Making The Most Of What We Have

February 26, 2018

We were able to spend a little of our p-day with the Bendixens last week. They took us to a delicious breakfast at Liliha Bakery. Sister Kwak and I shared an omelet and some waffles with custard. It was really good! We also did some sight seeing with them. We went to the blow hole near Sandy beach and saw a few really good ones right as we were leaving. It was a beautiful day! We were hoping to see some whales but there weren't any... We also visited Punchbowl which was good...there is a great view from up there.

We had interviews with President and Sister Bekker which was good. And that meant we got to check all of the Elders Area book app and planner on their phone to see how they are doing. It was exhausting looking at phones for several hours and it's interesting because we are all still trying to figure out how we can best use our phones. 

We were able to stop by the Kisin ohana with Sister Lukas which was good. They are doing well. They don't speak very much English but they all know my name, hey Heath! :) So fun! I love their family!

We stopped by the Yawata ohana which we have been trying to teach but everyone isn't always home. So this week we taught the mom (Ornika) and then the son (Aiven) came in later. Aiven read 1 Nephi 2 as we asked but Ornika didn't read. He is super solid and understands well. He is going to help remind his mom to read. We love their family.

We were finally able to see March and Enson! Apparently they have been sick and that's why they couldn't meet with us.  We made sure they are still interested in learning and they said yes. So that's good. We are going to try and help them read more often.

We had a fun adventure on Thursday night trying to find out where the place for our dinner was. No one answered the number we were given and I had never been to the house. Also the ward information is not updated and we don't even have their records! Haha so after many calls we decided to go to an address in the records from a possible relative. There was no apartment number. So we went to a potential investigators house and asked if she knew the person and sure enough she did! Blessings! 

Saturday Raven got baptized! Sister Ogawa and I met him and started teaching him around November and then we were moved from Kahala.... I'm so happy for him. It was really great.

We also were asked last minute to help with an activity they had for the young women in preparation for camp. We did the spiritual activities so we shared about receiving answers and writing them down along with other spiritual experiences. We shared the video from the Youth theme last year, Ask of God. It is a great song and video! It went well. We had fun participating in some of the activities too like making hiking sticks out of bamboo... I didn't want a huge hiking stick so I sanded a little one...we will see if I end up keeping it but it's pretty cool. We also learned how to tie some knots...hopefully I can remember them for when I use rope!

We had a great lesson with Yuriana on Saturday night. She was able to read the Book of Mormon and we talked about questions she had from church and whatnot. AJ was able to read too. We hope we can continue to help them progress. 

Saturday night we got transfer news! I'm getting a new companion to help me with the Chuukese. Sister Eberhard! I went on exchanges with her. She is super awesome!

Sunday we had a great lesson with an investigator named Alexcia. She is really interested and understands well. She loved the Restoration. Especially that we have a prophet today and learning that the priesthood was taken away. We invited her to be baptized and she is going to pray about it this week. We hope she stays here long enough to get baptized because she is visiting from Colorado!

I know that this gospel is true and that it is so special that God loves us so much that we have a prophet today leading his church and us. I know that Russell M. Nelson is called of God and as we follow his counsel we will be blessed!

Aloha!

Sister Heath

with the Yawatas

The Book of Mormon, the keystone of our Religion

February 19, 2018

Last week we were able to see some humpback whales when we were driving along the coast of Hawaii Kai and hiked part of Makapuu. It was pretty cool! 

We were able to meet with some investigators and hear their experiences from reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. I love hearing others experiences and how the spirit works in their life. This gospel brings so many changes and blessings to our life! 

We were able to find some new investigators this week which was great. We tried focusing more on the Book of Mormon and helping others understand the importance of reading it a little bit every day. We know that was we read, we show our faith and we are blessed. We can also learn many lessons that we can apply to our life.

We had Zone Conference this Friday which was really good. It's always great to receive training from President and Sister Bekker. It helps to motivate me to want to be a better missionary. It was also a little scary because we had to help the Zone leaders give the training to our zone and we weren't that prepared. But it went really well and we have a great zone that participates well. 

Saturday we had the baptism for Geraldine Bossy. She was baptized when she was 11 in Chuuk but her records were lost. It was a great opportunity and goal for her to work towards. The spirit was really strong. I am excited for her especially now that she can prepare to go to the temple!

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it truly testifies of Jesus Christ and as we read it we can receive inspiration on how we can improve. We can also receives answers to our questions.

Aloha!

Sister Heath

With Geraldine after church on Sunday in my Chuukese dress

With Sister Tailleur at Zone Conference

Geraldine's baptism

Exchange with Sister Fitisemanu

Jises Epwe Anisuk- Jesus Will Help You

February 12, 2018

We didn't have much of a p-day last week because I accidentally scheduled appointments during the day. Sister Kwak thought I was just being a consecrated missionary and didn't say anything. Haha I spaced that it was p-day. 

