Week 14 - 6/29/15

Aloha all :)

So this week has been pretty awesome. First things first though...

we got transfer news..

SISTER SMITH IS LEAVING ME :'(

in missionary talk, my mother is leaving me behind.

She got transferred to Waipahu (ohau), into a samoan ward!!

fun.

I'm going to miss my mother so dang much :/ but she's going to be amazing over there.

I am staying here in aliamanu :) I will be "training" a "new" sister!

Her name, i'm not sure..

but, she is Tongan!

She served here in Hawaii for about a year, but then got really really sick and had to return home! She has been home for TWO years and she is now coming back out to serve in Hawaii to finish up her last six months.

Wow, right?

She sounds amazing, and i'm really excited to serve with her!

This week we had stake conference, and I learned a lot. We had an inactive family show up and WE ABOUT DIED. ah, life is good.

We also had quite a few of our investigators show up as well :)

life is good.

The work is progressing and it is so fun to see people progress so much and their testimonies strengthen. Really though, the biggest change I've seen is in myself.

One thing our stake is REALLY pressing of importance is the temple. Get to the temple! And keep going!!

There was a sister who spoke that gave us a brief background of how hard she has worked to support her children as a single parent, and how much she presses her children work as well. "But," she said, "I don't want my children to remember how hard I work. I want them to remember that I pray, and that I pray for them." I thought that was pretty cool :)

Temple is IMPORTANT, church is true, prayer is key, love is impactful, work is necessary, God loves you, and our Savior is always there <3

Thanks for everything. Love you all.

xoxo aloha,

Sister J

Week 13 - 6/24/15

Aloha All :)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all you fathers and father-figures :) thank you for all you do. Remember to honor that calling, "father"... just as we should honor our Father in Heaven <3

this week was AMAZING!! We were able to have another mini missionary with us, Sister Suda! She and her little brother are awaiting their calls! They also have two older sisters that are currently serving! Yes, FOUR SUDA KIDS will be out serving soon :) so cool. And guess who makes it possible? Their ward! They all come together to support the missionary fund. It truly is incredible.

Well we also had exchanges this week, and Sister Ranck from Salt Lake City, Utah joined me and Sister Suda in Aliamanu Ward. We had a lot of fun, and they taught me some great uke songs. We invited two people to be baptized that day and they both said yes!! -- Junior is one of those people. He is a 12 year old Hawaiian kid that lives near a lot of our members! One day he came running up to us and exclaimed "Youre the missionaries!!" I said yes and we began talking. He knew us just from passing, but he said he always wanted to learn more. We gave him a BOM and he began reading it immediately :) he told us his birthday was coming up on the 19 and after S. Smith and I left, I told her "I really hope we see him on his birthday" and GOD ANSWERED MY WISH! The day of exchanges, we were going to visit someone i'd never met, in a complete different area than where Junior lives.. This kid went running behind the house and I called out "Junior!?!" He skidded to a stop and sprinted over to us. IT WAS HIS BIRTHDAY :) we were able to talk about the BOM, the Restoration of the Gospel, among other things. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes! His family is amazing and they have so much faith. It'll be really cool to see where this all goes :)

This morning we went to the LAIE TEMPLE! (BTW Dad, I know how to say Laie now wakaka (that's LOL in Chukese.. yes, that's a real language)) anyhow.. it was absolutely beautiful and I had a wonderful experience inside the temple. We also had one of our members, Hailey, come up with an investigator, Jennifer, to meet us afterwards! We went through the Visitor's Center and we had lunch at a local burger place it was spectacular, very ohno (Hawaiian for good).

We've seen many miracles this week and S. Smith and I are having a blast here in the Aliamanu Ward! Transfers are next week, we're crossing our fingers to stay here together..

