INTRO
Kia Ora & Malolelei kaingalotu. ko hoku hingoa ko Wiramina Wihongi, for those who are new or don't know me. I returned from my mission just a few months ago on July 21st. So I've already been home for a bit, already gave my homecoming talk in my living room, which I thought I could get away with just leaving it like that. I had the privilege to serve in the land of my ancestors, the New Zealand Hamilton Mission. But Kataki Fa'e mo Tamai, oku ou ilo’i lea fakatonga, ikai lea maori. My parents were expecting me to learn more of my Maori tongue but I came back knowing more Tongan instead. Anyways, I enjoyed meeting new relatives everyday that I never even knew I had and also getting surprise visits from my grandad who one point lived 8 minutes away. I admit, I was pretty spoiled and probably had the exact opposite experience of other missionaries who served in the countryside of the Philippines or somewhere like that. I’ll just start off by saying it was the best 18 months not only OF but also FOR my life. And just like Garrison said last week, it is hard to shove 18 months into a 20 min talk. Because of that, I would just like to share my testimony with you by sharing experiences that helped strengthen it. But before that I’d like to read a scripture, it is a scripture that my Uncle Scott showed me before I left to NZ, and it has a lot of meaning to me now. It is in Alma 29:9. It says:
“I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.” Brothers and Sisters, NEVER have I felt more joy in my life than while I was bringing others unto Christ. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing you are an instrument in the Lord’s hand. I know I may not be wearing a badge anymore but I will try my best to continue to serve Him with my whole heart, mind, and soul. I love my Savior so much and all that He has done and will continue to do for me. I truly wouldn't be at this point in my life without Him and His Atonement.
BOOK OF MORMON: CHOCO
First, I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true and it is powerful. While I was serving in Tuhikaramea which was down the street from where my dad grew up. I was training a new sister missionary, Sister Folaumahina, and it was Christmas Eve. This was her 3rd or 2nd day on the field, we decided to wrap up Book of Mormons and to hand them out to people on the streets or give them to inspired houses we’d knock on. We did this most of the day, we went down a street and I saw a house that I felt impressed to knock on. So of course we went, knocked, no one answered, knocked again, again no one answered, and so we just left the Book of Mormon on their doorstep and left. A couple weeks went by and I got transferred to a new area while my Sister Folaumahina stayed in that area. Anyways, I totally have forgotten about those BOMs we handed out, and a few months later my companion wrote me a letter. She told me that a lady found the wrapped BOM on her doorstep on Christmas day. She actually thought it was chocolate and she put it in her fridge or a week or two. And she took it out & unwrapped it when she eventually felt like eating chocolate, but to her surprise and maybe disappointment it was a Book of Mormon. (Little did she know she would be feasting on something far more sweeter than Cadburys.) Well, she ended up reading it, and as she read it, she cried. Because of the immediate peace and love she felt from doing so. She was going through a very hard time in her life and she needed a sign from God, and the book was her answer. Since she started reading, she was looking all over for the missionaries. It wasn’t until weeks later while driving that she saw Sister Folaumahina and her new comp tracting on the streets, she pulled over, got out of her car and ran and hugged my companion saying that she's been dying to see them and want to know more about God’s plan for her. My companion was then able to teach her. What amazes me was that the letter I received from my companion about this miracle was actually an answer to a prayer I had after being transferred. Tuhikaramea was one of my hardest areas and I always wondered if I even made a difference while being there. So her letter was a tender mercy and a reminder that sometimes I won’t be able to see the fruits of my labors but I don’t need to worry about it because no effort is wasted. But I would like to testify that the Book of Mormon truly brings us closer to our Savior. It shows us that we are never alone in our darkest moments, testifies of life after death/outlines the plan of salvation, and emphasizes on Christ’s Atonement. There have been sooo many experiences of immediately feeling the spirit by simply just opening the BOM in the homes we entered. And I know this happens in our own lives too, if we just open it everyday and read a chapter or even a verse, it makes a difference. Trust me. You may not notice it at first or maybe you will, but the powers of Heaven are at your fingertips as you open those pages and draw nearer to your Savior.
