6/17/13
Aloooooha!
Hola familia!
What a week! I'm so glad dad got his
present in time:) I thought it was pretty funny:) I can't believe Tyson is
going to dances now! How fun! I can't believe it is my birthday already! Can
you believe that this time last year I was getting my surgery done?! It seems
like such a short period of time! I can use guitar chords on an Ukulele, as
long as they are simple:) I can't put music on my ipod but I can listen to the
CD. I'm sorry Tiff didn't ever get my card! I promise I sent one! I will have
to find another one. Did you ever get my Mother's day present mom? Did you like
the sticker? I'm glad you are enjoying my recordings. I had a lot of fun doing
them. I thought it was really funny when Brandon first called us his
"elephants" then he told us the story and it was just cute:) I just
realized though that I should have kept the recorder a little longer because my
companion and I are singing in church this week. Sis. Hoskins has never sung in
public before. She has a good voice but she has been really self conscious
about it so she doesn't sing very much. I have changed that for her;) We have
been singing hymns together at members houses and such and I do the alto part
and she does the soprano and the members always say how good we sound together.
So I was able to convince her that we need to sing in church and I even got her
to agree to do a little solo:). I am so proud:) She is super nervous
about it though. We decided to do it this next week because that is when our
mission president, President and Sister Dalton are giving their farewell talks.
We are lucky enough to be serving in the ward they are in so we can be there
for that. It is going to be so sad though. Our new mission president and his
wife, the Warners, will arrive July 1st and get right to work. Apparently
Sister Warner has been in the Tabernacle Choir and has a beautiful singing
voice so that will be fun.
I'm doing great here in the Kahala
ward. There are so many interesting people here it is so fun! One of the
members here is really good friends with Bill Cosby and says that she is
waiting for the right moment to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon:).
Wouldn't that be cool:) I really do love the ward. This fourth of July is going
to be so awesome! Our ward mission leader, Brother Cloward, is having a huge
BBQ party in the backyard of his mansion. He has the most beautiful backyard
that has his own private entrance to the beach. I will for sure take pictures.
We get to man the name tag table so that we can see if any people we don't know
show up. Hopefully we can get all our investigators to go too. We have 5
progressing investigators as of right now and they are each so very different.
We have one Japanese girl who has had a date set a few times and is totally
ready to be baptized but wants things with her family and everything to go
smoothly so she has postponed it again. We have another Japanese girl who is so
super sweet and comes to church and sat by me in the ward choir last week. She
is very interested but has no background or knowledge of God at all. We are
taking it slowly with her. We have another lady who loves God but doesn't
believe in evil at all. Another guy who doesn't understand why he has to quit
smoking before he is baptized. And my favorite is someone who has been talking
the missionary lessons off and on since 2005. He is so funny and crazy but I
also know that his testimony is growing. He even said that he wants to go to
church, but the problem is that his wife is super less active and he doesn't
want to grow apart in religion with her so he said that he will only go if she
goes with him and she doesn't want to go. He said he might go if he could bring
his dog with him...haha, yeah. We are praying so hard for him. His lessons are
always fun because he is so very honest and doesn't always have a filter.
hahaha. I'm not sure if I could even explain some of the things that he has
said:) I think that he will get there eventually. Heavenly Father has
definitely been working with him.
Tracting this week has been a bit
rough with a lot of non interested people. We did meet a few interesting
people:) So every house we go to we ask if we can say a prayer with them. Well
it is always fun when they say yes and then start offering their own prayer.
After we ask if we can say the prayer next and then they say, "yes, mmhm,
thank you God" all through our prayer:) People also have the funniest
excuses. I now understand Chelsea's feelings about dogs... I think I have met 2
friendly dogs this whole time and I'm pretty sure they are at every house we go
to. The work does go on though.
My testimony continues to grow
everyday. It is very humbling to be training someone else and realize that you
don't know everything. I am learning so much though and I am so grateful for
this opportunity. I also worked it out and I should be able to finish the
Spanish Book of Mormon by July 10th, my 9 month mark...eek! I have not met a
single person out here in Honolulu who understands a word I say if I say it in
Spanish (unless you count the elders who find it hilarious to say hola to me)
but I still enjoy my language study. There truly is power in el Libro de
Mormon.
I love you all so much and I love
this work. I have a strong testimony in prayer and scripture study and in
the love Heavenly Father has for each of us individually. I love you all so
much! I miss you all and pray for you always!
Les Qiero,
Hermana Rowley (Shayla)
PS. Next week I will have to put
pictures of the awesome hike that we did today through the jungle:)!
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