Embracing Change

My new companion I get to train! Sister Willey!

Hey y'all hey!!!!

What's up my beauties  hope y'all had a great week!!! Mines sure went by quick which is good. Staying busy! Trying to at least....lol. Anyways, so my new baby's name is Sister Willey. She's super cute & we both hit it off real quick. She's from Farmington, Utah. We already have a ton of fun together & we're so much alike. It's so funny. So here's how my week went. Last week Monday for Pday, we decided to have lunch together as a zone which was fun. We ate, we sang & we played some good volleyball. Tuesday, we set some time aside so Sister Brohamer could pack. Oh, she got called to "white wash" Denton 1st & 3rd wards. She's basically kicking the elders out & a set of sisters are being put in. I was excited for her. 

Three generations picture (l to r: my "mom" trainer, Sis. Matson and my "daugther", Sis. Slade

Wednesday, transfers!!!! We had an awesome transfer meeting. Got to see all my missionary friends. Always love those little reunions. Also, got to say goodbye to those who were going home. That was sad. After our meeting & receiving some good words of wisdom from President Whitney, Sister Willey & I headed straight to work. We went home to drop off her stuff & then we hit the food pantry to do some service. The Zone Leaders & the District Leaders showed up too so that was fun for them to meet Sister Willey. After that, we spent the rest of the day contacting people & we had dinner at Mama Villarreal's home.

My "mom" - Sister Matson! 

Dinner and fun at Mama Villarrealʻs home! My new comp "daughter", Sister Willey!

Thursday we had weekly planning. We also went & saw Paulette. It had been a while since we saw her. We really felt like she isn't really interested in learning more about the gospel, but we're continuing to love her & help her in any way possible. Please pray for her & her family. We got to see Lynn. We had a really good lesson about the priesthood & about the grace of God. Please pray for him as well that he'll be able to recognize the Spirit & know that what we are teaching him is true. After dinner with the sweet Hill family, we went to go see the Blackburns. Okay, so, their daughter bought a snake & yes, Sister Kawa'a never saw a real snake before so what does she do? She asks to see it & then holds it  I know shock! Small kine scary but I can now check that off my bucket list ✅ on a more spiritual note, we did get to find out more about how the missionaries found them & what they've been taught so far. We set up an appointment for next Friday with them & we plan on going over the plan of salvation & clarifying a few things for them. Praying that all will go well. We noticed that it's better for us to teach them when Matt is home who is the father of the home. He really gets the family to listen & pay attention which is great. 

Got to hold a snake! 

Friday, we went to the food pantry again & did service. We invited Dimitry (one of our friends that work there), to come to our picnic later that evening & guess what? Him & his sweet wife Marla came. They had a BLAST!!! The ward was so welcoming towards them & they had so much fun. We also had a good talk about how the gospel truly changes lives. We're going to see if they want to take the discussions to learn more. We told them about our "Meet the Mormons" activity coming up & they said they would love to come so, we'll be praying that all will go well  Saturday, we got to attend a baptism of one of the kids in our ward. That was sweet. We spent the rest of the day contacting people. Later that evening the Parson family hooked us up & let us stay at their home to watch the General Women's Meeting. Man, that was such a spiritual & inspirational meeting. It was so good!!!!! Sunday was our fast Sunday since General Conference is next week. It was great! Love hearing everyone's sweet testimony. We had dinner with the Growald bunch who totally remind me of home. I just love the craziness. 

The wonderfully crazy Growalds!

