Be a Pineapple! Stand Tall, Wear a Crown and Be Sweet on the Inside!

Howdy my favorite people that I love!!! How are y'all?? I really hope everyone's doing good. Shoot me an email sometime & let me know what's up. You know I wanna hear from each of you. So guess what? Transfers are this week. I can't believe how fast another 6 weeks flew on by. My time here in the field is going by way to quick. It's crazy! Oh & I guess I should probably let y'all know that I will be staying here in Mansfield with my lovely companion Sister Eddington. We couldn't have been anymore excited. There's so much work to be done & so many good things are happening here. I'm very excited for another awesome 6 weeks here in the more elect part of the Lords vineyard. Like I say every week, this place is truly prepared & the members are very much engaged in missionary work. It has been such a huge blessings to be able to serve here & work closely with everyone. It's just been amazing! So, week 63 went by in a blink of an eye. Last Monday, we got to have a lesson with the awesome Sanchez family. Guess what? They kept their commitments that we left with them & read from the Book of Mormon. It was so amazing because it really prepared them for the lesson that we were going to teach them. They ended up teaching us about the Plan of Salvation. It was such a huge blessing because, remind you, the whole idea of "church" is very knew to them. Praying, reading, studying, etc. It's all new. Seeing the desire that they have & the willingness to act on things is so awesome. The Lord is slowly but surely preparing them to receive his gospel because, they're humble & they truly desire to know the truth. Please continue to keep them in y'all's prayers.

The dynamic duo is sticking together!

Tuesday, we had exchanges with our lovely sister training leaders. Sister Josephson came here with Sister Eddington, while I went to Euless with Sister Brohamer. Oh boy! We had way too much fun. It was awesome!!! It was super fun to be companions again for a day. We got to stop in at 'Ana's Island Grill (of course) & yes I had to get my poly food fix  man! That was bomb!!! Then we did lots of finding. Their main reason was, "well, your poly & maybe if they see any other poly they'll let us in haha". Well it worked! We got to see lots of people. It was great! We went & talked to this one unko, who ended up telling us his whole life story & we later figured out that he was just stalling so that the people that live there would eventually come home & have to talk to us haha. Man! That unko was my favorite. He was so crazy & funny, but also had a very strong testimony of the gospel & how it's blessed him & his family. It was fun! We got to have dinner with the Vakalahi family. The same family that we went & had a lesson with the last time I went on exchanges. It was fun to see familiar faces. So funny cuz, Sister Vakalahi said, "I call you Moana (from princess moana) cuz you remind me of her." She's so cute haha! Dinner ended up finishing late & so we stopped in at the church for a bit & I got to see sweet Sister Ahau (Aunty Nala) again! That was fun!!! I just love Euless! & I love my sweet sister training leaders as well. It was yet again another awesome exchange & learning experience. 

Aunty Ana!

Tracting with my old comp, Sis. Brohammer!

Sis. Ahau aka Aunty Nala!

Wednesday, we exchanged back. Then we found out that district Meeting was canceled due to a sick companionship in our district. It ended up working out great cuz I ended up getting really sick too. That wasn't fun at all! We got to go on exchanges again after dinner though with our bishops wife & that was great. We did a "sneak attack" on Rocky & his mom cuz they've been canceling appointments. We got to get in & set up a better time with him & so please pray that we'll be able to see him tonight & that they won't cancel. Rocky really wants to be taught but it's hard with his schedule & the health of his mother. We know it's just one of Satan's little obstacles that we just have to plow through. I know we can do it. Our Bishop's wife is the best. She also later, set up an appointment with another part member family so we can start teaching their girls who come to mutual. We're definitely looking forward to that. Thursday, we had our weekly planning session & those are always great. We got to teach the little activity day girls later that evening, about sharing their talents & I got to teach them some hula. Oh man! We had so much fun. They're just the cutest little future missionaries. After that, we had another powerful Preach My Gospel class with the youth. It was so Spirit driven. We taught out of chapter 2 specifically on how we learn by the Holy Ghost & on how we need to be living what we learn. After we did a role play with them, we had each person go around the room & tell us when was the last time that they've felt the closest to our Heavenly Father. It was such a powerful experience to be able to hear these youth bare testimony of specific times in their own lives, where they've felt the closest to the Lord. It was very touching & the Spirit was so strong. I love the youth so much!!! They truly are the rising generation & the elect! 

Taught hula to these beautiful activity girls!

