December 12, 2016 : Tongan and Czech

Dear family and friends,
I hope all is well! I had a pretty neat experience this week here in
Grimsby! We were in the library waiting for one of our investigators
to show up and this guy comes up to me out of nowhere and he's like
"brotha are you poly" and I turn around and it was this Tongan guy
that lives here in Grimsby! Which is funny because there is no variety
in ethnicity here at all! It's just all English people that work as
fishermen! I asked what he was doing here?... he said he grew up in the
islands and after her joined the navy it kind of just brought him
here!  He knows about the church because he grew up in the islands
obviously, but is just not bothered at all! England probably got the
best of him!  But he said he was gonna invite us over to eat so that's
good!  Hopefully we will be able to change his mind! 

Two hours after that our experience in the library, we were on the bus 

when this other lady came up to me,  which is a miracle
within itself.   Usually when people see missionaries they part like the
red sea, I kid you not it's a real thing!  She asked me for copy of
the Book of Mormon and the Bible and was interested in learning more
about the gospel! Her and her family were from the Czech Republic!
Which is really cool because my grandma on my dad side is Czech
Slovakian and my grandpa is Tongan! I thought that was pretty cool
to meet and start teaching people that were from the same places my
family is from!

Other than that Grimsby is great! We got to see Paul pass the sacrament this week!

It was awesome to see a new member of the church use his priesthood to bless

the lives of others! You could tell he really enjoyed it!

We're starting to meet a lot of new people to teach! All of them have different

problems and things they are going through in their life but, the thing that I love the

most is even though they are all different and all have different struggles and

different trials they go through, the gospel of Jesus Christ gives them hope and

if they let it, it will lift them up and give them strength! The more I've been here

the more I've come to notice that despite what age we are, the color of our

skin, where we live, or what trials of life we are facing, and even the pain and

the suffering we go through, having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will always

help us have the power to endure and overcome even the hardest trials in our life!

Even though there are times we may feel like it, we are never alone! He is

there, he's know us, he knows what we're going through and he loves us! The

savior has promised to never forsake us and to bare us up even in the hardest

of times!

Love,

Elder Tuita

                                   This is my companion Elder Clanton, he is from Mesa AZ

November 28, 2016: Smith Family and Star Wars!

Dear family and friends
Everything is going great here in Grimsby! This week we had another baptism!  One of our part member family's son got  baptized this week! His name is Paul Smith!
Sister Smith, the mother and the only member in the family, suffers from dementia really bad! She was baptized about 30 years ago, so Paul and her daughter (Gale) were born into the church but, were never baptized.  Before they both turned 8, Sister Smith got dementia really bad and things went downhill from there so she couldn't go to church anymore. So sadly, Gale and Paul stopped going also. When Gale and Paul got older, the missionaries started coming over but, they were never interested. Every time we went over to Sister Smith's house to visit her and see how she was doing it would always break my heart when she expressed to us that she wished her kids were apart of the church! So we tried meeting with Paul to see if this time we could change his mind! I still remember the first time we came to his door when he opened it, he had Star Wars playing on his t.v! I was going through my normal "hey it's the elders".. from the church routine, but once I saw Star Wars on his tv I walked right through his living room and things picked up from there! The night of Paul's baptism, after we took Paul home and we showed Sister Smith some pictures of the baptism and she started to tear up! I could tell, even though she was suffering, that she was happy for Paul -and I know Paul knows this too! Paul should be getting the priesthood soon and have the opportunity to baptize his sister in the next couple week's as we are still in the process of teaching her the lessons! It's so awesome to see Heavenly Father bless the Smith family!

Love elder Tuita

Novemver 21, 2016: First Baptism

Dear family and friends,

Hope all is well back at Home! The work is really starting to come
along here in Grimsby! This week we had the opportunity to see Toni
enter into the waters of baptism!

I was so happy for her! I believe One of the greatest privileges  we
have as missionaries is the sacred opportunity we have to witness
people go through the process of using the atonement in there lives
and come unto Christ through baptism! It truly is remarkable, and
truly is a spiritual, sacred process to be apart of!  I believe one of
the greatest examples of this process is in 2 nephi chapter 4

17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in
showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O
wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh;
my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins
which do so easily beset me.

19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins;
nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.

20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine
afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the
waters of the great deep.

21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.

23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge
by visions in the night-time.

