Week 27 - HAPPY 6 MONTHS!!

Aloha All :D

here I am in Big Island and I want you all to know, Im never coming home. like, if you'd like to see me ever, i'll be here in Hawaii so come on down. I have fallen in love with the islands and the people and my mission cant ever end, ok? ok.

So last week was SUPER HARD to say goodbye to Aliamanu. I've never cried so much as I left what I came to know as home and ohana.  It was especially to leave behind the work and investigators.  I still haven't left that.....ugh.  I wish someone would've told me how hard it would be to leave an area!!

I was back on Oahu yesterday tho, and I got to talk to the barnes and sister mason.  It's all going well and David, Derrick, Kaipo, Carol and Dave are all still gonna get BAPTIZED THIS MONTH AND NEXT yay!  Ah, it's great. isn't it?

Okay so I feel lost and a little lonely here in these new areas,but I also feel super blessed to be here and I already have adopted family here :)

Sister Maher from Litchfield Park (Phoenix), Arizona is my comp and her and I are having a blast. it's great. We are working hard- there's a lot of good work to do in our two areas. oh yeh!! our areas - Honoka'a and Waimea - are half an hour apart, so we stay in Waimea Mon thru Wed and we stay in Honoka'a Thurs thru Sat and then we attend 6 hours of church on Sundays :)   it's great.

Honoka'a Ward:

a bunch of locals.

the area is BEAUTIFUL

ocean on one side,

forest on the other

and just a TINY town

very country

I love it.

Waimea 1st Ward:

1/3 Marshallese,

1/3 local,

1/3 other...

super great!

it's fun to have such a large variety :)

the town is small but bigger than Honoka'a

haha

very very country.

majority of folks wear cowboy boots to church :)

so wonderful!

there are some really amazing investigators we are working with, one family in particular - the Hallford's - are just...awesome.Charley and Chauncey and their son, Landonare all GETTING BAPTIZED on 17 October.  At church on Sunday, both charley and Chauncey bore their testimonies.  ah, it was beautiful.

well folks, happy October this week, and HAPPY CONFERENCE! yay! I'm so excited.I challenge each of you to prepare yourselves for conference through scripture study and prayer, then go into conference weekend with a question (or multiple questions if something is bothering you).then, I challenge you to LISTEN to each session really LISTEN.

I promise you that your question(s) will be answered.because the Lord always delivers. and those who put their faith, trust and soul into the hands of Him, His prophets seers and revelators, and in the Holy Ghost,

will be delivered (Dan. 3:19-28)

will be lifted (Mosiah 23:22)

will be supported in trials (Alma 36:3,27)

will be led (D&C 11:12)

and will not be confounded (D&C 84:116).

RELY ON HIM.

warmest aloha,

s. judkins

OH YEAH ALSO THIS WEEK:

- I flew 3 times - to kona, to ohau FIRST CLASS, to kona... woah.

- had women's conference - two investigators came!

- saw the famous Waipio Valley (it's in honoka'a area)

- ate Laulau ...pretty tasty :)

- had a relief society activity with amazing food and fun!

- taught relief society ... yes on my first sunday ... wakaka

- had lunch with Brother Danigan - a hilarious old guy who knows a lot about the history of the church ... so pretty much, lunch was more like an interview and test :| I hope I passed!

- helped someone move to two streets down

- ate pork adobo yummy :)

anyhoo- enjoy the pics!

Week 26 - 9/21/15

Aloha All!

So, the big news is that i'm headed to big island on Wednesday, I've been called as a sister training leader over the island. my comp will be Sister Maher (one of the sisters i came out with!!) and i will be on Kona side serving in two wards :) i am excited for the work there!

the BIGGER news is that DERRICK, DAVID, CAROL AND HER SONS, and KAIPO, ARE GETTING BAPTIZED!!!! it is incredible. this past week all of our prayers were answered, and we were finally able to set dates with most of these people. :)

i have been so blessed to be here in the Aliamanu Ward, and have seen so much growth! i thank our heavenly father for that... because of His love for His children, this work moves forward!! i feel very lucky to be a part of it! i am going to miss this ward with all my heart, but hey! i still got a year so i could be back, and i definitely will stay in touch with my Aliamanu O'hana <3

I've been studying about the Atonement of Jesus Christ a lot this past week. What has really stood out to me is that through studying the Atonement, we can greater understand it. And, through understanding comes appreciation. Which means, we can more fully access the Atonement. Because, when we understand something and appreciate it, we will use it!! This has helped me to teach our investigators and has strengthened my own testimony. I would invite you all to study more of the Atonement. Our Savior knows us, and he is always wanting to help us!! So "lift up your head, child, and rejoice!"

aloha,

sister j

Oh yeah... I forgot :)

this week was eventful,

we were evacuated on Wednesday due to a tsunami warning... but then we got a call a couple hours later and they said nevermind go back to work. haha, at least i got a couple hours of juggling the soccer ball and sort of relaxing.... that never happens :)

also this week, we started to go to the Whaley's home each morning bright and early to use their garage gym... ouch.

i dyed sister mason's hair.... yeah, evie don't ever let me follow in your footsteps because i will bring shame to our family.

