Dear Family,                                                                                                        August  9th

OH MY GOODNESS!! I'm glad you are all okay and no one was harmed in the accident, what a miracle. And it sounds like the canoe trip was wonderful and beautiful! It's been very wet and rainy here this week! The streets were covered in puddles and there are many flooded areas on the sides of the road. We were so excited for today because we were going to go play in the rain with the little kids, but of course it all cleared up today. I was very grateful when it started raining for multiple reasons. It gets very hot walking around in the sun and the rain is refreshing. My personal motto for the mission that I picked up in the MTC is "Firm in principle, flexible in procedure." It can be applied to many aspects of the mission, such as adjusting lessons to meet people's needs, being patient with others without compromising your standards, etc. Since I have been in Pea, I have found a new application for it. I'll just say that standards of living here are slightly different and our water likes to shut off at very inconvenient times. Many times, it has decided to shut off while I'm showering or brushing my teeth which makes things slightly awkward. Thankfully, we've had a water-bottle around to somewhat finish the job. Other times, showering or brushing teeth just never happens. I'm pretty sure God made it rain here because he knew I needed it and man I was SO grateful!

We have mostly been working with less-actives here and trying to meet more people! It can be challenging to be selective with who we work with because almost EVERYONE is open to our message. They are all very religious and love to listen to the message we have about Christ, let us in their home, and feed us. The joke is, though, that there's always 1 house in every village that reacts negatively and yells at you if you try talking to them. Well, we finally found that 1 house!

Sister Moala and I decided to start teaching an english class to anyone who wants to learn on Thursdays. We told a few kids about it and gave them hand-outs to pass around and man the whole village showed up! It was awesome! I think I counted 20 or so. We talked about emotions and had a fun game prepared that we couldn't play because there were too many. So we instead created an obstacle course for them outside the church which they loved. This week we will teach them an English Hymn so that they can come sing it at the musical fireside we are putting together in our ward and they can invite their families as well. I am super excited for it!

Well I love you all! I am glad that everyone is safe and alive. You are always in my prayers <3 Ofa lahi atu kiate kimoutolu.

Sister Petalisi

My vahe (district) at zone conference!

Two cute boys that love to follow us around on the streets. We gave them our coconuts.