If we are faithful to the Lord, he will be faithful in blessing us ❤

Little Skarlet

Hi family!!!! 

How's everyone doing this week? I hope everyone is feeling edified & rejuvenated, after feeling the Spirit & rejoicing together this weekend. Wasn't General Conference amazing?  I hope we each were able to feel the love from our Savior & our Father in Heaven. I know I sure did. Well, another week has flown on by. Week 67 was filled with miracles & crazy weather. Let's talk about the crazy weather first. So, early Wednesday morning, at about 2am, I woke up cause of power outage (no a/c), & to big flashes of lightning, followed with thunder & lots & lots of rain. Sounded like craziness outside. I will admit, I got a little scared & so I woke my companion up, not very gently or quietly haha. Thank goodness I have such a loving & patient companion who woke up & stayed up with me. She's awesome!!!!  Our power ended up not coming back on till about9:30am. When we finally went outside to go on exchanges, we found out that all the schools were closed & saw lots of random damage from the storm. Some neighborhoods were untouched, while others had roof damage & fences broken because of big trees that fell on them. It's was crazy. I'll tell you one thing, the maintenance workers (yard work crew) had plenty of work, that's for sure. I'm just grateful that despite the storm & minor damages, we were safe! The Lords servants are always protected while on his errand. I can surely testify of that.  What a great blessing of peace & comfort to be able to know of this, first hand. Very grateful! 

When your comp doesnʻt want to take a selfie but you do! LOL!

Fun with our favorite Francoms!

Okay, on to the more spiritual parts of the week. We got to see the sweet Sanchez family. They are doing so well. We brought a member with us, (Valerie), who just got back from serving her mission, in the same mission where Jason (their son) is serving. Santiago, Chile. She was so perfect. They were very excited & happy to finally meet her, after hearing so much about her. She was able to connect with them very quickly & the fact that she speaks Spanish, was a huge blessing as well. We talked more about the role of the Holy Ghost & how to recognize it. It ended being a very powerful & Spirit driven lesson. We read Alma 32 with them and it struck a deep cord about needing to act and make changes when the seed is good. They are eager to change and draw nearer to the spirit, & they understand they are on the right track now. We committed them to watching Conference with us & guess what? Our Bishop & his sweet family, invited them over & they came. We were so happy that they finally acted on the feelings & promptings that they have felt. Later in the evening, we received a sweet text from them expressing how much fun they had with us, while watching Conference. They're slowly getting it & it's such a privilege to watch them grow in the gospel. They're countenance just shines & radiates Christ light & love. Keep praying for them please. 

The sweet Sanchez family watching conference at Bishop Sweetʻs house!

We had a wonderful time at mutual. We got to help the young women with personal progress. It was really cool because, we got to get Addison, (one of our investigators), started on her personal progress. It was really fun & she just loves young women & the youth are so loving & kind to her & to each other. Once again, her eagerness & willingness to learn & grow is so amazing to see. Please continue to keep her & her sister in your prayers. Update on Kenny. He is doing much better. We got to watch a session of General Conference with him & he was a lot more happier & more of himself. The Spirit touches people in ways that we can't. I am grateful that I am worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. As we've learned, specially from this weekend, the Holy Ghost is a gift, given to help us, teach us & guide us. The Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, testifies of truth & warns us of danger. I am so grateful that the Holy Ghost has been present, in lots of different occasions in my life. I'm especially grateful that the Spirit was able to touch Kenny & testify to him, that what he is being taught is true. Please continue to pray for him. We're going to start the lessons over with him from the beginning, to make sure he has a better understanding of the simple truths of the gospel. I thank you for your prayers on his behalf, because I know he feels them & I know they're being heard & answered. Thanks y'all!! 

We did some service in between conference!

Good news, we have a new investigator  after all, nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach. Ain't that a true statement! Our new investigators name is Alex. He is a friend of one of the youth in our ward. Alex is GOLDEN!!! Golden means that he is very much prepared. Long story short, he is agnostic, which basically means that he just has no religious background at all. We asked him why he wanted to meet with us & what his expectations are when meeting with us, & he began to tell us that he just had this urge & strong desire one day, to learn more about God or this "being" & he felt drawn to the Mormon religion. He later asked one of his friends at school (who was reading a Book of Mormon), if it was a good read, which later lead him to asking another friend, if he could to go to church with him & then he asked for a Book of Mormon. He's been coming to church ever since & loves reading the Book of Mormon. This kid is solid. As we taught him & with the help of the Spirit & his wonderful friend (who's a member, mind you), he was able to understand & feel something different. Before teaching him, he explained how he was attending another Christian church to study more about the Bible & he's attending our church to study the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson & because we used references from the Bible, he said, "you know what? After this week, because there is no church, next week, I'm coming to this church." I know that the only reason why he said that, was because he felt the Spirit testify truths to his heart. He had an open mind & a willing heart to hear the words of God & to feast upon it. It's just amazing. He also watched Conference & told us that he loved being able to hear & see the prophets. He's so great!!!!!! Keep him in your prayers too please 

Oh, you know, just holding a snake!

