Doubt Your Doubts Before You Doubt Your Faith

Aloha my sweet ʻohana!!!
First things first, YESTERDAY WAS THE BEST EVER!!! Being able to FaceTime home was the highlight of my Sunday! Seeing my family & loved ones was so great & I am grateful for technology haha. 

Motherʻs Day call home.  My beautiful baby niece Ceralena Kaleialohaokeaolamauloa

This week was filled with meetings, doctor appointments, "mini mission" & a baptism! It was a good week for us. Last week Monday we got to hangout with Ally. We ordered a whole bunch of pizza & food & stuffed our face for Pday haha. Talk about fat!!! Tuesday was interview with President Ames. It was awesome. So very great fun for his support & guidance. Wednesday, we had a family history training. We were taught how to use family history as a great finding tool. It was a good meet & it was also a good time to be with other elders & sisters in the mission who we don't get to see often. We also had an awesome lesson with Ella that night. She couldn't stop talking about how excited she was for her baptism.

Got to see Sister Matson at our training!

Cool experience, so long story short, a guy name Derrick, came up to us at the library & asked us what church we belonged to. He later told us to meet him at Taco Bell so we could "chat". He explained that he met some Elders out in temple, Texas. They gave him a Book of Mormon & shared with him our beliefs. One of the most amazing things happened. He asked us if we knew that the Book of Mormon is true & if the gospel is true. It was such a powerful experience cuz the 3 of us each bore our testimonies about how we each came to know the truth for ourselves. The spirit was so strong & there was no way that anyone in Taco Bell could deny or doubt what we were saying. I personally don't remember much of what I was saying, but I did feel the Holy Ghost there with us. It was so awesome & we even set up a return appointment to meet with him & teach him more. So wonderful!!! Sunday was very busy. Church was good as always. Very anxious to call home though lol. We said our good byes to sweet Sister Anderson. Then we made a few visits before dinner. After dinner, we called home & man, all I have to say is 1 hour is not long enough lol. I was more then happy to see everyone & to share with them my experiences while I'm out here on my mission. It truly is life changing! If you're thinking about a mission, GO!!! You won't regret it.

The Polys serving in my area! 

The highlight of the call was seeing my sweet Hoewaʻa family there. I am so grateful for their desire to come unto Christ & change their loves for the better. I am beyond grateful for my family for ALL the support that I receive from each & everyone one of y'all. The call home definitely made me miss home but, this is only buy a short time. I want y'all to know how much I love this gospel & how much I love my Savior Jesus Christ & my Heavenly Father!! One piece of advice, doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. Heavenly Father is always in our corner. Reach out & allow him to help us. I love y'all SO much & I just want to say, hauʻoli lā makuahine & HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the mother figures in my life & to my mum, there are no words to express how thankful I am for you!! Thanks for putting up with my attitude & or EVERYTHING you do to help raise us rotten kids. You do so much for us & you even raise kids who aren't even yours. SUPER MUM!! I am forever grateful for you!!!!!!! I love you with all my heart! Have a great week family!!!! Thanks for all the letters, emails & care packages. Y'all are SO cute!! Keep pressing  forward!! Until next week fam!!

Hurrah for Israel!!
Love,
Sister Kawa'a

Two of my faves - Ryan and Jessie!

Constantly Planting Seeds

Helping the YW prepare for Girl's Camp

Hey y'all!

How's everyone doing? Miss you all!!! Shout out to Mum & her students for a beautiful hōʻike that they had last week. I'm sure y'all were amazing! This week was yet again another busy one. We were supposed to have crazy storms & a tornado but it wasn't as bad as we thought. Hail was supposed to be bad too but having our power go out was all that happened to us. Not too crazy. Lighting & thunder here though is something else!! CRAZY!!! Lets just say I was small kine freaking out but no worries, all good!!! Haha. Last week Monday we had a district Pday. Played volleyball like all day. It was so much fun. Missed playing!!!

Little Miss Constance

Tuesday, we had district meeting & Sister Slade & I gave a tag team training on consecration. It was awesome. I love district meetings! Later that night, the storm was supposed to come & our power decided to go out. The storm was kind of fun but a little crazy at the same time. It was funny cuz that thunder came out of no where & totally made the both of us jump. You'll understand when y'all see the video. We also were trying to figure out why our wifi wasn't working & we later realized that the power was out, yeah mum, nothing changed haha. Wednesday, we did service with Sister Bartlett at good news. She's awesome!!!! Later that night, our appointments canceled so, we went to the young women activity at the Zufelts home. It was fun. The girls made a fire & we helped them get ready for girls camp.