Friday, we spent the most of the day out & about trying to find people. It was a perfect day & weather was nice. We weren't able to catch anyone but the main thing is we tried  We also got to do some service at the Wesley Mission Center. We just absolutely love those volunteers who work there. They're always so happy to see us & always greet us with such warm, big hugs & beautiful smiling faces. We really do feel their love & they always tells us how much they appreciate our service & miss us when we don't come. It reminded me of the fact that, we truly can make a big difference or impact in the lives of those around us. It's easy for our "natural man" or Satan to say "ugh! I'm not good enough" or "I'm not making a difference" but, as we remember, the natural man is an enemy to God. We are good enough & we can make a difference. I know that y'all probably do it everyday & don't even realize it. It's easy to focus on the negative but when we focus on the positive, the Lord will humble us & help us see that we are doing good. Crazy right?! Something so simple yet so hard to do. We had another awesome lesson with Kenny!!! We love him so much.Saturday, after studies, we spent the day inside cuz my poor companion got very sick  This really is the season of sickness. She thankful got better later that evening. We got to have dinner with our favorite Francom family. One of the many 'ohana's who truly just feel like our own 'ohana. We're grateful for families like them who allow their home to be a "safe place" for the missionaries. I know I mentioned this before but it's really a blessing to be able to have a "safe place" to go. Anyways, after dinner & as we were waiting for dessert to be made  we played this really funny game called "watch ya mouth" (idk how you spell it) but let me just tell you, that is a HILARIOUS game!!!  Let's just say that I almost died from laughing so hard. That was fun! 

Sunday, was fast & testimony meeting! I love fast Sundays. It's truly a time to fast, pray & reflect on the week & for me, it's a time for me to strengthen my vision & my relationship with my Savior & Father in Heaven. During sacrament, we heard beautiful testimonies of the tender mercies of the Lord. It was so great to hear how people have taken time throughout their lives, to recognize the hand of the Lord in their own lives. We heard testimonies of the power & authority of the priesthood. About how the priesthood has blessed someone's life & how the power truly comes to those who remain worthy of it. Yes we fall short at times, but through the atonement & the power of repentance, we can & will be worthy of the blessings & miracles that come from living the gospel, exercising the priesthood (for priesthood holders), supporting the priesthood & remaining worthy of the love & guidance of our Savior & our Father. I can't even begin to tell you all of the miracles & blessings that I have been able to receive from being a member of this church. I do want y'all to know that it has been such a humbling experience to be able to take the time to be more appreciative of the little things both good & bad. I've learned & continue to learn that our attitude has a lot to do with this very thing. We have to make a decision to be more happier & more thankful for all of the little things that touch us in our lives. After all, all things truly come from a loving Heavenly Father who longs for us to be happy in this life & in the life to come. We need to be willing, patient, humble, submissive & ready to act & work. Kenny reminded me of this very thing when he brought up the scripture about how faith without works is dead. If we expect our faith to be strong, we need to put in that effort. Remember who's on our side & who's cheering us on today, tomorrow & forever! Gods love & power triumphs any of Satan's evil little tricks. Don't give in & don't give up! Christ said not observe my gospel, but to live my gospel. He needs us to be living what we preach. Take the time & recommit today to try a little harder & be a little bolder. You can do it! I testify that as we do it, we will be that much closer to reaching our goal of truly becoming what our Heavenly Father wants us to become. 

The Sister Training Leaders

I love y'all so very much!!! Let's all have a good week gang. Thanks for the love, support & prayers. Know that y'all are in my prayers. Until next week 'ohana. 

Nothin like a Texas sunset!

The things we find when weʻre contacting!

See the Hawaiian flag?

Hurrah for Israel! 

Me Ke Aloha Puʻole,

Sister Kawa'a 

Impacts & Testimony Builders

What's up my lovelies!!!!! How's everyone doing??? I hope y'all had an amazing week. Another week has flown on by. Week 62 came & went real quick. I continue to see the hand of the Lord in my everyday life & that has been such a sacred & humbling experiences for me. Even the little things. Here's how the week went, Monday, we had a really nice & relaxing pday. Spent it deep cleaning our apartment for inspections & let me just say, I actually enjoyed it. I know what y'all are thinking, "Tita cleaned something & had fun while doing it?"  hey, miracles do happen haha. Anyways, we had another awesome visit with the Sanchez family. I love this family so much!!!! We showed up at their house & they made us dinner. I love me some authentic Mexican food  it was so bomb!!! We then watched a little video about the Plan of Salvation with them & we had them commit to reading from the Book of Mormon. They agreed to do so & we'll find out tonight if they've kept their commitment. This whole idea of "church" is totally new to them so please keep them in y'all's prayers! Tuesday, I didn't feel so great again...lame. I later found out that I have really bad allergies here & so I finally humbled myself & went to the doctor. Now I feel much better & I can breath! Haha. 

