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