It's kind of a long story

This week's shout out goes out to that nice guy on the corner who sold us those strawberries. You rock.

So I don't really have a lot of time considering right now it's already... 5:36. So I'm going to be real quick with this one.

This week we struggled with the Elders in our ward. Honestly, I can not say half the things I feel about them right now, because I know Jesus would never say anything like that. Luckily, we worked it out so hopefully we will be able to work in unity for the ward. 

We met this nice man on the corner wheeling around a ton of strawberries. He told us he had just bought them this morning, so we were super excited. He said $13 and I literally dug everything out of my wallet and came up with a little over $9. He was so nice, he said it was fine and took it. I'm really grateful for that act of Christlike kindness. He had no idea who we were but he was still willing to just take it. As a result, we were able to talk to a lot of people by offering them strawberries. When you have something, you share it right? 

Well, it's the same with the gospel. 

This gospel is fresh. It's good. For everyone. We have it. Are we going to keep it to ourselves? No. That's not the point. When Jesus was on the Earth, he gave everything to everyone. It didn't matter who it was. In fact, he sought those who had nothing and tried to give to them. They still had agency to accept or reject, but ultimately they were given the opportunity. That's all we are asked to do, share. And if God asked you to do something, would you? I sure hope so. 

Anyways. I guess I'm a little grumpy from last week. But it'll be better this week. If not I'll make it so. I appreciate you all- your prayers are definitely carrying me, along with the Lord. I'll send pictures next week too (hahaahah)

Love you all!

Sister Kwan

Sweating's ok if you like swimming

This week's shout out goes out to Brentwood corn. It's seriously good. 

Seriously though, if it gets any hotter, I might die.

On the flip-side, I think sweating is making us lose weight. Sis Lutui was saying how if you wear a garbage bag while you run (like in Silver Linings Playbook) then you lose weight super fast because it's hot. I guess I'm ok with it but it's only a little like drowning. 

This week we met Sandy. When she saw Sister Lutui, she ran up to her and hugged her and wouldn't let go. Needless to say, she's one of the people who remembered Sister Lutui from a year ago (did I ever say that? She was "born" here a year ago when we first got here.) Sandy's prepared for baptism, but she refuses to do it because she hasn't received a spiritual confirmation. Hopefully she will soon.  

We had some great lessons with Craig. His biggest thing is that he isn't willing to change his lifestyle because he's comfortable. Along with that, he feels like the atonement is too good to be true. Like getting something for nothing. Which is understandable. He did say that if he knew this gospel was true, that he would want it for his daughters. Which is good, but really he should want it for himself... but he is so nice. He really is interested in learning more and finding truth. 

We met James this week! It was super cool because we just walked right up to him, and he was looking for a church. That doesn't normally happen. He said he would talk to his wife about us coming back. We haven't yet, but we will definitely follow up. He loves his family and really cares about finding a good church for his kids, so we are excited!

Then we met another sister in the ward with her 2 kids. She told us she's getting induced on Monday, so we are super excited to meet her baby girl! We were talking to her kids about prayer and it was like this

McKenna: Daddy's rude when Gavin prays at dinner time!

Us: Why?

McKenna: Daddy eats! 

  

One of our members who doesn't come out to church a lot had us over for dinner. She lives in "Disco Bay" and she lives on the water. So I will attach pictures. It's pretty awesome. It's SO pretty out there. And I have a bunch of videos to attach. (One time Google caught me before I sent it because I said I needed to attach something. Hopefully I'll remember this time. Ha.) 

Went to Why I Believe because Kim was speaking! She is doing so well. I love her. But there were so many missionaries there! Sister Meredith asked us all to go up and sing "Called to Serve" at the end. It was messy. But a spiritual mess. It was a really great night. We brought someone who comes to church only sometimes and she really enjoyed it. Only she might've gotten a concussion the other day and was experiencing the effects of it while we were there. But she got a priesthood blessing and it helped a little. I think. 

This week's thought is about trusting in the Lord's timing. Sis Tsan, who's serving in Alamo 1st and 2nd, told me that Fulvia is getting baptized! I just looked it up and I don't think I've ever written about her before, but she's a Russian lady that I taught in Alamo 2nd a year ago. She's getting baptized this Saturday! So I'm really excited for her, even though I haven't seen her in a year. But I just think about how we were able to set the pace for her. The first time we met her, she asked us how we knew the church was true. I still remember that today. And she was so nice. Obviously I wish she had been baptized while we were there, but everything happens in God's time. It's hard to wait, but there's always a lesson attached to it. And whatever we do, it's for a wise purpose. Not our purpose, but His purpose. 

