Sister Kamalani Kawaʻa: 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.