Spiritual Oxygen/A Chain of Dance Memories For Shark Bait / Blessings of The Lord's Work

Dearest Family and Friends!

Once more, I hope your Easter was wonderful! What a great and special time this truly is for all of us. I hope you may continue to feel love from The Savior as you press forward, hopefully Feasting on The Words of Christ. They will teach you all things, I know and testfy. I Love you! Yes you. The one reading this email right now. Thank you for helping me and being a part of my life.

I have had some awesome flash backs this week as I have been reflecting upon my life and many blessings. One of my most treasured memories are being a part of Ballroom Dance. I still remember trying for the very first time to do the Cha-Cha basic with a very patient Emma Belliston as Erica Colvin gave us instructions. Bless her heart, that was a lot of fun! I still remember my first Tango Performance with Mandy Coulam (Who has since been married! Woah! Crazy! Congratulations to you!) as I grew in my confidence of dance. I thought of my first time of doing Training for The Advanced Training Class of both Latin and Standard for Englight Ballroom and getting absolutely destroyed and humbled at the same time. I remember coaches who never gave up on me and taught me I could do anything if I put my mind to it. I remember my parents supporting me in every way possible, even financially to follow my dreams. I remember Masons Sanders giving me support and being one of the best teachers or coaches to ever be in my life. I love and miss him. I remember learning how to do an Open Routine with the talented Becca Probst. It was always a joy to be on the dance floor or on a team with her and many other great friends. I remember the love I felt from Adam and Jeane Shelton and how kind they were to me.  I remember goofing off with Alex Smith, Jared Allcott, Hyrum, Kelen (Sorry. Probably spelled that wrong) and many other treasured friends. I will never forget dancing at Nationals and being able to dance in Broadway New York. How I love and miss dance! What a blessing for me. I again, am so thankful for those I have both danced with and been able to be coached by whom I did not name. I am so thankful for the many friends and memories I was able to make. I love and miss those I was able to meet through the Great adventure that Ballroom Dance brought to my life. Now I get to serve in the greatest place in the World. I love my life!

We had our District Activity today! I will try and include Pictures. Because one of the Sisters areas is an Island called Ifira we got to go there! We played Volleyball and had a great picnic! Hope you will enjoy pictures. It was breathtaking. Sometimes I have to admire that I serve in the most beautiful place in the world.

I would like to conclude with yet another experience which has been dear to my heart. We have been working with a Less Active Member named Merry James. I love her and have desired from the moment I have meet her to help her see how Church attendance and partaking of the Sacrament really are more important than anything and everything else in our week. We had a very special visit with her last night. We set up a Family Home Evening and were excited to meet with her. As we arrived before we could even start the lesson she started justifying why church attendance just was not for her. She said she attends a Family Meeting every Sunday and needs to share the Gospel with others. She said there was nothing we could say to change her mind. My heart swelled with love for her. I knew she had been blinded by the adversary. I also knew what she said was true. There was nothing we could say to change her mind. However, I trust in the Promise that the feelings of the Spirit can truly change the heart. 2 Nephi  33:1 teaches this to us very well. I had some silent prayers and as she concluded her words there was a long pause. I did my best to open my mouth. The result could only truly come from Heaven. Words I feel were not mine escaped my mouth as I expressed some wonderful truths close to my heart. I explained how in an airplane they have oxygen masks. When these masks fall down we are instructed to not put the masks on others but first make sure to put on our own masks. If we don't do this, we risk passing out before being able to help others. I related to this to a spiritual aspect. We must first take in the Spiritual Oxygen which comes from regular Church attendance and partaking of the Sacrament before we can instruct others. We can not invite others to come unto Christ if we are not beside him. We can not merely tell others to Go to Christ, when we ourselves are from Him. I felt prompted to tell her that she would have more success of bringing her family into the Gospel by living what she taught and going to church. I told her living as an example is always more powerful than words.  I was amazed as the spirit fell upon the room. Mary's frown turned into quiet and pleasant smile, reflecting upon what was said. After I finished she proclaimed, "You are right. You are absolutely right. I have not come to church in months but I will come next week. I know what you have said is true. I will come I will come." Now, we absolutely will have to follow up with Mary's promise but I am so thankful The Lord speaks through us to bless others. My joy is great and I love being a missionary and all of these experiences I am having.

I love you all so much! Until Next week! May joy and happiness fill your days with excitement. May you continue to feel The Love From a Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ Whom I testify know you can do this! You can do hard things and return to live with them!

