HAPPY YEAR MARK AND BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! What a week and weekend! I hit my year mark exactly October 8th which will be tomorrow but yeah it’s crazy how fast time is going! It’s literally getting faster! I’m so grateful for this wonderful year I’ve had as a missionary and wow missions are hard and yet so rewarding! The lives I’ve seen change are beautiful and truly this church is a church of joy and as Elder Kearon said in General Conference “Welcome To The Church Of Joy”! What a time to be living in and how much excitement we have to be members of the Church of Christ! It was truly a personal and birthday gift to me this weekend of feeling the Savior’s love saying I know you Elder LeBaron and I have you right in my hands!! Keep giving your all!!
Now for some Highlights from this week:
– Transfers were Tuesday so sadly Elder Tenney left me and so I got to be with Faaroa Mā (Elder Chadaz and Elder Jefferies) for a day and it was great!
– Picked up my Greenie/New Missionary Thursday and he’s great! It’s Elder Durham and he’s from Dallas, Texas and yeah crazy to be training him! I feel inadequate but luckily I got the Savior there to help me know that I can do this and help him to be the missionary the Savior needs him to be!
– MY BIRTHDAY!!! Such a normal day or so I thought… Here I was thinking about man it’s going to be a sad birthday but miracle after miracle made it a birthday to never forget! First waking up to watch General Conference! Then being surprisingly invited to a breakfast with a family! Then lunch for me with my favorite family the Tarati’s whom I love so much!
– GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND!!!! SO AMAZING! I received so many answers to my questions and it was all just beautiful! What Joy and Peace we can have in our lives thanks to our Savior Jesus Christ!
That’s about it for this week! It flew by and was crazy but great! Been feeling a lot of stress because of training and wanting to be the best for my new companion! Then watching the conference how much it talked about finding joy and just loving helped me to see that’s all that matters and that all I can control! But yeah sorry it’s kinda a small Email but I didn’t have much time today to write it! I love you all SO MUCH!!!! And miss you all like crazy!!! Till next week! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou! Faaitoito!💙
TRANSFER WEEK AND I’M GOING TO BE A TRAINER!!! I freaked out! I can’t believe that I’ll be training a new missionary! It’s crazy to think I’ve been out long enough to do that and that I know I’m in the Lord’s hands and that he’ll help me help my new companion but yeah definitely had a little panic attack but I know it’ll all work out! I’m not sure who it is because they like to make it a surprise just till the day he comes so I’m excited to meet him Thursday! So Elder Tenney my companion now will be transferred to Tautira the presqu’île in Tahiti! But yeah crazy!!!
Now for some Highlights from this week:
– Went to the Airport to drop off Elder Tenney to do My Plan in Tahiti which is what missionaries do at the end of their mission to have a plan to get integrated back into life after the mission and started an exchange with Elder Ockey who is our DZ(Dirigeant de Zone or Zone Leader)
– Miracle with Oehani and her mom we had a lesson with them this week and this is a family we’ve been teaching and the lesson was so powerful and they came to church this week and we’ve been trying since I’ve gotten here to get them to church and they finally came and were so happy and we were too and I imagine Heavenly Father was even more happy! It was beautiful!
– I had 2 exchanges this week so my second one was with Elder Jefferies who is a new missionary and we went to his secteur and wow it was kinda difficult leading a secteur I don’t know and with a missionary that doesn’t speak completely fluent yet so it was crazy but it was an amazing day together and he taught me SO much!
– TRANSFER CALLS→ SO… my companion Elder Tenney is leaving which is sad because our time together flew by! But now I’ll be receiving a new new missionary like I’LL BE A TRAINER!!! It’s CRAZY!!! I can’t believe I’ll be training this transfer and have a brand new missionary here to experience all this beautifulness!!! So kinda nervous but I know this is what the Lord needs me to do! So all I can do is trust Him and learn together with my new companion! It’s also a surprise for who it is they don’t tell you till the day of so that it’s a surprise for the both of us! So Thursday of this week he gets here to Raiatea!!
