time we visit her. When we first met her she was really shy and told us that she didn't like to pray. Now she has just begun to light up every time we visit and has started praying regularly. We arranged a ride to pick her up for church, but she didn't have any shoes. We are working with the relief society to get her a pair so that she can come next week. She's also really excited to have her baby blessed. 

I know that my Heavenly Father loves each of His children and I know He will never leave us alone. I'm grateful for our trials that teach us to have faith and rely on our Saviour Jesus Christ. Thanks for the prayers, I feel them everyday.

Love,

Sister Milne

"Welcome to Sapwalap ward, where you can eat and sleep in Heaven"

Highlights this week:

• Zone conference! The focus was on finding through members which is going to be so useful as we apply this training to our area. On Sunday we started applying and we reset expectations with our bishopric and auxiliaries and will be doing a ward wide fast for missionary work next week. 
• We locked our keys in our house and had to break in through a window. I'm sure we got a lot of funny looks from the members as my comp was boosting me up into the house. 
• On walking Wednesday, we walked down a long road we haven't explored much before. Almost every single dog went crazy running and barking at us and my comp almost got bit. It looked liked the dog was trying to bite her but just couldn't, like it was being held back. We also met a lot of interesting, semi-creepy people. When I talked to a member friend about it, she told me that we should never ever go down that road alone ever again, and we for sure will not. BUT we learned and we did actually find a couple less active women that need help which was good. Plus, it's always cool to see the ways Heavenly Father is protecting us. 
•  We met a cute 10 year old girl whose cousins are members and she really wants to take the lessons and be baptized. As we taught her a man came up and he looked really excited to see us and so he joined the lesson and we taught them about the restoration. We invited them to pray to know for themselves if what we taught is true and the man decided to bow his head and say a private prayer right there. He looked up and he was crying and I asked him what he felt and all he could do was put his hand on his heart and say "sair" which is touched. He is really excited to meet with us again and so are we!!

I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of each of His children. That's a concept a lot of these people don't understand, that Heavenly Father knows each of us personally, by name, and that He loves each of us personally. I'm so grateful for this knowledge and the knowledge I have of His beautiful, eternal plan for each of us. I love Him. I know Him. I trust Him. I seek to do His will. 

Sister Milne

I think that I am one of the happiest girls in all the world

I can't even remember everything that happend this week, it went by SO FAST! Here's some top moments:

1. Remember that french man from the airplane I had a great conversation with? Well I never actually gave him anything to do, like visit mormon.org or read the book of mormon. And I felt way bad about it, so I prayed to be able to run into him again. Two Mondays ago I ran into him at a restaurant, but he was with all his work friends and although I stopped and talked, I still didn't give him anything. So on thursday we ended up having district meeting in town (which we usually don't), and we ended up deciding to go to lunch (even though we weren't planning on it), and we ended up picking the restaurant that he was at. This time the spirit told me something along the lines of "I've given you 2 chances already, don't throw this last one away" so I wrote him a note, invited him to visit the france temple and mormon.org (I didn't have any english or french Book of mormons!) and he really appreciated it! Cool to see God's hand in the details and I'm grateful to Him for His patience and giving me so many chances.

2. There was a referral for a girl named Danya. We knew generally where she lived so we drove there. We got out of the car and felt impressed to talk to a woman on the road. She wasn't interested in our message, but she was able to tell us that Danya had recently moved further up in the jungle. So we headed out on a jungle path, led by the spirit. We reached a river in which a couple were doing their laundry and they were able to direct us a little further. We crossed two rivers and ended up on a path that led to an open area with several different paths. We picked the one that felt right and after walking for almost 10 minutes on the trail, ended up at a big local house. There was one girl sitting outside and it just so happened to be Danya. She was thrilled to see us and have a lesson and is now on baptismal date for March 10th. 

3. We had a super sweet member lady give us some local dresses, which can be viewed below. She gave us each one for our mothers and one for us. Hope you're ready to look like an 80's Island babe mom! 

There was numerous other tender mercies this week. White washing an area isn't easy, but this is the Lords work and He is absolutely directing it. I read a quote that I loved this week in the Liahona magazine by one of the Church's first female missionaries:

"I think that I am one of the happiest girls in all the world, and it is the gospel that makes me feel this way, for I do know that the gospel is true. I do know that God our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, came down and brought the gospel and established it and spoke to the Prophet Joseph Smith. …

I feel that if I could live forever, I could never thank my Heavenly Father enough for the blessings that have come into my life, for the privilege of going out into the world and bearing this testimony, telling them of the gospel being restored, of the authority Christ has given to His servants, and of the blessings that are in store for those who listen to and obey the words of truth, life, and salvation. …"

I feel as if I could be the one saying these words! I am one of the happiest girls in the world and it is without a doubt the gospel that makes me feel this way. I love being His servant. 