We were able to get the essentials done though. It was nice too because we were able to help one of our investigators receive a blessing. The Marshallese Elders and the Bendixens came. It was a party because the whole family was there. I always love being there for special blessings. I just hope investigators understand how special it is and the blessing depends on their faith. We were able to have a good lesson with the family and read the Book of Mormon together. We explained what we read and tried to help them apply the message to their life.

That night we had dinner with Linsel. She is a really sweet recent convert. It was her son's birthday so she made a bunch of food. It was fun to be there. We were able to talk to her non-member husband and his nephew that we haven't been able to see in a while. 

We were on exchanges on Wednesday which was fun. I was with Sister Fitisemanu who just came out. I love getting to know the other sisters that serve here. In the morning we were able to help Eimy do some cleaning around her house which was good.

I was excited for some appointments we had that day but most of them weren't home or cancelled :(

Luckily we had one appointment with the Answer family we are preparing to be baptized. We taught the Plan of Salvation which was good and it was good practice for Sister Fitisemanu. I felt bad because I couldn't remember what it felt like when I first came out but I tried to give her some advice on things that helped me. I was thinking to myself, I'm glad I'm not a trainer because I can't remember what it was like and I feel like it would be super stressful! 

It was a good day though and we talked to everyone we walked by even some weird guys that were obviously not interested in the gospel as much as talking to us...ha! But it was good practice testifying and whatnot.

We were finally able to see Geraldine this week when we decided to stop by her house. She was the only one home too. It was great to catch up and see how she is doing. She recently started a job and is pretty busy now. She still wants to get baptized so we are hoping for this Saturday! 

We were finally able to meet with an investigator we met with once and set with a baptism date. Her name is Antonia.  She is related to a member in our branch(Sister Rachulap) and they live in the same apartment complex. We also met her husband who was excited to meet us and he was super nice. Sadly he was busy cooking a feast for us the whole time that we weren't able to teach him. But we were able to talk about the Book of Mormon with Antonia and Sister Rachulap's daughter Morina who also isn't baptized. Before we left we talked a little to Antonio's husband Chris and he said that he watched the restoration video on YouTube which is super awesome. We are excited for our next lesson with them.

Yesterday we were able to meet with Alexia who is really curious and it is great. She is actually related to Geraldine. We told her to read the Book of Mormon but she read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet which is super awesome. So we were able to teach her more about that after reading the Book of Mormon together. She said she felt so happy learning about the Plan that Heavenly Father has for us. She said she feels so good whenever we meet with her! She is super awesome and we are excited to see what happens even though she is only going to be here for a short time.

Aloha!

Sister Heath

Dinner with Linsel complete with the blue party rice!

After our lesson with the Answer family

Diligence=Miracles

February 6, 2018

Last week we were able to go to Laie so Sister Kwak could take the Michigan English Proficiency Test before going home. It was really weird to be back on campus...so many memories and it made me want to come back and finish school there!

It was fun waiting for Sister Kwak to finish her test. I was trying to write in my journal but found myself looking up every time someone walked by to see if I knew them...haha

I was able to see some people I remember and I even saw some of my good friends that have returned from their missions. It was a great time. We had lunch at the Seasider and one of my friends was so nice and bought us sandwiches, they were really good. Then we went to Angels Ice cream and got Shave Ice...so good...I love that place!

This week was busy with exchanges and with the work as we tried our best to be diligent. We definitely saw the miracles! There are quite a few people we talked to who were praying for certain things to happen and they shared how they received an answer to their prayer and some of them we were a part of that answer. I love being a part of this wonderful work!

I love having the opportunity to learn from the Sisters when we go on exchanges as well.

Church was amazing, in Sunday school we had a ton of people show up to church, people that have never been, haven't been in a long time, and others. I wanted to take a picture of the classroom, it was packed! We even had a bunch of the return missionaries from BYUH come that served in Chuuk! We hope they will all keep coming! 

Yesterday we had Missionary Leadership Council. It was great to be part of the council and hear directly from the leaders and the input of others. It was great to see all the missionary from all over the islands and people that I haven't seen in a while. It is an exciting time especially with the new use of technology! We are excited to push forward the wonderful work! Don't be afraid to share what you know online! We heard some amazing experiences from the Visitor's Center Sisters where several people's friends saw on their friends profile and a link to mormon.org and they have so many people that chat with them and want to learn more!

Keep being a good example and share what you know. We aren't perfect and we aren't expected to be, we are just expected to do our best and rely on the Lord.

Love, 

Sister Heath

 Breanna (my BFF from BYUH)

Becca (my friend from BYUH)