RETURNING WITH HONOR

Family, Friends, Cousins, 
Children of our wonderful God, ALOHAA!

Wasn't General Conference AMAZING!?! Is now the time to do missionary work or WHAT!? Ahh, I LOVED it! Every session I go into Conference with a question or two to be answered through the words of the Prophets, this time I had questions concerning my next step in life....hah, but every SINGLE talk I kept thinking, "Ooh, that would be perfect for Jo ei!" or, "I really hope Kalani was listening to this talk," or even, "Wow, that would be a perfect lesson for Kehaulani!" Maybe it's a sign that I should never go home and I should be a missionary in Hawaii FOREVER! Ah, oh how I wish, but I do know that missionary work will forever be embedded in my heart. How blessed we are to share the gospel, ".  . . for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14). Well, of course it wouldn't be a Sister Moyes Letter if I did not share our miracles!!

Miracle #1 

Pics with Jo Ei from conference

Jo Ei came to three sessions of General Conference!!! Jo Ei is seriously the most amazing person I have taught on my mission. She is truly the elect, and Heavenly Father has been preparing her in every single way! We have had many lessons with her since last week, and in every single one the spirit gets stronger and stronger. When she prayed with us a couple of lessons ago, she paused for a long time as tears began falling down her face, and continued to pray in gratitude for all that she has been able to learn. I have NEVER felt the spirit as strong as I have when teaching her. At our final appointment last night, I asked if she would share her testimony with me, and I cannot begin to tell you how much faith and love she has for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Sister Eaton and I LOVE her SOOOO much! I know that if it were not for her amazing fellowshippers and for her taking action by keeping commitments such as actually reading The Book of Mormon, praying, and going to church, she would not have the solid testimony that she does!

Conference Breakfast with the Zone

Miracle#2 
There were so many miracles this week, but honestly the miracles all were made possible through the Holy Ghost. What a blessing it is to have the gift of the Holy Ghost; especially as a missionary! There were so many times that people came into the Visitor Center this week that would not have had the gospel if it were not for the promptings of The Holy Ghost. There was one instance when I saw a woman filling out a guest card (the one that the guests mark if missionaries can come teach them) and then she began to walk out the doors back towards her tram bus to the PCC. I had the strongest feeling to offer to take the card now, instead of her giving it to the Sisters on her tram. She said "SURE! I'm actually not sure what to fill out, though." I then felt prompted to ask if there was anything she saw today at the VC she was interested in learning more about, and her tour guides (the Sisters) could stay in contact and teach her more. She then replied, "Oh, wow, yes, I definitely want to learn more about the temple!" She happily left her info to learn more.

Kalani and Ryan

Another instance happened when I was walking around the VC as tram tour guests searched around looking for something of their interest. I saw a man heading towards The Book of Mormon display. I went up to him and immediately asked him where he was visiting from! He told me, Iran! Wow, how cool was that!!! I then asked if he spoke another language when he responded with, "Yes, Persian!" I asked if he would like a copy of The Book of Mormon in Persian and his face just lit up . . .I ran to go get one before he could say no. As I handed this blessed book to him in his native tongue, he stood straighter, his eyes full of joy as he looked at me with a big bright smile and said quietly, "Thank you SO much for this!" The spirit was so strong, and I know that it touched his heart as I testified of this marvelous book. All of these miracles would not be possible without the guidance of the Holy Ghost. 

Zone picture

My awesome companion

I cannot believe this is my last post or letter home as a missionary in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. But I want to conclude with this:

Alma 26:37 "Now my brethren (and sisters), we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen" (Italicized added by me). 

My Aloha Oe' at the Visitors Center

I want to declare to the world, I KNOW that this is God's church on the earth today!! It has been restored upon the face of the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith! It is only through this restored gospel that we can enjoy the blessings of the Priesthood including temple ordinances. I know that it is only through the temple and sealing ordinance that we can be with our loved ones forever! "This is my joy, and my great thanksgiving;" I know that this is the way to eternal happiness! I know that Jesus Christ lives, and loves us. He lived and set the perfect example for each and every one of us! I know that as we follow His example by being baptized by someone who holds the

Priesthood authority of God, we can truly be clean of all our sins, and be pure in the eyes of God! I know that there is no other way by which we can be saved, and there is no other way to find happiness in this life and the next! I love you all so much! I love the Lord, and I know that as we give Him EVERYTHING we have, then He will never lead us astray. Test it out, see if when you put God first he does not bless you! I can declare and testify as a representative of Jesus Christ that He will, because He loves EACH and EVERY one of you!No matter who you are, what you have done, where you have been, you are HIS. I know that I am not perfect, but the gospel or the Atonement allow us to change and to look forward with faith and hope knowing that we are divine children of God! He loves you!! I testify that all of these things are true. Love you all so much, and leave this my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Returning with Honor,

Sister Annie Moyes

ALOHA 'OE

My last Accountability with the Sisters

Malepe and Teleni's family (kids, Ziggy, Aufi, Moana) from Laie 9th Samoan Ward

Dinner with the Loza's! From my Laie 3rd Ward

Family, Friends, Aloha!!

It is so crazy to feel how fast this time has gone by. My heart is full of joy and gratitude as well as heartache. This Sunday was my last Sacrament meeting, being that next Sunday is GENERAL CONFERENCE!!  =) It was such a blessing that in our our Laie 8th ward, Sister Rowley and I (Sister Rowley and Cavalcante being the other set of Sisters in the ward) were able to speak on missionary in Sacrament meeting. What a joy it was to bare my testimony to these wonderful people of Hawaii, and testify of the truthfulness of this gospel one last time. After the program, the congregation stood and sang to me, "Aloha 'Oe;"  a song written by the Queen of Hawaii long ago traditionally sung as a bidding farewell. 

