Times of trial bring miracles... I hope!

March 20, 2018

So after responding to everyone's emails I didn't really know what to say about this week so here are Sister Eberhard's thoughts and I feel the same:

"This morning was so perfect because we were able to go to the Laie Temple, and the Temple is the single greatest place on Earth, and I was just so happy to be there. It was also the one place I wanted to be after another long week of growing! The last few weeks in this area have felt a bit like a tornado, and after getting knocked around a bit, it was nice to feel so at peace within the walls of the Temple. I am so grateful to have one on this island!

Quite honestly, as I reflect on this week, I don't really know what to share. I feel like I am just learning how to be more like the Savior. Like, learning how to be more faithful, more diligent, more consecrated, more hopeful, more willing, more loving, more forgiving, more of just about everything that is good. It makes me think about the hymn "More Holiness Give Me". If you haven't taken the time to sit down and read the lyrics, I highly recommend it. Plus >>> I believe that it speaks the same message which I am feeling today. (Go read it right now!! And try to learn something from it :)) 

As far as our investigators go, we aren't seeing very much progress, sadly. Sister Heath and I feel like we are trying everything.. but we have to leave things like "personal agency" up to the investigator. We want so badly for them to continue learning and growing, but it takes effort, and often times it is hard for them to see the rainbows beyond the rain. We have really just been focusing on what we like to call Spiritual CPR:

C= Church
P= Prayer
R= Reading

So often we use CPR to save lives, but aren't souls worth saving too? We have been trying to help each person we meet see how important their spirits are. Our bodies are for this life, but our spirits are eternal, and we had them before we even got here. Shouldn't we take care of the gift that has always been with us? We teach them that just as our bodies require food, water and air, our spirits need "feeding" too. I believe that it is beginning to "click" with more people, so hopefully they start to actually do the things that the Spirit directs them to!

Overall, the work of the Lord is indeed progressing. Maybe not so much in the progress of investigators or our area, but definitely in the hearts and capabilities of His servants; the Missionaries. I know that the Lord is working on me to make me a more valuable instrument in furthering His work. I know that He is working on me so that we can accomplish greater things, and help more people to do the same. I am grateful for the opportunities I am having to grow, and I know that we each can, if we be willing.

Have a wonderful week and remember to find ways to GROW !"...Sister Eberhard

..........................................................................................

I hope you know that no matter where you are in life you can always turn to the Savior for strength, comfort, and guidance. He suffered for everything we would go through in this life so he knows exactly how you feel. You can turn to him by studying the Book of Mormon, participating in Church, sharing what you know with others, and by sincere prayer. I know that what he did for us is real. I've felt the power of change and comfort and strength. I have also seen it in others lives. All we need to do is act and the blessings will come!

Aloha!

Sister Heath

Sister Eberhard and I

Rain

At one of our investigator's house...at least someone wants to read the Book of Mormon! Haha

Banyan tree in front off the tabernacle...pretty cool, the kids have a good time swinging on the branch vines 

 The little boy who asked us to come visit his parents. He's so cute and really excited whenever he sees us!

 Exchanges with Sister Pressley

Faith+Works=Miracles

March 12, 2018

Last week we had Missionary Leadership Council (MLC) and it was really good to receive training from President and Sister Bekker and the Assistants on how we can improve. We also were about to talk about how we can motivate the missionaries so it was really good. I love hearing advice from everyone and the experiences that they have had.

That night we were able to stop by an investigators house and set her with a baptism date so that was exciting. We hope that she will be baptized at the end of April!

The Sisters from Maui needed to stay the night so they stayed with us so that was fun especially since one of them is Sister Bowen my MTC companion!

We had a condensed P-day on Tuesday because of District Meeting and a lesson we had but we made the most of it. We were able to play Ultimate Frisbee with the Assistants and our Zone Leaders. It was really fun!