SO MANY LESS ACTIVES AND PEEPS came to church yesterday holy macaroni. i died. my last sunday there, and i got to see so many of our brothers and sisters i never thought i'd see there. ah, god is good.

Also yesterday, the youth (ages 12-18) ran our sacrament meeting. they gave talks, bore testimony, had two beautiful musical numbers, and pretty much had all of us in tears. it was a very powerful sacrament, and i would invite any of your wards/stakes to try it out! super fantastic. such a PERFECT meeting for the less actives and investigators there <3

okay, God is good. the church is true. Our Savior lives. He loves you <3

and so do i!!!

xoxo,

sista jay

Fijian family i am going to GREATLY miss... ah there is so many families i'm going to miss 

Week 25! - 9/14/15

Aloha :)

This week was just like any other week, GREAT!

unprecedented bumps, unexpected turns, wonderful surprises, and highs and lows.

my wonderful companion was pretty sick this week, so I spent a lot of time studying, getting lost in deep thoughts, and juggling a soccer ball :)

luckily, she is feeling better!! so, we got to meet new people!!

We met this really awesome Samoan guy named Junior. He is great, his family is incredible, and we will be going back this week to teach them :) the lord really answered our fasts and prayers to find a family he had prepared for us to teach the gospel to. God is good!!

We also met this really amazing lady while tracting. her name is Auli'i and she, too, has been super prepared for the gospel. she has a close friend living in Kaneohe who asked her to read the book of Mormon after talking with one another about the meaning of life. When we walked up to her house, she was sitting on the front porch with her daughter reading a book. The first words out of my mouth were, "sorry to interrupt, but we also have a book, and we would like to share it with you. It will help answer your questions of life." she didn't seem too surprised, and instead of shooing us off her property (like many do), she asked what it was. Her jaw dropped as we spoke of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. She explained that her friend was trying to get her to read it. Well, we gave it to her, and she is reading it. and she is awesome. And that friend is awesome. and the gospel is awesome. and God is awesome.

okay, so another person we met is this cool guy named Memphis. yep, he is really cool. he has all these questions of how to become a better Christian, and he asked his friend to help him out. well, that friend is a member in our ward who was more than happy to share with him the gospel and get us involved. Ah, people are great. Memphis came to church yesterday and seemed to really enjoy it. it was literally the most perfect sacrament meeting ever for an investigator. perfect.

okay, so we are really excited for these peeps, and I know that god has a perfect plan for each of them.

Last night we were able to have dinner with the senior couple serving in our zone. They have pretty much adopted me as their own, or maybe I should say I adopted them as my grandparents/parents cuz I kinda just forced my way in to their lives and told them to love me and take care of me.

anyhoo, they're amazing and made us a wonderful sunday meal, and afterwards we were able to sit and talk about the spirit. somebody mentioned how incredible it is that we are given a member of the Godhead to be with us always. I thought that was really cool, and then my best friend told me "If you feel like you have the world caving in, be grateful, it means that God trusts you."

and that my friends, is the whole essence of the gospel. God trusts us enough that He gave us our agency. He sent us here, knowing we would go through trials, knowing we would hit unprecedented bumps, unexpected turns, have wonderful surprises, and highs and lows. But HE TRUSTED US that we would turn to Him, that we would trust Him, and that we would someday return to live with Him.

The plan is perfect.

mahalo nui loa fur alles & mucho aloha <3

sistah jay

Week 24 - 9/8/15

Aloha All :)

well, god is good everyday.

and everyday god is good.

this week has been great, full of learning and growth.
i love this area i LOVE the ward
sister mason is super great. missions are the best.
satan is stupid.
but everything else is awesome.

S. Mason and I were able to teach some really amazing lessons because BAM the spirit is amazing. ah, life is good, yeah? yeah.