That’s about it for this week but yeah it absolutely flew by and I can’t believe it’s another week! Something I learned this week in my studies again is what I learned weeks ago but to do a little refreshing of what I said. It was about not asking why something happens but what I can learn from it! It’s so beautiful and I’ve really seen myself change my perspective for everything! When we truly see that we are experiencing these challenges to learn and grow! We had a testimony meeting of the missionaries leaving and one missionary told an analogy of all of us being like Tikis and that at first we are pieces of wood and little by little we get sculpted away till we become beautiful tikis and that each painful scratch away of the wood or of us we see it was to make a beautiful pattern to reveal a beautiful art piece that no one would think it has gone through struggling times but see the beautiful lines and parts carved out! I’m not sure if that all makes sense but it touched me so much and it’s true we go through hard times to one day realize how much it blessed us to become the Disciples Of Jesus Christ that can do anything that He asks us to do! I love you all SO MUCH!!!! And miss you all like crazy!!! Till next week! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou! Faaitoito!💙
LAST WEEK TILL I’M 20 YEARS OLD!!!😱 Just figured it out that next week I’m going to be 20 years old! Kinda crazy! What a week! It’s literally transfer calls next week! WHERE IS TIME GOING!! It’s flying by! But yeah all is good and it was an absolutely incredible week!
Highlights from this last week:
– Conference with Elder and Sœur Webb that spoke to us about good personal studies and how we can improve them! It was wonderful but because it was in Tahiti and we’re on Raiatea we had to zoom in! But it was wonderful!
– Wonderful interviews with President Tuahu! Normally they are in person here but they were virtual because of the conference! So next time it’ll be in person! But yeah it was great talking with him and helping me to learn how to keep going and not lose motivation being almost a year as a missionary!
– HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RACHIE!!! My wonderful sister(in law but she’s my sister😉🥰) and got to talk with her and it was wonderful! Miss her and love her so much!!!
– Exchange with Faaroa mā Elder Chadaz and Elder Jefferies and I got to be with Elder Chadaz our district leader! He’s so sweet and it was a wonderful exchange! And we all got to go to a baptism for the Sœur mā Sœur Rupper and Sœur Duez! We came with our amie! So that was amazing!
– Crazy fatams with an old missionary that served here almost 50 years ago and was here when Avera was just a branch! It was to hear because we are a big ward now! We ate with the U-fa mā and it was amazing! It was all so good with Porc au Sucre(sweet pork) and poisson cru lait coco!
– P-day Bqq and then played games as a zone and was amazing! We had hamburgers and then had pumpkin cheesecake and it was amazing! Afterwards we all played volleyball together and it was just an amazing time that we had together!
That’s about it for the week! It flew by and had many beautiful experiences! Sorry this is shorter this week I didn’t have much time this week! I love you all SO MUCH!!!! And miss you all like crazy!!! Till next week! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou! Faaitoito!💙
11 MONTHS AS A MISSIONARY!!! Forgot to say last week but I hit my 11 months last week and literally can’t believe I’ve been out for almost a year! It’s flown by! It’s crazy to see how far I’ve come and how completely different I am! This Gospel is so beautiful and amazing to see how the mission truly sculpts you into who the Savior needs me to be! I’m so grateful for this Gospel and the blessing that it is in my life and through super hard moments I truly can receive a beautiful peace and joy that can only come through Him! This week was pretty hard! I was sicker than a dog! I was literally bed ridden! I felt horrible! I had a super bad sore throat and a super bad dry cough and it was so hard to breathe! Luckily all is good now but it was pretty hard! I actually still can hear out of my left ear because of sinus pressure but all is better just that which still rests! But yeah pretty crazy! But on a positive note…
Here are some Highlights from this week:
– Surprise fatams with our amis that we are teaching! We had a faatamaaraa with a Sœur in our ward and she had invited our amis who we are teaching and had no idea and had a beautiful night together! It was amazing!
– HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!! It was my mom’s birthday this week and had an amazing call with her! Love her with literally all my soul! She is my bestest friend in the whole galaxy and words can’t express how grateful and how much she means to me! Love you mama!!
– Miracle with losing my light for my bike! I had lost my little light for my bike to see at night and when I was at a lesson I saw that it was missing and so I said a little prayer in my heart and had the first thought in my head to go to the pharmacy because we had been there earlier to get medicine for our sickness and sure enough it was there! Such a small thing but a huge miracle that God answered my prayer and answers our prayers every day big or small!!