Well, so far so good! Sister Willey & I have set goals & made plans to get the work going here in Watauga. Here's a little tender mercy, so, I was fasting yesterday specifically for an opportunity to have someone new to teach. I was really feeling discouraged because the work here had been a little rough lately. Well, after church & before ward council, bishop introduced Sister Willey & I to a less active guy (Brother York), who has a 10 year old son & a soon to be 8 year old who aren't baptized. I know it seems like something really small but I just wanted to cry because I knew that the Lord heard my plead & answered my prayer. We were able to set up an appointment with them for tomorrow & we are excited. Please pray for them! My heart is so full of gratitude toward my Heavenly Father. Obedience truly is key. I testify that the Lord blessed us for our efforts & truly does see us. He knows the secret pleadings of our hearts & I know that he will never leave us. I will admits, I have felt alone at times when things don't always go right but, I'll get little reminds that help me know that Heavenly Father is with me each & every single day. Reminds me of a scripture found in 1 Nephi 1:20 which says, "I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." Let us recognize the tender mercies of the Lord so that we can increase our faith in him. I also want to challenge y'all to prepare for General Conference with questions & I promise you that they will be answered. You will be able to see the hand of God & you will be forever grateful. I love y'all so so so much!!!!! Have a beautiful week fam. Until next week  

Love,

Sister Kamalani Kawa'a

Willingly Put the Lord First and Become His Hands

My favorite place in the whole wide world! I love to see the Temple! (Dallas, Texas)

What's up beautiful people!!!!!
So, first things first! Guess who's expecting another child? Me!!! 😁 I have been called to be a trainer again. In missionary terms, if you're called as a trainer, you're like the "parent" & the new missionary becomes your baby cuz it's your job to help them get familiar & adjust to missionary life. She'll be fresh from the MTC & I'll meet her on transfer day which is Wednesday. I'm so pumped!! That means I'll be staying in Watauga until at least December, which is good cuz things are finally starting to go somewhere. So here's how the week went. Last week Monday, we had the norm Pday chill day stuff. We also had exchanges with the awesome sister training leaders. I went to Highland Station with Sister Hilton & Brohamer stayed in Watauga with Sister Eaton. So funny story, Sister Hilton is from Kaysville, Utah & was totally in the same ward as my hapa haole Brudder Cody & the Mortensen family. Super small world! 

The Sister Training Leaders

Tuesday when I got back from exchanges, we went to dinner & then visited the sweet Telshow family. It was awesome! Later that night, President Whitney called & asked me to train & that's how we found out about transfers. I'm super excited but nervous all at the same time. It will be great! Earlier that day, Brohamer & Easton tracked into a potential investigator named Dana, who totally wants to learn more. Apparently they already have 3 Book of Mormons & her husband takes one with him to work. They're really new to the area too so super awesome!!!! We're definitely gonna see if they want to start taking the discussions. Please pray for them!!!

Sister Whitney, our Mission President's beautiful wife.

Wednesday we went to the food pantry. Some of our friends that work there got super sad when they found out that Sister Brohamer is leaving. They're so cute. It's nice to know that people actually care yah know?! We got to even have 2 other lessons there. Got to teach this sweet lady about our purpose in life & how God has a plan for each of us. It was great! Later that night, we went & taught the young women about family history. I love the young women!! 😊 

Sister Pasikala

Thursday we went & did our weekly planning. We also visited Brandy, who we haven't gotten to see in a while. That was nice. We had dinner with the Hemphills & then we went & saw Lynn & Lisa. They ended up taking us out for dessert & it was fun. Lynn keeps thinking about baptism & knows that it's the right thing to do. He's just being stubborn & doesn't want to do it. We did have a spiritual lesson with him about the importance of baptism & why we keep pushing him to do it. We just continue to pray that his heart will be softened. 

Lynn and Lisa

Friday was an awesome day! We had a meeting in the morning for the new trainers, which was fun & super good. Always a privilege to see & hear from President Whitney. Love him! Then after lunch, we headed to Dallas with Sister Villarreal to attend the temple to celebrate my half way mark 🎉 I'm so thankful for members who are always so willing to help us out in anyway possible. I absolutely love the temple. Every time I go, I learn more & more about the gospel & what Heavenly Father has planned for me. If you haven't gone in a while, I challenge you to go! Make the necessary plans & just go! I promise you that you'll have more peace in your life as you go with an open heart & a willingness to learn & grow. It works every time for me & I love it!!! Oh, I also got to see Bishop & Sister Leonard from Azle. That was so awesome!!!! 🤗

The FABULOUS Sister Villarreal! We love her so much!

