THE BEAUTIFUL MISSION LIFE

Talofa : )

Hello amazing family and friends!!! I cannot even believe this will be my last letter before yet another transfer =/. It is definitely a bitter sweet time; especially with my amazing companion and friend, Sister Sekona, going home. We have definitely been doing everything we can to make sure she finishes her mission with a BANG! It has not been easy, but it has been so worth it :)

To update on my being sick the past couple of weeks, I was finally able to get to the doctor and was diagnosed with a lovely sinus infection, ear infection, and bacterial infection in my throat!! YAYYY! Hah, I feel like a real missionary now ;)

As for the work, thank you everyone who has kept our investigators in your prayers!!! I know that everything would not have fallen so perfectly in place without them! You all are amazing. All three, Alika, Lua, and Mai are getting baptized this Saturday!! It's been insane getting everything set up and ready to go, but I know we couldn't have done it without the Lord's help. It is such a testimony to me to see how much Heavenly Father loves His children! Mai is progressing like a rocket and has such a strong testimony of this gospel! Her family back home in Vietnam, although not members of the church, have been SO supportive! Sometimes I feel like Lua is teaching us. Whenever we ask her questions like: "What does it mean to you to know there is a living Prophet on the earth today?" She can just go on and on of different ways it has already blessed her life! She's amazing. Alika is just awesome. He simply knows that this gospel is true, and because he knows that, he is willing to do all that the Lord has asked of him. They are being so blessed...I can't wait to send pictures next week so you all can put faces to the names : )

The Visitor's Center and the tram tours at the PCC have been so good. Even though there are not as many people at the PCC, our self-referrals somehow manage to go up. We feel like it is because we are able to talk to the guests on a more personal level when there are less people; so it's still going good! I had the most amazing experience on Monday with one of my tram tours. There was a man and his wife and kid, and the man had so many awesome questions! So I took him to the temple corner in the VC, where it shows the restoration of the gospel. I began teaching him the restoration....so rewind...After we show the guests the 5 minute History Video of Laie, they only have about 7-10 minutes to look around and take pictures. BUT,as I was teaching him, I could not deny the feeling as if time had stopped! I was able to teach him so much, and when I looked down at my watch only about 6 minutes had passed by. It was the coolest experience ever. Anyway, after teaching about Joseph Smith, he then, so sincerely, asked if there was a still a Prophet today? I told him absolutely! He was amazed and continued to thank me for sharing this with him. I then testified to him that I know that God's church has been restored upon the earth again, and that Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to return to Him. I then testified that I know Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that he did translate The Book of Mormon, and that The Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He, speechless, just looked up and said thank you for everything, this has been amazing! We, with the wife and child walked to the bus together, and then He asked, so where can I buy a Book of Mormon? My heart totally skipped a beat!! I told him that on the guest card we will pass out, he can check that he would like a copy of it, and that we would have missionaries come by and bring him one for free! He was so happy, thanked me again and hopped on the bus. I had never had an experience like that before. It is so amazing how the spirit can teach and testify simply through our testimonies!! I love being a missionary : )

I wish I had more to report for this week, but it has just been super busy running around and teaching the gospel! Hah, the beautiful mission life : ) Sister Sekona and I are speaking in our Samoan Ward on Sunday for 25 minutes each, so that should be interesting. Please wish me luck and pray for me, haha.  I love you all SO much, and feel so blessed every day to be here doing the Lord's work. In the words of Mai, "Wow, we are so lucky to know the truth!" She is so right. Every day I feel so blessed that I know the truth of God's plan for us; a plan of happiness. I know that as we follow the Prophet, especially with conference coming up this next weekend, holding steadfast to the Iron Rod (1 Nephi chapter 8), we will gain eternal life. I love this gospel, and I love you all.

Mahalo nia loa!

Sister Moyes

P.S. Sister Fish, Sister Looney, Sister Sekona, and I are playing/singing an arrangement we created on the Ukelele's of "Love at Home" for our musical fireside we're hosting this Sunday : ) So excited!