Love,

Sister Milne

I Straight Out Wept

We really saw Heavenly Fathers leading and guiding hand this week as we got lost in sapwalap but somehow always ended up in the right place at the right time. We are trying to clean up a bit of what the Elders left behind, and also trying to have a fresh start. Also, this week was a lot of trying to figure out where people live and who is a member, nonmember, or less active. This means the work was a bit slow. But as our awesome ward mission leader, Brother Albert said, "this week you are walking, next week you will walk a little faster, 4 or 5 weeks and you will be running!" 

The ward is truly incredible. There's no way I will not gain weight because they feed us EVERYDAY! They all tell me they want to make me fat.....bring it on! I love food! 

Also the kids all sit around us everyday during language study and teach us pohnpeian and its so helpful and so fun. I LOVE THEM. 

I truly testify that the Lord works through the weak and the simple and in mysterious ways. This week we were teaching a teenage boy and his mother joined the lesson. We taught about the restoration and baptism and the mother was not very happy about any of it. After I invited them to read the Book of Mormon and promised them blessings if they would, she wrecked me on my pohnpeian. ( I now have a new motivation to study even harder!) It was the meanest anyone has talked to me so far on the mission. It mostly just broke my heart that she didn't understand the beautiful message because of my inefficiencies in the language. After a few minutes of ridicule, I asked if I could just share my testimony with her. As I bore my testimony, the spirit was so strong I straight out wept for the first time in a lesson. She felt the spirit, and felt really really bad afterward, so she promised to come to church. She showed up on Sunday with her 3 kids, they stayed for all 3 hours, and she even participated in relief society. I'm so grateful that Jesus Christ makes up the difference. If I try my best and do what I'm supposed to, He is always right there beside me. I love Him. I love His work. I love being His servant. I will do whatever He asks. 

Love,

Sister Milne

Guam: Friends and French Fries

Kamry was on the island of Guam this past week to pick up her new companion Sister Stewart from Las Vegas.  Kamry is now back on the island of Pohnpei in a new area.   She finally has hot showers!

This was a CRAZY week in Guam! Highlights:

• I was "back in civilization" as President Poston put it which means I got to eat at fast food restaurants, go to Kmart, drive on a real road, visit an actual beach, sit on a couch, walk with carpet under my feet, and it was all very exciting and a tad overwhelming! 
• I got my new companion and a chuukese sister made a flower maramar for me to give her and it was all way cute and fun. My comp is Sister Stewart, shes from Las vegas, and one of the first things she told me is that she loves rules and wants to be obedient. So we will get along just fine!
• Heavenly father answered a ton of prayers: when I got lost driving on guam with no cell phone and just my new comp with a very empty gas tank (1 hour later we finally made it home), just staying with my wonderful Sister Missionary friends from different Islands was an answer to prayers, coming to this ward is such a blessing, and having some blood work all come back normal. 
• On the plane ride to Guam, I met and talked for a long time to a woman whose sister is the relief society president of Uh branch, shes not a member but she invited me to visit her on guam! (which I tried to do but she was in the hospital). 
• On the plane ride back I sat next to a very nice young french man and had an awesome conversation about God and prayer and how the world came to be. I essentially ended up teaching him the entire plan of salvation lesson and it was way fun. 
• Sapwalap ward is AWESOME! These members really know how to do their callings and are all so excited to help with the missionary work, plus we actually have a meal schedule!! 

Love,

Sister Milne

Hello hot showers!

Transfers! I will be heading to Sapwalap which is the area right next to Uh, a little further away from town, on the back side of the island. I will be training and whitewashing and I'm flying out today to Guam to pick up my trainee! I'm super excited and a tad bit nervous, but I know that God has a plan. If He trusts me then I can trust Him. 

I had a feeling that I would be leaving Uh, so I spent a lot of this week tying up loose ends. Picking up investigators that I loved but that we had to drop and having some last lessons with less actives that I'm close to. It is hard leaving them! Especially those investigators that have really begun to progress and that I have come so close to. I love them so much and I hope that they will continue to progress and soon be baptized so they can receive the full blessings and joy of this gospel. 

