Busy busy busy mixed in with a lot of fun

Monday, June 26th, 2017

Last P-day Sister Tailleur and I went to hike Makapu'u Lighthouse. It's a nice paved hike but it's like all uphill! But the weather was really nice, not too hot. The lookout is beautiful too.

Sister Tailleur and I decided to get a membership to 24 hour fitness to help us not get so fat. It has been great going to the gym every morning for an hour but man am I exhausted the rest of the day! We both are a lot happier after exercising for real instead of our easy 20 minute workouts we were doing before.

We did some more service at the community garden. Mom and Grandma you would be proud of me weeding :). It was satisfying to see the results afterward. There were millions of rollie pollies which didn't bother me that much. But I saw the biggest spider that I have ever seen and I'll admit I was scared. Lately bugs and things don't bother me but a spider that big...ya.. After about an hour of working and the elders working and mulching we were done. The member who we helped brought us lunch. She made us pulled pork sandwiches and they were sooo good! It was fun hanging out with the Elders. And since we had transfers there are a few new ones. Our district leader is new and he's really nice, funny, and outgoing. He is from the Philippines.

We had a lesson with a less active family and decided to play I am a Child of God on the Ukulele that I learned earlier in the morning so that was fun.

We had 4 appointments on Friday. Two of them weren't home. One of them was the same person we took a member with. I felt terrible because she had to give up her time and both times the investigator wasn't there!

We had an appointment with the family we met earlier and it was interesting. We planned to teach the restoration. But they didn't invite us in because they didn't have a couch so we stood and eventually the family came out. The mom came and sat and then the dad. The boys listened for a bit but then went down on the grass to play. We ended up just having a really long conversation and weren't able to teach much which was kind of frustrating. We ended up being there for longer than expected. We gave them another pamphlet and a pass a long card with the temple on it. Then we were super late for our next appointment where a member was waiting for us. We felt so bad.

Saturday we were supposed to go on a hike with the relief society but it got cancelled. So we were invited to do service with the Elders. We went to a little farm in Waimanalo. It was actually really fun. They had chickens, a turkey, and two horses! I love horses so I pet them. It was great. We also got fresh coconut water. Poor Sister Tailleur found out she is allergic to horses so she was sick the rest of the day.

We had another lesson with Nichelle and Tyler and a different couple from the ward. It was good but they talked for at least an hour so it was kind of hard to start teaching. Especially because we are trying to help them make more friends in the ward. But the little that we were able to teach about the Book of Mormon and gaining your own testimony was really good and powerful. They are progressing slowly.

Sunday morning we got a call from the ward that church was cancelled because there was a sink hole by the church building! (One of the pipes burst and water was gushing out) (Someone told me they think it's because they are filming the second Jurassic World and are using the fire hydrants and releasing too much water at once. But I don't know) (It's super cool though that they are filming pretty close to us. The highway is shut down not to far from where we live) So we had to make a few calls and decided to go to the other church building. It was kind of a bummer because we were pretty sure a lot of our investigators were going to be at church and guess what? None of them came to the other ward. 

It was definitely an interesting week. But I continue to grow and this week I was able to see how when you are in tune with the spirit and open your mouth you will be able to say the things that will touch others hearts. The gospel is true and I know that the Book of Mormon is the key to strengthening your testimony. So study it daily and pray to know if it's true and I know you will receive an answer.

Aloha,

Sister Heath

Pictures: Last picture with Sister Ogawa (she got transferred to Hilo), I was so happy to catch the little lizard right outside our pad, close up of the tiny lizard, with super soft baby bunny visiting a sister in the elderly home (I was loving it and it was just lounged out and chillin on my lap)

Never Give Up

Monday, June 19th, 2017

Aloha all!

Happy Belated Father's Day!

Well, I made through my first transfer and Sister Tailleur and I will be together and stay in our area for this next transfer. She is super excited too because I am the designated driver which means she gets to be the passenger for the first time in the 7ish months she's been out. haha

Last P-Day we took it easy and decided not to go on a hike which was a good decision because it was raining pretty good!

We spent some time at home altering dresses we bought that the liner was too short. After a while I gave up because hand sewing is too much work for something that big. I also new that I would just take it apart but Sister Tailleur got hers done. We have a senior missionary that will sew mine for me... Yay! She is the best!

We had dinner at a nice burger place and I had a Haupia Shake (kind of like creamy coconut) with a young couple in our ward.

We were able to find a new investigator on Tuesday! It was a miracle because it was a referral we received from a member in another ward. We had stopped by a million times and tried to call but it went straight to voicemail. We thought they were avoiding us and decided to take a break. But we were trying to visit some people near their apartment and as we were leaving I noticed their door was open and I was like we have to go. It's a family with 3 boys. We met the Dad and boys. The Dad was really nice and willing to listen to what we had to share and we set up an appointment to come back!

We also found another investigator who is super nice. She is house ridden because of her medical condition but she is great.

We also met a super nice Filipino lady who was doing yard work. We couldn't communicate very well and she didn't remember her contact info so we gave her ours. We went back to our car to see if we had a Book of Mormon in her language and believe or not we did! And a restoration pamphlet with the name of an Elder in our District that speaks Tagalog. We headed back and she was still working, I said we found these in the car and she said she didn't have any money. We were like no need, they are free! She was really thankful and started to cry, it was so sweet! Later when we drove by we saw her reading it and protecting it from the rain. 

The Lord works in mysterious ways and puts us in the path of those who he needs us to talk to!

I am so grateful to be serving the Lord and doing His work.

I appreciate all the prayers and support!

Feel free to send me pictures!

Love,

Sister Heath

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week....