P.S.S  AND, when we were at Kahuku Grill a couple of nights ago, we walked by a family and one of them said, "Sister Moyes!?" I turned and was confused, but said hello! They're last name was Moyes, too!! They're members, just dropping off their daughter at BYU-H from Arizona! So that's the family I have a picture with : )

YO-LOHA

Talofa family and friends!!

Are you surprised to know that this week was yet again another amazing week? It started out kind of rough because I got pretty sick =/ But all is well. I decdied that the only thing that helped take my mind off of things was just working. I'm doing like 90% better, so that's good! But nonetheless, we were still able to see the coolest miracles ever. I wish I could convey how perfect everything worked out. 

But before I tell you our miracles, I would like to note that I have officially been accepted into the Samoan community! Sister Sekona and I were at dinner with a family, and they served us fish and lamb, and corn beef. Welp, the fish was literally taken out of the water, onto the grill, and then on to my plate. Haha, I looked at my companion, and she told me to eat up!! Without any utensils to use, the Sister is sitting there waiting for our approval of the taste of the fish, so I just pick it up and eat awayyy. All I have to say is, it is a very very good thing I like fish!! She was so impressed that a Palangi (white person) would eat everything she served us :) I was happy. It is so worth it, though. Most of these families don't have much, and what they do have, they seriously prepare it all for the missionaries when we come over for dinner. I love Polynesians!!

Updates: Alika, Mai, and Lua are all getting baptized on the 29th! So it is going to be one busy dayyyyyy! There were just a few logistics that had to be worked out, but they're all ready to go now! They are all doing great, and progressing so well. Every time we teach them we are just amazed by how prepared they have been to learn about the gospel. But keep them in your prayers :)

Miracle#1: Alika had to cancel his appointment in need to work on a group project, but Sister Sekona and I felt very impressed to still go over to his house because his uncle mentioned that he had some nonmember boys living with him. So we stopped by, and what do you know, there was a nonmember there!! We asked if we could teach him a lesson, he said yes, we got a return appointment, NEW INVESTIGATOR!!! So amazing.

Miracle#2: On our tram, Sister Sekona and I were kind of bummed because we only had a couple of people on our tram tours that night, but our last tram we were completely full, and there was a lady I was able to talk to for a while, and after talking and helping her understand more about the gospel she said that she would definitely be interested in learning more about the religion! So awesome. Then, as I'm walking back to the tram I caught up with these two girls visiting from Russia, and they were so excited and amazed by the temple!! She asked what it was all about. I told her it is a place where man and woman can be sealed or married for more than just this life, but for all eternity. She asked if I was kidding! Haha, I told her I was definitely not, and told her that if she made certain preparations she could be married in there some day!! She said that she definitely wanted to be married for all eternity. Both friends self-reffered one on eternal families and the other asking for a copy of The Book of Mormon! It was such a blessing. Especially seeing someone as excited as they should be!! The temple is amazing!!!

Miracle#3: Because of being sick, I've had to take naps this week. Well, I forgot to set the alarm, so we woke up about 10 minutes late for our dinner appointment, so we go to park the car a block away from the house. We get out of the car, and a family, who we had been trying to get a hold of for about a week now, was right about to get into their car!! We called their names, and their faces just lit up!! They were so excited to see us because they got a new phone number and were unable to contact us. We set an appointment, and met with them yesterday, teaching the whole family about Lehi's dream! Oh, btw, this is the same family that got married, and came to church after not having come in forever!! I seriously love them. They are doing so much right now to make things right in their lives, and the Lord is truly blessing them.

Heavenly Father has taught me so much this week. Every day we are seeing people change, and witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ transforming lives! It is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. Heavenly Father loves His children so much!!!! I feel so grateful to be here, and can't wait to see what miracles lie ahead in this next week and half with Sister Sekona before she goes home!! Then, yet again, another transfer = / Time is too fast. 

I love you all, and appreciate everything everyone has done and is doing for me. I love feeling your prayers. Have a great weekend, and don't ever forget that you are a child of God!!

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.

