Mele Kalikimaka!

December 25, 2017

What a wonderful time of year to celebrate! I love that this season everyone is focused a little more on the Savior. He really is the reason for the season. Because of Him we can have peace and hope in our life! What a great time to remember his humble birth and upbringing to become the King of Kings. As we follow his example we can find true happiness. I love this time of year where we can give as He did. As we do this we can learn the joy that service brings.

Last week after running around trying to get gifts ready to send we ran out of time to do something fun. Sister Sicotte wanted to go to a museum. So we stopped by to check the hours for another week and took a picture in front of it!

We were able to meet this wonderful couple this week. They were referral from the Marshallese Elders who always go to this huge public housing. For short they call it KPT. There is building A and building B. There are 17 floors. On each floor there are 3 wings....there are a lot of Chuukese people here. There are only 2 huge elevators. So anyway there are always people to talk to. We went to visit this referral. His name is Ranicio. When they opened the door I was like no way, we just saw these people in the elevator...so funny. Anyway they were super nice and let us in. We got to know them and shared the first lesson, the Restoration. By the end we realized the other lady was listening too who we later found out is his wife! We invited them to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon and Ranicio's wife read the whole thing right there! It was great. They seem really sincere. We are excited to start teaching them. 

We were able to stop by the Answer family's house. They are related to the Kisin family that just got baptized. The mom is a member but some of the kids aren't baptized. They are super nice. We were able to share the Restoration with the daughter Jay Ann. She is about 11. She speaks english really well and is able to translate for her mom who doesn't speak as well. She understood well which was great! We were able to set Jay Ann with a date to be baptized in February!

On Wednesday we went on exchanges. My companion was Sister Wilson. She is super awesome! She is from Arizona and goes home in April. She has been through a lot of medical problems other mission but you would never know. She was even still getting over pneumonia when we were on exchanges but I couldn't even tell. She was super energetic and willing to work! We had a great day talking to people! We found some new investigators and set another person with a baptism date. His name is Jeff. He just got out of jail and is ready to turn his life around. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation because he wanted to know where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going.

Friday night we had fun and went Caroling to a few people with the Elders. It was pretty fun because we had a keyboard and Elder Chiang played for the hymns sang. We practiced earlier on the day and I felt like I had to teach the Elders Jingle Bells. I also taught them Mele Kalikimaka. We had a great time Caroling and we were able to visit 2 of our investigators and they seemed to enjoy it!

We taught an interesting lesson on Saturday. We met the husband someone who used to be taught. He isn't sure if he believes in God. So we decided to teach Him about the Plan of Salvation. We were going to go into his house but he was the only one home so we stood at the door. And man it was not a wintery day. The sun was shining down on us. It was super hot. But it was a good lesson and he seemed to understand well.

We contacted another referral from a different group of Elders and it was pretty funny because he had no recollection of meeting them! haha But he let us in and we got to know him and shared the Light the World video. It was kind of funny because he said he already saw it...so we were like alright! We gave him Book of Mormon and set a time to come back in a few weeks when he and his wife can be there. Hopefully he doesn't forget about meeting us! Haha

On Sunday we were walking to meet March (one of our investigators) to walk her to church. As we were walking up the overpass we saw her and her boyfriend with the girls in the stroller already coming! It was great because her boyfriend said he wasn't going make it but he came!

We were happy to see the Kisin family make is to church and they were all so cute and dressed up. It's so precious to see because these families don't have much.

Sacrament meeting was cute hearing the Primary sing but also a little stressful because we were asked to perform a musical number. I accepted because I'm like it's just the loving, non-judgemental Micronesian people. But regardless I was still super nervous. Sister Sicotte played the piano minnyou that Away in the Manager is one of the few songs she can play and I sang a solo. So out mediocre talents came together. It wasn't too bad but my heart was pounding out of my chest for no reason so my voice was a little shaky at times but we survived without any disasters!

We were privileged to hear the Elders and two members sing Silent Night acapella and man are they a group to listen to! They are wonderful at harmonizing! I could listen to them all day and one of the Elders sounds like he could be a singer! 

