Hi Family!

This one will be short, don't have lots of time! This week was a killer week and tons I wish I could share, but due to the time, I will share one experience that stuck out to me in particular. We had the chance to sit down with a man who has been a member for years, as well as his wife, but they go to the Wesleyan church. It became clear as we asked him questions that even though he may have forgotten some important doctrines in the fullness of the gospel due to his long absence away from the church, he still had a testimony. When I realized this, I asked him why he chose to start going to the Wesleyan church with his family if he knows the church is true. He then began to share his conversion story as a young teenager and why he stopped coming. His reasons stemming from a lack of friendship and love from the members and likewise from the missionaries who taught him, but stopped coming to visit after his baptism and completely lost contact. Yes, it's easy to sit down and point fingers and try to discern who was the real cause of his falling away from the church. Maybe it could seem like he was converted to the social aspect more than he was to the gospel. But as I listened to him, it nearly brought me to tears because I could just feel the depth of his pain that he had been inflicted with and it almost made me mad too! 5 years ago, his 10 year old son, Tevita, experienced something similar to what he had. And after a month or two of going to church on his own and receiving little attention, he made his way back to the Wesleyan church with his family, where he felt loved. It is so important to teach the doctrine to the understanding of others so that they can become completely converted to the gospel of Christ. But just as important, it is so so so important to LOVE. Because I have grown up in the church and my church family is all I've known, I haven't always understood the unfamiliar and uncomfortable feelings converts have when they join the church and their STRONG need for love, support, and fellowship. I hope that we can all learn a lesson from this man's story and commit ourselves to look for those who need our love. Maybe we can help those who are still searching for the truth to find it through our love and support. 

Have a LOVEly week, ofa atu!!!

Sister Petalisi

Zone  Conference

You know your members love you when they give you a whole pizza and make you eat all of it.

Sorry,  Couldn't get this to rotate!
Angel neighbor helping us with our laundry.