Episode 19: Long Live Taravao, Long Live Mataiea

Transfer calls/news was this week and I am STAYING in Mataiea for a third transfer! I'm super happy about it. I love this area so much and I'm excited to lead it out. They say that once you get to Taravao (my zone) you'll never leave Taravao, so who knows, maybe I'll just chill here the whole mission. 

Soeur Sieverts will be my new comp! I'm going to be saying a very long and very sad goodbye to soeur thelin today. She's being transfered to the outer islands (AKA america). RIP to a real one, luv u thelin <3 don't forget our Rainforest Cafe Vegas trip when I get back 

This week was suuuuper fire tho. Soooo many miracles!! We had a ton of lessons with a bunch of our friends and a good handful of them are progressing really well. One of my favourites of our friends is a little girl named Tevanui, who I'm convinced is the most precious kid ever. She's said some stuff like "I broke the commandment to not be jealous because I get jealous when my mom and dad hug because I want a hug too". Sooo cute lol. 

We had another chat with Paolo this week! It was probably one of the highlights. We came in and he was super excited to have us. We started asking him about his life and we were shocked at what he told us lol. Essentially, he's a mega-rich trust fund kid Italian millionaire who loves to sail. His parents died when he was in his youth and he was left with *all* the money, with which he proceeded to buy two 80-foot luxury sailboats. He's lived in Milan, Switzerland, Las Vegas, and for some reason Missouri. He's a world-class skier and he was trained by a martial arts master in the art of some kind of fancy fighting. This guy has lived an insane life and has now decided to sit down in Tahiti. Long story short, we're gonna go back and try to record more about him, do some genealogy work. I'll be back with more Paolo tales next week.

I feel like I've been pretty humbled this week as well. The tahitian people are probably the most generous, kind, most giving people on earth, and they show that most of all in the way they feed you. On Wednesday, we ate with the Riarii family, who live in a small, depreciating house with a bunch of other people. We get to the home and there's this massive table with probably 100 dollars worth of chow mein, bread, cake, and other kinds of food laid out. On Friday, we ate with the Rangomate family, who took us out to the nicest restaurant in all of Taravao (pictures below). This family drives an old Hyundai pickup with a smashed front windshield, the father has worn the same worn out t-shirt every time I've seen him, their work is to farm coconuts, and yet this dinner was easily hundreds of dollars. These people have nothing, and they give us everything. And I kinda wish they wouldn't haha! I want them to keep their money -- goodness knows we don't need them to blow cash on fancy food for us. But as we talked with Frere Rangomate, he said "I have been blessed greatly by the Lord in my work. Now, I need to give back."

This sentiment really touched me. These people are so ready and willing to give everything they have to the Lord because they've seen the greatness and glory of His hand in their lives. How much greater the world would be if we were all so quick to give! Charity is the pure love of Christ, and I see an abundance of it here in Tahiti among His children. My challenge for you all this week is to find a way to show your gratitude to God by serving someone else! I promise you that a little bit of love, service, and gratitude go a long, long way. 

That's all for this time! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Luv u all <3

- sœur snuggs <3