I love you all and am so grateful for the love, prayers, support, and all of your testimonies <3 Mahalo Nui Loa and Much Aloha

xoxo,

Sister J

Week 12 - 6/15/15

Aloha All :)

allow me to break it down for you...

not because y'all need "breaking down" but just cuz I guess that's what I'm supposed to do in these weekly emails..

this week was s. smith's birthday!!!

...we ate way too much cake...

for her bday we got a...

MINI MISSIONARY!!!

s. wachter came and stayed with us for 3 days

she is getting ready to put her papers in

and that was fun :)

funny story..

s. smith and I pull behind a Colorado license plate

at a stoplight..

here's our conversation:

J: "Colorado!?"

*sees PIONEER sticker*

J: "Pioneer!?"

S: "Do you think they're... one of us?"

J: "MORMONS!!.. let's follow them!!"

and we did.

funniest part was our windows were down,

and the lady next to us got a kick out of our conversation :)

and the Colorado-PIONEER lady was

DEFINITELY MORMON.

Okay so this week was awesome.

and what I learned is that it's vital for us to be receptive to spiritual promptings.

I had multiple experiences where the spirit told me to go somewhere or to visit someone,

and each time I followed that prompting,

something came out of it!!

I got a feeling to go see Gwen,

a former investigator whom is never accepting of us

but we went anyway

and she was home!

and she was a little hesitant at first,

but the spirit whispered what we should say

and she totally opened up to us, prayed with us, and set up a return apt!!

Smith got a feeling to go see Esther,

a potential investigator and really sweet Filipino lady whom is NEVER HOME.

but I felt good about it too,

so we went.

and she wasn't home.

haha

BUT we met Adam walking by their house.

Adam was baptized at 18, he is now 29 and is inactive.

we gave him a Book Of Mormon and invited him to church

AND HE CAME.

The Lord works in mysterious ways <3

We must be worthy of the spirit so that God can use us in His work.

And we must be receptive to being led by Him.

Just think of how many lives you can bless if you put yourself in a position where God, the greatest and perfect being, can lead you to those you can help.

Have a fantastic week everyone! Mahalo for alles :)

HBD to Jana Bennett and anyone else with bdays :) and

BIG S/O TO SISTER CORTNEY HANSEN whom enters the mtc this week :)

mahalo nui loa & much aloha <3

xoxo,

Sister J

Week 10 - 6/1/15

Aloha All :)

This week was incredible.

We had Pearl Harbor service last Wednesday, which means we've been to Pearl Harbor 3 weeks in a row...

... and we're going again today :)

on Friday we attended an elementary school Mayday!! One of our investigator's sons had the celebration and invited us! His name is Jayden. He was the prince of Maui for the celebration, pretty much I would describe this program as a luau type deal but all the different grades learn a dance and they perform it. and yeah it was amazing I loved it dearly! They have a prince and princess for each island that are "royalty" and they sit and overlook the stage after the opening ceremony/dance. So Jayden is royalty and he's awesome. I totally got the chills with each dance they performed. the music has just such good vibes and I felt honored to be a part of it. I feel so lucky to have some Hawaiian in me now :)

Like I said, this week was incredible.

and that is because of the members in our ward.

this week was a miracle! we suddenly have a lot of members stepping up to help us out, and giving us referrals, and inviting people over for dinner. it is great. we really need it, and anyone can see how much the ward has grown just from a couple people stepping up.

Like I always say, MISSIONARY WORK IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE MEMBERS.

Yesterday for 5th sunday we had a combined meeting yeah? yeah. and holy cow you could feel the love so strongly. the church is true. the love is real. its amazing :) this ward is a family. they are my family :)

we are looking forward to this month of june, because we have a lot of great goals and a whole lot of people to visit :) plus we are going to the temple this month YAY!

happy june everyone! and happy birthday to EMILY MCKENNA and anyone else with birthdays :)

Mahalo Nui Loa and Much Aloha <3 xoxo

Sister Judkins

We also finally received a photo (although Sis Judkins isn't in it..)