24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my
voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto
me.

25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away
upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great
things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I
should not write them.

26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his
condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much
mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of
sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of
mine afflictions?

27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should
I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to
destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine
enemy?

28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and
give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my
strength because of mine afflictions.

30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will
praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and
the rock of my salvation.

31 O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the
hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the
appearance of sin?

32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that
my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not
shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the
path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!

33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy
righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before
mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not
place a stumbling block in my way--but that thou wouldst clear my way
before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.

34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I
will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is
he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that
putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.


I believe here Nephi shows the greatest example of the power the
atonement can play in someone's life! That's why I believe that the
atonement is truly the greatest gift that the restored gospel  of
Jesus Christ has to offer people! As missionaries we get the
opportunity to witness the sacred healing power of the atonement
first hand! We get to see people, like nephi, "Awake" and "No longer
droop in sin."And rejoice in the Lord"! I am so thankful to be able to
share this with people because the atonement is truly something that
has blessed my life and I am so thankful we have the opportunity to
share it!

"11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit
thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever
before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to
exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.

12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with
exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my
family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable
above all other fruit"


Love elder Tuita

November 14, 2016: Thoughts on Joseph Smith and Service

Dear family and friends
Sorry for not being able to email you guys these past couple weeks as
for they have been very crazy!  I miss you all and hope all is well!
Grimsby is still great the work is really progressing!
Since I've been out on my mission one thing I have come to enjoy and
studied very often is the life of the prophet Joseph Smith! I've
probably listened to hours of tapes on the prophet since I have been
out on my mission and the more and more I have come to learn of him
the more and more I can truly say for myself that he was a prophet of
God! One thing that I learned that he did that I really loved is the
way he studied the scriptures! Many said that when they saw the
prophet study that he would spend hours sitting there studying,
writing things down, pondering then come to find after hours of seeing
him sitting there that he had only gone over and studied a chapter out
of Matthew! When I first heard this I thought it was crazy, but I took
it and applied it! I wake up a little earlier now so I can get an
extra hour of personal study and I spend two hours studying 5 pages
of the New Testament and I can say my scripture study is the most
spiritual part of my day by far!  One of my favorite things I have
learned is the account of the rich young man that came to the savior and
asked him what he needed to do to obtain eternal life!

16 ¶And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good
thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good
but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments.

18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou
shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear
false witness,

    19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.

20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my
youth up: what lack I yet?

21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:
and come and follow me.

22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful:
for he had great possessions.


I love this because it was not something he needed to stop doing, It
was something he needed to do that was holding him back!  I
realized that being avaliant missionary or a valiant disciple of
Christ is not just obeying the mission rules but also our continual
engagement in righteous and loving acts! I noticed I was doing great
on being an obedient missionary and keeping all the missionary rules
but it was the things that I wasn't doing! The going above and beyond,
losing my life for the sake of the savior, that was holding me back
as a missionary!

One of my favorite quotes I have heard on my mission Is by Howard W.
Hunter and he states, "That true greatness is a daily process of
giving one’s life to the Savior and doing one’s best to live the
gospel. It is doing well “the things God has ordained to be the common
lot of all mankind”:

Before I left on my mission I always remembered looking up to my
favorite sports stars like Lebron James,  and wanting to be like them
and follow in there footsteps and work hard! I remember hearing people
like Bill Gates, or Donald Trump and all these crazy success story's
and always dreamed of one day being successful like them! But it
wasn't untill I came on my mission that I realized that it isn't about
how may finals championships you have, or the amount of money you have
that makes you successful in life! But like Howard W Hunter says
It is,"the thousands of little deeds and tasks of service and
sacrifice that constitute the giving or losing of one’s life for
others and for the Lord. They include gaining a knowledge of our
Father in Heaven and his gospel. They include bringing others into the
faith and fellowship of his kingdom. … To do one’s best in the face of
the common place struggles of life, and possibly in the face of
failures, and to continue to endure and presevere with the ongoing
difficulties of life--when those struggles and tasks contribute to the
progress and happiness of others and the eternal salvation of one’s
self"

It is not until I have came on my mission that I have come to realise
that this is true success! I am so grateful for the privilege and
opportunity I have been given to serve along side my savior in his
vineyard in these latter days and I know with out a doubt that it is
only when we lose our life for his sake that we will  be able to find
ours! I love you all and miss you so very much!