Sister Villarreal took us to Carlos Bakery! So much fun!

Saturday was a busy fast day. We went & visited the sweet Farrar family in the morning. Then we had lunch with Sister Saafi & some of her family that was in town. It was super fun. Side note, her nephew Preston, (who was Elder Vaenuku at the time), served back in Maui & just had returned home with honor a few weeks ago. It was super cool to see him again & catch up. The island "accent" is so real. I guess I just never noticed we had an accent haha. Anyways, after lunch we met with this less active sister who we've been trying to meet with for a while now. She's super awesome & was grateful for us just showing up. Sometimes people don't really like that but, she was all for it. Hopefully we'll be able to work with her more & help her & her kids come back 😊 they're so great! Then after dinner with the Cotton family, we went & visited the Blackburns. I love them!!!! They need to come to church though. Satan is working extra hard on them but we continue to pray for them & help them in any way possible. 

The awesome Cotton family! We got to teach their teenage son.

Sunday also went by fast. We had a great Sunday! Shout out to Sister Merriefield & her daughter Sydney for singing such a beautiful musical selection at church. It was so beautiful!!! Other than that, it was a pretty busy week. I just need to say that this ward is awesome. We have a handful of families who are always going above & beyond to help us fulfill our callings as full-time missionaries. It's so great to feel supported & loved by those who you serve amongst. It really does make a different when you have people who truly try & willingly choose to put the Lord first & become his hands. Let's reach out & help our missionaries carry out the work by befriending our neighbors, or lending a helping hand. It starts with us. There's no comfort in the growth zone & no growth in the comfort zone. I love you guys so much & I continue to pray for each of y'all. Thanks for everything!!!!!! Have a fabulous week my sweet ʻohana. Until next week ☺️Hurrah For Israel!!!

Trying to be CUTE at the temple! LOL!

Love always,
Sister Kamalani Kawa'a 😘

P.S. HAUʻOLI LĀ HĀNAU to my mini-me Keaolani Hōkūleʻaokeaouli Hosino!!!!! I love you & miss you so much Leʻa!!!! Stop growing up so fast man. I hope you had a beautiful & fun birthday up in Utah! Must've been a big change, but I know mum & dad & your brothers & sister made it a good one for you. Be good & I'll see you soon!!!
😘😘😘

Sacrifice & Obedience Brings Blessings & Miracles!

Hey y'all hey!!!! Aloha beautiful people!!! Hope everyone had a good weekend. This week was a quick one for us. Last week Monday, we had Pday at the church. So many people were there cuz of the holiday. It was a little crazy. 

Pday with the crew! Learning to play Pokemon!

Tuesday and Wednesday we went to the food pantry 👌🏽 that was awesome as usual. We were supposed to have our exchanges but one of the Sister Training Leaders got sick 😷 so we had to reschedule. It was good that it was canceled though cuz all of our appointments that we had fell through...but hey, that's okay! Tuesday after dinner, we were able to visit with the sweet Farrar family. That was fun. Wednesday we met a new investigator named, Alana who wants to get baptized. We set up an appointment for Saturday to start teaching her 😊 Later that night, we went & helped out with young women again & that was great! Thursday we had our weekly planning. We had lunch with Sister Farrar who took us to IN-N-OUT 😍 my fav!!!! It was nice to spend some time with her. After weekly planning we went & visited with Sister York who just got her temple recommend back!!! We were so happy & proud of her for sure!!! 

The Chauhan kiddos!

After dinner, we visited the Blackburn family. Their oldest daughter got into a bad accident & the car is totaled but she's okay. She came out & talked with us for a bit & told us how she wants to be a Buddhist. That was interesting. Christy was not happy with that though but nonetheless, it was a good conversation to have. Friday we had zone council & it was super good! Received lots of good trainings on how to further the work here in Texas. 