We had a fun linger longer after church to eat and talk. We had a good time and I was able to hand out a few gifts I wrapped. Just simple things because I know some families don't have much.

Afterwards we visited a few people and had a great time. We would sing Silent Night as I played on the Ukulele and then share the video A Savior is Born. It was great!

We were able to go over to a member's house for dinner. She gave us food to take home because she wasn't feeling well. But we prepared a fun Christmas message so we shared it with them. My parents did the 12 days of Christ for me. Each day talks about a different name of Christ and what he is. And there was a fun gift for each day. For example, Christ is the King of Kings and there would be a scripture reference and then the gift was a Crown from Burger King. We had fun with it!

It was great to feel the joy of giving this Christmas!

Love,

Sister Heath

Sister Sicotte and I!

Christ is the King of Kings

China town with the Elders to find some Chinese people to teach

(From last week) Sweet Potato factory for Sister Sicotte's birthday!...Gotta love those sandwiches!

Sweet Potato factory

It's almost Christmas! Woohoo!

December 18, 2017

So my wonderful companion was gracious enough to run around with me last p-day as well as this p-day so I could get my Christmas shopping done. I wasn't planning on doing any but when I got the package from home I felt like I needed to.

We had a full week of talking to everyone, handing out as many Light the World cards as we could (they are a great lead-in to talk to everyone), and doing our best to spread the wonderful news of this gospel.

At the end of our p-day we saw this car wash place and decided to check it out and believe it or not it was their open house! We got a $27ish wash for free! It was fun and colorful, we turned up our music and were loving it! Oh, the life and joys of a missionary!

We definitely saw miracles this week...they never cease. We go to visit someone and find someone else that we were meant to talk to. We were able to visit one of our investigators who is preparing to be baptized January 13th. Her name is Gricia. She is the cutest and so is her 1 year old daughter! She doesn't speak very much English so we are grateful when we can get a translator. When we can't we are grateful for the Chuukese materials we have to help explain. She is really progressing, we are excited for her! We also were able to set 2 others with dates this week which was exciting because they seem really solid. Most Chuukese people will say yes to a date but it's not very solid. So  we were excited when we asked one of our new investigators to be baptized in the first lesson and she was like I need to repent first. We were like yes! She understands!

We had a fun dinner social at our apartment complex. They provided Panda Express and there was some great calming live Hawaiian music. We weren't able to stay too long but it was a great opportunity to talk to some people. The Senior Missionaries that work in the office also live there so they were able to talk to some people and actually talked to our new neighbor who is really nice!

Saturday was Sister Sicotte's birthday so I sneakily set up some decorations while she was getting ready. We also went to lunch at the Hawaiian Sweet Potato Factory which was delicious. I tried to make her feel special. We were able to go to China town and we handed out several copies of the Book of Mormon and flyers for the Christmas Concert.

We had dinner at this cute Sushi place and it was really good. I had a really good Chicken Katsu Bento. Then we headed to the Christmas Concert to greet people. It was fun handing out the programs and seeing many people from Kahala Ward and other places. One of ou investigators came but we didn't save seats and all the reserved seats for investigators were taken (which is actually really great that they came) So we ended up sitting to the side of the stage where you can't really see. But we were still able to enjoy the show. They had a few different choirs: youth, children's, and adult. They also had a wonderful Orchestra. They had a full program of a variety of songs. They even did songs from The Polar Express along with dancers and a little boy singing. So cute! We saw another investigator and her family come which was great. What a special treat to be able to experience that!

I am excited for Christmas and love this time of year to think of Christ and be more like Him. I am grateful for His sacrifice that we can receive strength from. I know that when we try to be like Christ by loving and serving others as he would we can be happiest.

Love,

Sister Heath

Hawaiian version of sledding?