Love elder Tuita

Week 8: Grimsby, England

October 24, 2016

Today was fun probably my favorite p-day out in the field yet!  Sister Wenmen brought a whole bunch of kids for us to hangout with and the zone leaders came down to hangout with us as well! We just played games all day and talked and got to know the kids it was a good time. Sister Wenmen at the end made us take a whole bunch of pictures! She's funny she's so protective of us! These people were making out on a park table in front of us and she ran over to them and asked them to
stop and said there were missionaries around😂😂 she cracks me up! I call her  mom! She loves it!

 October 25, 2016

Today marked 1 month in the field! It's incredible just saying that!
It's starting to get crazy how long it's been since I left home. So
much has happened it seems like lifetime has passed since then!
Through the ups and downs, trials, and miracles, tears and heartfelt
moments, one thing is for sure. Through it all I feel closer to my Father in Heaven.
I'm filled with this feeling of love that I can just
not put into words! I am so thankful to be apart of this! I am so
thankful for this wonderful life I have been given! I don't know what
I did sometimes to deserve all this but I am thankful! Today in
general went great we traveled to Louth! Louth is absolutely
beautiful! It's is basically a series of old small English villages!
It's basically what you would imagine 1800s England would look like!
It was so amazing!

October 26, 2016

We started off today by having district meeting! It went pretty well! We talked

about bus contacting and the importance of talking to everyone we see. After

district meeting all 6 elders went back to the flat and ate lunch together and

went on a quick 2 hour blitz! It was funny at one point of the blitz we were all

on the same bus together.  The bus was filled with at least 50 people! I kid you

not all 50 people got talked to on that bus.  Since I was the new missionary of the

area the other elders that were talking to people would call me over and

introduce me to them!  I walked around the whole bus meeting and explaining where

our chapel was and what Mormons are! We got 2 pretty solid potentials out of

it! After that the other elders went back to their area and Elder Omondiand I

went and taught Ben. It went good he said he would be baptised but he said he

wants to get baptised in a year! He's a tough one, I think he just wants to wait

it out to see if he's gonna end up staying with his Mormon girlfriend or not!

After Ben we went and saw Anna and Victor! Anna and victor are amazing people!

They are both gypsies from the Ukraine and don't speak the best English! They

are solid they both have a great knowledge of the bible! Her first question was,

"I am confused it says in the bible there is one true faith, baptism, church and

then asked us why there was so many churches! Theyare those people that were

just prepared for the restored gospel, but did not know where to find it! They

are progressing and understanding everything very well! They both live a tough

life! Victor wakes up at 4 every morning and walks two hours to work each day!

Once he gets to work he stands in the same spot for 10 hours and cuts fish all day then after

that he walks back to the house for another 2 hours! I don't know how he does

it! He says he does it for his family! Many of the people of Grimsby do this for a living! My heart goes out for them! Grimsby has really made me open my eyes

and has made me see how much I have and how much I have to be grateful for! It

is very humbling to see people work like this and barely have enough to put food on the table!

October 27, 2016

Today went good we had a full day of missionary work! We did about 4
hours of finding and knocking, and got 2 new investigators out of it. We
also had about 4 different lessons! We got to teach Toni it went reall well!
We taught lesson 3.   She said she would come to the trunk or treat
tomorrow so thats always good! After that we got to help set up for
the trunk or treat we just ended up laying soccer with a bunch of the
kids it was fun! I'm getting really good at this football thing! Maybe
it's because I was playing with a bunch of 10 year olds but still not
to bad not to bad!

October 28, 2016

Today went pretty well! Elder Omondi was really crazy this morning for some

reason. He was dancing really weird all around the house. We had flat inspection

today so we cleaned the house mom would be proud of me. We also had weekly

planning! After that we had ward council with are ward mission leader!

Our ward mission leaders name is Brother Gaunt! He's a return missionary(served

in Vegas) and is 23 years old! He's a pretty swell guy! Very funny! After words

he took us to Taco Bell. Taco Bell is different here then it is in the states

it's like chipotle it weird to be quite honest it really defeats the purpose of

Taco Bell! After that we did a whole bunch of finding, we knocked on the house of

a Church of England preacher! It went good I like hearing other churches views

on things! He was a nice guy! We left him with a Book of Mormon he said he would

give it a read! To be quite honest he seemed quite interested! After him we just

ran into a bunch of atheist. There are so many here! One thing about England

especially in posh areas I'm pretty sure people like it when we knock on there

doors just so they can have the pleasure of arguing there views with us!