Sister Tailleur in our pad

Joys of Being a Missionary... in Hawaii :)

Monday, June 12th, 2017

Hello all!

To start off, one of the highlights from P-Day was the hike that we went on in the morning. It was called friendship gardens. It was hard to find and it was interesting because it was just in the back of a neighborhood and there was like nowhere to park so we parked right in front of the sign. The hike was great. Sister Tailleur and I felt a little like we were back at home hiking in the forest. We got to what we thought was the top but it was just a lookout. It was really pretty and looked over the city and ocean. Then we decided to see if there was more to hike and yes there was. Holy Cow, it was completely uphill and super steep from there. I was trying not to think about having to come back down the steep hill. We also walked through some California Grass which was weird...I kind of felt like I was on a Safari or something. We made it to the top of that and were able to lookout all over. We realized that the hike just kept going, we went on for a little more but decided to head back...we didn't know how long it was going to take us to get back down! That wasn't very fun going back down especially where some parts were gravely. But luckily it was sunny and not raining because that would have been way worse! There were some rocky parts too and Sister Tailleur fell down and sat on a rock...I felt so bad. And that was after we had gone down most of the way. The rest of the hike was easy going down because it wasn't as steep. I saw some huge leaves that I had to take a picture with.

hiking on pday

A lowlight I guess you could say of the week was that I had my first investigator break-up! It was so sad but he just wasn't feeling and felt like God wasn't answering/speaking to him. I didn't want to give up but I later realized that I can't force him to do anything and it's just not his time.

Another highlight was that we were able to finally talk to someone we found in the parking lot of an apartment complex. She told us about her son that loves Jesus and we were able to meet him and ohmygoodness he is the sweetest ever! He had the picture of Jesus that we gave to his mom for him and he was just staring at it. His favorite person is Jesus. He also had a Jesus doll once that he begged his mom to get for him (actually Noah but close enough) and he gave it to a relative that was sick! He's just the sweetest and he is only 5 years old!

Another highlight was that we got to go to Pearl Harbor to do service. It was fun to go there because I have never been. We helped sweep and mop the inside of the ship and we were able to go in some restricted areas so that was fun. It was fun to be with the zone as well and have lunch with a few people we don't usually see.

pearl harbor in the classroom

pearl harbor with our zone

We also went to the Visitor's center with a family and it was the best thing ever. The spirit is so strong there! And we were able to watch some amazing videos about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It was wonderful and strengthened my testimony!

visitors center with family

I also had my first exchange which was actually really fun. My companion was Sister Ogawa from Japan and she has been out a year. We were able to teach a family that is investigating with members that attended and it was good. She was able to help me see things I should be doing. She is also the happiest and most kind person you will ever meet! We also got to stop by the Ahuna's home and see my grandma's cousins. I love them so much! They are so fun and happy. I was able to see Janice and Jo. We also went to a graduation luau for dinner and it was great. There was live music and I tried some food I've never tried like Squid Luau which actually wasn't that bad, I just didn't like the Tea Leaf that much.

We also had Stake Conference this weekend and it was really great. We have a wonderful Stake President and Elder Acosta came. One of the things I liked that was shared was D&C 100:4, "I, the Lord have suffered you to come to this place" We are all in the places we are for a reason and there are people being prepared to hear the gospel, we just need to share it! We also learned about the effect we can have if we talk to one person, it affects their entire posterity! I know that people are being prepared to hear the gospel and we need to share it! Elder Acosta also challenged everyone to have one gospel conversation with someone every week.

This gospel is true!

Love, 

Sister Heath

Hard but Good

Monday, June 5th, 2017

Well once again I took too much time reading and responding to other emails that I ran out of time to write much detail so my apologies.

This week flew by!

Last P-day we went to Kailua and made ties with 2 other sisters and like 10 elders. It was super fun and a few of them brought their ukuleles. So they played and sang and I tried to play some songs that I remember which is like 2...haha

Us Elders and Sisters and the ties we made

We went to target and I bought a new vacuum which I was totally stoked about! haha Our current one does nothing!

We went to Brick Oven Pizza with a member for dinner which was great!

We tried to teach and visit a lot of people like every week and went on visits with our relief society president which took forever and I was starving. We got home a little after 8 and had ribs from a member to cook. We only have our portable stovetop to cook on so we cooked them in the pan. Like an idiot I was like they will taste so good if they are cooked in BBQ sauce so I added it way too early and it burned in the pan. We were both starving and exhausted and the ribs took forever to cook. Sister Tailleur ended up cutting them up so they could cook faster. Eventually they were done by like 9 and we were both like we don't even want to eat anymore...we just want to go to bed! But we ate and the ribs were actually really good! I loved them.

The next day we were supposed to have a luncheon with a member and her neighbors but none of them showed up so we ate together.

We had Bon Dance and Zumba which was awesome!

Then we were heading to a member's house to teach her grandson who is preparing to be baptized and got a got from our relief society president that the grandmother had passed away unexpectedly from cardiac arrest! She was only like 50 years old and we were in total shock because we had seen her a few days before. So sad! So we didn't go over but we prayed for their family.

On Friday we decided to walk everywhere and that was rough! We were both exhausted and I like an idiot I didn't wear sunscreen because it looked cloudy. And no one invited us in to sit down so we were dying. haha I didn't feel very successful because we didn't see very many people. But it was something that was good to experience. I am so thankful for our car and AC!

Although this week was a little difficult it was still good and I still have a strong testimony of this gospel. Every time I read the book of Mormon I am like this is the truth! I don't know how people deny that it is! I know that Christ showed us the way to happiness in this life and the life after and it is because of him that we can have it! I love this gospel. I am grateful to be serving especially here in this beautiful place with beautiful people!

Sister Heath