Valentineʻs fun!

Wednesday, we had another Zone Council. It was so awesome as most of our meetings are. We talked about the importance of goal setting & planning & how it will help us to continue to find & teach more effectively. We also talked about the power of prayer & how we need to be better alert & paying more attention to the promptings & revelations that we receive from the Lord. I can tell you first hand that it has been a huge miracle in my life. You should try it sometime. You'll definitely be a lot more sensitive to the Spirit & you'll be able to recognize it more frequently. It's really amazing. It builds your relationship with Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ & that alone is a huge blessing itself. Later that evening, Rockys mum canceled our meeting please keep that kiddo & his mum in your prayers. We decided that we're just gonna "sneak attack" them next week, that way, there is no excuse. We miss meeting with him & he always asks our bishops wife when we're gonna come back. We know that it's just one of Satan's obstacles that we have to push through. Not giving up on him! We spent the rest of the evening with our favorite youth in Mansfield. Guess what? We may have a new investigator!! So this kid Cade, (one of the young men), brought a friend with him to mutual. His name is Alex. Well, Cade asked us where he could find a Book of Mormon & so Sister Eddington & I said, "we got one. Who wants it?" He introduced us to Alex & as we talked he told us that he saw a friend reading the Book of Mormon, & his friend told him it was a good read & now he wants to read it. I know, I'm shocked too. We then told him that our job as full time missionaries is to teach people about the Book of Mormon. We're keeping him close to us cuz this kid is very interested & receptive. He even came to church yesterday! That was awesome. 

Young Women New Beginnings! 

Thursday, we had our weekly planning day! It was a good one. Went by too quick for sure. We got to spend some time visiting with the sweet Reed family. That was an awesome visit. We had dinner with a family who has a powerful conversion story. They've only been members for about a year now & they joined the church because their daughter first joined the church. It just goes to show that the youth & young adults really do have a powerful impact on those around them. Ask me about their story sometime & I'll be happy to tell you all about them  Friday, we went to Denton for Sister Eddington's doctor appointment. We call them "field trips" haha. We had another powerful lesson with Kenny!! We absolutely love this guy. We taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ & his whole countenance is just changing. It was very helpful to have members present during the lesson, cuz they were able to bare testimony about how the gospel has blessed their own lives & shared experiences with Kenny that helped him to understand more clearly. Mansfield is so prepared! All we do is show up & teach. The members are so involved & so engaged in missionary work. It's really powerful & strengthens my testimony a lot. It makes the missionaries job so much more fun & less stressful lol. I love Mansfield!!! 

Weird Snap Chat filter! One of the YW took our picture! LOL!

My favorite Francom!

Saturday, was a special day! We had lunch with the Mills. Love them so much!!! We had a lesson with Alex about service & why it's important to constantly be engaged in service. Then we went to the church to set up for the baptism for Michael  earlier that morning, Michael's mum & step dad, went through the temple for the first time & received their own endowments. Such a sweet day for sure! Michael's baptism was filled with so many people who loved him. There were over 50 people there who came out to support him on his special day. Even Kenny came to witness & the Spirit was so strong during the program. You could definitely feel the love of our Heavenly Father, present that day. I especially felt it when we sang the closing him "families can be together forever." Such a simple yet powerful reminder to me of the importance of eternal families. As I looked around the room, little kiddos & their parents & even older people, sang with their hearts & you could just feel this out pour of love & gratitude for the wonderful blessings & knowledge of the gospel. It really made an impact on me. It was a sweet day! We had a good Sunday as we always do. Speakers spoke of missionary work & the blessings that come from attending seminary & Institute. During Sunday school, we got to play as "investigators" for the youth & they taught us as if they were missionaries. Another big impact was made on me. Their testimonies & knowledge of the gospel is so powerful. They're not afraid to be bold & speak up about what they know to be true. It was such a cool experience. 

Michaelʻs baptism

Our favorite Gallini

We ended the night with a sweet lesson with one of the youth. We started offering individual lessons to the youth, to help them be better prepared to share the gospel & it was been such a blessing to see the desire & light that they have in their eyes. They really are the rising generation & it's our job to nurture, love, guide & help the youth to be able to have unshaken faith & testimonies. I wanna leave you with my testimony of working with youth. It has been such a blessing to be able to work closely with the youth. They're faced with so much craziness in the world & to see these youth stand up for the gospel & fight for the right, has been such an amazing thing to witness. It has strengthen my testimony so much & they're going to be such powerful leaders of the church. Reach out to our youth, love our youth, spend time with our youth. As we do so, we'll be able to touch their lives & they'll do the same in our lives. I love y'all!!!! Hope y'all have an amazing week!!! Be safe!!!! Thanks for your love. Until next week my beauties ️ 

The amazing Mansfield youth!