On Wednesday we had an appointment with someone that came to church for the first time. We probably drove and walked around for an hour trying to find it but it's like it doesn't exist and sadly we didn't get her phone number. However, we were able to talk to some people on the street. We asked this guy if he knew where it would be and he didn't know. We found out he was from Kosrai which was cool! I thought he was Hawaiian! haha His english was really good. He said that he organizes sports for all the Micronesians on the island to help them have a better reputation which is super cool! He was also really nice and we gave him a Book of Mormon which he was really grateful for! We referred him to the Elders since we are only over Chuukese but hopefully they can visit and teach him!

Friday we were able to meet a member's step daughter that he told us to go visit. She is really sweet and she just moved from Chuuk. But she understands a lot for only being here for a month. Luckily one of her friends was there too that could help translate a little bit. We just shared the Book of Mormon with her and invited her to read and come to church. She told us that she came last week which is awesome! She ended up coming this week for a few minutes which was good too. We will bring a translator with us next time and it will be really good.

It's been interesting with technology and awesome too. One of out investigators calls us on Facebook to talk so that is great to have more contact with him. Their family really wants to meet with us they have just been super busy with sickness with their kids. But I am excited to see what will happen with them!

That's about it for this week!

I know that this gospel is true and can help you have the spirit more abundantly in your life which is such a great thing to have!

Aloha,

Sister Heath

With Sister Bowen and Sister Fifita

Sister Eberhard and I trying not to get blown away in the wind

With our new investigator and her cute son!

On the Nasty couch with the Book of Mormon just because I can...one of the places that we walk by often

Busy, busy, busy

March 6, 2018

This week was crazy! 

Last week we did some errands and we were able to go to the institute building with the Elders to play some games. I played ping pong and Sister Kwak played pool. We had a great time! 

One of the members wanted to give Sister Kwak a lei so we stopped by to get that. It was so sweet and our first time seeing a Chuukese lei!

Then we had dinner with a family from Halawa. They took us to an Indian restaurant and we has really good curry and cheese flatbread (I can't remember what they call it)

Tuesday I said goodbye to Sister Kwak and got a really good hug from her which is special because she HATES hugs. Sister Eberhard and I went right to work because we had an appointment not to long after transfer meeting. The family forgot we were coming and said they were busy cleaning but I was like we didn't come here for nothing so I was like do you have a few minutes? So they let us in. The wife wasn't in a great mood but that just motivated me to be more bubbly and try and help her have the light of Christ. So we shared 2 Nephi 25:26. It was good except we read it in Chuukese and she was saying it's hard to understand because there are different dialects. I wish I would have read it in English too but oh well!

We had a good lesson with a couple (Siten and Faithful) we haven't been able to see in a while. The husband seems interested so hopefully we can help him learn more.

 

We did home evening with a less active family for the first time on Friday evening. It was really fun and they enjoyed it even though everyone wasn't there but we are hoping to help them build their testimonies. They want to do it again so we are excited.

Saturday we were excited to meet with Antonia and Chris so we could teach them a solid lesson and set them with baptism dates. But sadly Chris had to work. But we were able to talk to and teach a little bit to Antonia. This was a blessing because I know her English is limited and we didnt have anyone to translate. But I was pleasantly surprised with what she understood. And we were able to set her with a baptism date! Woohoo. Also she wanted us to go to her husband's work so he could feed us. So we went to the Mexican Kitchen and it was really good!

Church on Sunday as great. Antonia barely misses the sacrament even though we called her in the morning to see if she would make it by 9. But I'm still impressed because she has 3 little kids and one of them is sick. She even stayed the whole time! 

Also, I bore my simple testimony in Chuukese during sacrament meeting. This lady came up and started talking to me in Chuukese after sacrament. But I don't know enough to talk to her so I started speaking English haha. Luckily she spoke English too. We found out it was her first time and she was just dropping off some friends. So we are excited to meet with her this week!

Aloha!

Sister Heath

Transfer meeting with Sister Kwak

Transfer meeting with Sister Pressley, Jeffrey, me and Sister Eberhard!

 Mexican food!

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)