I love horses!

Well family, sorry for such a long email. So many good things are happening & thanks be to God for it. I want to leave you with my testimony, that Christ truly is at the head & in the center of this church. He has commanded us to follow him & be as he once was & is. He sees & knows our potential so let's work at it & strive to fulfill all that is required of us. No, we are not perfect & I sure am far from perfect, but hey, let's strive to be perfect in trying. We had such a blessed & wonderful opportunity to hear & have living prophets & apostles today. Chosen servants & special witnesses of Christ. Witnesses of his authority, his priesthood & his mission. What a blessing it is to be able to hear from them twice a year & to see the examples that they set for us. I testify that this church is true. I don't say it to just say words. I say it with conviction because I have gained a personal witness that the truths taught in this church are sacred & were restored by Jospeh Smith. He was & is the prophet of the restoration. He, through the love, grace & power of God, did what no other human being could do. He was persecuted & rejected by many who wouldn't believe & guess what? So was Christ. I know that God the father & his son Jesus Christ live. I have grown to love the gospel so much & I want all who are willing to partake to come & learn of the great blessings & eternal joys that this gospel brings. I am overwhelmed with gratitude, love & joy for my Savior, Jesus Christ, for my Father in Heaven & for all those who have been & continue to be such great examples to me. Both past & present brothers & sisters. Family & friends, today is the day that we get up, get out & continue to fight the good fight. Let us not forget, yes, there must be opposition in all things, but the powers of Heaven are much more rewarding & a lot more fulfilling. As reminded my our dear prophet, "Let us ever choose the harder right, then the easier wrong." I leave you my witness & of these things, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love you families!!!  See y'all in 100 days  

Hurrah for Israel!! 

Yes, we still sleep with Teddy Bears!

Me ke aloha,

Sister Kawa'a

By Small & Simple Things Are Great Things Brought to Pass!

Top of the morning to yah!  

Who says they have no allergies? Guess what, come to Texas & you'll get allergies real quick lol. Allergies have gotten the best of us last week but hey, even a little allergies isn't gonna slow us down or stop the work from progressing. Another week has come & gone. We spent it trying to get better & trying to find, find & find. We weren't able to see most of our investigators last week, but we're planning a "sneak attack" to get some appointments made & people taught. 🏽 

Sister Centinnial and Sister Joshua

Last Monday, we got to hangout with the Centennial/Joshua Sisters. We love them!!! After dinner, we drove over to Euless for exchanges. Sister Josephson came back to Mansfield with me, while Sister Eddington stayed in Euless with Sister Brohamer. 

Exchanges with the Euless sisters! Sister Brohammer and Sister Josephson!

 

Tuesday, was busy busy. We started off the day with exchanges with one of our wonderful Relief Society presidents. We did some service at the Wesley Mission Center. They're so cute. Went down to Venus to go & see our Sanchez family. Boy oh boy! They're just wonderful. We took a member with us & it was just wonderful. This member has a daughter that just got back from her mission & come to find out, she served in the same mission that Jason, (The Sanchez's son), is currently serving in now. Having someone that could speak Spanish to them was super awesome too. Sister Eddington & I both feel that the more members we expose them to, the better chance of them feeling comfortable & taking that big step & coming to church. Like I said last week, having members present during lessons are perfect. Do it as often as you can missionaries 

Thank you, Aunty Jody Africa for the care package!

Wednesday, we actually had a district meeting haha. With all the crazy big meetings lately, we hadn't had a chance to have a district meeting till last week. All y'all need to know is, the meeting was powerful, as they usually are. We counseled about the things that we have changed in our efforts to find & teach as changes have been made recently. We also talked about things we've learned along the way & things that have worked for us thus far. It was really awesome to hear testimonies being borne of conversion & how they've adjusted to some changes. I definitely was edified. It was great! 

Just for laughs!

Thursday & Friday I was stuffed up thanks to allergies.  I am beyond grateful for loving members who go out of their way to make sure that we're healthy & okay. It's nice to know someone cares. We are stocked up with meds for the rest of my mission haha. So thankful!  

Grateful for members who stocked us up with allergy meds!

