Week 64-Transfer 9

Alooooooha!

12/31/13

Happy New Year's Eve!!! And transfer day:) Nothing too exciting though, Sister Kim and I are still together in the same ward and the same beautiful beach pad. We did switch out Sister Takatsu for Sister Gementiza. A VERY short Filipino (I think she may be shorter than Sister Patlingrao was)! She is super cute though and I am happy to still be in an all Asian pad for another 6 weeks. I am really happy to be in this ward again with Sister Kim. This will be my fourth transfer here! That's pretty long for Laie. I hope they don't get too sick of me:) The holidays have been so exciting here, but exhausting at the same time:) I LOVED being able to see you all!!!!! I thought it would make me more homesick but i'm not sure it's any worse than a phone call. I feel like I got more of my fill of you all than a phone call would have:) It was fun that you got to meet my companion too:) There were so many things I wanted to say afterwards as well! One being thank you so much for the Guitar Hymn book and necklace! The book was perfect! I love having something else to be able to play on my Uke. I will practice more so I can put on a show for you all when I get home;) I couldn't stop smiling all day Christmas. I love you all so much!!!!! I loved seeing the pictures of you all skyping with me. I have some that Sister Kim took that I will see if I can attach. I did finally get Chelsea's package. Thank you so much for the letter and the yummy fudge! I have been sharing it and everyone says that it is amazing!:) I do have so much sugar at home so I am eating it very slowly, but that is good cause I can enjoy it longer:) That's neat about the Holdmans coming! I haven't seen them yet but I will be looking for them! 

Tonight is going to be quite different for us missionaries. At 6 we are going to do our talent show, which I am pretty excited about! Then at 9 we get to watch Despicable Me 2 and then we stay up till one watching the fireworks...I wonder how many of us will make it that late. We were all so exhausted after Christmas and we got to bed on time that day! It will be super fun though. 

Nina is still doing great. She is such a great example to everyone around her and is always looking for missionary opportunities with her friends and family. She is doing so great at reading the Book of Mormon every day and growing her testimony. 

I feel like we have been blessed so much and have been receiving so many miracles. We have been able to talk to so many people that we hardly ever get to see and share a message with them. One of those was Nate, Mili's dad. We got to see him twice even for a short time each time. We were able to share a little more with him about prayer and scriptures each time and the spirit was so strong. 

At the visitor center, we had an amazing miracle happen! One evening on shift, we were walking around making sure everybody who had come on the tram tour knew that the tram was here and we found a girl that was not from tram, just looking on the computer in the Family History corner on familysearch.org. We asked her what brought her in, what she was looking for, etc. We were so surprised to discover that she was actually from the mainland, but had randomly decided to move to Hawaii and got a random housing connection with her cousins friend and moved in to Laie! She is in the married student ward, which makes it an even bigger deal to have a non-member show up there:) We got to talk to her about temples and what they were for and the Book of Mormon and how much it has blessed our lives and she wants to learn more! She took a Book of Mormon and said she would read it and is going to go to church with her friends. We are giving the referral to Sister Mark and Fa'onelua so they can teach her. She was so sweet and open and i'm so glad that I got to meet her and will get to go to her baptism too:) We have met so many other people who are so ready and interested here in the Visitor Center this week! Maybe it's just cause of the Holidays but it has been so fun teaching all of them!

I can't believe that this is almost 2014! I remember thinking that 2014 was so far away when I first began my mission and now it has come so fast! I love being a missionary so much and am learning so much each day! I can't imagine my life without all that I have learned here! I love you all so much! I hope you have a Happy New Year and I know that this year is going to be a great one for all of us! Another year to come closer to Jesus Christ and see His hand in our lives! His work and glory is moving forward! I love you all and I pray for you always!!!

Les Quiero (Mom, maybe you should say Les Amo, it's a bit easier;P) 

Hermana Rowley

Christmas day we all got together and had a brunch. We started out having to eat with strange utensils. I am proud to say that I ate an entire waffle with a potato masher.

Week 63-Transfer 9

 12/23/13

Feliz Navidad, Melekalikimaka, y Aloha familia!!!!!

