I'm not dead, I swear!

This week's shout out goes out to the earthquake. Very timely. 

So I don't have very much time this week to e-mail because we went to the temple! What a blessing it truly is to have a temple so close. So blessed.

Speaking of earthquakes. We had 2 preparedness nights this week. Thursday and Saturday. And then Saturday night we felt the earthquake! Well, it woke my companion up and she was like "Uhhh why is Sister Kwan shaking my bed." But I was not the source of it. It was an earthquake. But it didn't do anything haha

Uh so I really don't have time to write anything more but there were so many miracles! Someone remind me to write about it next week. 

Love you all! 
Sister Kwan

I don't have a creative title for this week. (8/18)

This week's shout out goes out to hot pockets. I decided to leave you for about a year and now that I've gone back, I'm not sure why I did.

As always, it's interesting adjusting to a new companion. Sister Fiefia is older than me and she is from Tonga. Legitimately from Tonga. She keeps telling me that my future holds a lot of Tongans since this is my 3rd companion from there, but we will see. She got super sick this week and so we haven't been out much and now I'm starting to feel kind of weird. Hopefully I stay strong haha

We met with a surprising amount of people this week! More than we ever have before.

Had a birthday party for our favorite Hawaiian lady who's not actually Hawaiian but loves it there. We sang Tongan hymns and ate cake. It was kind of awesome, and she was crying. The spirit was there and it made everyone really happy. And then at the end, they danced for us! She promised that she wouldn't dance for anyone (Well. She promised Sis Sotele that she would dance at her wedding) but she broke that promise because she really enjoyed us taking time out of our day to wish her a happy birthday. She is the sweetest lady.

The same day, we managed to have 2 dinners and 3 desserts. I need to go on a diet of some sort. But we all know that's impossible on a mission... But I was impressed by how much we ate. I was dying by the end of the night though, but yeah. These people take time to make food to feed us, I just feel bad... not eating it...

So there's this one less active lady that we've been visiting and we've been getting weird vibes from her house. Like a couple weeks ago, me and Sis Sotele were there and we had felt like a spirit had followed us from her house. It scared the pants off me. That day I learned how to cast out spirits and also how quickly God responds to us when we are panicking. We just kind of shrugged it off as a one time thing, but this time with Sis Fiefia, her and the member we brought were suddenly struck with sickness. It was the strangest thing. And we talked with our member about it, and he was like "You felt it too?" And so we are planning on going back and blessing the home. Our member had home taught the last family that lived there, and he mentioned some really bad feelings in that home. It was pretty crazy.

And then there's Lynda. What a lady. We were there and her neighbor Sharon, who's a less active member, was visiting too. They tend to argue whenever we go over, and it's always interesting. The topics of discussion aren't usually gospel, but we can make them switch it over when it's time. But this is where we had the best conversation of the week. So they're just sitting there fighting, Sharon's complaining about how hard her life is, and Lynda is not having it.

Lynda: "Oh, is that how you got diabetes then?"

Sharon: "No, I got it from my neighbor!"

Everyone: ".................."

Lynda: "You can not contract diabetes that way, don't you ever say that to anyone ever again."

Sharon: "No, it's because he caused me stress!"

Us: "HAHAHAHAHAHA"

Honestly, I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Old ladies are the best.

So there's this new video out
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001 

Super awesome. Highly recommend it. I was thinking about it the other day and you know. We truly are blessed with this knowledge that we have. I think about how God loves us and how sometimes we look for Him in all the wrong places. It's like going to McDonald's and looking for clothes. You just can't do it. You might not necessarily know how He will reveal himself to you or what will happen, but you have to be open to any sort of solution, not just one that you seek. The Lord loves you.

Take care! Love you all :)

Sister Kwan

Too many feels (8/11/2014)

This week's shout out goes out to the Ponce family. They aren't actually less active, but they pretend like they are so they can hang out with us haha

I'm super bummed out right now. The Lord has decided to split up me and Sister Sotele and given me another Tongan companion and keep me here. Obviously it'll be good but. I'm super sad.

This week we met with a lot of the ward members since a bunch of our appointments fell through again. Sometimes I feel like we're drying to draw water from a well with a bucket full of holes. In this ward, we deal with a lot of less actives who really don't feel welcome at all, whether they are less active or even active. It makes me really sad. We aren't entirely sure what to do, because this has been an ongoing problem and it doesn't seem like anyone's taking any steps to solve it. For me, it just goes to show the dangers of getting comfortable. When you're comfortable, you don't feel the need to change, and it makes everyone else uncomfortable. We will see. 

We got to do some really great service this week- pulling weeds, killing black widows, it was crazy. I might've mentioned it last week but I'm too lazy to click back and look. The yard looks awesome now. It's crazy that sometimes you can actually see the fruits of your labors! 

I also learned how to can tomatoes this week. It is a LONG process. But now I am a professional tomato peeler. Haha but that's all I did for 2 hours. It was long, but super fun. And by the end of it, I looked like I had killed someone. The sister we did it for really appreciated it though, we took care of 30 pounds of tomatoes! It was pretty awesome. 

Well this week I was thinking a lot about the choices we make. A member at church on Sunday asked us "What would happen if there were no consequences to our actions?" And it kind of blew my mind. I think a lot of what's happening today is because there's no IMMEDIATE repercussions for the things we do. It's not like touching a stove. It's a slow process sometimes. But when we feel like we're "getting away with things," there's no incentive to change. What we have to recognize, is that for everything we do, there ARE consequences. Which is kind of scary. And growing up, I always hated the word "consequence." It was always so evil. But now I realize that if there were no consequences, there would be no change, and that's exactly why we are here. 

Take care! Love you all!

Sister Kwan 

Wait what, it's August?

This week's shout out goes out to my companion. Everyone thinks we don't like each other, and they're right. Haha I'm just kidding, I love her to death. 

So not really much to report on this week. Well actually I have like 5 minutes left so that's what there isn't much coming to mind. 

It was kind of cool because I got to be in the Tongan program for a day. (It's a LONG story.) They are the sweetest people, for real. They are so nice and they're always looking out for us. It was interesting because even though there totally is a language barrier, I could understand these people and their life situations. They're super nice. Consecration is not an issue at all. It's truly amazing. 

We met with a bunch of less actives this week- they all have wonderful stories and lives. We sit there and we think. Imagine how much happier your life would be if you embraced the gospel that you KNOW is true. It's hard because the world casts such a dark mist on what truly brings us joy. 

We also met Art! He met with the missionaries before and now he's meeting with us! He is a super funny guy. He was telling us all about how the government is watching all of us. Kind of freaked Sister Sotele out, but he wouldn't tell us what his job is. Then we texted Sister Tsan and she told us haha but he made such a big deal out of it! He's read the Book of Mormon twice, and the missionaries came at a time that he really needed it, so he has a wonderful opinion of the church. And he goes to church all the time! We are so excited to meet up with him again. 

Well. Last week's message was super angry and I apologize. I shouldn't write on an empty stomach. This week though, I learned a lot about patience. I have the hardest time trusting in the Lord's timing. I always want instant answers and I want the answers that I give. Obviously, that is not the case. We don't get to pick the time or the outcome- so why do we always want to? I've realized that things will never go the way I want them to- and that's made life a little easier. When we recognize that we are in God's hands and that whatever he's going to give us is best, that's when life starts getting good. That's when miracles happen.

Love you all!

Sister Kwan