Have I Done Any Good In the World?

Top of the Mornin to yah!!!!

      

      This week was a week full of service. It went by so quick! We spent most of the week helping people pack up & move. Good news, we got to finally see one of our investigators, who I've never met since I've been here. Her name is Grace & she's currently trying to study the Book of Mormon & the Bible side by side. Oh & she also loves family history. I mentioned her in my email last week. She basically said, "once I know the Book of Mormon is true, I'll come to yalls church." She's so cute & her desire to know of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon is there. She's so great! Please pray for her as she takes up Moronis challenge, by asking God if what she's reading is true. I know that she will get an answer & that she will know & feel of its power & truth. 

My buddy, little James.

Shout out to the Lambs for hooking us up!

      Fun Story: We had a bible referral that we contacted this week, his name is Curtis & he wanted to meet us at a restaurant called Braums. Well, we go over there & wait for him & mind you, we don't even know what this guy looks like at all. I see this guy walk in & stare hard core at me but he just keeps walking, so I don't think much of it. Sister Casper & I were sitting there for a good 15 or 20 minutes at this point, & I start calling out for Curtis to every guy that I see that walks in. I even started singing his name at one point & my companion was dying from laughing so hard. I even turned to her & said, "watch him be sitting right behind us!" Well, we end up texting Curtis to see where he at & he sends us a text back that says, "I'm sitting behind you." I straight turn around & we all started laughing so hard. He goes, "I knew it was y'all this whole time. I just didn't wanna say anything." Thanks Uncle! Talk about awkward 🤦🏽‍♀️

We made a rap for RS and this was our "stage name"! LOL!

      Another story for y'all: We were helping one of our members move last minute, & we realized that we had no rope or anything to tie down some things in the back of our truck. We thought it would be fine but then we got a little worried. I ended up jumping in the back seat & tried to use my arm to hold it all up. Let's just say, I felt like my arm was gonna fall off every time that wind picked up & blew against it. We pull up to Walmart & decided to buy some rope when this random man comes up & asks if we needed help & some rope. Uncle goes & ties down the stuff & ended up telling us where we could get good role for cheap. Moral of the story is it okay to ASK FOR HELP & take the help when offered. We ended up using that rope the rest of the week. As we were thanking this man, he ended up telling us that this was the only good deed that he could do that didn't become a fail. He's been trying to seek opportunity to do random acts of service & we finally gave him one. He thanked us for giving him an opportunity to serve. Blessing in disguise 

Did I tell you we LOVE to take pictures?

      This week has come & gone. I'm continuing to see the gospel bless my life & the lives of those around me. I was blessed with the opportunity to give a training at district meeting & we talked about the importance of talking with everyone & teaching when we find & finding when we teach. There are opportunities all around us where we can stand as a witness of Christ & be that good example for those around us. In Preach My Gospel (a book to help missionaries work), it says, "As those you teach experience the blessings of the gospel, their desire to share it will increase." I have seen this happen over & over again as I've been able to help my brothers & sisters learn more about the gospel. I've also seen this in my own life as well. I've seen how as I've studied my scriptures more earnestly, as I've prayed more fervently, as I've feasted upon the words of Christ, my testimony has been strengthened & my personal desire to share the gospel has increased dramatically. I've seen where I was 18 months ago & I see where I'm at today & it's amazing to recognize the eternal perspective more fully. I know that this is only possible through my loving Father in Heaven & my Savior, Jesus Christ. We all can have a desire to share the gospel with those around us. It can be in small ways. You never know unless you try. Here's a challenge for y'all, dive into the scriptures & then pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with someone in someway & ask Heavenly Father to guide you to that someone. I promise you that you'll come to appreciate the gospel & the blessings that come from being obedient & heeding the promptings of the Spirit. It will be amazing. I love y'all oh so very much!!!!! Thanks for the love & support!!!! See y'all in 17 days 

Hurrah for Israel!!! 

Trying to do a selfie Sunday but squirrel scared me!

With love, 

Sister Kawa'a

Hauʻoli Lā Makuakāne!

Week 78!!! 

Aloha my lovelies!!!! I hope everyone's week was great. Happy Father's Day to all you Fathers out there. Special shout out to my Lil Brudder Budda, Papa Ganja & Unko Brad. Love y'all & thanks for being such amazing daddy figures for me. Miss yah heaps!!!! Big shout out to my own Daddy!! Love you so much Fajah ️ hope your day was filled with lots of food & love! Haha. Miss you!!!! This week was slow but fast all at the same time. We started the week off with exchanges with our sweet Sister Training Leaders. I got to go back to Hudson Oaks & Weatherford for a day with sweet Sister Herdon. I remember being there a year ago. It was good fun being back in an area where I was familiar. Definitely learned a lot & got to see the changes that have happen. It was definitely an awesome exchange. 