Happy Christmas Adam everyone!!!!! (get it....Cause Adam comes before Eve:) jejeje!!)

Yay!!! I love this time of year so much! Nina's baptism of course made it the best Christmas ever! (Despite the fact that I miss my family a ton!) Really though, I keep having these really great experiences here and I say, "wow, that's my new favorite experience!" But then it just keeps getting better and better! More on this later...

So the interview was like 5 minutes or so and it was with President Warner and Elder Richards. Elder Richards just started off asking me how I was doing and if I was loving my mission and reading my scriptures and learning lots. I of course said absolutely. Then President Warner just asked questions about any disobedience that I have seen in the mission, mostly out full field cause Laie is pretty obedient compared with the rest... (apparently our mission is having a rough time with that...) and how I thought they could help with that. I didn't really have too much to say but it was pretty exciting for us:) Then on Friday we had an emergency mission conference with all the missionaries on the Island with Elder Richards. Apparently a lot of missionaries were nervous he was going to send people home on the spot, but it ended up being one of the most spiritual meetings ever! Elder Richards talked from 9 to 12 about faith and led into obedience. He talked about how faith was an action word and your faith is measured by your actions. He gave us a formula and told us to write it down, mine was: I have faith in (Jesus Christ), that (I can be strengthened through trials). Therefore, I will (do all that He asks). He talked about how we obey because of faith and he showed us D&C 88:34 Which says, "And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same." He talked about how when we are governed by truth, we can be preserved by law and as we obey that law, the commandments will protect, bless, preserve, and sanctify us. He talked about how within the law is every good thing, including the spirit and how Happiness is directly proportional to the Spirit which is directly proportional to acting in faith. There is no true happiness without the spirit and how there is a difference between raw obedience and acting in faith. He taught so much more than this and really helped me see it in a way I never have before. Most of all the spirit was so strong and I know it touched everyone in that room. I love how he said towards the end, "We don't talk about obedience because there is a problem, we talk about it because it is the way to happiness, peace and blessings." I feel like I really have been learning so much about giving my heart to the Lord. He really is the bread of life and the light and way. 

All this really has shown so much in our journey with Nina. What an amazing experience that has been! Sometimes, I can hardly believe the transformation that has taken place in her, and all from keeping the commandments! When I first met her, she was super nice, but she didn't smile a ton and she didn't talk very much. In lessons she would answer questions as if it was something she memorized, which she pretty much had since she had been meeting with the missionaries for so long. At that point, all we could do for her was help her feel the spirit again and help her see the hope that comes from the gospel. And fast and pray of course. We talked a lot about how God always prepares a way for us to keep his commandments and we helped her to remember and voice some of the spiritual experiences that she had had in the past and recognize Heavenly Father's hand in her life. We got her a journal and had her write down her feelings every time she had a spiritual experience. Well, the Lord does prepare a way and preparing her for her baptism has been the sweetest experience for me! Each time we saw her she was more and more excited and had an even bigger smile on her face. She became a different person and she just glowed! I know that Heavenly Father has spent all that time preparing her for this particular time. Her baptism ended up being just perfect! The ward was so supportive and she was so happy and beautiful! After she was baptized she shared her conversion story and testimony that had everyone in tears, the spirit was so strong! The best part was towards the end of her testimony when her 4 best friends from her Catholic High school, who all don't really believe in God or anything, walked in and sat down. I was sad they missed the actual ordinance, but what happened afterwards was the next best thing! We had a big pot luck after and got to know her friends a bit. They are really nice girls that kind of reminded me a bit of Nina when I first met her. At one point Nina invited them to see her receive the Holy Ghost and they asked her, "what's that?" She then explained how the Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead and helps and guides you etc. She said, "I can feel the spirit now, but after receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, it will always be with me and it will be stronger and help strengthen me too. They asked, "is it like the Holy Spirit?" "yes!" She said, "it's the same thing." "oh, ok," they replied, "so do they just like touch you with their hand or something?" "well," she explained, "someone who has the authority from God lays there hands on your head and gives you a blessing and gives it to you that way." "well," they asked, "how do they know they have authority from God, does God tell them or something?" Nina then went on to explain the entire first lesson about Joseph Smith and the Restoration in perfect and simple terms. She explained just as any missionary would, better than some I'm sure. She looked back at us a few times to make sure she was doing it right but we were just standing there stupidly with huge amazed smiles on our faces. We did find the Restoration pamphlets for them all to keep and they all took Book of Mormons. She told them about the Book of Mormon and how it compares with the bible and how it has answers and guidance and so much more inside. We then stepped in and added Moroni's promise how they can pray and ask God for themselves if it was all true or not. They asked the perfect questions and said they would read. They didn't want missionaries quite yet but we told them to let Nina know if they were ever interested in learning more and they said they would. Nina was so happy and as they were leaving called out, "don't forget your books!" None of us could stop smiling! The next day she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost and somehow glowed even brighter! I cannot tell you how much I have grown to love Nina and her two year old little boy, Christopher. Watching her grow and use the Atonement in her life has strengthened my own faith so much! She is such a shining example to me! 