"LIKE" THE HAWAII VISITORS CENTER on FACEBOOK : )

Talofa friends and family : )  

"LIKE" THE HAWAII VISITORS CENTER on FACEBOOK : )

As Sister Sekona and I have been fasting and praying, we have been able to see so many miracles in our area!! We've been so blessed. There will be times where we try all week to contact people, and they will randomly pop up wherever we might be, then agree to let us come teach them! We are still working on the 12 year-old girl in our Samoan ward, because of legal issues with the parents of letting us teach her, but I know that the Lord will provide a way; He always does. As for Baptisms, so far our zone has 15 with a baptismal date, and are reaching for 15 more before the end of the month!! It's gonna be crazy awesome. We have been trying to find investigators for a second and third baptism. Cool thing was, we got a call the other night from a student at BYU-H who said that her roommate is not a member, and really wants to meet with us. We cannot wait to teach her. Alika still has his date for the 15th of September, but still really need your prayers for him that he will be able to stick with this date!! 

Polynesian Culutural Center

The Visitor's Center has been slowing down a little bit, but still getting some amazing tours! This week has been crazy because of the amazing guests coming in!! My beautiful friend Kelsey Gates, who is leaving for her mission in a month came in to see me, Ashlyn Hewlett was on my tram tour, and some other friends who served in my ward in the Bishopric at BYU!!....oh shoot, I think I forgot to mention that uhm...oh RAVEN SYMONE came in as well!!! I pretty much made a fool out of myself, don't worry! My companion had/has no idea of who she is, so she was talking to her and her two guy friends, and I came and joined them and as soon as I looked at her face, got completely starstruck, and asked if she was Raven Symone??! She said she was, told us that they were in Hawaii because she and her friends just finished doing "Sister Act" on Broadway in NYC, and were just here to celebrate. Then she asked what the big white building outside was, so we took them on a tour teaching them about the temple and then about the Book of Mormon. It kinda seemed like she was ready to leave, so I asked if we could get a picture together. We told her we felt bad because she probably gets that all the time, but she was really sweet about it, so that was cool. 

RAVEN SYMONE in the center

The members of the Samoan ward are still welcoming us with their arms wide open; which has been really nice. It has been kind of hard these past few weeks, though because our ward mission leader has been in the hospital =/ So, they are always in our prayers as well. But, the best thing ever that happened was that the family who had not come to church in 20 years came to Church this Sunday!!!! It was so amazing. I could not even express how neat that was to see. The Lord truly blesses His children when we are ready to change and do His will. 

Sorry, I know this letter is probably lame, but the work is going so well. I've never been so tired in my life, and my English is getting TERRIBLE!! But, hey, all is well. Sister Sekona is probably the hardest worker I've ever met, and I am so grateful for her example. Even today on our P-day, she is still making phone calls, checking up on appointments...etc. She's amazing. This is the hardest most emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausting thing I have done in my life, but finding the one, makes it so worth it. I know that I wouldn't be able to do this without Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. They are always there when we need help getting back up after we have fallen. This gospel is true. I KNOW it. And I am so blessed to share it with others every single day. May you all feel the love of God in your life as you look for all that He has blessed you with already :) I love you all so much, and hope everyone has an awesome weekend and hope everyone will 'like' the Hawaii Visitors' Center on Facebook!! 

Mahalo!!!

TALOFA LAVA

Talofa family and friends!... In other words, hello in Samoan : ) 

Well, Sister Sekona and I were dead wrong in thinking we would be covering the Laie 5th Ward. Turns out we have been assigned into the Laie 9th Ward....aka: The Samoan ward!! It is pretty much amazing. I LOVE it. Sister Sekona and I are ordering a Samoan language book from the MTC so that we can learn the language. I never thought that I would be learning Samoan on my mission, but this is where the Lord needs us. It has only been a week in the area and we are already seeing how perfect this decision to put us in the area has been. Every single member we go to visit is so excited that there are Sisters in the ward, and have been giving us referrals like crazy!.....and food, haha. This is the first time Sister missionaries have ever been put in this area, covering down from Ha'ula up through Laie all the way to Kahuku. We went to church on Sunday, and I was so nervous because I don't know the language, but it was amazing how strong the spirit can be felt, even when your ears don't understand. I about started crying when the last speaker got up, obviously speaking Samoan, and then in his talk, all of the sudden he started speaking English!! He was mentioning how, there are about 55,000 missionaries serving all over the world right now, moving this gospel along, and how blessed they are for having two of those wonderful sister missionaries in their ward!! Bahhh, it was amazing!! 

