Week 46-Transfer 6

Aloooooha!

8/26/13

Well, another transfer is finishing up...and guess what. I'm training! I will also be headed back to Laie. I tried to trick President Warner into telling me if the sister that I'm going to be training is Spanish speaking or not but it didn't work. All he told me was that I would be happy:) There have been rumors for a while that a Spanish speaking sister was coming to the VC in August so I'm hoping. That would be so neat! I am a bit nervous to train and whitewash back at the VC after being away for a while but I feel like I am more prepared than I was before this transfer. I'm not even sure how to explain what this transfer has done for me. I feel like it is a turning point for me in a way. Sister Gleason, in combination with the area have taught me so much about what missionary work really is! It has been so hard. I feel like we have been humbled more and more each day and when things start getting better it happens again. Sometimes I wonder if I really am up to it all but then I get on my knees and somehow can find the small miracles that are all around me that make it all worth it. I feel so inatequate in so many ways, and yet I also feel closer to my Savior than ever before. I also look to you all for an example and am so grateful and know that Heavenly Father really is watching out for us. I am sooo grateful for this transfer!

This week was no exception. On Tuesday, we got to meet this wonderful Fijian lady who insisted on feeding us and then gave us a referral for the little old lady that she takes care of. We had planned to go visit someone else after that but we decided we should go visit the referral. The lady was so sweet and kept saying how wonderful we were. We were able to pray with her and with another Fijian lady who was there. They wouldn't agree to a set appt. but they wanted us to come back. We later found out from Suzanna (the first Fijian lady) that Colleen (the little old lady) is really struggling and she told us to go visit her because she hoped our message would bring her peace and some hope in her life. I truly am so grateful for the gospel.

So update on the 3 new investigators we found a few weeks ago, including Keith, the one whose sister referred him. We had been trying to get a hold of Keith all week. I think I told you that he had wanted 3 weeks to look over everything we gave him. We kept finding excuses to visit anyways. Well, Friday morning we get a call from him saying that he was in the Kahala area and was wondering if he could return the Book of Mormon to us. He said that he had been reading it and he didn't feel it was for him. Our hearts sank. We told him we would like to meet with him and asked if he had a few minutes to talk. He said yes and that he was across the street from the Kahala chapel. (Yeah who goes to the chapel when they plan to drop the missionaries!) We both started praying like crazy that we would know what to say and be able to listen to him and to the spirit. When we got there we said a prayer with him and then asked about his research. So he had spent the last week reading the Book of Mormon, reading everything on www.mormon.org, asking all his Mormon friends good questions trying to figure out how they got their testimonies, even calling his mom who is just about to be baptized and talking to her. He did everything possible. Everything that is, except ask God. I'm not even sure what we ended up saying to him. We asked him a ton of questions, bore our testimonies, listened some more, read some scriptures and testified again. All the while each of us were praying harder than ever before. He seemed to ponder everything we said. At one point we sat in silence for what I was sure was 5 or 10 min. I thought I was going to die! All I could do was plead with Heavenly Father to help him feel the spirit. We pleaded with him to just ask God. He knew he had nothing to lose. He had to know that he wouldn't receive his answer till he did, yet he felt that he had made his decision and did not need to ask God. He said he wasn't giving up on it completely but that someday he might have and "ah ha" moment and know it's true, and maybe not. However, he "respectfully declined" to learn more. I felt heartbroken for him! He is such a good guy and I can see so clearly how the gospel will bless his life and yet he rejects it. Long story short, with another one of our "new investigators" it was almost the same scenario. He was invited to read and pray, he asked if he could give us the book back, he said he had prayed and felt it wasn't for him. Yet he hadn't even read the book. In both cases we made them keep the books and testified to them that they were true and that someday they would need those and to not forget. I know that it is in the Lords hands now. I can now only imagine what the Savior must go through, who loves so much deeper than I, and who has sacrificed so much more for us, when he is rejected. It also testifies to me how important it is to read and pray together! We have been asked to do that for a reason! My testimony in this gospel and in this work is stronger than ever.

After that meeting with Keith, both of us were pretty depressed. We cried and prayed and continued on. The rest of that day was great though, and full of miracles. We were able to finally meet Kamaile again, someone Sister Hoskins and I taught for a while but we had to drop cause she wasn't keeping appts. She told us that she feels right now that her family is in a "waiting period" spiritually. Little does she know that they are waiting for the gospel:). She shared an experience with us about how she received an answer to a prayer once by "experimenting" and sort of testing the Lord. So we asked her to do the same thing with the gospel and bring her family to church:). She agreed although she can only go every other week because of work. It is a start though:).

