Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it's happenin!

Hey everyone! Just to let ya know i got swollen lips! Woke up this morning to mosquito bites on my lips and they get big when i eat and talk! It's great! haha but enough about the bad news for the week! Pretty exciting week this week! So last monday had the FHE with Viliami and Lueni! talked about the BOM and it all went great and before i told bishop my comp will invite for baptism cause he needs to. Well end of the lesson bishop goes well thanks for coming Viliami baptism this week saturday? He laughs and says no. He says okay how about tuesday? 4 o clock?....yes. Yeah!! Viliami and Lueni are getting baptized tomorrow!! So happy! 5 o clock! but that's not all the drama. So tuesday came and we got another investigater. Name is Lose. A 27 year old girl who was taught everything last year and went to New Zealand before she got baptized. Well we were told she was expecting us so we show up and she had no idea. infact we were told it was her sister we were going to teach but that wasn't true. So it was kinda awkward. But we talked a little and found out she doesn't believe in the BOM or Joseph smith. Well we set a time to come back. So thursday was a real exciting day. We planned to go around with our ward mission leader so we went to all the houses in the ward and asked them to find someone for us to teach and ended up with i think 4 set appointments to come back. One happens to be tonight. but so we just got done visiting everyone and go to bishops and talk to his wife and lueni. We were all just talking and bishops wife says you should be going off the island soon huh? Well right after she said the our zone leaders show up outside the house and say pack up tonight you are going to vava'u at 7 tomorrow morning. I almost cried. I just thought NO i have to do this baptism. Go back in the house and tell bishops wife and lueni. Luenis face was just like i told her someone died. I told them we were gonna go home and i was going to call president. We leave and get home i tried calling president but his phone wasn't working. i prayed so hard that he would pick up. finally he picked up and i said hey president, zone leaders told me i'm leaving tomorrow. he said yeah at 7 you'll go to Ta'anea Vava'u. I just said president is there anyway to delay. We have a baptism tuesday with the family i've been working with since november can you please delay it. He said yes he'll rearrange it. I was so happy. We go back to bishops house and his wife had been crying. I'm really close to the people in this area. I love this area and don't want to go. I want to go to vava'u way bad but it's just the wrong time but we told him i can stay to do the baptism and probably til the end of the transfer feb 6. I was so happy and so were they! after that we went to another guys house who said he had some referrals so we went there and he gave us 3 referrals and we are teaching them tomorrow! then friday we taught a less active family. This guy has an arm that doesn't work. It's just dead and dangles. But his wife had some good questions and just wanted to know about the gospel cause she was baptized when she was 8 but didn't know much about the church but she was really receptive! then after that later that day we taught lose. She had ALOT of questions. We answered them all and helped her understand everything but wanted a scripture from the bible that says the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is the true church. I started going to 3 nephi 27 but she was like no the bible so i just asked the same question from the BOM and said when Jesus came he established HIS church. What would the name of HIS church be? She responded. Church of jesus christ. Okay so the bible says jesus is the same yesterday today and forever so if he establhished his church today what would it be? She said Church of jesus christ and kinda smiled and laughed. All in all went well and she's getting baptized tomorrow too! it's awesome! I'm so excited. Haha the night viliami said they'd get baptized i was like a little kid on christmas eve. I couldn't sleep i was so excited! but i'm glad lose is joining them too! We share the same name! haha. saturday all of them were interviewed and passed so all is ready to go! I gave viliami a white shirt and a tie that grandma hamblin sent me with anchors on it that said anchored in faith and told him to read the scriptures to go with it! A symbolic tie for someone who struggled with faith! It was awesome! They both came to all of church yesterday and really enjoyed it actually all the classes and everything so that was good! Well after church we went to our eating appointment in masilamea and got 3 more referrals. Teaching one of them on wednesday! then last night we went to check up on someone who told us to come back sunday when we went around with the ward mission leader. i thought they probably forgot. but they didn't. This less active couple had his mom come who isn't a member and we taught her and she was really good. Her name was aloma. Aroma in english. But it was really good and teaching her again on wednesday! man work just picked up out of nowhere it's awesome! So this morning president called to see what time our baptism was. I told him 5 he said he'll come and asked about work and told him it's really progressing and he's like well good it's progressing and time for you to go haha i laughed and i'm okay with that as long as i stay til the end of the transfer. And then right after i hung up the phone people were at our house from masilamea to tell us of another referal that we are teaching tomorrow! so yeah! Busy this past week and it flew! Seems like i just emailed you all! but i think that's all! Just pray that all at the baptism goes well! oh and then just one thing that i was thinking this week! First i finished the Book of mormon in tongan yesterday finally and want you all to read Moroni 7 it's good. And something i thought yesterday in church. So we are the sheep of the Good Shepard. Well shepards keep there sheep usually in an area with a fence. A barb wire fence. Something to thing about. If you've seen sheep or i see cows usually but they stick their head through the fence to eat outside the fence. How many of us are like the sheep eating outside of the fence of the commandments and even though it's a little painful and we may bleed from the barbwire cutting us or our little sins we still do it. Our body is inside the fence or we are keeping the commandments for the most part but we are partaking of things outside the fence a little or breaking a little commandments even though it is spiritually hurting us? I challenge this week to stop doing whatever it is we are doing even if it's little that's breaking the commandments and get our whole selves inside the fold of the good shepard and be happily in His pasture. Just something i thought that i never thought before. I hope it made sense. I love you and miss you all! Thanks so much for all your love and support! It means so much!Til next time,
Elder Rose 