High lights this week: 

-We went on the outer island that is connected to Uh by a little road. We walked around it for an hour to have a lesson with a really less active girl. Her house is over the ocean and we had the lesson right there on the sea and it was way pretty. Plus she was super cute and glad we came. 

-We found out that one of our investigators is apparently a witch. SUPER strange. And funny. 

-Also found out that one of our long time investigators who ran away then came back was actually baptized in 1996. She didn't want to tell us cuz she was afraid we'd stop visiting her if we knew. 

-Also I spent the beginning part of the week on exchanges, so I was back in Kitti with Sister Felt. It was a blast as always, meeting new people is probably one of my favorite parts of missionary work. 

Thanks for all the emails and prayers! Keep them all coming, menlau:)

Limpoak sang, 

Sister Milne 

I finally ate DOG! Udah I iouki kidi!

This week was a blur! We have a ton of awesome investigators right now, but there was a funeral which lasts for several days here, so we weren't able to see a lot of our investigators. This means we got to spend a lot of time finding and we had a lot of success! We now have even more super awesome investigators! A few highlights from the week:

-Going on exchanges with Sister Behling who leaves in one transfer. It was so nice to have someone who is fluent in the language! I learned a lot:)

-Climbing into our rain water tank and finally cleaning it out! Its already dirty again so thats a bummer......but all is well.

-Walking around on wednesday which was the first sunny day in a very long time! We met a ton of cool people and ate our favorite "Koko" which is kinda like pickled under ripe papaya. And we added Koolaid to make it even yummier. 

-I finally got to eat dog! We were at a members house one night when her daughter walked in carrying a big dog leg from a party. It wasn't all the way cooked yet, but they gave it to me cuz they knew I hadn't tried it yet. Sister Taunauta taught me how to cook it up! I got to skin it, cut out the fat, cut it, then cook it. It was super yummy and didn't even make me as sick as some of the bananas do! It reminded me a lot of beef, but definitely had its own flavor. 

-On Sunday, the branch got to open a big package that Sister Bowers had sent them! It was filled with  magazines, candy, and play-dough. The funny part is that they had NO CLUE what play-dough is and they thought it was candy and so they all tried biting it and licking it. Once they realized it was certainly not food, they thought it was pretty funny too. 

-Today we got to go to possibly the prettiest waterfall on the island. The pictures do not do it justice, but it looks man made and like it should belong in Disney land. Sitting in front with the mist on my face was incredibly nice and relaxing. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you all try a little harder to learn about and become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. This week I learned even more about His life and His death. I can really see that the more we learn about HIm and what He did for us, the better we want to be, the more we want to give, and the harder we want to work. I feel His love and help in every aspect of this work. 

Love,

Sister Milne

Peace In Christ

This week was filled with peace in Christ. Especially as my companion and I listened to the 2018 mutual theme song "Peace in Christ" on repeat! 

This week was also filled with lots of miracles and lots of rain. And many miracles had to do with the rain. My favorite was in the middle of a lesson with our branch presidents mother, who when I first met her told me her name was Sakau (the pohnpein alcohol drink). We have been teaching her very slowly and she has been listening and changing! She puts up a lot of walls but though our love and service, they are coming down. We were in a lesson this week with her and it started pouring down rain, and I just prayed that it would stop (because we were in her hut which has a metal roof so it was LOUD). Well I finally got to teaching the restoration, and as I shared the first vision account with her, the rain stopped, everything got quite. Her eyes did not leave mine the entire time. It was powerful and both of us had tears in our eyes by the end. 

I really have seen that this is Gods work and not mine. He has repeatedly put the right people in our paths at the right time. He is so involved with the details and the intricacies of  the work. It is incredible to me, he truly "opens doors we cannot open and performs miracles we can scarcely imagine". (Thomas S. Monson) 

Also, this week we had an awesome zone conference and the mission Health, Professional Elder Beaumont, and his wife, Sister Beaumont, came and they helped us up our shower conditions! We got new buckets with lids and screens to filter out the worms and we will now be doing chlorine treatments to the rain water we catch!! This is an answer to so many prayers! 

I love this work and these people. I love bringing the Gospel to the lives of people who never before knew where to find true peace and joy. I know that this Church alone can bring us true peace in Christ. 

Love, 

Sister Milne

Picture in the rain was on the wettest walking Wednesday of my life. It was a thunder storm and we were soaked and a river flooded up over the road and kids were swimming in it. It was so FUN!