Monday, September 19, 2011

Arrived in Samoa, Week 1

From: Collin Boren
Date: Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 2:19 PM
Subject: Arrived in Samoa


Wow, This week sure has been full of surprises and lots of getting adjusted to!
The culture is completely different! The people are very very poor! The only part that is rich is above Apia and that's mostly the people who work for the government. Anyways! Everyone loves the elders though! Not everyone will listen to us but they all say hi and they all want us to say hi back! Except here everyone say bye ha... This experience is crazy! I don't know anything that is going on, and I can't understand anyone! Ha you just have to tell yourself my time will come! You definately have to be patient, but I know that this experience is helping me to rely on my Lord's strength. Because honestly, I have none! Especially here in a different country not knowing what the culture is like and not knowing the language. So in a way I'm glad for it, but at the same time it's hard! I know the language will eventually come! But I am enjoying myself! The members feed us well and they think it's an honor to have the opportunity to feed us! And at the end of each meal we give a speech that pretty much we are asking God to bless them and their family and they love it! They hold those very special! I did my first one the other day and the father was about to cry because a white person is trying to learn their language and he was asking Heavenly Father to bless his family! They are really nice people! You have to show your respect to them by using very respectful words and they always show the missionaries respect! There isn't very many people that don't like the missionaries! We found one lady though that didn't like us though! She told us the Book of Mormon was evil and she told us we didn't need a prophet in these days. She was a lady in some kind of church that believes they have seen God and they always receive visions. They feel like they are prophets of God. Kinda weird. But I have already seen some people that the Lord has prepared to receive our message. Agale has just committed to baptism! It's really cool! He goes to church every week! But he needs to quit his smoking problem! So hopefully he stops soon! We have a few other investigators that I'm really excited about! Fa`afoina is a 17 year old boy and he was very receptive to our message! But anyways! This has been a good experience! I can't wait till I can talk to people! There is a lot of people here that are really neat! Anyways how is everyone? How is Utah and the USA? Don't take Vernal and Utah and the United States for granted! It really is a wonderful place! Being away from it makes you realize how much you love it! Ha but sorry I couldn't send you a long e-mail today! But I will get one in next week I promise! I know that my Savior lives! I feel his presence in my life everyday! I think that that's the only reason I can continue to go blindly into the mission because of the comfort he gives me! I love you all and wish the best for you!

Tofa Soifua!
Elder Boren

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