Marie is still doing great! She loves having all the friends in the ward and is learning the importance of prayer and scripture study when going through rough times. It seems we are all learning that around here. She is desperate for a calling and for someone who she can go visit teach. We talked with the ward about it and she should be getting them soon:) She is really sad that I am leaving though. One good thing about serving here though is that it is not too far from the temple and the people here can come visit me there! Even if the drive is soooooo long for them:) It's so funny, I guess when you live on a small little Island, a beautiful drive 45 min out of town is rather a huge ordeal.

This week we also got to go to Pearl Harbor for service again. It is my third time doing that and it is always so neat. You know how much I love history:) It's cool to be able to step back in time for a few hours.

I can't believe it is getting cold there already! We have been melting here! People have really been spending a lot of time on the beach cause of it. I was tempted to jump into sister Nekotas pool when we went there on Monday. Don't worry, I resisted:) I absolutely LOVED the package mom! Thank you so much! Sister Gleason did too cause she has an obsession with going through pictures. It actually arrived right when we got home after our meeting with Keith, and I cried when I saw it:) I know I'm a big baby:) Thank you so much Alexa for the song lyrics too! I cried again when I saw your handwriting:) I think those talks that Tyson and Alexa gave would have been perfect for a few of our investigators. Do they want to come here and give them?:) The candy actually melted so it is mostly just big chunks of Peanut Butter and Chocolate, but we stuck it in the fridge and it still tastes delicious:) I can't believe how tall Tyson is and how big all the grand-kids are! Especially little Alex who I have never even met! He is so cute though:) I will be praying for Tonya to have her baby this week. I hope everything goes ok. I love you all so much and pray for you always! You are the best example for me and the best family EVER!

Les Quiero muchisimo!

Hermana Rowley (Shayla)

Here's some pictures with us an Marie:)

So the first one is Sister Curtis and I (We were on exchanges) cleaning Marie's house and putting contact paper on all her shelves...I no longer like contact paper...

The second is at a one year old birthday party...yes...one years old. That doesn't even show all the food there! They have a tradition here to through gianormous parties for one year old babies cause in olden days, if your child lived to be one than they would live long cause most children didn't live to that age. fun tradition I suppose but it gets a bit extravegant.

The last picture is with the Akionas and the Nakatsus. The Nakatsu's kids all have irregular "K" names. Kyrie, Kethan, Kayson, Kinsey, and Keean. They are spelled differently though. I can never remember them all. Sister Akiona is the one who texted you that picture. I love them so much!:)

Here is our beautiful Hike.

Week 45-Transfer 6

Aloooooha!

8/19/13

Hola familia!

Wow! I can't believe how big Maelie and Kason are! Thanks for the pictures! That's so sad about our tree! There better be some left when I get home! Oh, that is so cool about the new temple video by the way! I don't know if they are showing it in Laie yet but I can't wait to see it! Seriously, it's the big talk around missionaries out here:) I have been praying extra hard for you all this week. It's crazy how much of the refiners fire we need to go through. 

This week has been quite the week for us as well. I feel like every time something happens to where I think "ok, I got this!" Something else happens to humble me big time. Sometimes I just get tired of being humbled all the time but at the same time, I am truly so grateful for these experiences. I am learning how to depend more on the Lord. It amazes me so much to think how loving and patient he is with me. I look back and see all the mistakes I have made and all my weaknesses, and yet he still loves me and blesses me and comforts me. It reminds me of what Elder Holland said in conference, "Imperfect people are all God has to work with" and yet he deals with it:) I guess it makes me more forgiving of others weaknesses as well and helps me to love just a bit more. 

Truly though, this week has been full of miracles. We had a couple of Zone exchanges and Sister Gleason got sick one of the days, and yet we were able to find 3 new investigators and visit many less-actives! Two of the new investigators came from the former investigator list in the area book and one was from a referral from church Head quarters. It was really neat actually. His sister was the one to refer him. She lives in Washington and was just baptized recently and their mom is getting baptized the beginning of September. He found out she was baptized from Facebook cause there was a picture of her in front of the temple and holding a Book of Mormon. He had to look up online to see what it was but then he called her asking about it. He said that about 5 times or so during that conversation he had told her he was curious and would "look into it". Thankfully she took the initiative and sent a referral to us for him:) When we showed up he was super nervous at first, he kept saying how he wasn't "even sure where to begin" We told him that if he was interested in learning more, we were the ones to talk to:) We sat down and gave him the first lesson right there. It was such a great lesson! The spirit was so strong and he has been so prepared! Everything it says to say in Preach My Gospel was exactly what he needed to hear. He had been raised Catholic and eventually decided he didn't agree with the church because of something he read (about the Apostasy  that made it seem too "man made". He does have a strong belief in God though and wants to find out for himself if what we have taught is true. The only issue is, like with so many, is business. He is too busy throughout the week he doesn't know when he can meet again. He wants to set up an appt. for 2 weeks from now but we will keep in touch and visit him before then for sure:) 

