Well Done Thou Good and Faithful Servant!

 

Welcome Home!

 

7 minutes to write my last email home :')

Hello all,

This is Sister Bever reporting for the last time from the BEST mission in the world- Misiona Tonga. I will keep it short and to the point. 

first, pictures:

1. We taught to kids, Starling and Suli. They are adorable and they come from a part member family. They will be baptized while i am on the plane home, and we are doing our best to ensure they will have family and ward support after their baptism. I love them.

2 and 3. Pictures from our trip last week to Ha'apai. One is of us stand with some members on the small island of 'Uiha, the other is of me and my adorable companion, Sister Paletu'a. 

The last message i feel i should leave with you all in the last 3 minutes is: THIS IS NOT THE END. The next time you see me, know that I have changed a little on this mission. I am probably a few pounds heavier, but most of all, my heart has changed. I have a greater love for my God, and for the Savior Jesus Christ, and for my fellow man. 

The best thing i can do for anyone is share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them, so, my last invitation to all of you already is to see for yourself if you haven't already <http://www.mormon.org/> , and then call me :).

I return home on Feb. 3rd. I look forward to seeing you all, but until then, my heart is here in Tonga.

<3

For the last time, 

'Ofa 'Atu,

Sister Bever

--

Sister Emily Bever

Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission

meetings, mamalohis, and tender mercies

'E kimoutolu 'oku mou kei lau pe 'eku email,

This week was a good one, but like i expected, it went by very quickly. We had the pleasure to attend all five zone conferences from Monday to Friday here in Tonga, and this next week, we will leave on Monday to Ha'apai for their conference, and Wednesday for the Vava'u conference. We didn't get to teach many investigators this week with all of the meetings, and a funeral going on in Kahoua which all the members were involved in... but, we got to teach some less active members, and i just want to share one experience we had with a less active named Lolo. 

We taught his once last week after a dinner with a member family, and we challenged him to read the Book of Mormon every day for a week. He said he would do it, and the lesson ended up being pretty good, but yesterday we got to meet with him again and follow up. He began by saying, "well, i read the introduction..." and i was thinking- "ugh great he didn't even try. that is only one page..." but then we looked at his Book of Mormon and he when he said introduction, he meant everything in the book before 1st nephi begins, which actually comes out to be about 10 pages in the Tongan book. He is a young, single dad who works until dark every night and he actually did give it his best effort to read every day. when i realized this i felt bad for judging him, and thankful for the power of the Book of Mormon. This man has not been active for about 8-9 years but now he is determined to come to church on Sunday and continue reading from the Book of Mormon every day. I don't really know how to help these people, and i make a lot of mistakes in this work, but the good news is, the Lord is at the head of this work, and even though I can't, he can. And he has blessed us with The Book of Mormon. I have really gained a testimony of the power of that book. Like the words of Lolo's father- "I can't change my son, but The Book of Mormon can." 

If you need a change in your life right now, any change at all, I encourage you to follow  the example of Lolo and just see what will happen if you read from that book every day if you do not already. I promise that answers and help from heaven will come. 

I love you all, and i'll attach a few random pictures and a Mormon message that i love. :) https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-08-012-daily-bread-pattern?lang=eng

Don't forget to look for a miracle every day! Have a great week <3.

-Sister Bever   

Pictures:

1. random sunset photo

2. Our new cold/hot water dispenser!!! misiona tonga is getting fancy!!!

3. The package from MR ward!!! Thank you everyone!! <3

4. Our favorite ward mission leader, Beni, who is leaving to Vanuatu... :(

--

Sister Emily Bever

Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission

Learning to love

This last transfer is going to one to remember. It will be a busy one as we had mission leadership conference this week, conferences all around the main island next week, and then we go to Ha'apai and Vava'u for conferences the following week. The last part of this week was a valuable bit of time for us to do some exchanges with the sisters and actually work in our own area. I learned to LOVE these sisters and our new little area even more. I think i mentioned that our new area- Kahoua- is where Sister Makasini's family lives, so here is a picture of me with her mom. We challenged her mom to help us with the missionary work. She is such an adorable old woman, and she gave us a bag of American chocolates. :). i also attached a photo of my japanese friend we met at the airport, my favorite fruit here in Tonga-- Tava, and an adorable chubby little boy named Kingy :)

I think the message i would like to share with you all this week is "leave it all on the field."

that is the quote we put on the front of our missionary daily planner for this transfer. To my companion and i it means to give EVERYTHING you have got and go to sleep at night without regrets, knowing you did your best. I think sometimes in life we can be like the man from the parable of the talents who was given one talent and he buried it for fear of losing it. We hold ourselves back from our potential out of fear of something bad happening. Sometime i see missionaries who sit silently in the lessons and won't speak because they are afraid of making a mistake with the language. Sometimes i see investigators who are afraid to try to quit smoking because they think they might have a relapse. In this mission i have learned to take a leap of faith. Go out and work with that talent no matter how small it is and surprisingly, it will double and triple and so on... Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. If you do it to serve the Lord, he will qualify you for whatever the task may be. 