– Had a lesson with an inactive member and we had shared the lesson with her and it was an answer to her prayer and she had been searching for an answer and our message was exactly what she was praying for and came to church with us and was like I need to return and it was literally a beautiful experience!
– Soirée Crêpe with the family Laufatte (who’s son I served with) Sunday! It was so good and it was with a bunch of other Young Adults and it was great! Got to learn how to make crêpes and had a super spiritual time together!
That’s about it for this week but something I would love to share is a quote my mom sent me this week and it literally touched me so much! It’s kinda long but I want to share it with you all!!
**This is great advice to always remember!!!
“We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough, and we’ll be more content when they are.
After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our partner gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice holiday, when we retire.
The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges.
It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
A quote comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said,
“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.
So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time…and remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until winter, until your song comes on, until you’ve had a drink…. there is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Work like you don’t need money,
Love like you’ve never been hurt,
And dance like no one’s watching. 💃🏼”**
I was so deeply touched by how much we must focus on the now and see the happiness all around us now! Don’t wait to be happy and see that truly happiness is the way not a destination! Think Celestial and see the JOY in our daily lives and know that no matter what we can all be happy and have JOY!! So as it says, “Work like you don’t need money,
Love like you’ve never been hurt,
And dance like no one’s watching. 💃🏼”!! I love you all SO MUCH!!!! And miss you all like crazy!!! Till next week! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou! Faaitoito!💙
HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT NELSON!!! What a historic day! I can’t believe I am alive to witness the first prophet to live to be 100 years old in our time! He’s literally amazing and the Lord has been preserving him to bless us with His beautiful teachings and to feel of his beautiful love! I live President Nelson with all of my heart and every day so so so grateful for his beautiful words and character! He truly reflects the love and character of Jesus Christ and can’t wait to hear from him tomorrow at his 100th Birthday broadcast and then in October for General Conference! Again so grateful for such a beautiful day to celebrate him and all that he does for this beautiful church!
Now for some Highlights from this week:
– Celebrated my companion’s birthday(Elder Tenney) and I made him pancakes for petit-déjeuner then had an insane déjeuner and then a wonderful fatams with the family Tarati and the mission couple Winter!
– Tan or as I should say Elder LeBaron started the MTC this week and it’s crazy that he’s already in Mexico and getting ready for Chile! Literally the last one of my brothers to leave which is so crazy it’s already here!!
– Invited our amie Hinarau to be baptized the 26 of October and had a beautiful lesson with her to get her ready for it! She’s so ready and really wants to get baptized!
– INSANE MIRACLE! Found this mamie(which we say for old women here which means grandma) who had been visited by the missionaries but never a follow up visit so we went to her house but she was busy and she told us to re-pass another day! So we did and it is now Saturday and we visited with a member the morning and she was there with her grandchildren! So we asked if we could have a little lesson with them and they agreed and came in to give the message and then the granddaughter Hinatea says can you give my papi(grandpa) a blessing because he’s sick and not doing good so we said yes and gave him a blessing! Then after was like can you give me one and literally cried through the who thing and it was beautiful then we shared a little message and he was like can I join your church I don’t have a church and would love to be baptized! We literally freaked out! Then scheduled another lesson with them and super excited to do another lesson with them! But yeah crazy MIRACLE!
– We had a Soirée Familiale(Family home evening) with the paroisse(ward) and it was great! We had many amis there and it was such a great night all together!
That’s about it for this week but yeah it was a great week! In my studies this week I was reading a talk by Elder Bednar in a mission seminar titled “The Blessed and Happy State” and it was amazing! It talked about being obedient brings knowledge and those who are obedient gain a greater knowledge! Then how you have intelligent people on the Earth but are they intelligent spiritually! And it was just a beautiful and interesting way to look at obedience related to knowledge! But yeah I thought it was interesting and wanted to share that! I love you all SO MUCH!!!! And miss you all like crazy!!! Till next week! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou! Faaitoito!💙
Wow how is it SEPTEMBER! Time is flying!! Here in Raiatea it’s ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!! BUTTTTT I got EATEN ALIVE by mosquitos this week! So that was crazy! My feet are just covered in bits! Then I also got a super bad canker sore on my cheek and literally it hurts to eat! But hey I’m living my best life and all is well!
Now for some Highlights from this week:
– Had my first lessons this week here with our amis and they went great! We have some progress to make with them but they are so sweet and so excited to get to be here with them!