This is only one of so many miracles we were able to see this week, with non members and less actives alike. Even through rough times, the Lord is going to bless us. I love you all so much and am so grateful for your examples and prayers. I can't believe that transfers are coming up! We only have one more week left! I will most likely be taken back to Laie this time. I have mixed feelings about that but I am excited for whatever happens. I will be going back to speaking a bit more Spanish again I suppose. I have been reading El Libro de Mormon still but that really only gets you so far. Yesterday, the one Mexican from our ward came up and started speaking to me and was trying to tell me something but I was having the hardest time understanding, let alone, answering him back. This was the first Spanish conversation I had tried to have in months. I hope he didn't say anything too important cause I only got bits and pieces:/. After that experience, I realized again how much I don't know and it scared me quite a bit. This is truly a trial of my faith. I can tell myself that God would not call me to fail and that a miracle could happen to where I can actually learn this language that I now love so much, but it is difficult to see that right now. I continue to learn to trust in Him. For many of our dinner appointments, we have been using an object lesson in order to teach how "with God, all things are possible". I guess He is just trying my faith right now to see how much I truly believe that. I know things will work out and I continue to try and get over my fears and talk in Spanish when I have the opportunities and just wait for the miracle:) Either way, I know He loves me and I am not alone in this.

Also this Sunday, we were rather blessed when President and Sister Warner and the area of the 70 here, Elder Auna, all spoke in our sacrament meeting. I sure wish we could have been able to get our investigators there because it was a powerful meeting. Kind of like a mini conference. The ward is super pumped now though. The whole meeting was about missionary work and how members can work with the full time missionaries to do the work. We got a referral right after the meeting so I guess it worked:) I love this ward and this work so much and I love how much my testimony and conversion grows each day. I love you all and am praying for you extra hard. Never forget that:)

Les Quiero Mucho! 

Hermana Rowley (Shayla)

Our very small shower in our very small apartment

Week 44-Transfer 6

Aloooooha!

8/12/13

Aloha familia,

Wow what a week you had! Sounds pretty crazy over there. I laughed so hard about dads comment about staying up all night:) Hope you and Tonya were able to have fantastic birthdays anyhow:) Thats so cool to me that Tonya and Kyle and their family are there in Utah with you all! I'm sure I will stalk up on those stickers before I come home mom. Haha:) You would do something like that:) But that is why I love you:) So I hope you have enjoyed the random text photos you get from everyone here:) They think it is so fun that they can text you while we are sitting there. Last night that was sis. Akiona and her family. They are so fun and probably one of the funnest families to eat dinner with. I got a picture but I forgot my cord so I will have to send them next time. 

Thanks for all your prayers. We also had an extra fast yesterday for that purpose of finding more people to teach. We did get one of our old investigators back which was an awesome miracle, but that's about it. But you know what, even with the lack of new solid investigators, we are seeing so many random little miracles here. I think I told you about Raven at some point, how he went to church for about 5 years straight and then because of different things, was unable to be baptized. Well one of those was his family. He has a beautiful family with 2 boys and their mother who he loves so very much. Only problem is, he is not married to their mother. She doesn't want to marry him cause she doesn't want to get married just so he can be baptized. She has something against the church that we can guess at but no one has really been able to get to her. Well, this week, we went by to go see Raven (We always have to just go whenever cause he never will set an apt. with us) and Amy (his girlfriend) was the only one home. At first we were nervous but then we started talking to her. The spirit was so strong as we talked, neither of us were completely sure what to say to her but whatever we said really touched her. She shared some personal reasons with us why she wasn't interested and we were able to testify to her about how much her Heavenly Father loves her and her family. It was just another baby step, but it is so cool to see the Lord working with that family. I may not be able to see them baptized but someday they will be and I will be so happy I got be a part in it. I love that family so much and Sister Gleason and I both feel that they are so close to getting past whatever is holding them back! 