#Blessed

December 11, 2017

Last week on P-day we were able to be treated to lunch with the Ahuna's at Red Lobster. Sister Ahuna is my grandma's cousin. They are a super awesome family. President Ahuna is over the singles branch. He is super outgoing and fun. Sister Ogawa served with them so it was a great opportunity for both of us to see them!

Tuesday was a busy day of driving a Sister to the airport and picking one up. So I said bye to Sister Ogawa. My new companion is Sister Sicotte from the Visitor's Center. She has been out for 16 months. She is super awesome. She is very energetic and excited for new challenges. She also speaks Chinese so we actually had a lunch with the Elders serving in Makiki because they have a few Chinese. It was a fun experience!

Although I'm new at being in charge of the area we were stilled blessed with being able to see the people we planned to see maybe not at the time we planned but sometime throughout the week. We also were able to find some awesome new investigators.

On Sunday we walked one of our new investigators to church. It was really cute when we showed up to her house she was wearing her Chuukese dress as well as her 2 daughters who are 3 and 1. She was ready to go. 

We had our family that was baptized last week confirmed which was great. I'm not sure how much they understood but I hope they felt the spirit.

Sister Sicotte and I were able to be responsible for teaching Sunday school and Relief Society. We ended up teaching about The Gospel of Jesus Christ for Gospel Principles. This talks about having faith, repenting, being baptized, receiving the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. It started off rough but went well and luckily we had a member who could translate. We were able to get more participation than usually happens in that class with the regular teachers.

Relief Society we taught about reaching out in love to recent converts and less active members. We had an activity for everyone to get to know someone they don't know and it went really great and we discussed the importance of supporting each other.

This week was good and I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve in this area. 

Aloha,

Sister Heath

Pictures: Decorations at our Apartment Building, Saying goodbye to Sister Ogawa, A very windy lunch with a Chinese investigator

 Decorations at our Apartment Building

Saying goodbye to Sister Ogawa

A very windy lunch with a Chinese investigator

What a Week!

December 4, 2017

Aloha!

Last P-day we didn't do anything too exciting. We just tried to get things done. Sister Ogawa is getting ready to go home and we are getting smartphones so we have to do some training before that happens so that's exciting!

We also finally got our car washed and waxed and it was glorious :) haha

In the evening we picked some Sisters up from the airport that were flying in for a meeting from Big island. They bunked with us so we had a good time :)

We had the privilege of having Elder Stanfill from the Seventy come for a mission tour. So on Friday all the missionaries on the island gathered for the conference. It was fun to see everyone. It was also fun because our zone all made matching ties and they made extras for the Senior couples that work in the mission office, for President Bekker and Elder Stanfill. They all wore them. It was great! Since we are the only Sister's in the zone we decided to braid the fabric into our hair. So it was fun! Elder Stanfill and his wife were great and had really good advice for us.

We had a great lesson with our only investigator in Kahala. He said he will prepare himself to be baptized the date is yet to be decided but he already converted in many ways. He was struggling with the Book of Mormon. He read the assignment we gave him 3 times because he has a hard time. He also decided to put himself in the position of Nephi which is exactly what we are supposed to do!

That night we didn't have a dinner and decided to go to a restaurant at Zippy's in Kahala. We ended up seeing a bunch of people from the ward. Bishop and his wife paid for our meal. It was a fun time!

Saturday night we got transfer news. I knew that I would be staying but we are no longer over the Kahala Ward which I am super sad about. We are only covering the Micronesian branch. My companion is coming from the Visitor's Center. Her name is Sister Ciciotte. I've heard great things about her. She also was called to the Visitor's Center to speak Mandarin so we will be helping with those people in the Makiki Ward.

Yesterday we got everything ready and were able to have a baptism for a family we were teaching. It was really great! The spirit was so strong! I am so grateful for that opportunity and all the support we received throughout.

I know that the gospel can bless our lives and that this season is a special time to remember Christ. If you want to do more you can go to Mormon.org and follow Light The World. Each day they have a different service you can do from what Christ taught.

Much love and aloha,

Sister Heath

Our District

At Zone Conference

Kisin Ohana

 after the baptism