ALMOST GONE HOME: GOD’S PLAN
I know that no matter how confused we get in life, we can trust in Heavenly Father’s great and perfect plan. When the whole pandemic started, we received news to go into lockdown. It was soo weird being asked to stay inside as a missionary. It’s like taking a child to the park but telling them they can’t go on the playground. I was serving in the hood, a town, called Huntly at the time. We eventually heard news that missionaries will start getting calls to return home for reassignment or to be released. This was at the end of March so I had just about 3 months left which means I would probably be released if that’s the case. And I did not want to go home at all. I resented the thought of finishing my mission early. There was a day during lockdown where a hymn popped into my mind, Hymn 270 "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go." It kept replaying over and over in my mind. That same day in the evening, I received a call that I would most likely be on a plane the next day. When receiving the news, the song came to my mind again and I felt immediate peace. The lyrics say,
“It may not be at the battle’s front
My Lord will have need of me.
But if, by a still, small voice he calls
To paths that I do not know,
I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine:
I’ll go where you want me to go.”
I dreaded having a phone call like this, but the Lord comforted me by putting this hymn into my mind. At the time, I thought that I "may not be [preaching the gospel] at the battle's front" anymore. But from now on, whenever my Savior calls me to different paths, I hope I will not complain but answer with my hand in His, "I'll go where you want me to go." So I tearfully accepted the news and packed up all my things and left for Hamilton. A handful of us were gathered outside my Mission President’s home, waiting to get on the bus to go to the Auckland airport. I received my passport and plane ticket and loaded my suitcases on the bus. After saying our goodbyes and everyone making their way in the vehicle, My Mission President suddenly pulled me to the side and asked "How bad do you want to stay?" And I said "really bad" So he stepped aside, and made a few calls and sent a few emails on his phone while I was anxiously waiting to know what was going on. He ended up calling The Area Presidency and told them I had dual citizenship and asked if I could stay. After some negotiation, they approved right then and there. When my mission president walked over to me and told me that I could stay, we both cried together and he even hugged me. It was a miracle and a tender mercy. We were both so busy rejoicing that I forgot that my luggage was still on the bus so it took a ride for Auckland for a while. Receiving this second chance to continue serving meant so much to me, I thanked my president and also my Father in Heaven by promising that I will work 1000x more harder in the short time I have left. At the time I didn’t know that so much could happen in the last three months of my mission. Now looking back on it, those 3 months have left the greatest impact on me. I was able to meet so many new lifelong friends, and witness so many more miracles. It was also the busiest time of my mission because so many hearts were softened and being prepared to hear the gospel during lockdown. We were teaching so many people a few of which were baptized. Because of this experience, I’ve learned to put more trust in God’s plan. There will always be unexpected curveballs and moments where you feel like you can’t breathe, but that doesn’t mean God has abandoned you. We are just going through the Refiner’s Fire.
THE HOLY GHOST: SIONE FINAU
I know that the Holy Ghost guides us and helps us as we try our best to stay worthy. The last investigator on my mission was a man named Sione Finau. We were covering a few wards in my last area and one of them was the Tauranga Tongan Branch. Sione was a work friend with one of our members, and they invited him to dinner with us and he agreed to listen to a short lesson. Our first lesson was a little rusty, My companion was Tongan and she would teach in their language and I would teach in english and she would translate what I’d say to him. Sometimes we would stumble because she also had to translate what she said to english for me to understand and go off what she said and it was kind of a mess. In the end, I was nervous to know what Sione thought. We had no idea what Sione was thinking and he was quite a shy person and when we would ask questions, he would give short replies. We invited him to another lesson and he just said, io, which means yes. So our next visit was the same scenario, we stumbled a bit & He still didn’t say much but we could tell he was really interested because he was keeping the commitments we would extend to him. The more we saw him, the more of a change we can see in his countenance. He had the best smile and it would get bigger and bigger every time. We continued to pray harder for Sione and for us to continue teaching in harmony. While we were teaching the 3rd lesson, the spirit completely took over. I understood what my companion was saying in Tongan and didn’t need her to translate for me. The spirit filled my mind with things to say. I then was surprised to hear my companion ask him in Tongan if he would follow the example of our Savior by being baptized. His reply? Io. She then asked if he would be prepared to be baptized on July 18th. And once again he said Io. At that point I jumped up with excitement and felt so much love for Sione. I’m so thankful that the Holy Ghost helped me understand what was happening, so I wouldn’t miss out on that precious moment.