Thursday night, we had yet again another awesome Preach My Gospel class with the youth. Dang, have I told y'all how much I love them? Sheesh, they're on fire & it's just amazing to see them grow in the gospel each week. It's been so fun to work closely with them. They definitely strengthen my testimony. Oh, we got to meet with Kenny again on Friday. We're asking for lots of prayers for him please. He's going through a difficult time right now & is thinking about pushing his baptism date back darn! Pray for him please. He's been really down in the dumps lately. We got to have a really good, spirit directed, meeting with him. He opened up to us about some of his personal concerns & were truly grateful for that. It's sad to see those we love struggle, but sometimes we need to go through the struggle so we can more fully appreciate the happy times. Keep him close in your prayers please. 

Our favorite Sophia!

My Tanner ʻohana!

Saturday evening, we got to spend time with some of the wonderful sisters in 2nd Ward. We had a special dinner with cake & ice cream, to celebrate the 185 years of womanhood & sisterhood in the church. It was so fun! Did y'all just love the women's conference or what? I know I sure did. The messages were simple & powerful. They were all wonderful reminders to me that Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ know each of us personally by name. Perfect reminder to spend time & get to know our Lord & Savior more personally. Notice how most of what they talked about, isn't so new to us. After all, the gospel is based on basic principles. We need to find time, actually we need to make time for the Lord. "Take time to be holy." Man, it was such an awesome meeting. Super stoked for Conference this weekend. Whoop whoop  

Saturday Womenʻs Conference and RS Birthday dinner!

Sunday was an awesome Sunday. All the talks & testimonies given were very touching & powerful. It seemed like every talk or testimony given, was an answer to not just my prayer but those around me. That's usually the case, but being able to recognize it gives it a whole different meaning. We got to meet a wonderful man who decided to come & attend our services, because he really wanted a Christian, Christ centered, Sunday. He unfortunately, does not live in our area, but his example left a big impact on me. He had a desire, was willing & acted. Something so simple yet hard to do at times. Lately I've been trying to change up my prayers, instead of asking for help or faith to get through something, I've been asking for help to act on the faith that I've been given. Let me just say, asking for faith to act instead of just asking for faith, has been really cool. I've noticed that I've been more sensitive to the Spirit & I've learned, that if we don't have the courage to act, then we truly aren't exercising our faith either. After all, faith without works is dead. It's amazing to take the time to recognize we're we've fallen short & taking that small step forward to try & get back up. In the Book of Mormon, we read in Alma 37:6, "by small and simple things, are great things brought to pass." No, it's not an easy thing to do but it's very worth it. In the end, all is required of us is that we try. Man, I love this gospel so much. My testimony is growing everyday & that's because I'm doing the little things. The little things really do make the biggest difference in our lives. I hope we all can be better at doing the little things. I pray that we each will make time for the Lord & the little things that he has asked of us. I know that as we do so, we each will become more converted & better disciples of him, in helping him carry out his work here on earth. I love each of y'all!!! Mahalo for all the loves, prayers, support & strength that you each give to me. Have a beautiful week friends & fam. Love y'all so very much. Until next week.....

Hurrah for Israel!! 

P.S. HAPPY HAPPY belated 20th birthday to my hoahānau, Kaleohano. I love you & miss you so much!!! Hope Utah is treating you well & I hope you're still working hard to play ball. Update me please!!! Haha. & HAPPY HAPPY belated 85th birthday to my sweet great grandma, Granny. I love you & miss you so much as well. I'm sure the ʻohana took you out & spoiled you. I hope you had a great day! 

Me ke aloha,

Sister Kawa'a 🤙🏽

Does the Testimony of Jesus Christ Still Burn in Your Hearts?

My sistahs!

Aloooohaaaa!! 🤙🏽

      This week has been yet again, another busy & fast one. Where did week 65 even go? I have no idea. Last week Monday, we did the normal pday stuff. Clean, shop & prepare for the week. We spent most of the evening with the Hamilton family. Had an awesome dinner & got to continue teaching youth lessons to one of the youth. Tuesday, we had an amazing zone Conference. Guess what? Yah girl & her cool comp gave a training at zone Conference. Talk about nervous!!!  nevertheless, the Spirit was so very strong, thanks to those who gave training before us. A lot of what we talked about had to do with conversion & self reflection. Definitely felt edified & rejuvenated  We had dinner with the sweet Brinkerhoff family & guess who showed up? Mr. Wayne. One of our eternigators, I mean investigators  We had a really good talk with him about his concerns. We came to a conclusion that we can not help him unless he truly wants the help. We're gonna continue to wait patiently & pray even more fervently for him. After dinner, we went on exchanged with one of our ward mission leaders. We got to visit a less active sister who is so sweet & is slowly working on coming back. We felt like she was thankful for our visit & even more thankful for the priesthood blessing that she received. It was so awesome & we're hoping to start working with her & helping her get back on track. 

Some of our favorite youth!