Young Women New Beginnings fun!

Hurrah For Israel! 

With Love,

Sister Kawa'a 

The Lord is Protecting His Servants!

Aloha my fam bam!! 

      How's everyone doing this week?? Oh, SHOUT OUT to my Brudder Budda!!! Happy (belated) 19th birthday boy!!!  I hope you had a fun & safe one. I know Mum & Dad probably did the usual cake & ice cream & "Kawa'a style" happy birthday screaming I mean singing haha. Gosh, stop growing up!!! Making me feel old haha. I love you sooooo much!!!  Well, another week has come & gone. Week 61 was filled with miracles as each week is. I will warn y'all. This is a long one so please be patient. I promise it's worth reading  haha. Last week Monday, Sister Eddington & I got to hangout with the other Sisters in our district. They live in the country side & they live with members who basically have a farm. We got to go on a little "hike" which was more of a walk lol. We played with pigs & caught chickens  haha. It was so much fun!!!! 

My favorite little piggy

Chicken!

After pday ended, we got to see the sweet Sanchez family. Oh my gosh!!! Thanks to your prayers, they are progressing so well. Still don't have a baptism date but they are coming along so good. We ended up watching the 20 minute video of the restoration with them & they loved it so much. During the video, the phone started ringing right when the most important part of the video was being shown. Sister Eddington & I both looked at each other with the thought that someone would get up, miss the scene & answer the phone. To our amazement, no one even moved & the Spirit was just so strong. As we talked with them about the video & all that they've learned so far, they opened us to us & said, "when y'all don't come, we feel this void. We're constantly thinking about y'all & wanting y'all to come back & teach us more. It's like we're craving to learn more." For Sister Eddington & I, that was something so very powerful. We could feel the Spirit so strong & their desire to continue to feast upon the words of Christ & learn is so there. Slowly but surely, their lives are continuing to be touched because they have a desire. They have an open heart & an open mind. Such a simple yet powerful example of the blessings that come when we open up our hearts & minds to the Lord. 

Cool treehouse on the farm!

      Tuesday, we had such a wonderful Zone Council about how powerful & instrumental the youth & young adults of today are, in building up the kingdom of God. We watched a really amazing training & got to see a couple new converts who are now serving missions & we got to hear their amazing conversion stories. There is lots of potential when we as missionaries work close with the young people & the youth of today. It's funny because all of my converts, expect for two, are all between the ages of  18-9 & their all very strong in the gospel still. The rising generation is such a powerful generation. Love them & their strong spirits. Okay, so here's where things get chaotic but miracles come. As we were driving home, we decided to take the back roads (which put us in the middle of nowhere) but we loved it because we saved lots of miles. Well, we took a turn on a narrow road & ended up a little bit off the road & then we heard "POP". We pulled over to see that our tire went flat lame! It was super cold that day & so I was not about to change the tire. We immediately tried calling our zone leaders, then the vehicle elders but no one was answering. So we did what knew best, we got in the car & said a little prayer & not even a minute later, a nice man name Arnold came out of nowhere, asking us if we needed help. He said, "y'all get in the car. It's cold out here. I'll fix it for you!" It sure was a blessing in disguise. Thanks to Arnold, we were able to make it safely to firestone. Thank goodness we're friends with some of the workers there so they knew who we were & they got us all taken cared of. Miracle! The Lord is protecting his servants in his vineyard. I have no doubt about that! 

Our flat tire

Thanks, Arnold!