These last few weeks of my time here is Tonga, i commit to leave it all on the field. Even though my talents may not be that great, i'm gonna put them all out there in the open. Talk to everyone, everywhere. Love everyone. Repent daily. And SOOO much more. This week i saw so many little miracles as a result. Here's to 4 more weeks of miracles.

I love you all. Don't hold yourselves back from blessings. Leave it all on the field. <3

--

Sister Emily Bever

Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission

People, it really is "The Other Side of Heaven"

These past two weeks, I experienced some things that most people spend their whole lives waiting for.

1. My companion and I joined our mission pres and local members on a LONG boat journey (i didn't even throw up!! but oh man, over 24 hrs on a small boat in the ocean is not fun...) to the remote Island of Niua for their district conference. We were even able to sing for the people there together with the APs. I will write about all the miracles later because I have 3 minutes. Just imagine them from the pictures <3.

2. I was a race car driver when we had to emergency rush a sister to the hospital who came by plane from another island and the ambulance didn't show up... ugh... Tonga.

3. I witnessed a baby healed by the power of the Priesthood.

That's all i have time for. This is the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!!! <3

-Sister Bever

p.s. the island with the beautiful water is the little island where John Groberg went to pray and learn the Language. It's a lot bigger than in the movie. 

--

Sister Emily Bever

Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission

#sharethelight

Dear Everyone,

I wish I had more time to write, but I don't. This week we had a privilege of going on the mission tour with Elder and Sister Haleck, President and Sister Tui'one, and the APs. We had meetings all week on Tongatapu, Ha'apai, and Vava'u! Even though each trip was very short, less than a day, we were able to see some beautiful sights, but more importantly, i don't know why I am so blessed, but we got 5x the counsel and instruction from the pacific area president. I learned soooo much, but maybe the biggest thing i learned is that the church of Jesus Christ and his gospel unites everyone. If I want to do something to bring the most unity and peace to the world, I should simply serve faithfully in the church for the rest of my life. My commitment to all of us this week is to fulfill our callings to the best of our ability. This really is the kingdom of God on the Earth, the sooner we decide to be all in, the better. 

Love you all, and I am so sorry to be out of time again,

Have a wonderful week and #sharethelight where ever you are!!

--

Sister Emily Bever

Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission

vava'u harbour. BEAUTIFUL. The pictures do not do it justice

quick self with my gorgeous comp in the car which is where we spend too much time driving all over the place.

We had a ward activity for missionary work in our english ward and so that was the table by the door before we got the table cloth

my comp and the area president, Elder Haleck, who came for our mission tour.

an adorable baby of a family in our english ward. The kids are all half tongan. Their mom is from spokane washington and their dad is tongan.

'Eua, exchanges, and meetings

This week was busy, but fun,and rewarding! We dealt with a few problems with the sisters (sicknesses, companion relationships, etc) this week. We went to 'Eua this week for just a day... the plane ride was 7 whole minutes! they claim its the shortest commercial flight in the world. 'Eua is really beautiful. It reminds me of an island version of molalla.... hahah there are a lot of trees there, so a lot of logging is done, and it's all just pretty rural. the "city" doesn't even have paved roads. I attached a few pictures. We did an exchange with some sisters there, and although they are facing many challenges in their areas, I know the Lord will bless them if they continue to use their time wisely. I am sooo happy to see when the sisters change their hearts and renew their desire to serve with all their heart, might, mind, and strength. It's kind of the same feeling i have when an investigator accepts the commitments we give them. Oh, speaking of  investigators, we taught Finau again this week and he is still working towards the 29th! Next week! He keeps his commitments, and I have a lot of faith that his baptism will happen, even if he is not yet 100% sure. 

One more experience with an investigator that I want to share--

Russel- He is a student at Liahona who is not a member. He is a very smart, good kid. We taught him during his seminary class the other day. He had been asking his teaching for a week for us to come, so he was just so prepared! We asked him questions and tried to teach him according to his needs, and it ended up being one of the best lessons we have had in a while. His friend, another Liahona student-member was there ( a 14-15 yr old boy), and he shared a powerful experience and testimony on the power of prayer, and the cute boy cried as he asked his buddy to accept the invitation to be baptized once he gets the answer to his prayers. We committed him to be baptized in the 5th of November, so we will work towards that date. He is currently reading the Book of Mormon.

Out of time.... but, I love you all. Look for a miracle in every day and I promise you will find one.

--

Sister Emily Bever

Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission

Lele holo 'i Tonga

Well, this was a wonderful , LONG week. We had many meetings, teachings, a baptism, exchanges, a flight scheduled and cancelled to go to 'Eua, too much to share all of it, but most importantly, I love this work.

With the short time i have, i will only share the most important things. We went to the temple on Thursday as part of our mission leadership conference. While there, i learned the importance of reporting everything to the Lord. I honestly hate reporting all of the numbers each night during planning (lessons taught, etc...) because i hate not meeting goals and I am too competitive, but it is IMPORTANT. When ever anyone does something on behalf of the Lord, that work needs to be reported to him. EVERYTHING missionaries do is done on the Lord's time. on his behalf, so it all needs to be reported. I really realized this week that I am on his clock and it is ticking by very fast, so from now on i will gladly report what i do on the Lord's time to help me remember how precious it is.  

