Have You Found Joy in the Journey?

Where my beautiful people at doe?? Hey hey family!!! Holy smocks, I just realized that it's been a whole year since I've been home. That's so weird!! Haha. Anyways, another week has flown on by. My days as a missionary are going by faster & faster. Time needs to slow down just a little bit. I feel like it was just Monday yesterday (not complaining at all haha). This week was a little harder than usual. Between the 3 of us, we each had some kind of doctor appointments or sickness that happened this week. It's all good though. We aren't giving up. This week was filled with more & more tender mercies from the Lord. On Monday night, we met with our new investigator named Kenny. Oh my gosh! He is golden. He is a boyfriend of one of our members daughters. Long story short, he was raised Christian but always felt like something was missing. Then he met Lindsey (his girlfriend), & things started to change. When we met with him, he already had a Book of Mormon & he has already been reading everyday. We committed him to pray & ask God if the Book of Mormon is the word of God & he said, "Well, I already know it's true." He then went on to say that when he starts the day by reading the scriptures, he feels better & his day goes great, but when he doesn't read, his day doesn't go as good as he had hoped for. He said that when he reads, its like Heavenly Father is preparing him for whatever will come his way that day. It was really powerful to see the impact & the change that the Book of mormon is already making on this guy. He said that once he has learned all that he needs to & once he gets Sundays off, he wants to get baptized. I ask that y'all would please keep Kenny in y'all's prayers. 

New Yearʻs Eve fun!

On Tuesday, we got to meet with our investigators who is a solid family. Long story short, their son Jason is a convert & is now on a mission. Ever since he's been on his mission, the Lord has been blessing his family & they have been more open to learn more about the gospel. When we met with them that night, his father, Jose told us that they initially wanted to find out what made Jason so happy. We started reading the Book of Mormon with them & it was awesome. Please keep them in your prayers! They still have a few concernd cuz everything church is totally new to them, but we know that the Lord is slowly preparing them & the sacrifice that their son is making to serve a mission is blessing their lives tremendously. I love it! On Friday, we went out with one of our ward mission leaders & we decided to go & contact one of the bible referrals that we had. Oh my goodness, it couldn't have been any more perfect. His name is Doug & Sister Chisholm & her previous companion had found him cuz he was a previous potential investigator. We got to meet with him & his wife for a few minutes & he said, "It's ironic that y'all stopped by today." He knew & we knew that the Lords timing was so perfect. We got to talking a little bit & he agreed to have us come back & teach them more about the gospel. It was so awesome!!! Please keep them in your prayers. We got to meet with our other investigator, Alex again. It was so awesome. Alex is a man of few words but he has a strong testimony & his Spirit is amazing. We went over the baptism interview questions with him & it was so powerful to hear his testimony of why he wants to be baptized. The Gospel truly does change lives & helps people if theyʻre willing to change. It continues to put a huge smile on my face to see one of my Spirit brothers & sisters make commitments & changes to become better & to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love missionary work! 

The sweet Marx family!

Hāna in Texas!

Last night, we met with another one of our investigators named Brandon. He is another solid & golden investigator. Funny story, one day back in October, he asked his friend if he could go to church with them & he's been going ever since. The Sister missionaries thought that he was a member until one day they found out that he wants to be baptized. Meeting with him was awesome! We taught him the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ & with the help of the Bishop & his family, we helped him understand the importance of prophets & why the gospel has been restored. It was so powerful. At the end of the lesson, we asked him if he had any question & he was said, "how does one get baptized?" When he said that, the three of us looked at each other & the Spirit filled the room. He then went on to say that his goal is to be baptized before he goes of to collage. We each had impressions to set a date with him & we asked him if he would prepare himself to be baptized on January 21st. He said yes & we set up a return appointment to teach him lesson 2 tonight. The Spirit was so strong. Please keep Brandon in your prayers! M sweet family & friends, I want y'all to know that I have a strong testimony & I know that the Lord is working with me on my mission. He is preparing the hearts of the people here in Mansfield to receive the goodness of his gospel. I am so grateful that I get to be apart of such sacred work. Obedience is key! Don't forget that. Yes, times will be hard & yes, Satan will try his best to bring us down, but we have the power to not let him win. Like I always say, it all starts with the little things. I love y'all so so so much!!! As this new year enters in, let's continue to strive to be better then we were yesterday. Let's not forget who it is that we trust & who it is that trust us. 