This week is all Christmas stuff it seems. Tonight we get to go to the Christmas Lagoon again (Sister Kim and I got to go last Monday with Nina and Christopher). It goes around the whole PCC and tells the story of the Nativity, Hawaii style:). We are all super excited about that. Christmas Eve we are all getting together and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" You can guess how excited I am about that! It truly is a wonderful life!!!!! I love all the pictures of the house. Sister Kim says she wants to live at our house and spend Christmas with us next year ok:) The kids are getting so big! I started listening to the recordings today:) (I figured that was what was in the box:)) I want to get them all listened to before talking to you on Christmas so you don't have to repeat anything:) I still can't believe how much Tyson's and Joseph's voices have changed and it's amazing to hear little Sadie when I have never even met her before! It has been so fun listening to everyone! Thanks so much!! I love you all honey bunches of oats! I am not sure if you got my last messages mom, but Sister Kim just got her package from you and is sooooo excited she says you made her day and she loves you soooooo much! She hugged me a bunch and I assume it is all for you:) (I still haven't received Chelsea's package though...when did she send it?) I love you all so much and am so excited to talk to you in 2 days! I love you and pray for you always!

Les Quiero,

Hermana Rowley (Shayla)

We helped Nina make a gingerbread house for our ward Christmas party

Week 62-Transfer 9

Aloooha!

12/16/13

Merry Christmas coming up:) I am loving all of the trees and songs and holiday spirit. Yes it is possible to have Christmas among the ocean and palm trees:) Yesterday sister Kim and I and two other sister missionaries sang "What Child is This" in our sacrament meeting. I was really sad when the Spanish lady from the Visitor Center never showed up but it was still good. A lot of people were very touched simply because we were missionaries. They told us that all they could think about was how there missionary could be doing the same thing so far away. I'm glad we were able to bring them a little Christmas cheer that way:) 

Even more exciting to us than the festivities of Christmas is Nina's upcoming baptism this Saturday! Every time I see her she is more and more ready. She even smiles in her texts to us now:) She is honestly a different person! Yesterday we walked around the neighborhood of our ward giving out invitations that we made for her baptism. She was so excited and I think it was good for her so see how excited the ward members were for this step in her life. Her testimony is so strong and pure now and the ward has been so supportive as well. Our Relief Society President is amazing! She really is like super woman with all that she does and how much she serves and cares for those around her. She has gone out of her way in any way she can to support and help Nina through this whole process. She really has made her feel so loved and special even before she decided to be baptized but especially now. She has worked with the bishop and they have a great calling all set up for Nina after her confirmation. Nina has been through a lot to get to this point but I know that everything that she has been through has prepared her for this time and it's truly amazing to see the Lords hand in her life! 

