Diligent missionary work brings people to the gospel

September 24, 2018

Last week we hiked Lanikai pillbox as a district. It was a good workout...we all felt pretty out of shape... The view is beautiful. 

We were able to talk to a lot of new people this week and have some great appointments. We have 4 new people to teach and 3 new people that have baptismal dates which is really exciting! 

It was amazing to see all the people we were led to this week to share a message with. We were also able to hear about the blessings they've seen in their life. Heavenly Father really does love and care for us!

We got transfer news on Saturday. I figured I was leaving but was hoping to go to Kauai. But, I am going to Pearl City! I will be training a sister from Japan and we will be in a trio with Sister Soga. I've been on exchanges with her when I was her STL. She is also from Japan and is a great missionary. Sister Hoffman that lives in our apartment served in Pearl City and loved it. So I am excited...a little stressed to train again but it will be good. I'm also thinking I might have to bring a humidifier with me since its so dry! Haha It will be interesting to serve on the other side of the island! I'm happy there won't be as many mosquitos!

One of the people we are teaching was sad to hear that I was leaving so he finally came to church! I was so happy to see him there! I hope that his heart will soften to the gospel! 

One of the sisters that served here came back to work and is living with one of our members so we were able to eat dinner together so it was fun to catch up. Her name is Sister Sperry (I can't call her by her first name...haha) I actually came on exchanges to Olomana with her when she was my STL! Good times!

Well that's about all!

Aloha,

Sister Heath

 Chillin at the Pillbox

Our district made it to the top!

Sister Lavaka and I

Sister Hoffman and I at the beginning of the hike

Trying to do a cool pose on the pole

 Kimo came to church!

Motivate and Lift Each Other

September 17, 2018

Last week we were able to play some glow putt! It was pretty fun and the Elders in our district are goofballs. It's always weird to hear the music that they play there too.

We were able to have dinner with one of the new couples that moved in from California. They are the Adkins and they just got married like a year ago and they are in their 40s. They have a little baby that is about 2 months old. They are so cute! The wife served a mission in Spain and they both want to help us. They live next to a less-active member that served a mission too so hopefully they can get in contact.

Wednesday we went to pick up some cleaning supplies from the Elders and met their neighbor that we've heard about that knows all about the church but doesn't believe in organized religion. He said he knew Gordon B. Hinckley well. He has been all over the world. So that was interesting. 

That night we were able to talk to Nohea who used to be taught by the elders but felt really pressured to be baptized. But we were able to talk to her and she really opened up to us which was good. She knows that our church is true and wants to be baptized but doesn't feel ready so hopefully we can help her.

Thursday we were able to go on visits with Velu who just came home from his mission. He is super awesome and motivated. We visited a person that doesn't speak English very well and we haven't been able to see if he is interested. His name is Alejandro. So Velu was able to talk to him in Spanish and it was super great. He set an appointment for the next day.

Friday we were able to visit a few people with Velu. The lesson with Alejandro was good but hard because we weren't sure when we were suppose to talk and Sister Lavaka had no clue what was going on but I could follow some of what he said in Spanish. But he was able to commit Alejandro to read and come to church. 

Saturday morning we had a ward breakfast for the Waimanalo ward and it was sooo good! I had a loco moco and it was probably the best I've had (rice, hamburger patty, gravy, and an over easy egg) it was good to see everyone too and we were able to help out a little for a project they did. The project has been going on for a while, making toiletry bags for the homeless and filling them.

We tried something different and decided to borrow the sister's chalk and drew the Plan of Salvation on a busy sidewalk. Nothing came of it that we know of but it was fun. We hope some people saw it!

We were able to have a lesson with Arthur who used to meet with the missionaries and come to church. He seems to know a lot but we were able to review the Plan of Salvation with him. He said we could come back next week and hopefully his kids will be there and his brother said he will join!

That's about all! We are excited for all the appointments that we have this week! It should be a great last week of the transfer! 

Aloha!

Sister Heath

Learning the Rubix cube

creative finding...writing the Plan of Salvation on the sidewalk with chalk!