Everybody here is very opinionated and everybody is very educated on there views

here especially when it comes to religion! I try not to argue with them too much,

I just listen to them because they always say something that I can use against

them and then I'll ask them in the form of a question then usually I'll just

bare my testimony and invite them to read the Book of Mormon! One thing I've

learned is they are either ready or they are not. The best way to find out if they are ready is

bare testimony and letting the spirit touch their hearts. If they are ready the

spirit will touchstones enough for them to want to hear our message more! After

finding we had the ward trunk and treat party! It was so much fun! We had a

couple of our investigator families there! Yanek should up for the first time so

that was awesome! He is really opening up to the gospel hopefully soon him and

Ennis will get married! There such an amazing family!

Love, Elder Tuita

Week 7 Elder Schmidt

 Parts of Elder Tuita Journal approved by him to share..........


October 18th 2016

Today I had the opportunity to go on splits with Elder Schmidt. Elder
Schmidt is probably one of my most favorite Elders I have met out
here. We have been close friends since we first came in contact!( he's
the kid in the picture that our arms were locked in last weeks
pictures I sent home) Me and elder Schmidt click........

"This is why going out with Elder Schmidt was so refreshing. I didn't feel pressure to pathway someone or stress out about how our numbers were going that day! I actually could just talk to someone and hear what they were going through and then bore witness on how the gospel had changed my life and how it could change their lives! It was the most spiritual day of my mission by far! We had miracle after miracle! When we had just finished knocking a particular street we had decided to keep going. We came to a street where there were 3 directions we could go: left, straight, or right. I was just gonna go straight but then I felt a strong prompting to go left, and the more we walked straight the stronger that prompting became. I stopped to ponder my thoughts on what to do and decided to ask Elder Schmidt to see which way we should go. Elder Schmidt immediately said left. So we went left and started knocking and we got nothing! Everyone either rejected us or was not home.  We got to the last house on the street and sadly still nothing. I didn't understand?  I was so sure that we we were prompted by the spirit to go down this street. We were about to just leave and go to one of our appointments but we decided to keep knocking as we both felt that there was a reason we went  this direction! We went around to the other side of houses that were to the back of the street and decided to continue our knocking. As we we approached the first house we knocked on the door it was answered by a man. We went through our normal routine of explaining who we are and what we do.  After we finished he stood there and stared at us for a little bit and then said "This is incredible I cant believe you guys are here" and invited us in! He further told us the hard times he was going through as he fired his heart out to us. We knew if we had stopped we would never been there for Daniel that day! We knew that we were guided to Daniel by the power of the Holy Ghost! The whole day was filled with miracles like this one! We had so much fun that day talking to people, loving them, baring our witness and our testimony with them, sharing spiritual experiences with each other, laughing and having fun. That was the first day I actually felt like a missionary in a while. I love Elder Schmidt and am so thankful to have him as a friend out here on the mission. This day helped me not to forget my purpose here as a missionary."

October 22nd 2016

We traveled to Hull today for splits with the zone leaders it went
very well we found 5 potentials and 1 new investigator and taught 2
lessons within the course of 4 hours. For some reason every time Elder Walters and I get together we seem to catch a little luck. After we finished the day we went back to the flat and ate and waited for Elder Schmidt and Elder Callahan to come back for
mission conference with President Nelson. While we were awaiting we received a
phone call with terrible news that Elder Schmidt's sister had just
passed away and he was going through a hard time. My heart sank. I
tried putting myself in his shoes and tried imagining if something
would have had happened to Leah or Josie while I was gone. I could not
bare the thought. I could not believe what was happening. Elder
Schmidt arrived and came and gave me a big hug.  Emotions starting
coming to me, but I did not let myself cry, I wanted to be strong for him
but my heart throbbed for him. After talking and trying to get his
mind off the death of his sister, we went to bed. I slept next to him and I could hear
sniffling and tears come to him. I layed there praying wishing that
someway, somehow he could find comfort.

October 23rd 2016

We woke up at 3 to travel to Leeds today to listen to President Nelson and 5 other general authorities today.