At the Zufelts getting prepared for Girl's Camp!

Thursday, we helped the Streeter family pack up & move. They're such an awesome family. They made me Hawaiian Hay Stacks (which I've never had before). P.S. Hawaiians don't eat that haha. But it was super good! I got my rice fix Lol. We had an awesome lesson with Ella & her family. Getting her ready for her baptism this Saturday! So stoked. Super cool to see how supportive her family is of her. Just awesome!!! Friday, we helped Sister Christiansen pack up her house to move. She's a less active with a strong testimony. She's an awesome lady. Saturday, we did more service, this time we helped someone move in. I love starting my day off by helping others. It makes me happy!!! We also had a lesson with Jayden. He's so funny & doing great. Getting him ready for his baptism on May 14th. Excited!! We also had movies with the missionaries. We showed the movie, "the Testaments." Didn't have as many people as we were hoping to have but, our investigators came & so did Brian. It was fun!!!!

Sister Kawa'a's Mamas away from home!  So grateful for Sister Gilchrist and Sister Zufelt!

Sunday was fast & testimony. I love fasting even though I always feel like I'm dying haha. If you fast with a purpose & with real intent, Heavenly Father will bless you. I have a strong testimony of that. After church, we had a lesson with Ally & Ashlee at the Gilchrist home. Love these 2 girls SO much. They're doing so awesome & Ashlee is so solid. After dinner, we went to the church for court of honor & Ally & Ashlee were wearing our extra name tags. Crazy girls. I LOVE AZLE!!!! The members here are amazing & this mission is forever changing me. Most of the time as missionaries, I don't think we'll ever realize the impact that we have on someone. Whether they be active members, less active members or new investigators, we are constantly planting seeds where we go. It's been a real eye opener for me to see how Heavenly Father is constantly pouring out blessings upon us as we continue to be obedient & faithful to his council. I love y'all SO much & miss y'all, everyday! Thank you for EVERYTHING!!! I can't wait to see some of y'all's beautiful faces & here y'alls voices next week when I FaceTime home!!! STOKING hard!!!!

Sister Steinfels aka "The Queen Deb"

"Hurrah for Israel!"
Love always,
Sister Kawa'a

Sister Kawa'a captioned this pic with, "Telling the horse I'm not gonna eat him!"  LOL!

Continue on the Straight and Narrow!

 Aloha e kuʻu ʻohana!!!!
How'z it y'all?? How's everyone doing? Hope everyone is doing well!  First things first, I am doing fine! This past week has been nothing but beautiful, clear skies. This week is supposed to be a lot more rainy though & we might have tornadoes coming our way but NO NEED TO WORRY FOLKS!!! The Lord is with us!  Just pray for us! Shout out to Budda for getting his Melchizedek priesthood. SO PROUD OF YOU BUDS!!!

Anyways, this past week was just awesome!!! It was filled with lots of appointments & service opportunities. It was legit! Monday, we had our normal preparation day. Tuesday, we had our district meeting & I gave my fist training on Agency & the Fall of Adam & Eve. Yes I was nervous but I thought it went really good!  The other missionaries who gave trainings did great too. Our district meetings are always good & filled with the Spirit.

PDAY with the other Sister Missionaries!

Wednesday, was a CRAZY day!!! Long story short, we did service in the morning, then while we were at the church, we saw a young man there, who's name is Tyler. We went over to ask him if we could help him & well, he had been trying to find a way to get back home to his family in Oregon. He came to Texas to try & reconnect with his mom, but things didn't work out & he has been living in a homeless shelter that had just kicked him out. We found out that he's Mormon but very less active so we gave him a Book of Mormon & a Bible & we had a little lesson with him. We also got our members to help him out. It was SO good. They got him a motel for the night & the next day they drove him to the bus station & payed for him to get back to Oregon. It was so awesome to see a ward come together to help this young man get home to his family. It literally was a miracle!!!