Still here!‏

Hey still here in te'ekiu (translation for te'ekiu is sea bird crap, sweet eh?)
Still not sure if i'll go to vava'u or not so guess we'll just see! but for now just a few things this week! Woke up to a fight outside our house the other day, bunch of drunk guys. That was funny. Later that day they all wanted to talk to me and were just like man lose(rose) we just love you when you go back to america remember this day haha. It was funny. we have FHE tonight with viliami and lueni. I'm hoping to set a baptism date for saturday. I really really hope they will be! I love that family and want to see it happen! Someone in our areas pig was killed. Thats big news here in tonga. Police almost got involved haha. Ate that pig. It was delicious. Had stake conference saturday and sunday. There were as many people there as in my ward back home. haha. this stake covers half of tongatapu. But yeah not much else. Language is coming. Really starting to understand well and can just talk to people so it's nice! Oh almost forgot! Good news! Lost 5 pounds! only 190 now! haha hopefully i'm not 240 when i get back! That'd be no bueno! But honestly thats really about all this week! Hoping to send some pics home so hopefully they get there! But i love you and miss you all! All is well here on the other side of the world! Til next time!
Love,
Elder Rose

Well, Hey!

Hey everybody! How's it all going? Hope all is well! Everything is good here! We spent this last week looking for new investigators to no avail! Hopefully this next week! We just got done teaching viliami and lueni! It's went good. Bishop and his wife helped us with that! We basically just covered the last bit of the lessons and asked viliami what he doesn't believe. The book of mormon. He brought up how the bible says don't add. Well we helped him understand that and next monday having a family home evening with bishop next monday about the book of mormon! I really want to see them baptized! President came this week and said me and my comp might transfer to vava'u. The most beautiful group of islands here in tonga. It'd be awesome and i've been dying to go but i love viliami and lueni and want to help them! So if i go there i only get to email like every three weeks. So i'll try to let you know somehow if i do get transferred there this week. We were supposed to go the day pres came but he couldn't get our tickets cause it's been to stormy! SO we'll see if we go this week! If so i love you all and will talk to ya in awhile! But other than that not much changed besides my heart and my view of some things. Lately i have really tried to improve my prayers. I feel they have really improved and are just more sincere, i also read a book mom sent me,by the way mom got your christmas and birthday package and grandma and grandpa nielson got yours, thanks!, but the book is recieving answers to prayers and it was a really good book. You all should read it! But that book and  "making the most of your mission" those two books helped me so much, I have so much more of a desire to just work hard and i have been doing better. Even though we don't have many investigators right now i have all the faith in the world we will find some! I don't know I feel like i've just really spiritually grown over the last few weeks. Have some new years goals that i'm excited to work on. I've been able to feel the spirit more abundantly and things are just going good. I love this work and i love what i'm doing and scared to have less than a year now. I feel like i still have so much more to do that will take more than a year! I know i have a father in heaven who cares for each of us and will always do what is best for us at the best time. We need to be patient. I love you all and I hope you guys can just all work to try to love everyone and treat them as your own family. That is so important and what the savior does. But one last thing i wanted to mention. I'm becoming more and more convinced we are what we think about. If we can master controling our thoughts, we won't give into temptation because any temptation always starts out with a little thought. So challenge. Control your thoughts. Think about good things.I hope we can all try harder to do this! I know this work is so important and know it's what God would have me do. I love you all! Til next time!
Elder Rose