We went over many scriptures and discussed how we are witnesses of Christ. As I thought
he was coming to a conclusion (I thought this because he had just
closed his scriptures and was making closing remarks) he quickly
shared that he had been impressed to share with us a passage of
scripture D&C 31. He shared to us the story of
Thomas B. Marsh who was called to preach the gospel by the Prophet
Joseph Smith.  Thomas B Marsh was going through a rough time becausehe had lost family members  while he was out serving.
Doctrine and covenants 31 is the letter that the Prophet Joseph Smith
wrote Thomas B. Marsh. The letter was revelation given through Joseph
Smith to Thomas B. Marsh, September 1830. The occasion was
immediately following a conference of the Church (see the heading to
section 30). Thomas B. Marsh had been baptised earlier in the month
and had been ordained an elder in the Church before this revelation
was given.

1–6, Thomas B. Marsh is called to preach the gospel and is assured of
his family’s well-being; 7–13, He is counseled to be patient, pray
always, and follow the Comforter.

1 Thomas, my son, blessed are you because of your faith in my work.

2 Behold, you have had many afflictions because of your family;
nevertheless, I will bless you and your family, yea, your little ones;
and the day cometh that they will believe and know the truth and be
one with you in my church.

3 Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is
come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad
tidings of great joy unto this generation.

4 You shall declare the things which have been revealed to my servant,
Joseph Smith, Jun. You shall begin to preach from this time forth,
yea, to reap in the field which is white already to be burned.

5 Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins
are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back,
for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Wherefore, your family shall
live.

6 Behold, verily I say unto you, go from them only for a little time,
and declare my word, and I will prepare a place for them.

7 Yea, I will open the hearts of the people, and they will receive
you. And I will establish a church by your hand;

8 And you shall strengthen them and prepare them against the time when
they shall be gathered.

9 Be patient in afflictions, revile not against those that revile.
Govern your house in meekness, and be steadfast.

10 Behold, I say unto you that you shall be a physician unto the
church, but not unto the world, for they will not receive you.

11 Go your way whithersoever I will, and it shall be given you by the
Comforter what you shall do and whither you shall go.

12 Pray always, lest you enter into temptation and lose your reward.

13 Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you. These words are
not of man nor of men, but of me, even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, by
the will of the Father. Amen.

After reading this President Nelson bore testimony and his apostolic
witness and testified that as missionaries were not only blessing the
lives of us but our families! Elder Schmidt as president Nelson spoke
these words he crouched over and began to ball into his hands! I knew
that he had just got his question answered! That day I got to witness
in a first hand experience on how gods prophets are inspired for Gods
children here on the earth! The spirit was so strong! We traveled home
that day and Elder Schmidt was happy he looked like he had found piece
he was himself again. I know that Heavenly Father had answered elder
Schmidt's question that day and in doing so he answered mine!

Week 6-Tracting

Dear family and friends. I hope all is well! Everything is going very
well here in Grimsby!
This week we get to meet President Nelson! I am so pumped! It will be
interesting to see what he has to say or what he's going to talk
about! Besides that nothing else has really changed here in Grimsby. I
almost got mugged the other night it was pretty funny! Ha ha -turns out
it was just a misunderstanding. We do about eight hours of tracting
here in Grimsby a day. We knock on doors, go street contacting, bus
contact, sometimes we even just start preaching to multitudes of
people.  It is insane. I thought I was going to go crazy the first week
I was here😂😂! But I learned how to make it fun! The key is just to
talk to everyone and just have fun with it! We had some pretty crazy
conversations though! One guy tried arguing with me after I had just
asked him how his day was going and he responded by telling me that
Joseph Smith was a part of the illuminati and that God restored the
true gospel back to a website called bible.com and then he just
started screaming at me! Then He stormed off! It was pretty funny!
It's sad though. It made me think about one of my favorite scriptures
I got to read in the MTC: 1 Corinthians  2,
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God.
Here in England a lot of the people build there testimony of God on
what they read on the Internet or what there preachers tell them to
believe every Sunday! Instead of reading the scriptures for themselves
and praying and earnestly seeking revelation and inspiration through
God! They would rather just be told what to believe! Or read what some
website has to say on the subject! The only way to the know the will
and the way of God is not to go to some website or what some paid man
tells you each Sunday, but to go to the source himself and ask God and
by his power and his will we my know! I love you all and miss you all
very much! And I know if we put our trust in God he will guide and
show us the way and the truth!