Sister Herdon and I on exchanges in Weatherford and Hudson Oaks

The Sister Training Leaders

Look at her cool watch! Recognize it? 

My Hawaiʻi!

Wednesday, we had our district meeting where we focused a lot of our time on charity. The meaning of charity & what it looks like when working with investigators, members, less actives, leaders & companions. I was able to be reminded of why having charity is so important in everything we do. We touched up on the scripture found in Moroni 7 verses 45-47. "45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail--

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."

The main thing that hit home for me was the fact that charity never faileth. We will never fail if we have that pure love of Christ. What an awesome promise given to us as children of our Heavenly Father. If we have charity, if we are patient, kind, envieth not, is not puffed up, & if we have hope & endureth all things, we are also promised (in verse 48) that "we shall see him as he is & be purified even as he is." This helps me understand & know that no matter what happens, if we endure & face our challenges with hope, we can have this beautiful blessing given to us. How loving is our Father in Heaven. Definitely gives me lots of strength to keep on going. Such an awesome knowledge. 

The district!

Funny Stories:

So most of these will come from others that have been told to us

1. One of our members told us about a time when he served his mission. He served in Bolivia & at this time, they weren't allowed to wear name tags & so they just looked like business men. The Bolivia people would call them Cia because they thought they were the CIA. Well, they were in a taxi one day & the taxi driver kept looking at them & calling them Cia. Our members companion took his shoe off, put it up to his ear & said "send in the helicopters. They know who we are!" Uncle taxi man pulled over, kicked them out & zoomed off real quick 
2. I decided to corn roll my companions hair the night before church (6 braids) & she ended up leaving 2 braids in & this girl comes up to her & says, "why do you only have 2 braids? It look stupid." Oh my gosh! We just laughed so hard. Then this random little boy walks past up & tells Sister Casper, "I love your fricken braids!" & one of our members looks at us & says, "thats code word for your fricken hot!" Slow your rolls 15 year old 

Cinnamon rolls from Brother Lamb! 

Sister Baine and her daughter! She letʻs us hang out at her house on Pdays!

Exchange miracle happen this week. Sister Casper & Sister Hardy were able to contact an investigator that we've been having trouble seeing. They visited with her & ended up teaching her more about the Book of Mormon. She's really interested in family history & she told the sisters, "I wonder what tribe I'm from?" The Sisters proceeded to tell her what tribe they were from & she was so amazed & she asked them how they knew that. They taught her about patriarchal blessings & they invited her to read the Book of Mormon. She told them that if they would've come 2 days ago, she wouldn't dare read it, but that they came at perfect timing. She committed to read it & we'll be following up with her this week. We're so excited for her! 

I want y'all guys to know that I have a testimony of this gospel. Time & time again I've been reminded of Heavenly Fathers love. He knows his children by name & he knows what we each can become & he knows how we each fit in his wonderful plan. The gospel continues to amaze me. I know first hand of the blessings & eternal joys that this gospel brings to my life & to the lives of those that I've gotteto teach & help here in Texas. Its been such an awesome experience to be able to witness the miracles that have happen thus far. I love y'all & I thank each of y'all for your love & support. Missionary life is not easy but it's definitely worth it. It helps having a great support system. Love y'all my sweet family. Hope all had an amazing week! Until next week y'all 

Hurrah for Israel! 

Me and my Casper! 

Bowie Lake

With love, 

Sister Kawa'a 🤙🏽

Why Do I Need God in My Life?

Hey family!!!! 

Ima try & make this email a little bit different so bare with me as I explain the week that we've had. It went by fast, as they usually do now days haha. We picked up about 3 new investigators. One of them was a bible referral who was self referred. Apparently the Sisters could never get in contact with her & so we went over thinking that we probably won't be able to catch her home. Well, she was home, welcomed us in & we ended staying there for about an hour and a half. She absolutely loves religion & had been studying with different churches but is really interested in learning more about what we believe in as Latter Day Saints. Her name is Patricia & she was so excited that we finally contacted her. We taught her about the importance of the Book of Mormon & how it goes hand in hand with the Bible. She ended up taking a Book of Mormon & committed to read with before we come back. She said, "give me 2 weeks & y'all can come back & teach me more." We're super stoked because her roommate (who's from South Korea) even sat in on the lesson & was super amazed & impressed with the sacrifices that we make to be missionaries. Keep them in y'all's prayers please!!!!! 