Cute fireworks stand.

I wanna leave y'all with this scripture that continues to stick with me & it's found in Doctrine and Covenants section 18 verses 15 & 16 & it says, "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto his people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the Kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you bring many souls unto me!" I feel this joy everyday & As I meet people who are prepared & who are willing to learn more & come back to Christ. It is so awesome & humbling!!! Aloha au iā ʻoukou pakahi a pau. E holomua a mai hāʻawi pio. Paio mau!!!! I kēia pule aʻe.....Until mext week! Ke Akua Pū ️ 

The closest Iʻve gotten to the Cowboyʻs stadium!

Hurrah for Israel! 

With Love,

Sister Kawa'a 

6 Months to Sexy!

Mele kalikimaka a me hau'oli makahiki hou!!!!!

To explain my heading, a funny missionary lingo thing is called "6 months to sexy" which basically means, the missionary has 6 months to get fit & prepare for the next ordinance  🏽🏽‍♀️

The Gallini ʻohana

Boy oh boy! Where has this week gone? We've been busy trying to get adjusted (still) & meeting lots & lots of awesome children of God. I love being able to cover 2 wards. It's so fun. The work here is going & it's going fast. This week was full of reminders, as every week seems to be haha. On Tuesday, we went & did service at a place called "living word". It was so awesome. We put together lots of food baskets, warm clothes & Christmas presents. At the very beginning, everyone comes in & gets a number, then they wait & talk & sing & have a little sermon from the pastor of this little church. I had the priveledge of meeting this sweet old lady name Debbie. We got to talking & had an awesome coversations about life as a missionary & the reason we celebrate Chritsmas. She just couldn't believe how strong we were for taking a little portion of our time & life, to fully serve the Lord. As she was leaving, she flagged  me down & we hugged each other. Then she said, "make sure you come back now & see us okay? It was a pleasure to meet you." When she said that, my heart was filled with so much gratitude & love. Her simple words touched me & I know the Spirit touched her somehow. Wednesday, we met a sweet family & made a super cool connection with their daughter & the father of the home who are both less active. Like Ammon, we built on common grounds. It was super sweet. 

My fabulous trio!

On Thursday, we had our Christmas Devotional. We watched two wonderful & pretty powerful movies.  One of them was about how serving others really does impact & make a difference in both the life of the one giving the service & the one receiving the service. It was so good!!! We also played some fun Christmas games & got to hear departing testimonies from such wonderful Elders & Sisters. Then we each got a special gift from the Office "staff" & from President & Sister Whitney. I just love Christmas & the spirit that comes with it. On Friday, we went on exchnages with one of our ward mission leaders & we got to see so may people. We got to meet some of his family & totally found a connection with his daughter in law. Long story short, we found out that I totally know the missionary that baptized her. It was a super awesome connection to make cuz after the visit, our ward mission leader said, "sister, you have a connection with her, she loves you. Now get her to church!" Another reminder that this is where the Lord needs me to be. Saturday. 

Nancy was baptized by the Elder I know - Elder Lilo!

My Matasoni (Sis. Matson) will be home in 5 weeks!

Christmas Eve, we were fed so well. We had breakfast, lunch & dinner appointments that day. It was so fun! Thanks to having a high metabolism, I don't have to worry about getting fat  We are so loved & cared for here in Mansfield. I couldn't be anymore grateful. We got to meet with our investigator named Alex who has a baptism date for January 14th. We're so excited for him & he's stoked too. He's progressing & keeping commitments but please keep him in your prayers. 

Christmas gifts from home!!!

Care packages!!!

Christmas day was a sweet day. We sang Christmas hymns, listened to the sweet voices of the primary & ward choir & we heard wonderful talks about the Savior & of his birth. The rest of the day went by fast. Anxiously waiting & anticipating the time for us to call home. My goodness!!! One minute I was saying hi & the next minute I was saying bye. 

Facetime with the ʻOhana on Maui!

Our Christmas tree and "Bobby" the investigator. LOL!