Love, Elder Tuita

Week 5 Helping Less Actives To "Remember"

Dear family and friends,

I hope all is well! Time is really starting to pick up here and so is
the work. There is about 6 investigators we’re working with right now
this month towards baptisms! Included are two families we are teaching!
One of the family's we’re working with right now is Jake and Louis!
They are awesome. They are a young couple with their first baby on the
way any day now! The ward has been great bringing baby clothes and
presents and stuff! They have been keeping their commitments  and
coming to church too they are solid! The only thing keeping them back
is they are not yet married but we are meeting with bishop soon to
discuss a date and a place! It's crazy to see how much the Lord is
blessings their lives!

The other family we’re working with right now is
Ennis and Yanex! They are a beautiful family with two young children!
At church he follows the Elders around everywhere it's really funny!
Here in Grimsby there are about 500 members in the ward only 150 are
active! That is one of the bigger things we try to focus on here in
Grimsby is working with the less active members! We meet with tons
of them each week trying to help them back to church! It's a very hard
and sad thing to deal with as a missionary! The biggest thing we deal
with as we work with less actives is they feel like there
relationship with God isn't there anymore and he just doesn't care! It
breaks my heart. As I searched for answers and pondered in my heart
how I could help them, my answer came from a place you would
not expect.

We were watching the movie The Lion King.( one of the few
movies approved by the mission president!) And while watching it we
watched a scene that touched my heart dearly!  It was the scene where
Mofasa appears to his son Symba when he is dead and tells him that he
was not living up to who he was and who he is supposed to be "Look
inside yourself. You are more than what you’ve become! Remember who you
are Symba.... Remember."

These words stuck with me! The word remember
is said in the scriptures 497 times. The word is repeated and stressed
through out their writings.  Its even stressed in the sacrament
prayers that we should always remember him! As I studied I realized
that God never stopped being there for these people but they
were quick to forget the Lord their God! They were quick to forget the
miracles and the spirit he put into their lives! The things he had
blessed them with! They got caught up in the world and started getting
too busy for the things that helped them to remember these things. As they
did this they slowly but surely drifted away until they had forgotten
their Heavenly Father! Family and friends with the busy life styles we
live today it is easy to get caught up and forget the things that
bring true happiness into our lives. That's why I love the word
remember! When we feel that God is not there for us or our
relationship is not there anymore remember! Remember those moments
when the spirit first touched your life. Remember the miracles he has
performed for you. Remember the love you have felt from him. Remember
the things he has blessed you with. And most importantly never forget
and always remember who you are! You are a child of a loving and all
powerful Heavenly Father! Never forget your divine potential!

Love Elder Tuita

Week 4 First Assignment: Grimsby, England

Dear family and friends!

This week has been an emotional rollarcoaster for sure! First off, I
had to say goodbye to my good friends I made in the MTC! This was
super tough to do. Even though I was only with them for three weeks
they felt like family to me! They will be missed but I know they are
doing the Lords work! We got to Leeds at about 8:00 in the morning!
President Turvey is awesome! I look forward to have the opportunity to
serve under him! He is a great guy very loving and very funny!  My
companion/trainer is awesome he is from Kenya! I
have learned so much from him!

My first area I got assigned to is the city of Grimsby. 

 

Grimsby is the poorest city in England! When I arrived my heart was filled!

There is so much work to do here! I feel honoured and blessed for the

opportunity to serve the people of Grimsby! When we walk the streets here it

would break your heart! So many people are going through hard times! We bring

the message of hope!