I also learned an important lesson of humility this week. We were teaching our investigator named Finau and my companion and I were getting a little frustrated with him because he would never keep our reading assignments to find answers to his questions, he would just want to go ask someone who knows the bible- like a minister for another church... but we were deeply humbled after exercising some patience and listening closely to his answers... he can't read. he is in his mid- 50's and he is illiterate. We had a great lesson with him after that where we read carefully to him and he listened to us from the Book of Mormon. I felt how much Heavenly Father loves him even though he is stubborn and he can't read. He will be given a way to discover the truth of the gospel because this gospel is for EVERYONE. Finau told me at the end of the lesson that he feels like he is starting to believe the Book of Mormon. He still has a baptism date for the 29th of this month. 

I am out of time. I love you all very much, so I am inviting you all to take part in receiving the greatest blessings I have ever known. Share the gospel with everyone. It will bring you and them more happiness than anything else.

'Til Next week,

Sister Bever

I made a cake on Pday for Kalolo (investigator from Kolovai) because he finally got married to his girlfriend! I promised them a long time ago I would make them a cake... and we went to give it to them. Kalolo's mom now has a baptism date!

Sister Wunderlich went home. last picture of my and my trainer in Tonga.

We had a sweet MLC at the hotel by the airport! We tried to talk to all the hotel guests about the gospel. found an Australian Triathalon family, and a New Zealand traveling band. Good times.

Sister Fullmer from Maryland. One of the last palangi Sisters who cam after me

Week 1 in Matangiake

too much to write in one email. On monday i left Kolovai and left my little daughter, Sister Ramsay, and I came here to the office in Matangiake (Liahona). I have spent most days running around, dropping people off, picking people up, and fitting in a few teaching appointments here  and there. Who knew I would drive more on my mission in TONGA than I did at home?? 

I guess we are the Sister Supervisor training leaders or something. We get to do lots of excahnges and I guess half of my work now is toward the missionaries instead of the investigators.... indirectly helping investigators. We have two wards that we also serve in here. Matangiake and Liahona1. THe Liahona ward is an English ward which is definetly wierd. My companion promised to help me not to lose my Tongan, which i will really need to work for. She is Tongan from Tonga and New Zealand. English is her second language, so I am helping her with English too since she is more nervous to teach in English than I am to teach in Tongan. 

Fun fact- There is not a single non-member in the wards we serve in. There are 4 inactives, and that's it. Although, we do have 2 investigators who are fellowshipped by someone in our ward and we are working on encouraging the members more to invite their friends to hear the gospel in their homes, even if they don't live in Liahona. 

Finau- an older Catholic man who is making great progress...

Peni- another older man who has a baptism date for this next week!! 

Please pray for them :)

Apparently we will have opportunities in this new assignment to travel to the other islands!! Woohoo! I'll give more updates on that later, anyway, i attached a picture of my daughter and my granddaughter (Sister Petersen) and I in matching purple dresses. The other picture is of my comp and I driving all over the island. She is hilarious :)

Okay, out of time.

<3 Ofa Atu

--

Sister Emily Bever

Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission

a picture of my daughter and my granddaughter (Sister Petersen) and I in matching purple dresses.

my comp and I driving all over the island. She is hilarious :)

I finally got transferred!!

I loved my last area, but I had been there for a while, and although I am sad to leave my aborable, amazing trainee (sister Ramsay), I am excited to go where the Lord has called me, and unexpectedly, he has called me to serve in the office in Liahona-- as a sister Trainer to all the sisters in the Mission... ahhh!! I love my new companion as well, Sister Paletu'a, from New Zealand. 

I don't have a lot of time today either, but I think I'll be able to email again on Saturday because my new p-day will be Saturday. I have no idea what this new job entails, but I have a feeling that I will be here in Liahona until I am done with my mission. I will send more updates on Saturday. My old companion will be training a new sister after being here for just 6 wks herself. She is really nervous, but I know she will be GREAT. She will be training a Sister who I think is half-Tongan coming from Utah. 

Dad, I will ask around about Sister Hafoka's family since I am here now in Liahona. I am so excited to here about everyone's progress, especially Mom and Dad's missionary work in the old Molalla River Ward, and Ethan qualifying for the Boston Marathon!!! I have the best family and friends. 

Theme of the week- 1 Nephi 3:7. I know that scripture is used a lot, but it is sooo good! :) 

Ofa Lahi Atu,

Sister Bever

p.s. Kalolo's Mom, Fapiola, came to church again :) I know she will get baptized.

no time, sorry.

Here is a scripture for everyone and here are some pictures. thanks mom for the cute little package :). Moroni 10:32 (Book of Mormon)

p.s. the green thing is guava

--

Sister Emily Bever

Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission