This Wonderful Week 5/12/14

Elder Woodhead, Elder McDonald, Elder Lehr & Pres. Ostler (Thanks, Kanzlers)

Elder Lehr and Elder Ravia way in the back at Zone Meeting (Thanks, Kanzlers)

This week has been so busy and crazy I almost don't know where to begin. I guess I'll start with the beach :)

Beach: On Monday we went to the beach and we took poda poda. haha That was fun. There wasn't a seat for me so I just had to sit on the floor pretty much. It was so crowded. But the actual beach was so beautiful. We were the only ones there and it was just so peaceful and quiet. I loved it there. Haha Elder Penia, an elder from Samoa husked a coconut with his teeth! That guy is crazy.

We only spent small time there but it was sweet. 

Transfer news: So no one is leaving in our district. We have Elder Bogh coming to be Zone Leader with Elder Muthoni. And Upgun District is the same so Elder Allen T. is still in my branch for now. And since the zone leaders are in our apartment I am now the new district leader over a district of 10. haha Mom you are completely right. I would rather just be a normal junior companion my whole mission. But I will try my best to magnify my calling and be a leader. I'm still here with Elder Ravia and man it's awesome.

Church: So we were finally able to watch 1 session of general conference and it was sweet. We normally have about 120-130 people attend sacrament meeting but this week we had about 180 people and 9 investigators and another 3 came late so they attended the Kissy 2 branch. But still it was sweet. I loved it so much. (They saw the Sunday morning session with Pres. Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude, Elder Bednar's talk on the Atonement and Pres. Monson's talk on Charity/Kindness)

Baptism: Fanta Amara got baptized and confirmed. Her husband came to baptize her and it was so sweet. She is reading her Book of Mormon and really applying it into her life and has grown to love it. It is so awesome. They plan to go to the temple next year :)

Investigators: So Donald came to church and wants his wife in America to learn about the gospel as well. So we are going to get her info and send her as a referral to some missionaries in Maryland. Also Reverend Moses has been reading the Book of Mormon and knows the Church is true and wants to be baptized. He is going to undergo a surgery soon though but when he recovers he will be baptized. And simply there are too many investigators to name them all right now. As of now we have 2 more baptisms this week. Derek (Victoria's little brother) and Jenepha (James' little sister) so that's awesome. The work is great here. Though there are some more challenges as well. 

Challenges: We were visiting some less active people and we found that there is a pastor who lives at the same compound and we talked to him a bit and he has been "reading" the Book of Mormon but he is really just trying to find all the faults he can. I believe he is the reason why all the other members there are less active because now all the less active members go to his church. I believe that he attacked their belief in the church while their testimonies were still weak. So that's hard. Also we just don't have time to see everyone. So that's really hard right now. 

This morning: So fun thing this morning was more of the cockroach war. Elder Ravia is a fearless warrior. He went into the kitchen with bug spray and killed about 800 cockroaches in the kitchen. Man it was crazy to watch. He is a brave man. So that's this morning. 

Spiritual thought: Well this week's spiritual thought is on charity. I liked what President Monson said during conference. One thing he said in my own words is that charity in not just kindness but it is also forgiveness, selflessness, and love. So that's one thing that I was thinking of especially being District Leader is selfless service and acts of kindness. So that's the thought today.

Anyway I love you all soo much and was so happy to be able to talk to you. 

Love Elder Christian Lehr

Note from our phone call with Elder Lehr for Mother's Day: This will be his first transfer where he has kept the same companion.  He is looking forward to that as he really enjoys Elder Ravia. He is also very glad to still have Elder Koopmans with him in the apartment. He mentioned that there are a good number of "islanders" in their zone. In fact, one of the Tongan elders, Elder Latu, knows Elder Lehr's good friend, Elder Tohi Heimuli.  As he put it, "all the Tongans know each other know matter where they live." He thought it was "sweet" that Elder Latu knew his "bro." As for the beach, he enjoyed walking along just listening to the peacefulness of the waves.

We did ask him about that picture where he and nearly every other missionary has an angry look on their face. Apparently they were told to make angry faces on purpose. Elder Koopmans and Elder Kvist were exempt, I guess. :) 

The work is hard and draining but he is enjoying it.  All the elders in this mission are awesome.  He loves every one of the missionaries that he has come to know.  It was fun to talk to him on Sunday.  He sounds so good.  He has grown so much in just 7 months time.  Can't wait to see what happens over the next 7 months.