 This is Maca! He is such an amazing man and his been through so much! We met him

on the streets! It was tough to convince him to let us come

through and talk to him( just like anybody here in England) we talked to him for

about 30 minutes and he finally agreed to let us stop by! When we arrived at

his house and started talking to him, we found out that Maca has been through a

lot! You could tell in his accountance that he was really struggling! Then

something truly remarkable happened! As we started explaining to him about the

restored gospel and that he had a Father in Heaven that loved him so much! The

spirit testified the truthfulness of our message and I could see his accountance

change, he started to tear up and he wanted to know more! I could see the spirit

flame and swell up inside of him! I invited him to follow the example of Jesus

Christ his son and be baptised and take upon the name of our Savior and

Redeemer Jesus Christ! He said yes! Maca will be baptised on October 28! It is

incredible to watch his life change he seems so much more happy now! I know it

will be tough this next month on him and the adversary is gonna try as hard as

he can to mess things up! But I have confidence that he will make it through! I

learned something that day though. You see Maca thinks that we changed his

life! But I know that this is not the case! Heavenly Father did, but he used us

as tools to do so! This was the first time I have felt his power and his love so

strongly! To sit and have words come out of your mouth and have no clue where

there coming from and to see and to look in to someone's eyes and see the spirit

touch them and heal them is the most overwhelming feeling that I just can not

explain! I know by the power of the Holy Ghost it was god! I am so ever great

full for the opportunity I have to serve at is side in his vineyard for these

next two years! I miss you all so much and hope everything is well!

Love Elder Tuita

Week 3 Depart MTC and Arrive at Leeds England Mission

Departing MTC

Dear Family,

 

Your son will be departing the England Missionary Training Centre on Tuesday morning, 27^th Sept.  We want you to know how much we have enjoyed having him with us. 

 

Elder Tuita is a fine young man and we are grateful for the opportunity we have had to work with him on a daily basis.  He is well-prepared for his mission and he continues each day to grow spiritually.  He is developing good teaching skills and is excited about the work.  He is ready for full time service in the England Leeds Mission.

 

We love this young man and are grateful to you for all you have done to prepare him for this wonderful time in his life.  Your love and continued support are important to his success.   Letters are always greatly anticipated and appreciated.  Please address all future mail to:

    

Sincerely,

 

President & Sister Preston

England Missionary Training Centre

 

 Arrive Leeds England Mission

Dear Brother and Sister Tuita,

Sister Turvey and I have had the privilege of welcoming your son to the England Leeds Mission.  How grateful we are for his desire to service the Lord.

We are grateful for his smiles, for his warmth, and especially for his sweet spirit.

His trainer has been prayerfully considered and is Elder Samuel Otieno Omondi .  They will be serving in the Grimsby 1 Area in the Hull Zone.

We look forward to serving alongside Elder Patrick Benjamin Tuita and sharing his progress and successes from time to time with you.

We already love them

President & Sister Turvey

P.S.  Facebook:  England Leeds Mission Turvey 2016-2019

You can send letters to your son's flat address, but make sure you remember transfers happen every six weeks.  Packages, however, need to be sent to the mission office at the address below.  Please be aware that it takes some time to actually get here.

Regards,

Sister Hayden

Secretary

 

Week 2 -Mission Training Center(MTC) England

Dear family and friends,

I hope everything is well. Just before I start this will be my last email in the mtc I leave next Tuesday morning for Leeds so this will be my last email until the 3rd. So I'll try to make it a good one. The England mtc is amazing. I love it here, were are all one big family here at the england mtc.  This week went by really fast and was super busy. 

Were really started to pick up our learning process here. We're teaching ''investigator's

about 3-4 times a day. They are video recorded so right after we teach we go into a room and a teacher sits with us and breaks down our teaching. You learn so fast here. On top of that every tuesday and thursday they make us go into Manchester and proselyte for about 4 hours. The first time we did this was probably one of the most incredible experiences of my life. You see English people are very independent people and don't really believe in talking to strangers. They all just sit and walk through the city and keep to themselves. So when you try to stop them and talk to them most of them get really upset and just end up yelling at you and cussing you out. We learned a little trick though really quickly. British people love humor so we learned how to apply that in our proselyting. We do the craziest things now to get there attention.  Magic tricks, competitions, crazy stories just anything you can come up with we've tried it on someone on the street. Once they open up to you though and they see that you care about them, the British people are super awesome. They are the funniest people you ever meet. You got to learn to have thick skin though quickly because they love making fun of you. We also learned that British people love too bible bash because they love being opinionated on every subject. It was tough at first but I had an experience that helped me a lot. While we were contacting a Jehovah witness interrupted us while we were talking to some people on the street and and brought up some weird stupid things from some of the bible versus they were making up.  I was prompted to open too the scripture of  James 5:8 ''If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god that give unto men liberally and upraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing waivering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall recieve anything of the lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.'' After I read I testified as men sometimes we rely on ourselves too much too comperhend and analyse the things of god. The only way we can truly know what god wants for us is to pray and ask him. I testified to them that I have done this and recieved an answer and invited them to do so also.  The spirit was strong and they really had nothing else to say after that. 