Ask for and follow the guidance of the spirit

September 10, 2018

Tuesday night last week we had exchanges. Our sister training leaders are from Waianae so it was a little drive and we exchanged earlier than usual because the sisters had an appointment. I stayed in Olomana/Waimanalo with Sister Hilton who came out 6 weeks after me. She is from Utah and is super musically talented and sweet. We visited a less-active family that we haven' t been able to see. It took a few minutes but we were able to talk to a young teenager named Sasha for a while and later her older sister came out and we were able to share a message about the Atonement. Sister Hilton also had a cute story that she read in the Ensign about rocks being tied to a little citrus tree. This was explained to the person that saw it who was a little confused that the rocks were put on the tree to help it be able to bear the fruit that it would have in the future. And just the same God gives us things that will bend but not break us. It went well. They seemed to open up and the rest of the family showed up and we were able to talk to 2 of the other girls who really want to come to church. So it was a really good visit.

Wednesday we had District Council which was really spiritual. We kind of had a testimony meeting of the blessings of being obedient. It was great to hear others experiences. I got a little frustrated because I couldn't think of a specific story to share like everyone else and I've been on my mission for a while. I was prompted by the spirit to go up even though I didn't know what to say. I got really emotional and talked about how I've had a hard time comparing myself to others and wanting to follow their example to be obedient. But that isn't what we are suppose to do because we each have our different talents so I am still learning how to be the best I can be. That's all I remember sharing. But everyone said they felt the spirit so that was good.

We met a lady this week that might be interested in learning. She goes to the 7th day adventist church and invited us to come to a dinner they have every friday for the people in the community. We invited her to the activity we were having on Saturday (Fish Fry) and she said she will think about it. So we went to dinner and it was a little uncomfortable but everyone was really nice so we had a good time. The lady that invited us said that her sister was really excited to come to the fish fry. It was something different so we hope something good comes out of it.

Saturday we had the Fish Fry which was really great. A lot of people came even non-members and we were able to talk to them and get their information. There was lots of fish and other food but unfortunately Sister Lavaka and I had a little bit too big of a lunch so we didn't have any more room for food.

Sunday was really spiritual. The speakers in Waimanalo ward were inspired with their message. We knew that it was for one of our members.

Olomana Ward was great too because a member just returned home from his mission in Chile. His name is Velu Recca. We have been hearing the countdown for a while. He is really motivated to continue doing missionary work. I was asked to give a 5 minute talk on the restoration and the spirit was really strong. Velu gave a great talk about many things but mostly about change and sharing the gospel. What a great start to this next week!

Aloha,

Sister Heath

Sister Hilton and I rescued a turtle that was in the road

Spiritual High!

September 4, 2018

This week was kind of sad because a lot of our appointments fell through. But we were able to meet and talk to some new people which is always good.

We also had interviews and President Bekker asked if I had any impressions about staying or leaving since at the end of this transfer I will have been here 6 months. I was like no...I just go where I'm told. I do feel like we are finally getting things going in these areas. So we will see what happens... 

Friday we had zone conference which was awesome. We did something different this time where we had a panel discussion of members from Kaneohe stake that are in leadership positions. President asked them questions about things they admire in missionaries and things they want us to be doing so that we can work better with them. We got some really good advice about calling ahead to have the members who are feeding us think and pray about someone they can invite. We also were instructed to be more excited and precise at ward council. 

This morning we were able to go to the temple and that was wonderful as always. I felt the spirit so strongly and I felt so much peace and was able to receive guidance on what should happen with the areas I am serving in. I am so grateful for temples!

After the temple we ate at Hukilau cafe. (I think they filmed part of 50 first dates there) It was pretty good! I has the Hukilau burger (patty, Teri beef, egg, grilled onions, cheese, tomato, lettuce) and fries. Then since it was so hot we went to Angel's ice cream and got shave ice. So good! 

Aloha!

Sister Heath

 The rainbow before Zone Conference in Laie

Miracles and Blessings

August 27, 2018

What an unexpected week!

Last week we were able to get a keyboard from one if our members so Sister Lavaka has been learning so that's been fun. We also were able to go to the chaoel to join some sisters on Monday with their different sewing projects. We learned how to make some really nice looking bags. I finished mine the week before but started a little one with the scraps they had so I worked on that while Sister Lavaka finished hers.

