Sister Kawaʻa Calls Home for Christmas

Aloha Friends & Family!

Yesterday we received the best Christmas gift ever - a 30 minute phone call from Sister Kawaʻa!  We hooked up the phone to a huge speaker so everyone could hear her voice and we all gathered around to talk to her.  I would like to share some of the things she shared during our conversation.

First of all, Sister Kawaʻa is getting stronger each day.  Although she still misses home, she recognizes all the people Heavenly Father has placed in her life to help her overcome this trial.  The MTC also has counselors available and Sister Kawaʻa has been able to gain strength through these counselors.  She has learned that homesickness is very common among missionaries and that it is okay to be homesick.

I shared with her a scripture that Elder Jace Moore shared with me that helped him with his homesickness.  Doctrine & Covenants 121:7-9 which reads, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then if your endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.  Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."

For Christmas, they had a devotional featuring Elder David A. Bednar and his family!  She was so excited to share with us that she was able to be in the presence of an apostle of the Lord.  She was also excited because after our phone call David Archuleta was going to be performing live at the MTC for all of the missionaries!  He is one of her favorite musicians!  I am so grateful that the MTC goes all out for our missionaries to make Christmas special for them.

In our conversation Sister Kawaʻa talked about her name tag.  She said that on the name tag is her family name - Kawaʻa - and the words The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It is a constant reminder to her of two things - that she represents her family and Jesus Christ.  We can already see how her testimony is growing!

She also updated us on a few things.  She will be leaving the MTC on Tuesday, January 5th.  She will be able to call home to let us know she made it to Fort Worth, Texas safely.  This is when her address will also change to the following:

Sister Kamalani Kawaʻa
Texas Forth Worth Mission
1331 Airport Fwy, Ste 305
Euless, Texas 76040

You can still email her at kamalani.kawaa@myldsmail.net.  This is where she will serve the remainder of her mission until June 2017.

At the end of our conversation, Sister Kawaʻa started to bear her testimony.  It was the strongest testimony I have ever heard her share.  She talked about the Savior and wanting to be more like Him. The words just seemed to flow from her mouth and we could tell that she was filled with the Spirit.

How grateful we are for this young missionary and her faithfulness!  How thankful we are to know that families are forever.  How blessed we are to know that Sister Kawaʻa has left her family for a short time so that other families can be together forever!

We love you all and thank you for your continued prayers and love!