Rely on the Lord...Take a leap of faith

1/9/15  I am not sure if you are getting my pictures but i will keep trying to send them haha. Any ways it sounds like all is well at home! :) I am super happy you are all learning tongan!! I hope you can all speak when i get back haha.  Well i hope i can speak when i get back haha! One thing my teacher told me to do is just pick out a verse of scripture and disect the whole sentence both words and linking words to se what they mean as youre reading.  And as you keep reading the sentences will make more sense. But Yeah i defnintely miss talking to you on the couch and sharing how the day went. but i love the mission! it is going well and a lot has been happening since the last time i wrote you :)  I will have to figure out to send mail cuz i still havent figured that out yet haha. Its been fun here at the mtc but it has also been pushing my limits as well haha.  This week we had to teach another lesson in tongan and i have been relying on the pamphlets and the tongan books during lessons to help me teach.  It has been pretty difficult to try and communicate what i know and also try to feel the spirit when i am so frantic and frustrated with the language and worrying about whether or not my investigator is comprehending the message!  It can be a little overwhelming at times, but i have come to know that the lord is so merciful and blesses his children with small and tender mercies each and every day.  It is just a matter of paying attention to the hand of the lord in our lives.  So during this one particular lesson, we were asked to leave or tongan gospel phrases book in the classroom and try to be lead by the spirit...yeah not my thing...But i did as i was asked and only brought my Tohi 'ae Molomona and a pamphlet.  When we started teaching i was trying to speak tongan and i was relying more on the tongan pamphlet than anything.  And to make things more difficult my companion and i were put on splits so i had another companion who spoke little to no tongan at all... Like a third of the way through the lesson i finally closed the pamphlet and looked right at the investigator...AND I SPOKE TONGAN!!!! it was so cool!! everything we had been learning all started coming back to me and i was able to teach the rest of the lesson in Tongan!!  My teacher told me she was really impressed with how far i had come but i knew it wasnt just me.  The entire time throughout the lesson when i had used the pamphlet, i was so stressed and uncomfortable.  But when i relied on the Lord and took a leap of faith...I was able to speak with the gift of tongues and i had never felt more calm and peaceful and more sure that what i was saying was true!  This truly is the greatest work and God definitely blesses his children.  I have come to gain a testimony that God truly does not call those who are qualified.  Rather He qualifies those He calls!! I love you and miss you so much!!

Have a great week!!

Ofa Lahi Atu!!

Elder Tavake