We had a great lesson with Uncle Lawrence. We shared a video about the 10 commandments and how the world really only keeps 4 of them. We also talked about his prayers and scripture reading. He said he wants to start praying for lunch and reading more than 1 verse of scripture each day! (Mind you when he first started meeting with the sisters he didn't do either of those things and he voluntarily said these things!) He is also working on fixing some habits so he can live the Word of Wisdom! So great!

We met with Kimo on Tuesday and he was able to read! (He said he did it that morning but has never kept a commitment before so we were excited) We shared about Obedience, praying often, and studying the scriptures. After some hesitation he accepted the invitation to have daily prayer and scripture study so he can come to know the truth for himself. (But he didn't want us to come by or message him for a reminder.)

We visited some less active members which went well. We also went to visit someone and they said she didn't live there but there was a lady from the Philippines that was looking for a church and she said we could come back!

Wednesday we had some help from 2 other companionships to try and contact people in Waimanalo so that was great. 

Later, we were able to have a lesson with Lisa and it went really well. This time we were able to sit down and have a good lesson about the restoration. She seemed to grasp it pretty well. She said she has never been the type to pray and doesn't feel a deep need to know if certain things for herself but we taught her how to pray and she did! She also said she would read her Book of Mormon and pray about it! 

If you didn't hear Hurricane Lane was making its way to the islands so a lot of people were busy preparing for that. We were pretty much prepared because we already had 72 hour kits and water. We were able to get more water from members and fill some empty jugs. It was crazy hearing about people buying out the stores and seeing people lined up at the gas stations! It's interesting feeling prepared when everyone else is stressing out! Blessings of the gospel and our Prophet! Wednesday night our landlord was giving us updates and we offered our help. So Thursday she asked for our help to fill some sandbags. We were able to help prepare a few things. We thought it would be a good opportunity to talk to her and her husband but they were too preoccupied with everything that bad to be done. But it was still good and they really appreciated it.

Friday we were told to stay inside which was hard because we thought it would be great to visit people because everyone would be home. But it was okay. We did our studies and we took some time trying to figure a song to sing and post on Facebook...its still a work in progress...hopefully we can get it up soon. We also had our first lesson over Facebook messenger and it went pretty well. Although the person we are teaching got a little distracted with the filters it was good to have that contact. We were able to read the Book of Mormon with him.

We slept in the other sisters room since ours had a bunch of windows and is where the wind comes in.

We woke up in the morning and nothing happened. I found out that I could get somewhat of an update on Google maps and the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm and was delayed until the late afternoon so we decided to go our and visit people. It went really well. We were able to visit a family I've never met because they work so much so it was great to sit down with them and share a message. 

That night the storm was delayed even more. So we were able to stop by to see Luisa from earlier in the week. She is a super sweet lady. She said she was praying for us to come back! We taught a lesson and invited her to read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and come to church. She is willing so we are excited to see what happens! 

Church went really well.

We actually didn't see much of the storm the whole weekend except for it being overcast and then it didn't rain until late afternoon! Such a blessing! 

Attempting to record a song

 Sister Lavaka with her Hydroflask filled with a milkshake she made

 the bags we made (Sister Lavaka's is the big one and mine are the others)

Keepin on!

August 20, 2018

This week was pretty good. On Monday we went to the church because Sister Lavaka wants to learn how to play the piano. We found a cool piano book in the library that teaches you from the very beginning and it teaches hymns. So I helped her with that. Then the sisters serving in Kaneohe wanted to eat lunch together so we went to The Hawaiian Island Cafe which is Sister Lavaka and I's new favorite place. Their pizzas are super good! The sisters that we live with came too so that was fun. 

Tuesday we had a lesson with a less active member that we met recently. We had a very interesting lesson with him. He has had some interesting experiences with the spirit (not sure what spirit it is). So teaching the restoration he didn't seem to understand it all especially prophets and the priesthood. But we encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about the experiences he has had and if they are from God. On Friday night we stopped by again with Bishop but unfortunately didn't have very long because he had plans to go somewhere. So Bishop didn't get to hear his experiences. But hopefully we can help him come to the truth.

We've had a hard time finding people to teach so we are going to try and focus our visits on members to find people to teach through them and members of their family that aren't baptized. We were able to have some good conversations with some less-active members which was good.

Other than that, nothing too exciting happened this week.

Aloha!

Pictures are worth a thousand words!

August 13, 2018

Danielle's Birthday Week....23 years old! Try to guess what they did!