– We were blessed with rain this week because it was so hot and then the rain cooled us off! But one day we were completely drenched! But it was fun!
– HUGE MIRACLE! We have this amie who lived in Hitiaa on the presqu’île by Taravao where I started my mission on Tahiti and we went to go do a visit with a new convert and I saw her and was like wait I know her! Turns out it was her and she had moved here to Raiatea! Literally 8 months later now in her secteur! I literally went to her baptism! Super crazy!
– Got to talk with Tanner or now Elder LeBaron for his first P-day and it was great to talk with him and know that’s he’s absolutely killing it!! Love him so much and so so so proud of him!
– Had a beautiful fast Sunday and got to bear my testimony! It was great and it was about the beautiful miracles in our life and how we need to have the eyes to see the beautiful little ones everyday!
– Joyeux Anniversaire to my amazing brother Tyler! Love you buddy and I had a beautiful call with him!
– My new companion Elder Tenney is so amazing and we made a goal that before he leaves Avera we are going to have a baptism and so we are going to work so hard to get it and help our amis be ready! He finishes in December and most likely will get transferred next transfer so we are going to seek and expect miracles and as Elder Pearson said, “Take Massive Action”!
That’s about it for this week but it really flew by and can’t believe it’s already another P-day! Something that has really stuck out to me lately is miracles and how many we can see each day if we truly have the eyes to see them! Like the Prophet Russel M Nelson said in his talk “The Power of Spiritual Momentum” that we need to “Seek and Expect Miracles” that the Lord is there to manifest His hand in our lives more than ever before and if we truly have the eyes to see we see many miracles daily! I can testify of miracles and that They are here and bless us daily! I will talk to you all again in a short week! I love you all SO MUCH!!!! And miss you all like crazy!!! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou! Faaitoito!💙
What a week! It’s been crazy! So I ended up spending another week here in Tahiti because we had a mission conference the next Monday and they didn’t want to have to pay for 2 flights for all the missionaries going to the islands so I just stayed for another week! The thing was I didn’t have a secteur for a week so I ended up going to the Bureau and just helping to prepare for the conference with Elder Pearson! So I didn’t have much that happened this week so my email won’t be too long!
Highlights from this week:
-Printed all our talks for the conference because we all had to make a talk and then print it for the conference and a random missionary will give it so that was fun and the. Got to eat with Sœur Wong in the office
-Got to go to the temple because we were in the temple housing that they have her and got to do initiatories and it was in French which was super cool!
-Tan my brother started the MTC!! I’M NOT THE ONLY ELDER LeBARON!!! Love him So much and how proud I am of him! He’s going to do absolutely amazing! He’s incredible!
-Met my companion because he came down for the conference and how much I already love him! He’s so cool! It’s Elder Tenny and he’s way cool! We were in the presqu’île together when I wasn’t Taravao!
-Mission tour with Elder Pearson! It was absolutely phenomenal! It was literally all that I needed to hear and was an answer to my prayers! He’s incredible and knew my parents when we were in Spokane so we got a photo together!
-Fatams with Sœur Wong and Elder Wong with Sœur Hoffman and it was so amazing and how much I am going to miss everyone in the Bureau of the mission! They are all my favorite!!!
-Flew to Raiatea and IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL FLIGHT!!! It was the sunset for the flight and seeing all the islands and the colors was beautiful! Also got to fly again which was so fun! It’s been since I’ve gotten here in Tahiti that I haven’t flown! So it was great!
That’s about it for the week but yeah it was a hard week but I’m doing better! In a talk by Elder Massimo De Feo in the last conference he said, “living the gospel of Jesus Christ does not remove pain and trials, which are necessary to grow. The gospel is not a way to avoid challenges and problems but a solution to increase our faith and learn how to deal with them.” It pierced me so strongly when I read it and helped me to know that challenges help us to grow and when things are hard we are going and are humble enough to turn to God and have His beautiful and powerful aid! He’s always there to give it and I saw beautiful miracles with that this week! He’s in every detail and with our Faith we can truly seek and expect miracles daily! I love you all SO MUCH!!!! And miss you all like crazy!!! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou! Faaitoito!💙
-Elder LeBaron☺️🤙🏻🌺
Welcome to the weekly mission updates for the LeBaron Boys