Hope you are all doing great! Love you all. 

Sister Kwan

Prayers and Painkillers

This week's shout out goes out to all the missionaries on bike. I don't know how you do it, but holy cow. 

So the title and the shout out all go together, but I'm going to save that for the end because that's like the best and worst part of the week. 

525,600 minutes. That's right. That's a year (says Rent). And that's happening June 5th. It's kind of crazy to believe that it's been so long! We're definitely on the downhill and I can feel it. Time flies so quickly. 

A member referred us to her neighbor, Marilyn. Little did we know that her family would be so open! I missed the lesson because I was on exchanges in the Spanish program, but it sounded like it was wonderful. Honestly, they sound so prepared. She wants to fix her marriage and get her kids involved in a church. And she asked us for a priesthood blessing. Who does that?? She's so awesome. They have a strong testimony of prayer and they have great family values. I'm super stoked to meet with them!

Meanwhile, I was on exchanges with an unnamed Hermana. It's kind of crazy sitting there and hearing a lesson in another language and then have them all turn to you. I just decided to smile. And bear my testimony. But that was really my only contribution haha it was fun though! The reason I'm leaving her unnamed is because I kind of have a bone to pick with her. We start the exchanges in a meeting where we talk about what we want to work on, and one of the Sister Trainers says, "You know, I feel prompted to say this, but we don't need to be cookie cutter missionaries. We can be ourselves AND be obedient." I liked that. A lot. However, the other Sister Trainer, who I was with, did not understand that. I HATE when people are fake. I can't deal with that. And so it was kind of an uncomfortable exchange because I was on my toes the whole time. I'll probably still get in a little bit of trouble because well. If you squeeze a tube of toothpaste, you can't put it back in, right? :) 

So here's the best part. This week, I overcame my fears and rode a bike. It's literally been at least 10 years. If you don't know why, you should definitely consider asking me sometime, because it's a good story. The Elders needed to take our care to Oakland, so we figured. Eh. We need to work. Let's do it. At least now I know that I'm in a lot better shape than I thought. And who ever said stationary bikes are anything like real life? That was a lie. So this trip is supposed to be 6 miles round trip. However, no one said anything about it being completely uphill. And we got lost. And it was way hot. And thus we set out to go and do service. Luckily we got to wear shorts, because the bike was too big for me. We did it, and we survived. Partially. 

That night, we get to dinner and my legs start tingling. It started in my knees and went up into my thighs. And when we got home that night I literally thought I was going to die. At that point, I felt like if I cut off my legs, I'd probably be in better shape, because it hurt like. I can't even compare, but either way, it was more than anything I've ever known. And there I was, dying. And I got down and started kneeling to pray, and I said, "Heavenly Father. I know you know how much this hurts, so I hope you know how much I need help right now too." And so I prayed. And we got some painkillers too. But the next morning, I woke up and holy cow. It was as if nothing's happened. Ever. No pain. At all. And I haven't felt any since. Which really shows the power of prayer. It's never worked so quick for me, but when I needed it, there it was. How blessed we are.

Love you all

Sister Kwan

2 Parts Chinese, 1 Part Tongan

This weeks shout out goes out to the sun. You're a hot one. 

With the Ashworths

Week one.

Not knowing where anything is, and getting lost.

Not knowing who anyone is, and getting confused. 

Not knowing my companion, but totally working on it. 

Not knowing what temperature it is, and baking on a regular basis.

It was probably one of the longest weeks in my life. I've always thought about just buying a cheap ticket at an airport and traveling and thinking it would be the best idea ever. And I think it still would be, only as a missionary, it's not. Because we're here to work. And this is the Lord's time. So between getting lost and trying to find people, it's been a long week. 