Marie is still doing great! She is so funny and loves to tease us. She calls Sis. Gleason "you again!" and me, "Cohort" haha. She reminds me of you in some ways mom:) She is very motherly. This week we have been looking for different ways to work with the ward to get more investigators. We have really been focusing on serving as much as we can and asking EVERYONE for referrals. If nothing else, I'm glad I got this practice in. I feel like my experiences here are really helping me to become a better missionary. I still feel like I have so much to work on. Every day I find something else that humbles me and makes me realize how much I really do need to rely on the Lord because, shootz, without him, I am really weak. I have so many weaknesses! But this is a good time to put Ether 12:27 to the test. If I come unto the Lord, he will show me my weaknesses so that I may be humble. However, he has promised to make weak things become strong and so that is what I am counting on:) I am so grateful for the Atonement! I know that my Heavenly Father really does love each one of us so much! We are all on different levels and we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but we are all striving for the same goal and Heavenly Father cheers us on every step that we make. I tell my investigators this all the time but I guess that it is good that I get to experience it even moreso first hand.

I love you all so much! I can't believe I just hit my 10 month mark on Saturday! I feel like I just told you about my 9 month mark! I am so grateful for my mission and everything that it is teaching me! I love you all and pray for you always! 

Les Quiero muchisimo!

Hermana Rowley (Shayla)

Week 43-Transfer 6

Aloooooha!

8/5/13

Mom!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!!!!!! Like always, your card is on it's way:) I just want you to know that you are the BEST mom in the whole wide world! I love you so much and am so grateful you are my mom and my friend:) I know you don't like your birthday and all but I hope you have a great one anyways:) I love you! And also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Tonya too! You are lucky cause you will actually get your card on time:) I love you so much! 

I'm sad that I missed all the fun reunions. That would have been fun to see everyone. You should have had a cardboard cutout of me so I could be there:) Congrats on Alex's baby blessing! I can't wait to meet him! So I'm not sure I understand all that Alexa's testing positive means. Is it good that we know what it is? I continue to pray for her and all of you every day. I wish there was more I could do. Thank you for keeping me updated though. 

This week we spent a lot of time with Marie. She is so funny. She keeps wanting us to go places with her like the beach, the swap meet, and Waikiki  which are all red zones for us. So finally we got permission to hike diamond head with her one morning. We were able to review the baptism questions and talk about keeping the Sabbath day holy during the hike:) Sometimes she has us go walking with her in the mornings too. We have taught the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation while on these walks:). She is really sweet though and wants so much to do the right thing. She always has a ton of questions and worries a lot but she has such a simple, childlike faith that has been so fun to see grow. Her baptism ended up being on Friday evening. She was worried and nervous about it because of her arthritis in her knees, back, ankles, etc. and she didn't think she would physically be able to do it. She was able to get a blessing from Pres. Warner and her fears were calmed a bit. I think her baptism was one of my favorites! When she got in the water she was like, "oh it's cold!" She looked back at us and Sister Gleason pointed to me (she is very persnickety by the way) so Marie turned to me and mouthed "your fault!" Haha, I just told her I loved her:) She later told us that when she went in the water it was no longer cold. She couldn't feel it at all:) She was grinning from ear to ear the rest of the night and the spirit was so strong! Sister Gleason and I sang "How Great Thou Art" (Sister Gleason has an amazing voice) and her fellow-shippers gave some great talks. She got so emotional when everyone gave her Lei's afterward. I think that should be a tradition at every baptism! It's so fun! Marie is so awesome and her faith is growing so much! I am so blessed to be in this area if only just to teach her. 

Other than Marie, the many other investigators have kinda dropped off the face of the earth. Whether it be that we can't get a hold of them, they don't keep any commitments any more, they keep saying they are sick, or they are too busy to meet with us, we are running out of people to teach. We have decided that although we will keep trying, perhaps it is just not time for them right now and we need to find a way to find someone who is prepared and ready. Or maybe the Lord is just trying to teach us something:) We are learning from it though as well as growing together in Companionship unity:) We are trying our best to do everything we can and then trying to trust in the Lord for the rest. I think you all are the best example of that. I do know that Heavenly Father never puts us in situations to fail. He is always there to help us learn and grow and He always has the blessings waiting for us. 

This Sunday I was able to bear my testimony in Sacrament Meeting. I don't usually do that as a missionary cause I want to give time for everyone in the ward to, but I really felt like I needed to. I do believe that when you bear your testimony, it gets strengthened. I am so grateful for this gospel. I know it is true. I know with all my heart that Heavenly Father knows each one of us and loves us so much! I know that Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. There are times, especially now when I look at myself and see how far I am from where I should be, and it gets discouraging, but Heavenly Father doesn't look at us that way and neither should we. He really does cheer us on every step that we take closer to Him. He is patient with our shortcomings and knows that with practice, we can someday overcome them. I am so grateful for the atonement and for the restored gospel. I love this work so much. I love you all so much! I continue to pray for you always. Todos ustedes son la mejor! 

Les Quiero! 

Hermana Rowley