National Week of Prayer and Fasting

My eye has been twitching for about a week now. I have no idea why, but I’m sure that it is due to stress.

Today is the first day of the national week of fasting. Many Samoans fast from 12 AM to 12 PM every day throughout the week to pray for weather related issues, political issues and personal issues. There were six people from our group that decided to join their families in the fasting. I participated in the fast even though my host family did not. It was a great time of prayer and reflection, but I wish that I had some more alone time during that time period to spend in prayer. Tonight during Sa (evening prayer) I prayed for my family’s hearts to be tender to our Savior and to know Him on a personal level. I also prayed for my family and friends back home. During my reading of Hebrews, I read “Keep your lives free of the love of money and be content with what you have…” and it was special to me because I have been given an opportunity from God to enjoy life – the way it should be. For once in my life I don’t have a choice to be distracted by money and have a great opportunity to be happy with everything that I have. What a blessing from God. I am grateful for this time in my life and hope that the things that I learn here will become a part of who I am.