Thursday, was a normal but good day. We had our weekly planning where we plan for the next week. We also got to meet with our investigator Ashlee who is just on fire!!!! She's doing SO awesome & keeping all of her commitments. Love that girl!!! Friday, we did service for the Qualls family. We helped them move from one house to another. We also contacted a referral who requested a bible. His name is Jesse & he's so sweet. He was very surprised (in a good way), to see us because he thought that the bible was going to be mailed to him. We asked him if he heard about the Book of Mormon & he said no so, we taught him about the Book of Mormon & he was very excited to read it. He was going tobe out of town for the weekend so he said that he would call us when he gets back so we can teach him more. We're hoping he calls us this week. If not, we'll call him!

Saturday, we did more service! We had planned to help Sister Tucker out but she had to clean the chapel so we went over to the church to help them clean the chapel. It was awesome!! I love starting off the day by helping others. It makes me SO happy!!! After that, we got to meet with 9 year old Jayden, who has a baptism date for May 14th. He's so cute. Later that evening, we went with the Reinhard's to the stake center in Weatherford for a stake ward council training. Elder Foster of the Seventy trained us. I thought it was SO good. He talked about how if we know the why, then we will know the how. If we know why we're here & if we know our purpose in this life, then we will know how to fulfill our purpose & the reasons why we do things. Our goal in this life is to live as families & to prepare to return to live with Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ in the next life. In order for us to do so, we must continue on the straight & narrow. Continue to go to church, read the scriptures & pray often. We also need to help our lost brothers & sisters come back to the fold. I love my mission SO much. It is seriously, life changing! If we allow Heavenly Father to take over, he will make us become who we truly are. He knows each of us & knows our true potential. We need to trust in him & accept his will. I love you all SO much & I miss you guys!!! Thank you for all the love & support!!! Until next week family! :)

Love,
Sister Kawa'a

Put Our Trust in Him!

Aloha my sweet ʻOhana!!!


How are y'all? Hope everyone had an awesome week!!! First off, shout out to my sweet Hoewa'a family!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I am SO proud of y'all for making such a life changing choice to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. SO wish I could've been there to witness such a beautiful day. I love y'all SO much & I can't wait to return home & give y'all a big hug!!!! I know that y'all will be an example to SO many. I can just see it now :)


Well, it's week 15 in the mission field. This past Saturday was my 4 month mark. This week went by quicker then I thought. So many things happened! On Monday, we had dinner with the Zufelts. Btw, mum, they're the hick version of our family. You'll see why when I send y'all a video of them haha. They're the best! We spent way too much time there but it all worked out haha. They even wanna plan a lūʻau as a finding activity & have it at their hale so we'll see if everything works out. Tuesday, we had a good district meeting like always. Talking about more finding activities & stuff like that. Love my District! We also went on exchanges with sweet Sister Walser (one of the ward missionaries). Got to visit some less actives. Also had dinner with the Lutz family. Sister Lutz is Filipino & you what that means, RICE!!! Haha. I was happy about that for sure! Funny story, they picked us up for dinner & as we were walking to their car, we noticed that only Brother Lutz was in the car. As we got closer, he got out & asked us if we were ready.  So Sister Slade & I looked at each other & said, "yeah, where's your wife though?" Then he pounds on his trunk & that crazy lady was in the trunk hiding from us. That was classic! Haha. Love them!!!

Sister Lutz (in the middle)

Wednesday was a busy day. We went with Sister Walser again to visited Brother Coker, who is less active due to health problems. He's such a sweet gentle giant. We were able to get priesthood to him so that he could get a blessing for the pain that he is going through. Poor guy! Praying for him that he'll be able to come to church soon. We met with Ashlee 3 times this week!! It was awesome. She is doing SO good. She even went tracting with us on Thursday. She's legit!!! She also got her first priesthood blessing that helped her out a lot. It was SO powerful. We got to finally meet with sweet little Ella. Had to push her baptism date back to May 7th. Praying that all goes well. We're planning on bringing her primary teacher with us to her next lesson, to get her excited about coming to church. She's still doing great & loves to learn. We also got to visit with a sweet sister who's son had taken all of the lessons. She just needed to do the next step which was to set a date for his baptism. She's a busy lady but, we were able to meet with her & set a date for her son, for May 14th planning on meeting with them again soon, to make daily contact with them. They're a sweet family!