This week I am reminded of how much we are loved, supported & needed here.  On Sunday, one of the members came up to us & said, "sisters, I have to tell y'all this. When y'all left after dinner, my son (who's like 14) turned to me & said, man I love sister missionaries"  we just cracked up. Then we realized that we really are making a difference here. Its been about 2 weeks & with the help form on high, we are touching lives in small ways. I have been really working on putting on my eternal eyes & seeing things the way Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ see things. I continue to be reminded that the work here that I am doing is sacred work. It's not about me, its about him! Family & friends, I want each of you to know that you each touch my life. Every single one of you who read my emails, who send me letters, care packages, who pray for me, love me, support me, or just think about me, you, yes you, hold a special place in my heart. THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH!!! You will never know how grateful I am for loving me & encouraging me. As you all know, the life of a missionary is hard but it is worth it. Time & time again when things get hard, the words of one of my favorite primary hymns comes to my mind which says, "have faith, have hope, live like his son, help others on their way. What does he ask? Live like his son." I testify that God & Jesus Christ love us so much. As this new year comes around, let's set goals make plans to become better then we were yesterday. Try a little harder & be a little bolder. Love y'all!!! Have a fabulous week you beautiful people. Until next week...

Hurrah Israel!

With Love,

Sister Kawa'a 

365 Days on the Lordʻs Errand!

Iʻll never forget you, Sis. Willey! I love you forever!

Aloha my sweet family! 

First things first, IT IS FREEZING!!!!! No bueno 🏽 This week has been crazy busy & I love it!!!!! Last week consisted of goodbyes & hellos. We had a bittersweet pday last week. I was mostly bummed cuz lots of my fellow "friends" were going home. Man, goodbyes are getting harder & harder for me but aye, someone wise once told me that change is good. It's hard sometimes but, it's good. Tuesday, Sister Wiley & I went & did service with the zone leaders at the food pantry. It was so fun until we were leaving & I explained to them that it was my last day there. Man, I really don't like goodbyes. It's awesome though now cuz the workers there, will continue to have a really good relationship with the Elders & Sisters that will do service there  For lunch, we went to Outback with the Zone Leaders for Elder Taylor's "last supper" haha. After that, we had a really good visit with a less active. She opened up & told us more about her & the hard life that she had. We reassured her that Heavenly Father loves her so much & wants her to be happy. Sister Willey & I both know that it's hard to come back but, it's so worth it. 

Lunch at Outback with Elder Taylor

We took the rest of the night & said goodbye to some of the many dear people, who have touched my life & loved me. No words can express my gratitude for the support that I continue to receive on my mission ️️ 

The Blackburns (Watauga Ward)

The Saʻafiʻs (Watauga Ward)

The Hemphils (Watauga Ward)

Mom, Pop and brother Jacob! My mission parents in Watauga Ward - The Villarreals!

My Samoan Sunga, Donna! (Watauga Ward)

The Whittaker family! (Watauga Ward)

Wednesday, was transfers. Filled with SO many mixed emotions. Torn apart cuz I was being transferred but, excited at the same time to be in a new area with not just 1 companion, but 2 companies  My 2 beautiful companions are Sisters Eddington & Chisholm. The best trio ever so far!!!!! We spent most of the day trying to get settled in & trying to figure everything out since we are "white washing" 2 wards. We went to the church after dinner & got to meet some of the awesome youth & participate in their fun white elephant activity. Love the youth!!! 

My new comps - Sis. Chisholm and Sis. Eddington! The BEST trio EVER!

Having fun already!

Thursday, we had our weekly planning & we also had to take Sister Chisholm to get a root canal. Friday, we spent most of the day on exchanges with one of our ward missions Leaders, Brother Hoelze. We went out & he helped us try to meet people that the previous missionaries were working with. It was great. Busy, busy, busy for sure. That day was super cool cuz we had 2 less active sisters, welcome us in with open arms & tell us that they were so happy to have sister missionaries in the ward cuz sister missionaries taught them. Talked about being placed at a specific time for a specific reason. God is so wonderful. 