My first Samoan phrases I have down is "O le Tua o lo tatau Tama Fa'alelagi" : God is our Heavenly Father! As well as, "Fa fe tai telle" : Thank you, and "O a mai oe" meaning, how are you? It is such a beautiful language!! It's pretty awesome. So let me tell you more about my area! We currently have an investigator, and he has committed to a baptismal date on September 15th! Then we found a 12 year old girl who's parents are less-active, so we are excited to commit her to baptism as well. One night we were in Kahuku and ended up at the Bishop's house, and of course they fed us even though it was about 8:00 at night, haha, but the Primary Presidency was having a meeting at their house, so we had asked if there were any unbaptized kids in the ward that we needed to know about. They didn't, but one of the counselors told us that she works at Foodland, and there is a lady who is a regular. Well, the member was walking down the street and the lady was at the bus stop so she said hello, and they started talking. She just moved in to Laie, and really wants a church for her kids to grow up in. Her kids are half Samoan, and so  the sister of course told her about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Samoan Ward! We committed her to invite the lady, with her kids, to church on Sunday!!! So, if you all could keep her and her family in your prayers, that would be so amazing!!

The mission is shooting for 130 baptisms for the month of September, and our zone has set a goal for 30! We're all so excited to see the miracles that we know can happen as we continue to have faith and work hard. The visitor's center has still been awesome, and we are continuing to meet people from all over the world interested in learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ!! There was a day when this couple came into the VC, and as soon as they came in I really felt like we should take them into God's Plan (the movie). Sister Sekona, being that she has seen it probably over 3,000 times since the beginning of her mission, doesn't exactly offer to see the movie---just because. It was amazing, though... I was talking to the husband, and she had been talking to the wife. I felt inspired to ask if he would like to see a 15 minute movie that shows the blessings in our families that come from the temple! He said that would be great! So we walk over to go see if his wife wants to watch it, and Sister Sekona was just asking if the wife wanted to watch the same thing! It was so cool to see how the spirit works. The couple did not self-refer, but they told us how grateful they were that we showed them the movie. It can be hard sometimes when you feel like someone is so prepared to hear the gospel, but just don't accept it, but one of our purposes in the visitor's center is to plant seeds. And I know that is what we were able to do.

I love the visitor's center!!! And I love getting to do the tram tours from the Polynesian Cultural Center. Hah, I know we're not supposed to play in the water, buttttttttt, haha yesterday it was pouring down rain the whole day, and we still had to give the tours :) Well, we have 20 minutes between each tour that we have to walk around and invite people to join the tram, and so we were just soaking wet! It was so fun, though. There was probably a good 3 inches of rain everywhere!! Yup! Welcome to Hawaii : )

I love this gospel more and more every day!! I'm definitely understanding why people say missions are so hard, but I wish I could explain how worth it it is. When you are able to see the transformation in someone's life when they have faith in God and are willing to do whatever it takes to follow him, the blessings just start pouring out. Our mission motto is, "We are grateful to be in the Hawaii Honolulu mission. The A.L.O.H.A mission. The A-tonement of Jesus Christ is our message, L-ove of God and others is our motivation, and O-bedience to the commandments and mission rules is our strength. By sharing the gospel with others we can give them the HA, the breath of life, even eternal life.ALohaaaa!" I love this because we get to share the message of eternal life; which when we truly understand what this means, we realize that nothing else really matters when we remember that we already have the promise of eternal happiness! I love it. Anyway, family and friends, you mean the world to me, and I know I could not do this without your prayers and support. 

