Date
December 11, 2017
Area
Pearl City (Sister Jensen)
Companion
Abigail Jensen
Karate Kid
Aloha friends and family! The weeks are just flying by. Tomorrow I hit 5 months on my mission and that is a little bit terrifying. I still feel like I just got here, because I still have no idea what I'm doing!
This week was great as usual. I am so grateful to have a front row seat witnessing so many miracles.
Fun fact: Sister Jensen and I LOVE to tract. No joke, we could do it all day. And there have been a few days like that. Tracting is a missionary term for knocking door to door. Some people aren't very nice to us, but that's their problem not ours. We have met some super awesome people through tracting, and I am a firm believer in tracting.
This week, while tracting, we met an Unlce named Ray. He was just sitting outside and so we talked to him. He wasn't interested in "you Mormons," but he was very friendly. He was telling us about his hobby of painting, and ended up inviting us inside to look at all of his paintings. (I've come to notice that us missionary have such cool, but random experiences.) It turns out he is actually a VERY talented painter. Even crazier... He's 93 years old! He looks maybe 70? Everyone on the Hawaiian islands age so well. There must be something in the water. We talked with Ray for a while and he ended up sitting down and sketching me. It was so cool! He gave me the paintings too. I will email some pics of him and of his painting of me.
Another experience with tracting we had was finding Mariano. We would go "musical tracting" with Sister Hilton when she was still with us. We were sitting in the car about to drive away when a young girl walked by us. Sister Jensen said "let's go sing to her!" and me, being the heathen that I am, said, "are you sure? that's kinda weird to have 3 girls in dresses pop out of a car and ask hey little girl can we sing to you?" we ended up singing to her and giving her a copy of the Book of Mormon. When we were done talking with her, we saw her dad STARING at us. And he did not look happy.... We were like "oh shoot, let's go make amends with this guy and tell him we're just friendly missionaries." We went over and he ended up being super nice! He was smoking, and so we offered him our 15 Step Program. He said, in his thick Filipino accent, "oh my, I have been praying to God for angels to come to help me quit smoking, and here you are!" We came back a few days later and taught him, and he was ALMOST successful. He caved on the 6th day.... Sad... But good news is he's going to try again AND he is interested in learning more about the Church. Jackpot!
Annie got baptized on Sunday and it was so great to see! I am grateful to have been able to play a small small role in helping her receive the blessings that come from baptism. Hawaiian baptisms are cool- check out all of her lei's!
My subject line comes from our investigator, Marc. He bore his testimony in Sacrament meeting again yesterday and said, "I was watching Karate Kid 2 the other day and the main character was in a fight and was faced with the decision, life or death. He chose death, but I really think that if he had Jesus Christ in his life, he would've chose life." Sister Jensen and I almost fell out of our seats on the pew. YES MARC YES! But in all seriousness, I think we can all learn a valuable lesson from Marc. When we allow Jesus Christ and His Atonement into our lives, we will be happier. I know that to be true, I have experienced it for myself.
This morning we went on a hike to Waimano Falls here in Pearl City. It was beautiful, but also a little sad because we couldn't go swimming. One day ;) I will email pictures.
A quote I want to include this week is by Sister Rosemary N. Wixom. She said, "As individuals, we are strong. Together, with God, we are unstoppable." This is so simple, but so true. I know that by myself, I am nothing. But when I rely on my Heavenly Father and His help and guidance, I am no longer afraid. I love you all! Have a great week!
Pics:
1&2: Ray's artwork and him sketching me
3: Annie's baptism
4-6: Our hike this morning