Generations Picture! My "mom" Sis. Matson (comp #1), my "daughter" Sis. Slade (comp #2) and my "daughter" Sis. Willey (comp #4)

Saturday we celebrated my 1 year mark  a day late, cuz we were way too busy on Friday to do it. We went to Olive Garden & as we were going to pay for our meal, the waitress told us that our meal was already paid for & that the people who took care of it wanted to remain anonymous. We found out later that it was a family that Sister Chisholm knew in her previous area. Totally made our day!!!! Miracle!  Sunday was our first Sunday. Now that we cover 2 wards, we have church like ALL day. I kind of like it haha. So, the wards here in Mansfield have a tradition where they come together as a ward & buy Christmas presents for the missionaries. Oh my goodness, talk about feeling loved!!!! We are so loved here in both of our wards. We received SO many things like lotions, fuzzy socks, scarfs, makeup, toilet paper & lots & lots of food. Again, no words can express the gratitude that I feel so far. I will be honest, I was freaking out when I found out that I would be transferred. I really just had to put my faith in God & allow him to help me trust that he knows what he's doing. So far, as I have done this, he has reassured me that Mansfield is where I need to be right now & that Watauga will also have a special place in my heart just like Azle. 

Sister Francom (Mansfield 2nd Ward) welcomed us with new Lula Roe dresses!

I want y'all to know that I love my Heavenly Father so much. I have found that I continue to humble myself & truly let him take over, that he really does take care of EVERYTHING. If we put our trust in him, he can & he will make everything work out. Not on our time, but on his time. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ cuz he has made it possible for me to overcome any challenge or hard time that I have or ever will be faced with. Everything's a lot more easy when we humbly submit to the will of the Father & follow the perfect example of his Son. Know I feel y'alls love & thank y'all so much for the support. Let us be more willing to do what Heavenly Father requires of us to do. Love y'all!!!!! Until next week.....have a blessed week. God love you!!!!!!

Hurrah for Israel!!

With Love,

Sister Kawa'a 

Heading to Mansfield, Texas!

Sis. Villarreal (Mama V) is the BEST! She took us to Teddy's Bigger Bugers

Hey y'all! I kahi wahi aʻe ʻana au 

This week was a busy one. Visited lots of people & got to help people understand more about prayer & why it's so needed in our lives today. This week has been really focused on my purpose here & the relationships that we make with those around us. For those of you who speak Hawaiian, yes, I am being transferred. A bittersweet feeling for sure. Once again I feel torn but happy & excited all at the same time. The past 6 months that I've spent here in Watauga have been nothing but teaching moments & learning experiences. I've come to love SO many people here. THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE TOUCHED MY LIFE. I am forever grateful for friends who turn into family. It's not the end. It's only the beginning  One thing that I've learned & continue to learn here is love. I have come to understand the true meaning of Christ like love. It's not about being praised, worshipped or even recognized, but it's about touching lives. My heart continues to change as I've allowed Heavenly Father to help me to become an instrument in his glorious work. I've been struggling with trying to remember my purpose here & as I've turned to him in prayer, he has truly softened my hard head & continues to lovingly encourage & help me. 

The Chessman 'Ohana

I've noticed my prayers have been changed. In my studies recently, something really stood out to me & in an ensign article that I was reading, it said, "Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." I've been really pondering about this for this, this past week & it's so true. When we pray, we are showing Heavenly Father that we are willing to do whatever he wants us to do. It can be difficult but with God all things are possible. Time & time again on my mission, I have felt him answering my prayers as I've turned to his & allowed him to help me. I testify that prayer works & that the good Lord is there waiting to hear from you so he can help you. He wants to help. He loves you!!! 

Dorothy's Doggie just loves me!

I don't think I've prayed so much in my life till I've been on my mission, especially with transfers happening. My new area is a place called Mansfield & I'll be in a trio & I'll be white washing an area & I'll be covering 2 wards. White washing is when a set of missionaries gets taken out & a new set gets put in so, none of us will know anyone in the ward. It should be interesting trying to get to know not just one ward but 2 wards. We definitely will be busy, that's for sure. Im excited but kind of nervous at the same time haha. Just trusting that the good Lord know that he knows what he's doing  well that's it for this week fam. Sorry, not so much about the work here. I'm exited for Watauga because good things are happening. I'm leaving this area better then when I first came. Just going up from here! Love y'all so much!!! Have a blessed week!!! Until next week.....

Hurrah for Israel! 

With Love,

Sister Kawa'a 

Forever my Matson! Sis. Matson was my first companion and trainer!