The Zone!

After that, Sister Brohamer & I took some time to seek out a whole bunch of new move ins that we got. That was fun! 😊 we ended that day with a late dinner with the Sa'afi family. Saturday we went to the animal shelter. Hadn't been there in forever. It was good to be back & giving our service. After that, we went to a baptism in hopes of one of our investigators coming to to check it out but they never came 👎🏽 After dinner we went to the Stake Center to hear from Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the quorum of the twelve. That was fun! He presided over a "freedom of religion" event. It was super good. He & some of the other brethren from the church, spoke about how we can get involved & stand up for religious rights. It was super interesting. Oh & Paulette attended that with us. It was awesome. She seemed to really enjoy it. Brother Jones (our ward mission leader), chased her down after & was talking to her before she left & she told him that we were changing her life. She's so cute!!! Please continue to pray for her & her family.

Dinner at the Hills!

Sunday was a good Sunday! We had church, meetings & more meetings. I want y'all to know how much I appreciate the Watauga ward. I truly do feel their love & support & I am very grateful for that. It really helps when missionaries are supported by those who they serve with. After dinner with sweet Sister Merriefield, we went to the mission president fireside. It was so good. Got to hear a wonderful testimony from a full time missionary who will be heading home soon & we got to hear a powerful conversion story from a recent convert. We ended the evening with a few wise words & counsel from our loving mission president, President Whitney. It was so great. 

My "Mom" (first comp) Sister Matson and sweet Ally!

The highlight of the night was being able to see people who I've missed & who are so dear to my heart. I got to see sweet Sister Walker & Taya, & I got to see my former investigator, Don & Chris & sweet Ally 😁 I could feel the love of my Heavenly Father so strong in those moments. 

Sister Slad (my "daughter") and my old investigator, Don. Guess what? He got baptized!

Sidenote: The picture above is of Don, Sister Kawa'as investigator when she was in Azle, Texas. After she left, he ended up getting baptized by their mission president, President Whitney. Sister Kawa'a had given him a Book of Mormon in which her dad (Lew Kawa'a) wrote his testimony. After Don read Brother Kawa'as testimony, he decided to read the Book of Mormon and be baptized. He wrote a two page thank you letter to Brother Kawa'a the President Whitney is mailing home to Maui.

Mission President Fireside and the Poly missionaries!

This week started off rough (as usual), but it truly was humbling to see the fruits of my labors. Made me think of the scripture found in D&C 18:15 which says, "If it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!” I have a testimony that sacrifice & obedience, brings forth miracles & blessings. Our Father in Heaven is so graceful for all of our efforts in building up his kingdom & laboring in his vineyard. I've said this before & I'll say it again, it's easy for us to get down on ourselves when things fall through & nothing seems to go right but I testify that Heavenly Father is so mindful of each of his children. Don't ever think that he doesn't care about you. Our Heavenly Father loves each of us & is constantly encouraging us & helping us on our journey. May we never forget how proud he is of us! It's the little things that count. I love each of y'all so very much. Thank you for praying for me, encouraging me & supporting me. Y'all have a blessed week now!!! Press forward & never give up. Until next week my sweet family ❤️ 

Hurrah for Israel!
Love,
Sister Kamalani Kawa'a 😘

Week 38 on a Mish!

Howdy y'all!!!
What's up beautiful people 😊 how y'all doin??? Hope everyone's having a great Monday so far. Thanks for all the updates & for keeping me in the loop of things. Hope all is well back home. Well, this week was like a roller coaster. Ups & downs but hey, we persevered & hung in there & came out on top 👌🏽 last week Monday was super chill. Did the normal Pday stuff. Had a super chill jam session this time though during volleyball. That was fun! Brought back memories of the jam sessions back at home. I just love music!!!! We had a late dinner with the Growald bunch. Love them!!!! Monday and Tuesday we went to the food pantry. Now that we know our friends names, it's even more fun haha. Wednesday night, we went on exchanges with Mama Villarreal 😊 We went & visited Jason whom we haven't seen in like forever. It was super sad to hear him tell us that he'll be moving soon but we had such a great visit with him. Wednesday night, we went to young women & helped out with their family history project that theyʻre doing. We painted some super cool looking trees. It was fun cuz we got to meet & talk to some of the young women who like neve ome out. It was great!