We got to attend the mission temple day with Ally on Saturday! The drive there was bad because the traffic was terrible. Remind me to NEVER drive in mainland traffic!!! Everyone was so impatient. No aloha I tell you. No can dat one! (Yes I still have my Tidah moments lol). Anyways, we got there late but safe. Well, kind of....don't worry Mum haha. We still enjoyed the temple & Ally was able to do baptisms. It's always nice to be able to be at the temple & feel of the Spirit there. Just awesomeness!!! We got to teach Sunday school again for the 16-17 year olds. I know I say this a lot but the Youth here are SO awesome!!! They strengthen my testimony & remind me of how important this Gospel should be to all of us.

Dallas Temple with recent convert, Ally.

I want y'all to know how amazing this gospel is! The theme for the week was to never forget that we can ALWAYS reach our Heavenly Father's expectations. I want y'all to take sometime to watch the Mormon message, "The Will of God". It's a perfect reminder to never forget that, our Heavenly Father loves us & wants us to constantly grow each day. There's a story of a gardener who noticed a currant bush tree that wasn't producing berries, so he cut it down drastically till there were only small stumps left. He then looked at the bush & noticed a drop like a tear, as if it were crying. He then thought he heard it say, "How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.” Then the gardener replied, "look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down." Later that same gardener was in the army & was going to be promoted to General but was denied the position because he was Mormon. He then remembers & said, I went home with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done--that I should have done--that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?" Then he remembered what he said to the little currant bush, “I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do." He then fell on his knees to ask forgiveness for his ungratefulness. Then he said, "I looked up to God and said,  'Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.'

This was a good reminder & a perfect lesson for me to never forget that our Father in Heaven loves us. He knows what's best for us! He knows our potential. Let us continue to put our trust in him & be obedient to his commandments. Sorry this email is SO long!!! So many good things are happening that's why!!! I love all of y'all SO much & miss y'all too!!!! Have a fabulous week my loves!  Until next week!!!! Ke Akua Pū!!!!

Love,
Sister Kawa'a
P.S. HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY UNKO BRAD!!!!! Love youuuu!

Heaven is Cheering You On!

Aloha family!!! Week 14!!!! 😊

Last meal together as companions

So this week consisted of change! Wednesday, I bid farewell to my sweet trainer Sister Matson & I welcomed my new companion straight from the MTC. Her name is Sister Slade! She's so cute!!! It wasn't that long ago that I was fresh from Utah, so I know how she feels. So far so good. We've been having a hard time with finding people to teach. We also didn't get to meet with Ella but we have an appointment with her tonight. Hoping all goes well! We may have to push her date back but it's okay. She is learning & growing & being prepared to enter the waters of baptism.

A hui hou Sister Matson!

Welcome Sister Slade!

Our other investigator Ashlee, is doing very good! She came to church again & we just finished teaching her the Plan of Salvation. She loves it SO much & thinks it makes so much sense. Love to see others come unto Christ & find out for themselves, if what we teach them is true.  It's humbling for me to see them accept not only Christ but, the Gospel as well. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways. She's excited for her baptism & is literally inviting a whole bunch a people. So cute haha!

A hui hou Elder Saaga!  You now return with honor!

Well, other than that, this week has taught me that change is good. Whether we like it or not, it needs to happen. Heavenly Father places people in our lives to help us learn & grow. We need to trust & remember that the Lord's timing is always the perfect timing. Quick story, as we were walking home from lunch on Saturday, a guy on a Harley pulled up to us & starts talking to us. He explains that he's a member but doesn't attend as much because of work. Then he says, "Sisters, I want to do something for you guys & you can't say no." Then he reaches into his wallet & tells us, "now the next time that y'all buy groceries, use this." I put my hand out & $100 drops in my hand. We weren't expecting that at all. We expressed to him how thankful we were & then he said, "y'all have a good day!" Smiled & drove off. Blessing in disguise! I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us while we are out doing His work. Training is hard....especially when I'm still a new missionary myself but, I know that tough times will only bring growth & eternal blessings in our lives. Satan wants us to fail! Drive our negativity out with faith.