      Wednesday, we were supposed to have a lesson with Rokcy but they rescheduled last minute so, we went to mutual & had a wonderful & fun night with the youth. Michael had his baptism interview that night as well & now he's officially ready for his special day this Saturday!!! We're so excited for him & his family. Earlier in the morning, his parents will be going to the temple for the first time for their endowment. It will be a very special day! Okay so, here's where things get a little chaotic again but miracles still come. So, we were trying really hard to be obedient missionaries & the interview went a little later then we thought. Well, we hoped in our car & drove home hoping to be home on time. Right went we pulled in to our apartment complex, a cop pulls up behind us & turns his lights on. For those of you who know me, I've never gotten pulled over before so yeah, I was small kine freaking out. Panic attack real quick. Anyways, this nice officer comes & asks for my license & registration & so I give it to him, shaking & all. He sees that I'm from Hawaii & asks me why I'm here in Texas (small talk). Then he tells me about how he was stationed in Kaneohe & how everyone calls him "hapa haole" (while I'm still having a panic attack). Then he asks for our insurance, well, guess what? It was no where in the car. We turned the car upside down looking for it & it was no where. At this point, mind you, I'm at the point where my frustration is turning into tears & that's not pretty at all. We immediately started calling our vehicle elder, like 20 million times, & no answer. Thank goodness our zone leaders didn't go to far & came to help us try & find the insurance card. Poor officer could see & feel my panic & in the end, he even tried helping us find the card. Well, the card was no where to be found & so he started taking down my info. In my head I was being dramatic & thinking of all the worst things possible when he finally looked at me & said, "you know what? I see the sad face. You live here right? I'm gonna erase your information & let you just go home. It's late. Just make sure you have that insurance card in your car okay?!" MIRACLE!!!!! So we go home & about 20 minutes later there's a knock at the door & we here "Mansfield police." So we're thinking, "what now?!" Then I open the door & the nice officer hands me my license. He apologized for taking so long & he explained how he erased my info. How did find our exact apartment? Who knows. All I know is that the Lord watches over those who labors on his vineyard. 

My favorite twins!

      Thursday, we went to Fort Worth & that was fun. Then later that night, we had an awesome Preach My Gospel lesson with the youth. We talked about the Book of Mormon & how it can help us answer the questions of the soul. We did a role play on sharing the Book of Mormon with a friend & that was a powerful sight to see. All these youth bore testimony & explained to their friend why the Book of Mormon is so important to them. After the role play, we had then use their social media & post or text a favorite scripture from the Book of Mormon. Our recent convert Brandon, was so pumped & told everyone, "Ima tweet mine. I'll retweet yours if you'll retweet mine. Let's all tweet it!" He's the best kid ever. He is such a good example to me & so many. Love that kiddo!!! Friday, we had a powerful lesson with Kenny. It was very helpful to have a recent convert sit in & share her testimony as well. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom & as we committed him to live it, he willingly accepted to live it & he just had this big smile on his face. We watched the children's bible video about baptism & he loved it. We set a date with him for April 15th. We even went & showed him the font & his face just lit up. It was so humbling to witness & see his whole countenance change. He's very eager & is progressing so well. Thanks fam for keeping him in y'all's prayers. We love him & we love y'all!! Saturday, we got to do service for the Mansfield community. We helped set up for their auction/party fundraiser thing. I forgot what the exact name of it was but nonetheless, it was fun!  we ended the night on such a spiritual note. We went & stopped in at the Waldmann home. This home is one of the many homes where we feel safe & where it feels like home for us. I think that it's so important for missionaries to have that safe, "home a way from home" feel. I'm glad that my home was just that to the missionaries & still is. Anyways, we had a wonderful time with them. As apart of the lesson, we as a family, sang "love one another" then we each went around the room & said one thing that we love about the person sitting next to us. Such a simple but powerful lesson. The Spirit was so strong & as we were leaving, Sister Waldmann's husband, (who's basically a dry Mormon), opened up & said "our home is always open to y'all at anytime. Come over anytime!"  That was humbling & so touching to see & feel the Spirit so strongly.

      Sunday was amazing! Like I say all the time, I love covering 2 wards. Mansfield is such an awesome area with lots of potential. In both wards, the speakers spoke about missionary work & mainly how it's each & everyone of our responsibility to open our mouths, push a little harder & invite. Be a good example & share. It was so powerful. I love Sundays because it gives me a chance to reflect on the week & no mater how chaotic or hectic or crazy life gets, Heavenly Father never fails at helping me remember the little things. After all, it's all about the little things. Let's take the time to be a little bit more aware of those around us. We never know what someone else is going through & we'll never understand their exact pain, but we all know of someone who understands perfectly, & that is our brother, our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Take the time to get to know him a little better. Like I've said before, spend time with, cause he wants to spend time with you. I testify that as we do, our hearts will change. We will become even that much more closer to him & we'll be that much more sensitive, to the promptings of the spirit. We'll also be that much more willing & ready to act on whatever promptings we receive. I continue to see this not just in my life but also in the lives of who we come in contact with each day here in Texas. Family, don't forgot that I love each & everyone of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love, support, prayers, emails, letters, care packages, etc. I'm humbled every time I receive a sweet email or a kind letter. I love each of you so much!!!! More importantly, our Savior & our Father loves each of you even more. I hope y'all have a wonderful week full of lots of miracles. Until next week my ʻohana! 

Hurrah for Israel! 

With Love,

Sister Kawa'a