      Wednesday, we had an awesome day. Went & taught one of the youth again. We did some service at the Wesley Mission Center. They are the cutest! They're so loving & are also so happy to see us. We got to have dinner with the Evan family & we had s'mores!!  our plans canceled for the rest of the evening to we spent it trying to contact. 

The Evans

Thursday, this girl right here got sick  again! Thank goodness I felt better later & we went on exchanges with one of our Sweet Ward missionaries. One of our appointments canceled but, we totally got to visit a less active family that is so sweet. We got to talk with them & share a Mormon message called "come what may & love it." It's mainly about our attitude & how we choose to be happy no matter what life throws at us. It was really good. After that, we went & got to see the Sanchez family. We had another great lesson with them & read from 2 Nephi 32. Where it's talking about what we like to call, our spiritual CPR. Which is, Church attendance, Praying & Reading the scriptures. We helped them understand the importance of each one & why it's necessary for our spiritual survival. It was a really good lesson! After that, we got to have a powerful lesson with the youth. We talked about the doctrine of Christ & basically regiving our training. This time around, we made it more applicable to them & where their at in life. At one point one of the youth gave a powerful comment about how they have the responsibility to open their months & share what they know with those around them. At that moment, I got just a small glimpse of how powerful this youth will be as a missionary in the gospel. It was so awesome!!!! 

The Squad

      Friday, we finished up our weekly planning & did more service later. That was fun, fun, fun  we had a super good lesson with Kenny later that evening. We taught him about CPR (church, pray & read) & it was so helpful to have the Jacob family there as well to bare testimony & add their own personal experiences. Member present lessons are so awesome!!! I suggested to all my missionary friends that you do it as much as possible  Saturday, oh boy! Saturday morning was the best!! We had the wonderful privilege of having Elder Rasband (from the quorum of the 12), Elder Hallstrom (presidency of the seventy), Bishop Causee (the presiding bishop), & Elder Willis (from the seventh). It was such a scared experience for me. We talked about so many amazing things. The main thing that I got out from the meeting was the importance of our personal commitment & conversion to the Lord. We talked about why it's important & how we can continue to build it & grow. A few other things that stood out to me was the fact that we as missionaries, hold the salvation of people in our hands. We have a big job & play a huge role in the conversion of those we come in contact with. We are prayed over more then anyone else in the church besides the prophet. We hold the keys & authority, through the 12, to make sacred promises to those we teach. We touched up on the atonement & Elder Hallstrom (who's from Hawaii), said that we will feel things that we did not hear, if we are willing to change. That was powerful. Elder Rasband talked about how we can better become more acquainted with or Savior Jesus Christ & Heavenly Father. One simple way is by asking them humbling, "Heavenly Father, what am I to learn from this experience?" That hit me in a different way. It helped me personally understand that yes, we fall short, but we also need to be changing & improving to truly become what we are meant to become. I could go on & on! Just know that it was edifying, powerful & uplifting for sure. 

Lunch with Sister Donovan

     Sunday was a great day! Sun was shining & the weather was nice ️ We had a great 6 hours of feeling the Spirit. Really cool because, most of the talks & lessons given were about personal commitments, desires & our conversion to the Lord & his gospel. Not a coincidence for sure. After church, we took some time to try & contact a few people then we headed to dinner. Guess what??? Yah girl ate some snail  & let me just say, it was DELICIOUS!!!!!  Tasted like pipipi or ʻopihi. Oh man!! Made me miss the island food for sure haha. I will admit, I was kind of nervous but like I said, buggah was action haha (yes, the pidigon hasn't left me ). 

ESCARGOT!!!

Well my dear family, I really do miss you all & I can't believe that my time is drawing near. Okay not really but kind of. I really want each of y'all to remember & know how special each of you are, not just to me but especially to our Savior, Jesus Christ & our Father in Heaven, who created us & who hold us so close to their hearts. Please don't ever forget the sacred experiences that you have had in your life or even on your missions. Yes, life gets hard & Satan is becoming ever more real, but guess what? We have access to divine help from on high. They don't want us on their side, but they need us on their side. Heavenly Father needs us to be his hands & needs us to help our brothers & sisters make it back to him. Here's a thought that we can all ponder, "does the testimony of Jesus Christ still burn in your bosom as it did when you were a young child, young missionary or even first converted?" Why did you join the church? Why are you still active in the church? What is your motivation to remain faithful? In the words of Elder Rasband, "if you need wood for your fire of your testimony, here it is, the more you know him, the more you will love him & the more you will be honored to serve him." Study his life. As you do so, it will come as an automatic. It will come naturally. We can all do it, we have a desire in us. Faith requires action. Let's put in the work so we can become more converted the the Lord & his gospel. I love each of y'all so much!!!! 114 days left to serve the Lord.....until next week my beauties!! 

Hurrah for Israel! 

Me ke aloha,

Sister Kawa'a 🤙🏽