Keeping sharing the gospel with others, because you never known what could happen : ) Have a great week, and I will report again on Thursday!!

ANOTHER TRANSFER AND A NEW COMPANION

Aloha!!

What a week!!!...or weekend. Alright, so transfers have begun, and this one threw us all for a loop! Like I mentioned a couple letters ago, the American Sisters get trained for two transfers and then they go online for two transfers to to do online chat for mormon.org (while still having shifts in the Visitor Center). Well, turns out Heavenly Father has a different plan for me! I have been assigned a different area in Laie, and cannot wait to get started. It is a walking area, but luckily Laie isn't tremendously huge. I will continue my shifts in the Visitor's Center and the PCC, anddddddd.....my new companion is the amazing Sister Sekona from the Kingdom of Tonga; some might refer to her as Queen of Tonga : ) Sadly this is her last transfer, but I feel so blessed to get to be her companion! Seriously, she is the sister that everyone prays they'll be companions with!! She has a heart of gold, has a big Tongan laugh, and thinks it's really funny punch me in the arm, haha. She is such an amazing missionary, though, and I have so much to learn from her!!! I'm pretty pumped. 

 On that note, Hermana Rodriguez and I had an amazing last couple of days together in the Visitor's Center. We saw a lot of miracles that I'm excited to share!!!

Miracle#1: As soon as Hermana and I got on shift, two girls come through the doors. We greeted them and got to know them for a little while. Sweetest girls/sisters ever! They were from Florida and here on vacation (of course) with their dad. After chatting with them,  we explained that we would love to teach them more about the temple and show them pictures of the rooms inside! They loved that idea. So we headed into temple corner, which was good, but Hermana and I both felt that there was something else we needed to teach. So I kind of stopped for a second and felt inspired to ask one of the sisters what she knew about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...? To my surprise she actually knew a lot! We were able to fill in a lot of gaps, as well as explain the Book of Mormon!! They loved it all, and both said they wanted to learn more!! One being in college and the other still in high school we were able to get their contact info, and cannot even wait to see the gospel in their lives!!!!

Miracle #2: So when we bring the Tram tours from the Polynesian Cultural Center, we bring them into the VC to watch a 5 minutes video about the history of Laie, connecting the temple with BYU-Hawaii and the PCC. When they walk out of the theatre, the sisters on shift at the VC hand out pamphlets that show beautiful pictures of what the temple looks like inside. So while passing those out, the last family came out and they were this cute Filipino family. The parents both said, "Ooh!! Yeah, I definitely want one of those!!" Then the Dad and I started talking about how beautiful the temple is! Then he explained that his friend is LDS and his getting married in the temple and was kinda bummed that he couldn't go inside. He then asked me why that was? That's always a hard question, because you never know how people are going to react....but I simply explained that the reason is because we want to be prepared for the promises and covenants you make inside. He said that that would make total sense!! Pheww!! That made me happy that he understood. Then I asked if he and his family would like to learn more about the blessings of the temple and how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could bless his family's life...? He said, definitely and gave us his contact info!!  And, they are from San Jose, which is where a friend of mine (Elder Naoto Suzuki) is serving!! 

Miracle #3 Okay, this one is kind of my favorite. A girl, her boyfriend, and his brother came into the Visitor's center and so we asked what brought them there today..? The Bf said that it was the girl's one year anniversary of being baptized into the church!!!!!! SOOOOO cool. We all sat down in front of the Christus statue, and I asked her what really hit home for her when learning about the church. She paused a long time, with tears falling from her face, then finally said that she loved that because of the temple, families can be together forever!! After hearing that, we had to show her the God's Plan for His Families movie!!...which is my favorite. I've seen it probably a kajillion times now, and we were all just bawling!! When we bore our testimonies she explained that she was the only member in her family, and that was really hard because none of them were supportive of it at all. We told her how much Heavenly Father loves her and how much we loved her just for her amazing example of strength!!! Seriously, what an amazing testimony that was to me of the truthfulness of this church. She said that even though it was hard, the blessings that came from joining the church made it totally worth it!! Amazing.