We love taking pictures!

Cool looking chandelier!

      The other new investigator is also a former investigator. We were trying to clean up our area book a little bit & we came a cross a guy (Miguel), who had a previous baptism date but was dropped because he was unable to contact. Well, for some reason or another, I turned to my companion & said, "it doesn't hurt to try." We both felt that we should reach out so we did. I will admit, it was a test of faith because we were praying that we would have some kind of success because literally all of our appointments fell through. We decided to give it a shot & follow that small feeling we felt & so, we texted him & he told us that he wants to meet with us again & even set up a time & a place. He even expressed a want of coming back to church too. Miracle! Reminds me of the scripture in D&C 100:5-6 which says, "Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say." We felt a feeling in our hearts to reach out & as we did, Miguel responded & acted on the feelings he felt. Who knows, maybe something happened that made him want to learn more or who knows. I do know that this is the Lords work & that we as missionaries are merely his hands, his tools in fulfilling the wonderful plan of our Father in Heaven. We're super stoked to start meeting with him again & helping him recognize the truths that he once felt & knew. Pray for him please!!!! 

Selfies!

 Fun stories:

1. We had zone Conference this past week, oh & we won cleanest car award. More like cleanest truck award. & on our way back home, this truck pulls up next to us & they start dancing & going crazy so we danced back to them as we were jamming out to "James the Mormon." Then we pass them & they catch back up to us, slow down & start tabbing at us & waving  we were so dead!! Definitely made us laugh! 

Cleanest car award for Zone Conference! Yes, we drive a TRUCK!

1. We visited one of our investigators who was the Mayor of the down & he was telling us how him & his wife met. He used to drive trucks & lived a ways from the city & one day his truck broke down near the city. He pulled into the square & saw a yellow car with a beautiful car that was getting in it. He ended up following her all the way home. She pulled into her drive way & he rolled his window down & said, "I'm coming back for you." Then Uncle goes & asks everyone in town if they know who owns a yellow car & if they knew her name. He found out where her & her friends hang out so he ended up showing up with his friends. He saw her sitting next to this football player & he told the guy to meet him outside. Uncle straight up punched him in the nose about 2 times & then the girl came up to him & was like, "you just pick fights with people?" He said, "only if it has something to do with me!" & she was confused & asked him, "how does this have something to do with you?" & he said, "it has everything to do with me! You're mine!" Talk about going after what he wanted hahaha. Literally the rest is history!!!  #Goals

Just working on the farm!

Iʻm a country girl!

1. We were being taught how to milk goats & I was wondering why my companion was freaking out. She later tells me that she HATES animals  oiaue!!! Should've spoke up haha. 

1. We were trying to have companionship study but couldn't stop laughing because we were thinking about what it would be like if we were on a reality tv show. Let's just say we would make lots of money  really though. We're too crazy for reality tv. 

Sister Taʻehia from Tonga and Sister Pahulu from Utah!

Testimony: 

      To explain my heading, it's something that's been really been on my mind lately. Why do I need God in my life? To answer the question, I need God in my life because life is hard. I need him in my life to help me see the bigger picture. He does this by sending his Son & the Holy Spirit to comfort & guide me each day. I'm truly nothing without him. The more I study & the more I pray, I've been able to grow my knowledge of who God is & what he needs me to accomplish here in earth. Heavenly Father has blessed my life tremendously. He spared my life at such a young age because he knew (before I even knew), that I would accomplish great things. By trusting him & by believing in his plan, he has helped me see that I am very much needed in this world & that we ALL are very much needed in this world. We've all got a purpose & we all play a part in Gods plan. Here's a simple challenge for y'all. Shoot me an email & tell me why you need God in your life. This has been on my mind a lot lately & if we all take sometime to really ponder this question & answer it sincerely & honestly, we will have our faith & testimonies strengthens without even knowing it. It's the little things that really make the biggest differences. Reach up, reach out & love! E holomua e kuʻu ʻohana. Paio mau no ka pono! Love y'all guys SO much!!! I'm excited to read all your answers (if you even do it haha). Until next week my loves ️

Hurrah for Israel! 

With love, 

Sister Kawa'a 🤙🏽