Bishop and Sister Mamea from my Moanalua 2nd Samoan Ward

It's words singing:

Ha'aheo ka ua I na pali

Ke nihi a'ela i ka nahele

E hahai ana paha i ka liko

Pua 'ahihi lehua o uka

Aloha 'oe, aloha 'oe

E ke onaona noho i ka lipo

One fond embrace,

A ho'i a'e au

Until we meet again.

I love Hawaii and it's people so much, and know that through the gospel, we truly shall meet again. Well, what a week this has been, and I cannot wait to see the miracles that await my last week as a missionary in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission.

Miracle #1 

I mentioned in my little list of miracles that I did not have time to write about a girl named Jo Ei. Ah, well, let me tell you about Jo Ei. When Sister Tsai and I served in the YSA wards last December, Jo Ei was our only non-member in our ward boundaries. She is from Malaysia. We tried over and over again to knock on her door, but she was either not home, or told us that she was not interested, while telling her other non-member friends not to listen to our message! Now almost 10 months later, the Holy Ghost has once again spoken to and changed someone's heart. Sister Eaton and I were on shift at the VC when a YSA (young single adult) came in and told us that his friend Jo Ei was going to be coming to the VC, and she was a non-member.

We didn't think anything of it except excited to speak to a non-member, having no idea who she was. He told us that she had felt the spirit, for the first time, and that she was really moved by it. He told us that she wants to learn from missionaries, but is SO scared.

Well, long story short, we met her (outside the doors of the VC b/c she was too scared to come in) and I couldn't believe this was the same Jo Ei!! She truly was changed; her countenance completely different!  We spoke with her and said a prayer with her at this time, and invited her to meet with missionaries. Very timidly she nodded her head and said this would be okay.

We went into the VC and told the VC director of our miracle, and they told us that if she wanted to meet with Sister Eaton and me because she already knew me, then Sister Eaton and I should set an appointment with her and meet with her, then transition her to the other Sisters...as we would normally do when finding new investigators that come to the VC. We asked her how she felt, and she told us that she wanted us to teach her. We couldn't wait.

We met with her a couple of nights later, teaching her the Gospel of Jesus Christ; Lesson 3. We taught her about the steps that God has given us that lead us to eternal happiness. It was amazing to have her open up to us; explaining when she felt the spirit, and expressing to us that the Holy Ghost already told her it was true.

We asked her what she felt she needed to do next. After having taught her about baptism, her answer was of course, "To be baptized." We then asked her when she felt she could be prepared to be baptized. After a long silence of a good 2 minutes, she finally said, "I think in 3 or 4 weeks." I can't even tell you how much joy filled my heart for her! We then pulled out a calendar showing her that in 3 weeks was the 12th and 4 weeks being the 19th. As soon as I looked at the 19th, I selfishly asked Heavenly Father that this date would stand out to her! My family and I will be coming back to Hawaii and will be on O'ahu on this day. With a short amount of silence this time, she said, "The 19th stands out." A huge smile came on my face! I told her of the good news that even though I would be leaving my mission in a couple of weeks, I would be back on that day; allowing me to still attend her baptism!! She was SO excited!! So, family, get excited to see Jo Ei's baptism when we come back!! What a miracle. Every single piece of this story is a miracle. There is SO much more to it, so definitely ask me, and I'd love to tell you more! 

                                                        (sorry that was so long)

Miracle#2  

This past Friday Sister Eaton and I did not have too much proselyting time with all the appointments we had set up (mind you, every single one of them fell through, haha). With the hour that we had, we planned on seeing four families. Well, we were on our third family to visit and as we turned to drive down the street, we saw the lights on and the door open to the house of one of our investigators whom we had not contacted since our initial contact with him. We turned the car around, parked, said a prayer, and got out of the car. As we approached the house, we saw a figure (it was getting dark outside) inside the bed of a truck. The closer we get, we saw that it was him! Nate! We were so happy to see him! After speaking to him for a couple of minutes we come to find out that he works from 4:30 am to 9:30 pm every single day!! He said that he only comes home for a couple of minutes around that time to pick up some things. What a miracle it was that we drove by at the precise time he was home for those few moments. We were able to say a prayer with him and help him feel the spirit. I love how some times when we feel inspired to visit someone, it's actually the person on the way that we're supposed to see. I know that is why it's so important to look ALL around us for the miracles in store. Turned out the person we were going to visit, didn't even live there anymore. Pretty cool how Heavenly Father works. As long as we are doing our best, living righteously, He will bless us to be in the right place at the right time!

Service Project in the morning, cleaning the temple grounds!

Yup! We get to clean the pool at the Visitor Center =)

I know this has been a really long e-mail, but I am so grateful for this wonderful time of my life that I have had to serve the Lord. I know that God lives, and I know that this IS His church upon the earth. I know that Jesus is the Christ, and that Priesthood authority; the power to act in God's name is restored upon the earth again today! I know we are lead by a Prophet of God, and He leads us and guides us to know of how we can daily gain true joy and happiness in this life and especially the next! Love you all SO much. Thank you for your continual prayers!

Alofa,

Sister Moyes

Sister Eaton and me at a Samoan Ward party