President had me speak to the mtc about the book of mormon and its role it plays with our investigators on Sunday. It went really good. I talked abouth how the book of mormon is the keystone to our religion and how if the book of mormon is not true than joseph smith was not an actual prophet and god does not speak to us in these latter days. That is why it is so important that to our investagators the book of mormon is the keystone to their testimony. The book of mormon stands for so much more than just scripture,( I know trust me I'm not trying to take away from the importance of this) but the book of mormon stands as another wittness that christ lives and that he loves us. when we read the book of Mormon it brings us closer to him. We feel of his love as we read it. We can know through the book of mormon that god loves us and that god is the same today yesterday and forever and that the heavens are not closed but are opened and he still speaks to us today.  People for years have been trying to minipulate, tear at, or discredit the book of mormon but none have been able to do successfully. Thats why we as missionaries its important for us to help our investigators understand the only way you can know if this is god's kingdom on the earth today and that his priesthood authority is restored on the earth today is to read the book of moromon and ask god if its true. 

I miss you guys hope all is well,

love Elder Tuita

 

Week 1 Mission Training Center(MTC) England

Dear Tuita Family,

I miss you so guys a lot. I wish you guys could see how beautiful it is here. I have sent some pictures but they do not capture really how stunning it is here! My first week here has been amazing. I have a German companion! He is also amazing I have learned to love him so much! He is from the county of Baden-wurttemberg! I have never met a pereson in my life with such a pure heart. He has such a strong testimony and shows such love and faith towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He has a hard time speaking english at times though but I have learned to understand him pretty well. This is a picture of us:

​

He is going to Leeds as well! There is about 100 misionaries here at the Preston England MTC.  The majority are German ,  Brittish and French but we also have quite of few from China, Africa, Greece, Spain, Portugal as well. Its weird walking around the hallway and just hearing different languages and accents all the time. The culture here is really awesome, its really cool to interact with people from so many different countries. It is such a big testimony builder to me right now to see so many kids around the world with such strong  testimonies of the Gospel. Some of the stories here are really amazing. One of the girls from France got up to bear here testimony about the Atonement. The spirit was so strong, even though she had a hard time speaking english and it was very hard understanding her, I could feel her love and appreciation she had for the Savior and the Atonement. One of the Elders here from China Eder Man is another amazing person I have met here. All chinese people here in the England MTC have to first learn English and then learn Greek. I kid you not he got english down perfectly within his first week here and is now getting greek down rather well. He has such an incredible story.  He told me he used to live a hard life with much violence but the missionaries found him and changed his life forever by teaching him the gospel. one of my favorite people I have met here is Elder Dove. He is so awesome!  He grew up in Africa and was recruited to play soccer for Arsenal he made is way through the youth programs there and finaly made it up to play for Arsenal, after a couple of games though in training he screwed up his knee pretty bad and lost his spot on the team. He told me after that he had a tough time and made some bad decisions but prayed for Heavenly Father for help. Soon after he was approached to be a coach for Arsenal.  He is now one of the soccer trainers for Arsenal.  Because of his Heavenly Father answering his prayers he decided to serve a mission he will be serving in South Africa Cape Town Mission. Here is a picture us:

Elder Dove and Elder Tuita

This last week has been such a big testimony builder for me as​ I have gotten to know and get closer to the people here at the Preston England MTC. I have an amazing district with such great guys. In our spare time here any chance we get we just play soccer. The players here are amazing!  I have never seen anything like it. I just kind of stand in the back and try to play defence but it never works.

Overall its been an amazing week and I miss you guys so much. I have learned so much this past week! Its a little weird being a missionary now though but, I'can't explain to you the feeling I get everymorning.  I get to wake up and put my name tag on. The oppurtunity to where the name of Jesus Christ over my heart and serve along side him in his vinyards brings me this overwheling feeling of joy I can't explain. I love it, I love being a missionary, I love this work. and I miss you guys!

Elder Dove and Elder Tuita

 

 

Elder Tuita Departs Phoenix AZ for England Mission/MTC

September 6th 2016 ~ Elder Tuita departs Phoenix AZ for England MTC
Elder Tuita Departs Phoenix AZ for England Mission Training Center