So once upon a time, there were two sister missionaries who were teaching an investigator in a small beautiful chapel on a very green hill in paradise. well, the rains came down and the floods came up and the lightning struck. the spirit was strong and the sound of the rain just added to the affect. as the lesson grew to a close, the sisters began to testify of the gospel. just as sister mason concluded her testimony, the THUNDER SHOOK the whole island, and the investigator jumped up and exclaimed (with hands up in the air) "PREACH TO ME, SISTA MASON!"

wakaka

so just a few days later these two sister missionaries parked their car across from an investigator's home for a visit. As they were leaving the car, there was a voice that called out "how long you park here?" (that's how hawaiians talk, small kine talk) .... the sisters answered "about 10 minutes" and proceeded to have a quality gospel conversation with this man. after the man politely rejected them, they crossed the street as they had planned, but then suddenly, a big truck came roaring up the street and a woman called out "MOVE YOUR CAR. I LIVE THERE. THAT'S MY SPACE. MOVE YOUR CAR." and the two sister missionaries slightly giggled inside because Satan thinks he's clever, but the sisters politely moved their car to the other side of the road and proceeded to have yet another quality gospel conversation. oh, the joys of smacking satan in the mouth.

the advesary works so hard against all of us but guess what brothers and sisters!! WE ARE STRONGER. We have God Himself on our side! He knows each of you. He loves you. He wants to help you. So please continue to follow our Savior so They can help us fight against satan and his followers, and so we can all return to our Heavenly Father as a family <3

i know this gospel is true. i know it with all my heart. and i love it. so so much. this week we were able to go on exchanges once again and sister frost (from ogden) and i got SOAKED LIKE COMPLETELY SOAKED by the rain and floods. and we were walking, and i just could not help but smile because satan was trying to make me feel bad, feel bad that i was soaked, feel bad that we had like two miles left until our car, feel bad that there was no one around to talk to about the gospel, feel bad about not having any lessons by four o'clock in the afternoon... but GUESS WHAT! WE ARE STRONGER <3

i know that much.

love you all, thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

warmest aloha,

Sistah Jay


Sadly no pictures this week, Sister Jay's camera is broken :( :(

Week 23 - 8/31/15 PICTURES!

We are so excited Brigitte finally sent some more photos!  We also received a surprise email from Sister Taylor (a woman in Sista Jay's ward!) who sent us a funny video and additional photograph.  Hope you all enjoy it as much as we did!

Week 23 - 8/31/15

Aloha All,

This week was a true struggle, but it was also one of the best weeks yet!

Wednesday we went to another area for their interviews. it was great getting to know the missionaries there.

Thursday we were able to go on exchanges with Sister Carlsen (from Idaho) and Sister Smith!! yes. my mission mom. she came back to aliamanu with s. mason. while I went over with s. carlsen to an area called "Pup Town" pronounced "poop" wakaka. their area is kinda ghetto and we decided to walk all day. it was great!!! they are serving in a samoan ward, the people are amazing! this day, we had an incredible experience talking with an investigator named Storm. The adversary has been working extremely hard on her since she committed to baptism. We talked about Joseph Smith's First Vision of how the adversary gave him a hard time too, when trying to connect with Heavenly Father. BUT his faith was solid and God delivered. it was so powerful, this lesson really strengthened my own testimony of joseph smith and this church.

On Friday S. Mason and I were able to do a training at Zone Meeting. I'll be honest, it was a disaster. Luckily, I had a companion who was on top of things, and I also had an excuse... it was my first time giving a training! wakaka. I forgot the props for the training, and then I completely forgot what we were training on.... lol. good thing it was a smallish group and all of the missionaries are my friends, so it was ok. After the meeting we went on exchanges with S. Hamano and S. Ranck. This time, I got to stay in Aliamanu with s. hamano, from Japan. we had a lot of fun together! It was a great day which helped me to forget about the meeting. :P

Well, Saturday, we made leis and bracelets at a relief society activity. two of our investigators came!! yay :)

Sunday was interesting to say the least.. church started 15 minutes late because NO ONE was there. like, i'm dead serious.. only like three or four families were there. traffic was Hawaiian. hurricane season. whatever you wanna blame it on, everyone got there between 15-30 minutes late.

it was actually kinda funny :)

and kinda disastrous.

The meetings were great and guess what!! Derrick, Carol, and David came to church :) it was awesome.

I can't believe how fast time is flying. I just want all of you to know that I love being a missionary with all my soul. I love the Hawaiians with all my heart. I love this gospel with all my everything. It's true, the gospel changes lives. I pray we will all have the faith to continue forward like joseph smith did. and the strength to stand up for what we believe in.

Talofa atu <3

Sistah Jay

ps. picture is my bracelet making skills