Yay!! I made it to one year!! And I'm still alive! Lately I have been looking at my clothes and doing an assessment for if it will last another year. The good news is that my shirts are still white and most of them have the appearance of being new. The bad news is that my socks are turning dark blue instead of being black. But considering that it has been one year, I'm not complaining, it could be much worse. For my one year anniversary we didn't really do anything, which was what I expected and it's fine with me. It was a difficult day anyway.
This is where the story about challenges comes in. Last Monday Elder Bagley and I went weight lifting for our morning work out, it became a tradition to go every p-day. We went to a member's house, the family Tufariua, who has a son, named Teihoarii or Teiho for short, who is preparing to serve his mission in Africa. So we did our warm up of 50 kilos on the bench press, then we moved to 60 and I still felt good. And normally 60 is my max, so I was surprised. We jumped to 98, then 100 and I still felt good about about doing more. So we put on 110, or so I thought, and I pushed it off and it fell. Luckily Teiho was spotting me and helped me out. It turns out it was 138 kilos. What!? Then we put the real 110 on and I did it. I pushed over 240 pounds for the first time in my life. That was a testimony of inner strength that we don't know we have until the day it comes out.
Anyway, back to the challenges. Wednesday we started our lessons and we got a call around noon saying that Teiho got in an accident. 30 minutes later we found out he had passed away. So we left all of our lessons and went to the hospital where Teiho was already dead. It was so hard to believe that just like that he was gone. Wednesday night was the viewing and during the viewing they gave me a chance to speak. And I used the lesson I learned at Teiho's house about unknown inner strength and I testified so much about the resurrection. The Spirit was so strong. And I testify to you all that one day we will live again. That one day we will see those we love again. And that we can enjoy life in God's presence.
Things were pretty calm around here after that. Thursday they buried Teiho at Tahaa and things have kept moving with a softer pace. Sunday was French Mother's Day and so we had the primary, young men, and young women do a thing for the mothers. It was really great. And I enjoyed it. I love you Mom and I thank you for everything!
Voila, that's my week. I love you all.
Elder Squires
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