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