A scripture that has been on my mind this week is, Alma 26:27 which says, "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." The Lord will comfort us. He wants us to never give up & give our very best to him each day. As we do so, we will be blessed for our efforts. We will find those who are searching for the truth & we will be  eternally happy. I love & miss y'all so much. Thank y'all for all the love & support that I receive while on my mission. Let us share a smile with someone, encourage someone, talk to someone. Let us reach out & be who our Father in Heaven wants us to become. Don't give up!! I promise & I know that, Heavenly Father is with us every step of the way. Like Elder Holland said, "Heaven is cheering you on!" Na ke Akua e pāhola i nā pōmaikaʻi ma luna o mākou a pau. E mau ma ke ala hele kūpono e hele aku ai. Aloha au iā ʻoukou!!!! Until next week my 'ohana!!!!!

Love,
Sister Kawa'a

Elsa came to visit.  Wish it was our Elsa!

Choose the Harder Right!

The dynamic duo with Sister Steinfels!  She is so awesome!

Aloha e kuʻu ʻohana!!!

Pehea ʻoukou? How's everyone doing? I hope everyone had a chance to watch General Conference this weekend.Itwas SO good! If not, you can watch it again on LDS.org. Well, it's now week 13 in the mission field. We had an extra week added because of the schedule change in the MTC. So, this week consisted of meetings, change & lack of sleep haha. Good news! We got a call from President Ames on Monday night just before going to sleep & he was telling us about transfers. Transfers is when one missionary leaves their current area & goes to another area. My dear sweet companion, Sister Matson, has been called to now serve in Euless in the Tongan wards. She's definitely excited & I couldn't be any more happy for her. I'll miss my Haole but I know our bond is forever. I on the other hand, have the awesome privilege to train a brand new mission who will be coming in straight from the MTC. Shock! I'm definitely nervous but I am also excited to help this new missionary feel comfortable. I'm super stoked that I don't have to leave awesome Azle haha. We had a busy week. Monday was Pday with the Zone. Tuesday was district meeting & exchanges. Wednesday we finished our exchanges & taught the Mia Maids for mutual. Thursday we had a new trainer meeting. Friday I spent the day in Fort Worth. Saturday & Sunday we watched conference with families from our ward. Went by too fast!!

The Polynesian sisters!

On a spiritual note, we got to meet with our sweet little investigator Ella twice this week. She has a baptism date for April 23rd & so far so good. Still praying for her & her family every day though. Her family is very encouraging & is very supportive of her decision. We also have a new investigator. Her name is Ashlee & she is Ally's friend. Sister Matson & Sister Ramirez taught Ashlee her first lesson while we were on exchanges on Tuesday. They said that she really felt the Spirit & they committed her to talk with her parents & to pray if baptism was the right thing to do. During the morning session of General Conference yesterday, we got a sweet text from Ashlee that said, "so, how do I go about this baptism business?" Sister Matson &I looked at each other & just couldn't believe it. We then got to watch the finale session of General Conference with her later that day & she was able to have all her questions answered. She shared with us that she was worried about what her parents would say if she talked to them. Funny because, she recognized that almost all of the talks were about families & how important they are to our Heavenly Father & about the importance of baptism. Last night, she texted us & told us that her parents agreed to allow her to get baptized. The power of the Holy Ghost is very real. She listened to the promptings she had received & acted upon it. So excited for her.

Sunset in Springtown

I'm very blessed with the opportunity to be in Azle for a little longer & to help other people such as Ashlee to come unto Christ. I know that I am meant to be here & that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of his children. Something that stood out to me during conference was the reminder that, we are to help others find Heavenly Fathers answers, through the guidance of the Spirit. No one is ever alone! I know this to be true because I have seen it happen with me personal & with those who I meet everyday while on my mission. Let us never forget that our Father in Heaven loves us so much. Choose the harder right rather then the easier wrong. Let us not just taste the fruit, but continue to feast upon the fruit. Immerse ourselves in the gospel. I'm grateful for my mission each day. For all the miracles & the tender mercies of the Lord. I'm grateful for the times where I find myself, choosing the harder right. It brings so much more happiness & peace to my life when I do so. It's never easy, but it will always be worth it. Never give up!!!! I love you all SO much!!!! Have a blessed week my sweet ʻohana! Until next week!!!

Practicing her biking skills

Song that's been stuck in my head, "That's how he lived, so
that's how I'll be!"

Love,
Sister Kawa'a

Interesting name?

Got to see Sister Black again!  Her MTC companion!