It's also been amazing to see His hand in my life as well as yours. Every day I am so thankful for the lessons I am learning here. Sister Warner once described it this way: She said that throughout our lives we are being carved from stone and some day we will be a perfect sculpture, much like Michelangelo's "David" is considered. Each experience we have, each lesson we learn help chip off a bit of that stone to reveal more and more the perfect sculpture underneath. Our mission is like taking a chainsaw to the stone. Now I figure that a chainsaw is probably not the most effective tool for a sculpture, but the idea is still there:) Heavenly Father is definitely using this time to help me find my weaknesses that I can work on to become more like Him. Sometimes I feel like it is too much. Like He might as well ask me to walk on water as He did Peter, as to ask me to do some of the things He does. Well the good thing about that is that if He were to ask me to do that, as He did Peter, than I should suppose that it would be possible. He would never ask me to do something that is impossible. And if my faith were to waver, and I were to fail, as did Peter, it would not really be a fail. It is comforting to me to read that as soon as Peter began to sink and he cried out to the Lord, "immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him." Peter did not and could not sink as he cried out to the Lord. And then they somehow ended back in the boat together, so I assume that they had to walk on water together to get there. Truly with God all things are possible! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for this opportunity that I have to get to know the Savior a little better. 

Just as a side note: we just barely got a voice-mail on our phone saying that tonight we have a general authority, Elder Richards, that is coming to interview each one of us in our zone. So that's pretty exciting! Other exciting Christmas news is that yes we get to Skype! We are looking for someone in the ward who will allow us to use their computer but I will try to make it 7 or 8 if I can so that I can catch you before 11 your time. I will be emailing you next Monday so I can let you know better what time so you can have everything all set up. I was debating whether I really wanted to Skype or not. I was super excited at first but after a bit of thought I think it's going to be super hard for me to see everyone! It will be good though:) I'm excited for Sister Kim to get to "meet" you all too:) 

Today I will be mailing my package to all of you! Did you get the Christmas card yet? We spent all last PDay going around Kahuku and Laie to find little gifts for you. I hope you like them! About the "after Christmas package" to "sample all of your goodies" I wouldn't be opposed to that:) And just for anyone that is reading this, I am pretty sure that she will get something because the international sisters usually get random packages from somewhere, but Sister Kim is worried she won't get any Christmas cards or anything because she doesn't think her family "knows about that." So if you want to send her a Christmas card or something she might really appreciate that:) Don't worry, I will be getting her something as well:) 

Well, the miracles that happen each day are amazing. I am so grateful for this Christmas and the opportunity I have to develop and use the spiritual gifts I have been given from Heavenly Father and to give him back my heart and will. That is the only thing I can give because it is the only thing he does not have on his own. I am so grateful for my Savior and the Atonement and for our communication with the God of the universe through simple prayer. I love you all and pray for you always! 

Les quiero muchisimo!

Hermana Rowley

Sister Kim thought that the breakfast burritos I made were "so fancy" that she had to take a picture:)

Week 61-Transfer 9

Aloha familia!

Let's see, where to begin...I feel like this week has just been full of miracles. Tuesday we had exchange and Sister Manoa and Kim went to one of our appointments and got another baptism date! Art's wife is a member and he has met with a lot of missionaries but has never really gotten very far. We had gone over there the week before and he happened to be standing outside of his house, finishing up washing his car! (He usually is never at home). We talked to him about prayer and asked him if he ever really prayed. He said that he prays in his head but never really formally. We bore our testimonies that Heavenly Father is really there and wants to hear from us and that we can pray to him and actually receive answers. We invited him to do so and he said he would. We then set up an appointment with him the next week. That was exchange day so they went over there and talked more about prayer and knowing for himself once and for all if the church is true. The spirit was really strong and they felt prompted to so they invited him to be baptized on Dec. 28 and he said yes! A few days later Sister Kim and I went over and only his wife was there. She started the conversation by saying, "I was going to call you sisters and tell you not to come back again." As we talked with her we found out that she was just really concerned because they have been working with him for so long and he has come so far over the years and they didn't want us to push him over the edge. They didn't want him to be baptized for the wrong reasons either. We talked with her for a long time. It was really a miracle to see the spirit work with her. She told us her concerns and I don't remember everything we said, but by the end she said, "Sisters, come back anytime, we won't say no to the missionaries!" We were kind of shocked ourselves but it was such a cool miracle to see. Another little reminder that the church is true and that this is Heavenly Father's work! 