The District

Thursday we did our weekly planning & we also had district meeting that same day. Weird day but nonetheless, it was great. I gave a training on service & why it's important. It was good until I saw one of the zone leaders trying not to fall asleep. Thank goodness I had compassion on them cuz they had a busy week exchanges but still..... later that day the only appointments that actually didn't cancel on us was dinner with Bishop & his family. Thank goodness!!! So grateful for them. Friday we went back to the food pantry. Then every appointment that we had or tried to set up totally failed. I'm not gonna lie, it was disappointing, discouraging & frustrating. Made me think about the stories of the prophets in the scriptures & about how they have been let down & rejected time & time again. Made my testimony stronger to know how much love they continued to have for the Lord despite all the hardship. Their examples really help me to remember that God always has a plan for us. He's a lot smarter then we are & he knows what's best & when the timing is right. Thinking about them & reading the scriptures this week has really helped me to continue to be steadfast & work even that much more harder. 

Saturday was so different. I was really feeling discouraged & so when I said my morning prayer, I specifically asked that we would have a successful day & that those who need us will open their doors. Let me just say, the power of prayer is real. I know that as we express our concerns & truly ask the Lord for help, he will lead us to where we need to be & who need to see. We were able to visit Davonte's grandma since he wasn't home. We also got to visit a less active sister whom we've never met before that told us she'd be coming to church. We got to see sweet Sister Nunes whom we haven't seen in forever. We had dinner with our ward mission leader & his sweet family. We visited the Blackburn family & invited them to the "Freedom of Religion" event happening this weekend with Elder Oaks. We missed our sweet Twendele family but, we did get to visit with the Bridges family for a bit. One thing that I am constantly reminded of is, how much the Lord loves his children. It's the simple things. I am reminded of a quote by Elder Henry B. Eyring, "although his time is not always our time, we can be sure that the Lord keeps his promises." I testify that this is true cuz I've seen time & time again throughout my life & especially on my mission.

Little Bennie! Heʻs so cute!

Sunday was another good Sunday filled with spiritual lessons & opportunities to be edified. We got to visit the Jamison family. They're cute! We had dinner with the sweet Parson family. Love them!!!! & we were able to get in contact with our recent referral, Naz. We're a little bummed cuz he requested a French Book of Mormon so we're probably going to have to refer him to the African Elders again but hey, we all are working on the same team right? Don't get me wrong, it's easy to get discouraged & question the Lordʻs plan but, as we put our trust in him, he will bless us for our efforts & for our willingness to obey his commandments. We've been sharing the new Mormon message called "substance of faith" (go watch it if you haven't watched it yet) & it's such a good one. It shows stories of different prophets that were faced with difficult requests by our Heavenly Father yet, they did not question him. They trusted him & did all that he commanded & because they did so, they were blessed tremendously. I'm grateful for their examples. It's taught me to be grateful for the little things & to always recognize my Saviors love & the hand of the Lord in my life. Let us continue to be reminded of the good examples of those around us & let us continue to hold fast & put our faith in the Lord. Like I said, he's a lot smarter then we are & he knows so much more then we do. I love y'all tons & tons ❤️ I hope y'all have a blessed week full of miracles. I challenge y'all to take time to recognize the Lordʻs hand in your life & trust me, you'll be a lot more grateful for the days that normally don't go right. Don't forget to share your experiences with me! I wanna hear them! Y'all have no idea how much you each strengthen me. I really appreciate the emails & prayers. Until next week!!!!

Hurrah for Israel!
Love,
Sister Kamalani Kawa'a 😘