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.