But on the plus side! Me and Sister Lutui are awesome. We are kind of like the same person, only she speaks Tongan. And she's 6 feet tall. But we get along super well, and we're willing to work really hard in this area. This is a rough area. Not rough like hoodlum wise, but rough like. It's so hot out here. As Sister Lutui would say, it's hecka hot. I'm not entirely sure where the word "hecka" comes from, but it's probably a California thing. Or a Tongan thing. I don't know. But Sis. Lutui says I'm already basically Tongan. In that I love food and I'm dark and yeah. I can't remember her other reasons, but language study is super fun. This week I learned

Malo = Thank you

Lepa = Trunkee (a missionary who's lazy because they're going home) 

So really everyone is benefiting here haha

I met this lady named Sister Dryden and I was like "..there's no way this is the Dryden's that I already know..." So here's how the conversation went

Her: I'm going to visit my grandkids back east

Me: Are they in Pennsylvania?

Her: Yeah!

Me: Did they used to live in Vegas??

Her: ...yeah... do you know them?

Me: Jessie, Paulie...

Her: Faith, Thomas, Eve! Who are you??

It was hilarious. She's grandma Dryden. Such a small Mormon community.

There's a lot of potential in this area. We have been meeting a lot of people who are super nice and open. The sisters who were here last did a pretty good job. But this area is great! Besides the heat. That's the only thing that might kill me this transfer haha. But the ward is SO big that we have two sets of missionaries. So the Elders are on bike and we have a car. They have like the actual city of Brentwood. We cover the outside of it, which is still in the ward boundary, so there's the other side of Clayton (it's Marsh Creek and when you drive down from Clayton you end up here!), Byron (farm country), and Discovery Bay (where the rich people live). It's crazy. It's a huge area. If we tried to travel from one end to the other, it would take us at least 40 minutes. But where the farms are, it's seriously all fruit. Everyone's advertising that we can go pick our own fruit. I guess it's kind of cool. 

This week's spiritual thought is about Ether. It's like one of the craziest books in the Book of Mormon because everyone dies within pages. So then, I'm flipping through this book. Reading it, loving it. And so there's this guy called the brother of Jared. And God tells him to build a boat. And we're told at least 5 times that this thing is "tight like unto a dish." And first of all, I guess that's pretty tight, assuming these things are meant to hold water. Can't spill any. And then I read this (it's Ether 6:7)

 7 And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah;

And all I could think was. Wow. They had to be tight. They were fully submerged underwater. And that's kind of like us now. Regardless of whether we're aware or not, we're always going under. The waters are rough and crazy, and so is life. We are thrown in all different directions with numerous obstacles. Are we doing all the right things so that WE are "tight like unto a dish"? Because if we allow the slightest crack, then we are going to be in trouble. So my question this week is: What can you do to keep those cracks tight?

Love you all

Sister Kwan

Transfer Tuesday

This week's shout out goes out to hot cheetos. They've become my new addiction. 

So... I'm going to Brentwood 3rd ward! Which I guess covers something called Discovery Bay? It's the end of the mission! But my companion will be Sister Lutui. It's super exciting. Although all I've heard about it is that it's super hot. Hottest place in the mission. There's a ton of fruit there. It's cherry season. And they have the best corn in America. So we will see :) 

 I don't really have much to say this week. Farewells are so sad. Life is hard. I think that's something that I've come to realize here is that we really don't have control over much in our lives. And you'd think that we would learn that SO much faster but we never do. 

There's a sister in this area who was crying when we showed up. Her husband is having Alzheimer's and he randomly leaves and remembers where he needs to be, but otherwise, he goes off to find his wife who looks a lot like her. It's super sad and she's having such a hard time. She refuses to accept the gospel's answers and there you can see how much it would bless her if she would just take it. 

This week's thought is about the Book of Mormon. Here we have a blue book about these people who traveled from Jerusalem to America. And they fight. A lot. And they learn a lot. And yet this book is so much more than that. It's God's word. So really, The Book of Mormon is true or it isn't. Either I'm lying to you, or I'm not. Either Joseph Smith Jr was a prophet, or he wasn't. Either 80,000 young adults have given up the best years of their lives to serve God, or they aren't. Either 15 million people are in Christ's church, or we are all being deceived. My invitation to you all is this:

 3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things,if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart,with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Because I know it's true. I have read it many times and every single time it's true. This book brings peace. This book brings hope. But it's not just a book. These are God's words to us, today. Because He loves us, He's given us this additional help on our trip back to Him. 

