A MIRACULOUS WEEK

Aloha and Talofa Lava!!!!

Uhmm, okay. This gospel is true! I just had to make sure that everyone knows that I know that. This has been the best week of my entire life, and I know that it was all because Heavenly Father has helped us find those who are so prepared to receive the "good news," --the gospel. I have such a strong testimony that as we continue to fast, pray, and work our hardest, God can trust us to teach His children. Well, let's begin:

Miracle #1: Even though the Visitor Center has been slowing down a little bit because summer is pretty much over, we are still getting a ton of non-members. We usually set a goal to get at least 1 self referral during our shift. There was a day that Sister Sekona and I prayed throughout the day that we would still get three self-referrals from non-members who walked in. Usually in the mornings it is full of just members, but we still had faith that we would be able to accomplish our goal. Well, it happened. One of our tours was with a member family who had two aunties who were not members. After our tour, focusing on Eternal Families, they said that they knew they needed to know more, because family is way too important to not be with them for all eternity!! TWO self-referrals. Then, while I was giving a tour, Sister Sekona was on another tour, and her tour lasted about five minutes. I was bummed when I saw them walk towards the door, because I thought that the lady had said 'no' to her. Well, after I gave my tour she tells me that after teaching her that the gospel of Jesus Christ has once more been restored upon the earth so that God's children can know the way to return to God again, (as simple as that) she said she had to learn more! SOOO cool. BAM... Three Self-Referrals. 

Miracle #2: I'm pretty sure I mentioned how an inactive couple we are working with came to church for the first time in about 20 years on Sunday, yeah? Well, it gets better. They got married this past week, too!!! They have three kids, and we are soooooo happy for them. They are doing everything they can to follow Christ, and it has been such a blessing to see how much happier they are, as well as how much they are being blessed. THIS WORK IS AWESOME!!

Miracle#3.....so, speaking of three. Alright, get ready for the best news of your life!!!!! Alika is definitely getting baptized, but because of family items we had to move it to the 22nd, but it is set!! THEN, the 12-year-old Samoan girl, Lua, well, we got permission from her parents to teach her!!!!!!!!!! We met with her on Tuesday, taught her about the gospel of Jesus Christ, committed her to baptism for the 29th of September, and she said absolutely!! She has such a strong testimony of God's love for her in her life. She is so amazing, and her faith could seriously move mountains. SO that is baptism number 2 for the month. 

THEN last week I mentioned that a girl in our YSA (BYUH) Ward has a non-member roommate, well, we met her on Sunday! She is the sweetest girl ever, and I have already learned so much from her. She is from Vietnam, is here at BYUH because a member of the church told her mom about the school, and they both felt it would be the best school for her to go to. Well, she agreed to meet with us for this Wednesday (yesterday), and we taught her the Doctrine of Christ... or in simple terms, the steps that we need to do in order to receive Eternal Happiness...being: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End!! She LOVED it. She has practiced Buddhism back home, but she said she knows there is a God. When we asked how she came to know this, she said that she has just always felt like there has to be a reason we are all here or it just wouldn't make sense!! We told her she was right, and that God does have a plan for us, and he has provided a way that will allow us to return to Him. We asked what that meant to her and she explained that she would just feel hopeless and so lost if these things we taught weren't true!!! YEAH, that just happened!!!! So, we popped the question, and asked her that if we continued to meet with her, and teach her more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and she came to know that all of these things are true, if she would be baptized by the proper authority of God. She immediately nodded her head. Sister Sekona and I look at each other, and knew we needed to go further. Sister Sekona asked her if it would be okay to set a goal, or a date, to be baptized by. She said yes, again! I told her we had prayed about a date, and felt like, as she prays, and reads the scriptures, and learns of these things, that she would feel prepared for that date. We told her that date is at the end of the month, on September 29th! She of course said, yes definitely. Baptism #3. Words cannot even describe how happy we are for these three. They are such special children of God, and I know that Baptism is the gateway that puts us on the path of happiness towards our Heavenly Father, and know that they will be forever blessed for this decision they are making!

Miracle #4: On our tram tour Sister Sekona and I had set a goal to get five self-referrals from our guests (about one per tour), and man, did we see the missionary work go forward! As we brought them into the Visitors' Center, had them watch the 5-minute presentation about the history of Laie, BYUH, and the Temple, they came out from the theater, and all of the VC sisters came and talked one on one with them all. We got four self-referrals just from one tour!!! Then, from our other tours we received one each. Getting us 7 self-referrals; or 7 people/families who agreed to let the missionaries come over and teach them more. I love this so much. It's not about the numbers, but it's about the people who represent that number. And those are 7 people/families who's lives will never be the same as they come to know of the truth for themselves!! 

I love this work so muchhhhh!! The gospel is so true, and I love knowing that. I love knowing that I have a loving Heavenly Father who wants all of His children to learn and come to find the truth so that we can return to Him again. I know that His plan of Happiness is for us to go through trials and challenges, including trials of our faith, that will help us grow and reach our full potential.  It's amazing. I love the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. I love that I get to be a part of this marvelous work full-time for 18 months.  

And don't worry, we're definitely having fun. With the work, and other times as well. Hah, I'm sure you'll be able to see that from the pictures. But Sister Sekona and I are one of a kind!! We have so much fun, especially when I sneak up on her  pouring water on her, and it becomes a battle, then the pad is so wet I end up slipping and falling right on my back and then getting a whole pitcher of water dumped on me, haha! Good times : ) Anyway, family and friends, you are so amazing, and I can truly feel all of your prayers every day. Thank you for your support, and your letters. May God continue to bless all of you as well!!

 LOVE YOU ALL : )

P.S. I can officially play five Primary songs on the Ukalele, haha.