RANDELL’S
This last experience I will share is one that is close to my heart. In my last area, we were also teaching someone online alongside the Wellington missionaries because they were teaching him first online and now they are preparing him to meet us in person. So we had a zoom call altogether. The Wellington missionaries so happened to be on exchanges that day so it was a different elder than usual. At the end of our lesson, the new elder asked us if we served in Mt. Maunganui. We said yes and he told us that his inactive parents live in our area and he would like us to go see them. He warned us that they don’t usually let missionaries in, in fact, they haven’t had a visit from missionaries for 20 yrs. But there’s no harm in giving it a try. So we prayed about a good time to see them and we scheduled them on a Tuesday. We went and knocked on the door and the mum opened it just a crack. I tried to make small talk but it was kind of failing. I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty awkward so I was gonna find a way to leave easily. But a thought came into my head, which was the spirit, it said, “don't forget to introduce yourself clearly before you go.” So I said something along the lines of, “well, it was nice to meet you. Oh and by the way, my name is Sister Wihongi and this is Sister ‘Eliesa.” After I said that she opened her door a bit more and looked on the ground like, dang. She’s a Wihongi. She then said she knows of my family and that her son also warned her that he told the missionaries to come visit, but she didn’t know it would be a Wihongi. She invited us to come over for dinner the following week. At dinner, we got to know more about their family and found out that the father actually grew up in Temple View and knew my parents. It was a spirit filled visit and my companion and I were able to share a message of love with them. This was the first time they had missionaries in 20 yrs and I could tell they missed the feeling of having the gospel in their lives. We spoke a lot about the gospel surprisingly and the dad even said out loud, “hmmm maybe it’s time for me to come back.” They told us we could come back anytime and that their door is now always open, they even agreed to attend a sacrament meeting again. It was no coincidence that Elder Randell, that was the Elder, so happened to be on exchanges that day for him to tell us this. It was no coincidence that I was called to the area his parents lived in. This was all possible through Heavenly Father’s divine design. I stand all amazed at His love for His children.
LOVE!!
I know that Heavenly Father’s love is there for you, no matter how unworthy or inadequate you feel, it is simply always there. All these miracles I just shared with you happened BECAUSE of His love for His children. There is a popular Maori proverb that says, He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people. And this is true in our Father’s eyes, His purpose is to bring to past the immortality and eternal life of men, which is you and me. AND for us to have joy along the way. The most important thing to Him is you. His greatest work and glory is you.
Conclusion/testimony
I am humbled to witness these miracles and to be a part of the Lord’s work. I always feel so undeserving and yet He shows me mercy. I know Christ, our Savior, lives. This is His work, therefore, He knows what He is doing. He sees the beginning, the in between, and the end. His work never stops. I would just like to add that if you are pondering whether or not you should serve a mission at this time, or hesitant to put in your papers because of the virus, or maybe you already got your call and just feel anxious about the whole situation, I am here to tell you that Heavenly Father sent you to Earth at this exact time period for a reason. He knows only you can handle these situations and He needs you more than ever. So have peace knowing that God trusted you to be here. I know Joseph Smith did see God the Father and Jesus Christ in the grove of trees. I know he was called to restore this truth.
I am so grateful for my Elder brother, my Savior Jesus Christ, for not only showing us the way but also sacrificing His life for us so that we can live eternally with Him and our family. Koe Tohi A Molomona, Palofita, Fakatomala, Famili, faifekau, moe ngaahi me'a kotoa pe, 'oku ne fakamooni kiate kitautolu 'oku 'ofa'i tautolu he tau Tamai 'oku 'i Hevani. Fakamo’oni kihe fakalelei huhu’i a Sisu Kalaisi oku mo’oni. Oku ou ilo’i Famili Ta’engata. Ko'eni 'a 'eku fakamo'oni pea 'oku mahuinga ia kiate au. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
BACK UP (Wasn't used on the day)
TRIALS: PHOENIX
I know that God prepares a way to overcome ANY trial that comes at you. While I was serving in Nawton Area, we were teaching a little boy that was just 11 yrs old named Phoenix who came from an inactive family. Now phoenix loved learning about his Savior and was eager to be baptized. His family was going through challenges at the time and I believe that his faith brought more light into their home. However the day before his baptism, it seemed as if the adversary was trying it's best to stop phoenix from entering the waters of baptism. Their car decided to break down completely so they were stuck at home and to add they had other personal family matters that added more stress to the situation. I remember sitting in their living room as the parents argued whether or not they should postpone Phoenix's baptism. Once there was a moment of silence, my sweet companion decided to read a scripture that the spirit told her to read. It was Ether 2:24-25 (and this is also my favorite scripture.) It reads:
"For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.
And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come."
I remember seeing tears roll down the mother's cheeks as we testified to her that the Lord will provide a way, in fact that He prepared a way to get through these things. We encouraged them to continue to pray and that all will be well. And sure enough, a member family decided to check up on them and offered to give them a ride as well as bringing sandwiches.
