Week 39 - Mele Kalikimaka 12/21/15

Aloha :)

this week was incredible and i will give you three reasons why:

1) I received a huge answer to my prayer. i met an angel, her name is Valerie. she came at just the right time, and it's like we knew each other before... within minutes of meeting this "stranger" we were hugging each other in tears. God is so good. We shared the Book of Mormon with her, and she told me things that i really needed to hear. I know we are all children of our Heavenly Father and He is very aware of us. He loves us. ahhh prayer is real.

2) okay so then a family in our ward, the Murakane's, (their daughter is currently serving in the salt lake south mission so shout out to her!), brought us dinner this week because i was really sick (i slept for 12 hours, and it's gone now, so i guess it was a virus i dunno anyhoo-) and they brought us GIFTS with them. and it's these super cute "wish pearl necklaces" where we open the mollusk (or clam or whatever you call it haha) BY OURSELVES!! like what it was awesome [mom it reminded me of our trip to Oahu january 2014] and my pearl was Health like what haha God is so funny, so it was supposed to bring me health, then i slept for those 12 hours. man, He is so good.

and 

3) we followed up with those peeps from the flood last week. and, we found a family that is super interested in the gospel. We are so excited to teach them. God led us right to them, and it's crazy how cool everything pieces together like that. we were also able to teach Relief Society this week on living a Christ-centered life, and it made me really realize how all of these things, the entire gospel, is SO PERFECTLY set up. its so cool. and it changes people's lives. and that is the coolest part, is that it helps us to be better individuals and families and allows us to prepare to return to our Heavenly Father.

He truly does know us. He loves us. Why else would He send His Son to live, die, and live again than FOR US? I know our Savior lives. It is because of His birth, which we celebrate at this special time of year, that the Atonement is made possible, and the gospel is available to each and every one of us. so, go out and share that this christmas. and enjoy some hot cocoa too :)

love you all! mele kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright hawaiian christmas day. that's the island greeting that i send to you, from a land where palm trees sway! Here we know that Christmas will be GREEN AND BRIGHT the sun will shine by day and all the stars by night. Mele Kalikimaka is a wise way to say MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOUUU 🎶😄

xoxo 

sister bbg

Week 38 - 12/14/15

Aloha All!

Time is flying. and it sucks :P but seriously, this week was so beautiful.

We were able to have a zone flood in Honokaa, which means we had the whole zone, which consists of 4 pairs of elders & 2 senior couples & us, knocking doors for two hours in our area. it was so good! God seriously led us straight to the elect. S. Alldredge and I fasted and prayed over this flood and came to the conclusion of two neighborhoods that needed to be knocked. God is so good. :)

AND THEN!! we had our ward Christmas party that night and we got so many less-actives there, it was awesome. plus, GREAT FOOD. so, yeah. my comp and I wrote a song for the ward council to sing, it's called "12 days of Honokaa" and it was super cute :) the punchline was FIVE HIGH PRIESTS SLEEPING. yeah, I know, we are funny... :)

okay, so then on sunday we had this HUGE Book of Mormon sacrament meeting that we have been preparing for for the past 7 weeks. the YSA came to our ward to share talks on the restoration of the gospel and perform some powerful musical numbers! we have been doing EVERYTHING to get people to that sacrament meeting, and we actually had so many people there that we had to open the back curtain thing (the overflow!). WOAH! it was great. after the meeting, Elder Dickamore (him and his wife serve with the ysa branch) introduced me to Ashlyn, one of our recent convert's granddaughters, and we shared our testimonies with her and gave her her very own copy of the book of Mormon! she was excited and said she will read and we invited her to be baptized and she said probably! haha she is cute. I think she is in her early 20's or so. she was lead us, and we were led to her. God is so good.

this week is going to be great, we are excited to follow up on the flood peeps and work with Ashlyn and all the other peeps we met this week! oh yeah, ps, I'M STAYING IN HONOKAA :) YAY! I love this ward, the people are amazing and yeah, it's just great fun here! plus, Christmas! whoo!

okay, the gospel is so true. our savior lives, he was born for us, he died for us, and he rose again for us. I know that because of him, everything is possible, I know he loves each and every one of you, so please keep him at the tip of your mind this Christmas season. It's all about Him, because He is all about us. go out and serve someone, and testify of the truthfulness of His gospel <3 thank you for your amazing examples and testimonies. if you have Christmas cards, send them my way (thank you Kari!! btw- the dickamores say hello!!) loves and hugs my peeps, loves and hugs <3

Aloha,

Sister Judkins

PO Box 837

Honoka'a, HI 96727

The first picture is of al the sister missionaries serving on the Big Island.  The second pic is Brigitte with her flower arrangement, complete with hand-tied bow she helped make for the ward Christmas party.  The third picture is a flower she found while out tracting.

Week 37 - 12/7/15

aloha🍍

this week was full of great things :) we were able to attend the temple which started the whole week off beautifully <3

Elder Hamula from the Seventy came for our mission tour this week, and we were able to hear from him and his wife! he had a really interesting approach to his message, which centered around us fulfilling our duty in order for miracles to occur <3 his quote, "you are depriving yourself of more miracles when you..." really hit me. because, how many things do we look at in life and say, "I can't let go of that.." or "that's too hard for me.."

his promise to us was as we are exactly obedient in the mission field, we WILL see miracles. but I want to extend that promise to all of you... as we are exactly obedient to the gospel in our lives, we WILL see miracles. and we will be of hands to help others receive their miracles.

life is good. the gospel is perfect. so share it! and smile :) I know our heavenly father is aware of each of you and he loves you so much!! keep working hard and trusting in the Lord.

Aloha,🌴

sister Judkins :)

This really nice couple from Waikoloa Ward (Kona Stake) takes us missionaries out to Hawaiian Style for breakfast every first pday of every month <3 they are too sweet! today they took 3 companionships out and we were one of the lucky ones!

aking our weeky hike up to haunani's house <3

haunani is a convert of 2 years, and she has the most incredible story. well, recently she stopped coming to church (like april of this year) due to some hardships she was facing! BUT guess what got her to come to church this week!!!! MISSIONARY WORK. we challenged her to give a book of Mormon away, and SHE DID! she found a woman on a bus who really needed to hear haunani's testimony and was interested in joining her at church, so haunani decided it was time to get back. ah, life is beautiful! god is good.

-- 

Week 36 - 12/1/15

Once upon a time there were two sister missionaries living in a small country town of Big Island Hawaii. They had such a strong desire to share the gospel and then they were given a challenge: hand out 80 copies of the Book Of Mormon as fast as they can, and of course following the spiritual promptings while doing so!

so they went, and they knocked, and they served, and they taught.

and one by one, the stack of Bom's shrunk..

the two sister missionaries saw eyes light up, hearts change, and lives turn around.. as they partook of the readings within.

& brothers and sisters, it's truly amazing, that this is what the gospel does to all of God's children. the recognition of the gospel truths lights up eyes and opens minds like none other. the spirit that works on each of us changes our hearts to align with God's plans, and living these truths continues to build on that spirit and changes each of our lives!!

I feel blessed and honored to be a part of God's army at this time, but may I suggest... we are ALL part of this army. it is our responsibility to give our brothers and sisters the gospel. So go out! share your testimony. live the gospel. serve others! & trust in the Lord. He will deliver.

It's a beautiful time of year, which opens even more doors... people are ready. and so are you!

The Hawaii Honolulu Mission is dedicating the month of December to harvesting... NEW MEMBER DECEMBER. and we can all be a part of it :)

love you all, have a wonderful week!! (sorry I don't have much time)

peace n' blessins xoxo

sister judkins