Love,

Elder LaMont/ Shark Bait/ Your Alekken Ty/ Island Boy

Happy Easter!! / Shark Bait in the Greatest Easter Hunt of Them All/ Eternal Blessings

Happy Easter! Happy Easter!! Dearest Family and Friends! What a joy it is to again write to you this week! I hope you have had wonderful times reflecting upon The Savior, His Eternal Sacrifice, His Divine Role as Savior and Redeemer, and His Great Victory over Death! Not only did He conquer Death but provided a way for us too, that we might be victorious over both physical and Spiritual Death . How grateful I am for Him and His Eternal Sacrifice He Gives to All of us! 

A powerful hymn has come into my mind several times this week titled "Come Unto Jesus" Some of my favorite Lines say: 

"Come Unto Jesus, He'll ever heed you. Though in the darkness you've gone astray. His Love will find you and gently lead you From darkest night in to day, to day

Come unto Jesus, He'll Surely hear you, If you in meekness plead for his love. Oh, know you not that angels are near you From brightest mansions above, above Come Unto Jesus From every nation, From every lad and isle of the sea Unto the high and lowly in station, Ever he calls, "Come to me, to Me." 

I testify The Lamb of God does call out to all of us. He has provided the way and if we come to Him I know we will find the peace and happiness we desire. Both for our Families and for ourselves, Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the Light. I know He lives! And Because He live I know you and I will live again too! What a great and Eternal Truth! Come to Jesus Christ. Even if you have lost your way. Please come back to Him. He is waiting. I promise and testify. 

Things are going great for Elder Mallarme and I! We are working as hard as we can and trying our best to serve anyone we can with love, directing them to the Savior. I love my companion! Elder Mallarme is a great blessing in my life and I am so happy I have been given an opportunity to serve with such a special Son of God. I have loved speaking Bislama more with him. I admire his powerful and loving testimony of Jesus Christ. When he speaks I hear the conviction in his words and my heart feels with the Spirit. He is a trusted friend for me already. I have served with many wonderful companions throughout my mission. I love Elder Mallarme! 

What a blessing General Conference continues to be in my life! I am so grateful for how we heard the Voice of The Lord and were invited to act, repent, and to come unto the Master, Jesus Christ. I have loved reading out of the Book of Mormon more during this week. I have also been able to review some of the things spoken during General Conference which have been very inspirational and have helped me already come closer to Christ. Again, I love my own notes and the ones my Family sent to me!! 

One of the greatest treasures of this week was being able to witness the Theora Family's Marriage and Baptism! Max and Evelyn got married and then their family was able to be baptized! Their Children are Linda (the oldest), Etu, Robert-Lindsey, and little Amos. Only Linda and Etu are old enough to be baptized so the others will have to wait! I was able to attend even though I am no longer in the area! I will never forget when Max first saw me, he ran to me and we hugged! Full of gratitude for The Lord and His Gospel we rejoiced together! It was a very emotional blessing for me. To be able to see Max and Evelyn take their family into the waters of baptism was something I will never forget! I don't think I have ever been so happy in all my life. I was overcome with joy! This is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about! Blessing Families and giving joy which will last for Eternity. I can't wait for them to be able to go to the temple together! 

A cool experience this week! We had tons of appointments lined up on Sunday. However, Elder Mallarme got sick with the Flu and we really needed to get back to the house and rest. (He has recovered very well and is still getting better. He is a trooper/solider! Or a Sambeh as you say in his language!) I was a little disappointed, but we headed back to the house. On the way we passed a man I thought I recognized. I shrugged the thought off as I looked to my companion who looked like he was going to melt into the floor. Then the thought came again. "You know that man. Go back and talk to Him." This time I did not know if the thought was coming from me or the Spirit but I obeyed. I went back to talk to the man and I indeed did know Him. I meet him with Elder Hable about a year ago in July. His name is Julius and he is from Africa! We had offered a Book of Mormon to him and promised him He would find great treasures and the True Gospel for him and his adorable son. I asked him if he had read the Book of Mormon we gave him. He told me he had read a couple of pages but had not read more because he claimed he is so busy with work! I again testified to Him of the truthfulness of the Book and how if He prayed and asked God he would come to know it was true. I was amazed by what came out of my mouth because I don't usually have the opportunity to teach in English. Julius thanked me and told me he would read again and pray. I felt great after this experience and know that the Heavens lined up so I could meet Julius again. I am so thankful I listened to my prompting and that The Lord speaks to us through His Holy Spirit even through the smallest of Thoughts to bless all of us. We have many hunts during Easter for colorful eggs or candies. However, The Greatest Easter Hunt of them all is the Hunt for the Salvation of Souls! How awesome it is that we ALL get to be a part of this Hunt or work! 

