Hey Family,
We had another crazy week. The whole mess with Sione Fisi'iahe reached it's climax and it is finally over. This is how it played out. We had a lesson with him this past week, and the high councilman over missionary work in the Stake came to the lesson. We were planning on setting a clear expectation to Sione that he couldn't get baptized on the 26th (this past weekend - the date that the members set for him). We usually teach him ion English, but since the high counselor was there they taught in English. As they taught I sensed that something was wrong. The high counselor was very pushy, and told Sione that he could be baptized on hte 26th. Elder Neiufi tried to stop it, but was trying to respect his Elders (another culture thing). So at the end of the lesson Elder Neiufi was in tears, because of the frustration. We called President Wade again, and told him the situation. President told us that we will not baptize anyone that doesn't have a testimony. So he told us to tell the Stake and Ward leaders that Sione would not be getting baptized until we as missionaries felt that he was ready - then President Wade would interview him. He told us to be very bold and straight forward with them, and to put all of the weight of the situation on his shoulders. So that's what we did. Sione's felowshipper - Folau Alusa yelled at Elder Neiufi on the phone, and I talked to the high counselor over missionary work (Bro. Afu) and he yelled at me for 10 minutes straight. It is hard doing the right thing, then being persecuted by people who are supposed to be on your side! So you wouldn't believe what they did! They had the San Jose missionaries interview him, and baptize him this weekend on the 26th - the day that they set for him. We found out the day before the baptism, and called President Wade. He was on the phone all day with priesthood leaders, and with the San Jose mission President trying to stop the baptism. But I guess that President Jackson (the SJ mission pres.) interviewed Sione and felt it was ok for him to be baptized. The person who baptized him was Jesse Taufa - a recent convert of 2 months from our ward (an innocent bystander). He told us that as he baptized him, he didn't feel right, and doesn't feel like Sione has a testimony. So what happened, happened. We talked with President Wade for a long time yesterday, and he ensured us that we did was the right thing. He told us that he would fight with us til' the end! I love President Wade. It's just hard because some of the members are mad at us, and blame us for what happened. Folau Alusa (the fellowshipper) said that me and Elder Neiufi have an evil spirit in us, and when we saw him at church on Sunday he told us that "no dirty hands can stop this work from going forward!" This whole situation is crazy! I have never seen anything like it, but we are glad that it's over, and valuable lessons have been learned. It's just been a really hard week.
So we are still looking for investigators. We are planning on gaining the trust of our ward this week.
Zone Conference was this week and it was great. I love learning from President and Sister Wade. I'm going to miss them.
I got a letter from Savanna Williams this week, and she told me that Lauren Hill is getting married?!! I was pretty surprised! Do you know any details? She also updated me on a lot of other people back home and I was pretty surprised... So much changes in 2 years!
Well family I love you! I hope that you have a great week!
-Elder Cook
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