I'm sorry to cut this short, but we've got a lot of cleaning and moving sisters out and in, etc. to do =/ But this week has been so good, and I am in love with this gospel!!! Just getting to see the transformation in these people's lives has been so miraculous and makes it "totally worth it"!! This gospel is true, and I know that with all of my heart, and I love getting to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to people all over the world (and Hawaii of course) every day!!! How great is my calling?? 

Okay Ohana, I love you all, and can't wait to write next week!! 

Mahalo for all of your prayers!!!

PS 

Thursdays - New P-day!! PLEASE write - new address posted on 'WRITE ME'

NO MORE A GREENIE : )

Alohhhhhaa beautiful friends and family :) 

. . .and did I mention the bugs?

This week, just like many others has been so awesome and so much fun. My favorite quote from our Zone Leaders, "If you're not having fun on the mission, you're doing something wrong." It's so true! I don't even know where to begin (as always). I just love Hawaii. I cannot get over how amazing the people here are.

Anyway, some stories from this week: 

Alright, there is a family who is very very inactive, pretty much done with the church, refuses to let home teachers or anyone come by to visit them. Hermana Rodriguez and I did not know those details until last night, though! Well, two weeks ago, we were walking through our area, and the husband of that family was outside with his daughter getting ready for a barbecue, and we started walking up the driveway and we said 'Hello!' He was hesitant, but walked towards us, and we explained to him that we are new to the area and just getting to know the members some more. He explained that he didn't go to church anymore, so that's probably why we had never met him. We kind of brushed it aside and just got to know him, and asked him more about his life and his family. He shared so much with us!! It was so good. Well, President Dalton has asked us to use the "prayer" approach, in that we ask the family if we can say a prayer with him and his family and then ask for a return appointment. After talking for a really long time, and after he willingly told us of all of the non-members that lived around him, we asked if we could say a prayer with him. Without hesitation, he said Sure! So we did, then asked when would be a good time we could come back to share a 5-7 minute message with him and his family. Sadly, he said that he didn't think his wife would want that, but said thanks anyway.....come to find out, when we were over for dinner with our ward mission leader, they told us that no one from the ward had spoken with him in years, and that it truly was a miracle that he let us even talk to him, let alone say a prayer with him! Made my day! BUT there is more! So, when he was telling us about the non-members that lived around him, he mentioned a family from South Africa that had moved in!.....

WelllllL, we were having dinner with the Kontoes, when the husband mentioned he served in South Africa! I immediately asked if he had met the South African family down the street!! He said he had bumped into them once before, but that was about it. So, of course, Hermana Rodriguez and I committed them to reach out to them and share the gospel with them in one way or another (family home evening, dinner, church activities, etc.)! They accepted, and told us that they were actually really excited to talk to them about the gospel. We have been praying for the Kontoes all week for an opportunity to share the gospel with them, and cannot wait to see what seed has been planted!

So, Hermana Rodriguez and I are really bummed out that this is our last P-day as companions. We have seen so many miracles together! One of which is that we are still alive :) Hahah, last night we were walking home from dinner, and we thought we should maybe see if a certain family was home. We had never been to their house before, but it was down this long driveway...and it was about 8:00 pm. So we start heading down the driveway, and all of the sudden a cat jumps in front of us, and this dog starts barking SOOOO loud at us!! We both just screamed and ran! Hahah. Come to find from Sister Sekona that that particular dog has a tendency to bite people! Wish we knew that sooner, hah. 

There have been so many tours in the Visitor's Center and every time we pray for a certain number of self-referrals we always end up with that exact amount on that day !! Heavenly Father loves working through his servants! And I am so blessed to be one. I love Hawaii, I love the people, and I love learning more about sharing the gospel every day!! This gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and I love proclaiming that every day. I have never felt happier in my life. Well, next time you hear from me, I will be on my third transfer, and will no longer be, for lack of a better word, a greenie! 

Love you all, and love the support and prayers I feel every day!!!! 

Maholo!!!