I would like to conclude with a small story from Elder Mallarme and I's experience. We contacted a man named, "Smitty" (about a 30-year old man) while headed back to our house about a week or so ago. We set up a time with him for later and when we went, he was not home. We followed up again in attempt to speak with him. This time when we knocked on the door, we meet his Father. Immediately he was angry with us. He demanded that we leave him and his son alone. He claimed to "know our Doctrine already" and told us he had much more knowledge than us. He told us he already had a religion and demanded we leave. This with many other insults left me a bit frustrated. However, we politely left and expressed we knew our message could bless anyone and it indeed came from a Living Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father who have restored the Gospel. As we were leaving, and I was getting more frustrated I thought back to something Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said during conference. He stated that receiving ridicule for sharing the Gospel message is an opportunity to suffer on behalf of Our Savior and His divine message. I thought back to this and started to feel love for the man who had talked so strong to us. I felt sorry for him that he was lost and needed help. I offered a silent prayer in thanks for the experience and the opportunity to stand as a witness for the Savior. I prayed for the man and asked for him to feel love and that one day his heart could be softened so he could experience the joy of hearing the Gospel message and be able to come unto Christ. My heart filled with more love and I felt joy and peace which I know comes form the Spirit. I prayed that we might have success in finding those who were interested in hearing the message of the Restoration, that we might be able to recognize them. My heart filled with even more love and I felt so happy to be able to serve and speak to others about our precious message. I know Heavenly Father loves the man who was so rude to us and I hope he really will find his way. My joy continued that day as we found many who were willing to let us speak to them and let us set up return appointments. It was the most people we have contacted all week and the most during Elder Mallarme and I's Companionship. I came back home filled with gratitude for a Loving Father in Heaven who heard my silent prayers and turned my frustration to love and joy through the words of one of His living Disciples. How great is my joy! I love serving as a Missionary! 

All My Love to you my Family! I hope your weeks are great! 

Love, 

Elder LaMont/ Your Alekken Ty/ Shark Bait/ Island Boy/ A Very Happy Elder

Max and Evelyn Linda (the oldest), and Etu

Theora Wedding pictures

Theora children

The Spirit of Conference Bless us All/ Shark Bait Makes Becomes an Island Chief.... Sort OF..

Dearest Family and Friends, 

Another great week here in Beautiful Vanuatu! So many great things have happened and am so grateful for the many wonderful things I continue to experience in my mission and in lovely Vanuatu!  

This week was packed since we had Zone Conference, General Conference, and a Ward Council we got to attend. That is right!! So many awesome things in one week! Could it be better?!

The week started out perfectly this week! Because of my Birthday I was able to have a video call with my family and to see their smiling and supportive smiles boosted me to an all time high this week. What a blessing my family is to me! I am so thankful through Priesthood Power and by honoring Sacred Covenants and Ordinances we can be together for all time and Eternity. 

A very cool part of this week has been learning more from Elder Mallarme. I love his different perspective on things and he is already become a trusted friend. I Love Him and The Lord is blessing us together. I love speaking with him in a language I did not even know before my mission. I feel my Bislama is flowing more than ever and there is much joy in my heart! 

One cool thing I have been learning from Elder Mallarme is how to cook certain Island foods or Kakai in Bislama. I have been learning how to cook up Kumala (A type of sweet potato) and Manock. (I apologize for inaccurate spelling) It has been lots of fun! Elder Mallarme loves how I have embraced this and now we are going to try cooking a giant fish he got from the market this week. I feel my Grandpa Nye would be proud of me! I love him from my Mountains to his Mountains. I will try and include some pictures of our cooking this week and try and get some of the fish for next week. 

We have found some interested people in Naomi and Kalo (Whom I believe I mentioned last week) I am excited for how we will help them Come Unto Christ. We invited them to come to Conference which they ended not going to be able to go to. We are certainly not giving up on them and will just follow up and try and Invite them once more to Come unto their Savior. A special quote was given to me which states, "To Him, Our Direction is more important than our speed." Laury R. Lawernce This quote gave me comfort that although Naomi and Kalo did not come to conference we are doing our best to help them and this is all which matters! 