Well, right after that appointment, we went to visit one of our potential investigators. Unfortunately he wasn't home but fortunately his daughter was! Mili is a 12 year old girl who is extremely smart and spiritual for her age. The other sisters talked to her before and gave her a Book of Mormon and told us she was really neat but she was even more amazing than we expected! She said she had been reading the Book of Mormon and was in 2 Nephi already. She said it was interesting and she loves learning new things. She has read the bible a few times now and she had some great questions to ask us. We talked a lot about faith and what it was. She has so much faith! She told us about how every night she prays and asks God for forgiveness for the things she does wrong throughout the day and she feels like He forgives her. We asked her if she knew much about where the Book of Mormon came from and she said, "I thought it was just written down on some old parchment and some explorer found it." :) Haha, not quite. We told her that it was even better than that. That it was written on gold plates and translated by the power of God. We asked her if she believed the Book of Mormon was true and she said, "yeah, I think so. It's really good and has some good life lessons." We then told her that there was a way that she could know for herself for sure that it was true and really from God. We read her Moroni 10:3-5 and I have never seen a reaction like hers after reading those verses. Especially from a 12 year old! Before we were able to say anything more she pointed at the verses and said, "wow! That's a cool promise! I need to read more of this! That's so cool that you can get your answer from God like that! I'm gonna pray about that!" Mili is so full of faith! I love it! The only challenge with her is actually getting an appointment to meet with her or her dad. They are busy all the time! Her parents are split up as well and she goes to stay with her mom every other week. Her mom is also a VERY devout Catholic which is going to be interesting to see how she feels about Mili's interest in the Book of Mormon. At least her dad is ok with it. He is reading the book as well. We haven’t been able to see him much to follow up but I'll let you know how that goes. 

I feel like there are so many more things I wish I could tell you everything! Nina is getting more and more prepared and excited for her special day. People who have known her for years talk to her and later tell us how much she has changed. She literally just glows. She always has a smile and she seems so happy all the time now. I know she is struggling with a LOT of things right now but she is applying the Atonement in her life and it's amazing the effect it has! It has been such a miracle for me to be able to see that transformation. I think the most that I’ve seen yet! She is now telling everyone about her baptism and inviting them all. Including her friends from high school! Saturday the 21st at 4pm:)

The Visitor Center has been soooo busy lately! Busier than I’ve seen it. I think with finals coming up and with all the Christmas trees up and a million other reasons I’m sure. It has been fun though. I have finally been getting more Spanish tours as well. I hadn't gotten a Spanish tour in months it seems like! These last couple weeks though I’ve been seeing more. I have been getting more confident in them as well. Not necessarily better in speaking, but my heart just doesn't pound as much and I don't feel like hiding anymore when Spanish people come in:) One tour I gave, I don't think they understood everything I said, but they tend to think it's cute that I’m trying:) I just kept talking and hoped that they knew what I was talking about:) I do understand more now I think. My favorite tour was to these two friends from Columbia that came in. They LOVED the Visitor Center and were so nice and asked me a ton of really great questions. I ended up giving them a Book of Mormon each and they had me sign them for them:) They also took all the pamphlets and agreed to have the missionaries come share more. One of them lives in Mililani here on Oahu. She speaks a little English but not too much. It was really cool though because they were asking us what we will do after our missions. I told them I was going to go back to school and they asked what I studied and when I told them music, singing, they were like, "so when do we get to hear you sing?" "Well...I sing in my house..." I replied. "Do you sing in church or anything?" they asked. What are the odds that I am actually going to be singing in Sacrament meeting next Sunday! And they are coming! Haha! I don't think they actually know what they are getting themselves into, but I'm super excited about it! 

Well, I love you all so much! I can't believe I'm going to be spending another Christmas away from you! This year has gone by so fast though. March will come even sooner I believe. Yes mom, I'm pretty sure I’ve decided on March:) I know you've been "anxious" for a while now wanting to know:) I have been praying about it and I talked to President. I do feel like even though it's earlier then my 18 month mark, it is when I am scheduled to end my mission and delaying it won't make it any easier:) I am super excited to see you all again though! I love you all so much! I can't think of any particular pictures to print mom, just send what you like:). I love you all and pray for you always! 

Les quiero mucho!

Hermana Rowley

The one with 4 of us are all my Asian pad mates:)