I feel my heart is full thanks, peace, and joy to what I learned during Conference. I felt the Spirit numerous times as beautiful music was orchestrated, powerful testimonies of Christ and Our Father in Heaven were borne, and The doctrines of Christ were also taught to us by God's chosen servants. A talk which really touched my heart was Kyle S. McKay's talk about remembering the Immediate Goodness of God and the Savior's loving Atoning power to heal hearts. I also loved The Prophets words of Repentance and to Come Unto Christ. I read an article from the words of Niel L. Anderson before Conference which touched my heart about how after Conference, we must put action plans to help us improve after all the great feelings and knowledge which comes through the Spirit after Conference. 

Another special moment form Conference would be the notes my brother and Father took. They sent me their personal notes and I felt specially connected  to the Spirit and to them as I reviewed them with my own. How blessed I am! 

One of the most powerful experiences of Conference came when the Song "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" was played. The Sweet Feelings of the Spirit rushed through my body like chills and warmth as I reflected upon His Eternal Sacrifice for each of us. I know and testify that Jesus is indeed the Christ. The Lamb of God! He has been there for me in times of good and bad and I know He will be there for you. I know He lives and overcame all of our trials and experiences so he could perfectly give peace into each one of our hearts and make the journey home possible. 

I love you all and I look forward to talking with you next week. 

Love, 

Elder LaMont/Shark Bait/ Your Alekken Ty/ Island Boy 

Elder LaMont and Elder Mallarme

Elder LaMont

 View from Elder LaMont's new area "Paradise"

Shark Bait=The Most Blessed Man Ever/Finding Naomi/ Slow Internet But Beautiful Palm Trees

Dearest Family and Friends, I am sorry I have not sent an update in a little bit! Because of my transfer I now email in an internet cafe and the internet can be so bad. But I am working through it and today it has worked pretty well. You can't complain too much about the internet when you live in an island paradise! :)

I can not even begin to thank all those whom have sent Birthday wishes to me. Thank you for sending so much love and support my way! I felt an immense amount of love as I opened my email and had so many letters waiting for me! Thank you, thank you! I read each one and it just made me so happy. I am the most blessed boy/Elder... (I guess man now because I hit 20! I still feel like a boy!) ever! Thank you times a million!

The new area has been awesome thus far! Because Elder Mallarme and I don't know the area too well, we have been doing lots of contacting! We have talked to many and are doing our best to learn the area. Because there are not many members (we are discovering) in our area we know we the positive side is we can help those who have fallen away from the church.

Elder Mallarme is awesome! I have loved learning about his home in Micronesia and some of his adventures of diving for fish before his mission. He is always interested to learn more about the USA and we have a great time exchanging stories. I have been blessed to see a portion of the Love Our Father in Heaven has for him. On top of all of this it has been great to be able to speak more in Bislama. It might not be so great for my English... Haha.. . but that is okay!

On a day where it did feel like not a lot of people were wanting to listen something amazing happened! We meet with a very kind lady named Naomi. As we talked with her about her family and testified how our message could bless her family we were able to set a time! She was very surprised by the way we spoke Bislama and was fascinated to know more about how her family could be helped.  We taught her with her husband and some of their 3 kids. We taught about the Restoration and the feelings of the spirit reminded me again of how blessed we are and how blessed I am! I love my family and know I can be with them Forever because the Restoration of Christ's Church did happen and continues to unfold. We have another lesson with them tonight and they are excited and so are we! Isn't missionary work so great?!

I am super excited to hear more about General Conference!! We will get to watch it this weekend and I am very ready to hear what The Lord has to tell us. We had a Zone Conference this week (this is why I am writing on Wednesday for us) and it was refreshing and I feel edified through the spirit! It was a refill in my spiritual gas tank and I am very much looking forward to the rest of the week. 

This week I read a powerful scripture in Alma 18:34-35. This is when Ammon is first teaching King Lamoni. He powerfully teaches how he has been called by the Spirit of God and how by the same spirit he knows he will be granted power and wisdom through his Faith and desires in God. I know this is the same for each of us. If you are a missionary you have been called by God. If you are serving in a calling in the church you have been called by God through His Spirit. I know Our Father in Heaven and Savior will provide us with the strength, wisdom, and power to do all He has asked through our Faith and desires in Him. I know They live and love you and I! How great are our blessings!

I love you all so much and hope you know you are in my prayers!

Love,

Elda LaMont/ Your Alekken Ty/ Shark Bait/ Island Boy