Ask. And you WILL know. 

Love you all

Sister Kwan 

From Allergies to Agency

This week's shout out goes out to Sable the kitty. So. Cute. 

Well. This week has not enough time.

The temple was awesome. 

Met this lady at the store.

Her: This brand is super popular in Australia

Me: Are you from Australia?

Her: Yup

Me: Wow! What brought you here?

Her: Love

She's seriously my new favorite person haha

The high school here does this thing called "Every 15 minutes" and it was super awesome because it's like every 15 minutes someone dies from a distracted driving car accident, be it alcohol related or cell phones. Anyways, they actually pull people out of school and stage an accident and it's really crazy. People "die" mostly because their phones are taken from them (hahaha) and they go to a retreat away from family and friends. It's a super cool concept. Anyways, we were there helping out and this fireman comes and talks to us. We aren't sure if he was super interested in the gospel because afterwards he invited us to the firehouse for dinner. Luckily, it's out of our area so we "can't go." 

Everyone's been telling me I've become a "permanent fixture" here. It's ONLY been 6 months haha

Diamond Terrace seems to be a very Anti-Mormon facility. I'd say 50% of people don't care about us because they don't know who we are, and then 48% REALLY don't like us and 2% are ok with us/love us. But it's ridiculous how many mean looks we get. I didn't realize you could harbor hatred for someone who's really done nothing to you, but I've been wrong before I guess

Here's a conversation with a less active 18 year old

Me: So I have 6 months left and we exercise 30 minutes a day. How do I get back in shape?

Patrick: ...You can't

Me: What?

Patrick: Well. Depends how hard you want to work out

Me: I just want to lose the belly fat.

Patrick: Oh. Planks are good for that

Me: But those are hard...

Patrick: Wellllll

So this week we got to Skype home and stuff. And the interesting thing I was thinking about was this... "500 Days of Summer" is my favorite movie to hate on, but I still kind of love it. At least the filmography is wonderful. Anyways, there's a scene in there that shows Tom's expectations vs reality and it's my favoritest scene ever. Well I put my life on pause for 18 months and had this unrealistic expectation that everyone else's life would pause too... Which is totally false. But for some reason that didn't click for me until recently. Anyways, for those of you who haven't e-mailed me or written me, here is my thought for you: Alma 60:6

 6 And now behold, we desire to know the cause of this exceedingly great neglect; yea, we desire to know the cause of your thoughtless state.

And my thought for everyone else haha 3 Nephi 13:33

 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Take care. Love you all!

Sister Kwan

We all pee on the tile sometimes

This week's shout out goes out to Maggie the puppy. It's because of her that we have this wonderful message title this week. So. Cute. And my mom! Hooray for mother's day! She's cute too. 

This week was a scorcher. It was like 100 degrees and I was only kind of dying. Allergies were on full blast and there must've been some really important things for all of us to do that day, because it was hard. But it was a good day. 

MY NAME TAG WAS FOUND!!!!!! Seriously, it was unbelievable. Remember the Alvarez family? Well they actually aren't relevant to this story haha. Jeff approaches us across the street and he's like "Hey! Sister Kwan! I have something for you!" And I was like "Chocolate?" And he had my name tag! And I was like "AH WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS" and he was like "Well, saw it in a trash can in the park! We were so concerned for your well being" And I was so touched. They are so sweet. But seriously it's a miracle. Most people don't look in the trash can. And it happened to be the right moment for him to look and see, and man the Lord works in such mysterious ways. 

Kolonie has a baptismal date! June 7th. The hope is that her brother will be able to baptize her, but it's been really neat seeing their whole family come back. They haven't gone to church and years and now they are working towards being together forever. It's really neat to see the changes and the spirit that comes with living the gospel!

Oh so while I remember, you probably won't hear much from me next week because we are going to the temple on Wednesday! Hooray for the temple! So not only will you not hear from me until later, you probably won't hear much from me either haha. Sorry. 

So we invited our chiropractor (who's a member) and his family to start working towards being sealed in the temple. That's him, his wife, his 18 year old son Blake, and their 12 year old son Max. Blake is planning on going on a mission, so we challenged them to work towards doing it before he leaves. Now they're taking temple prep! Fast forward to Sunday, where Bishop says, "Blake came up to me and asked if I had talked to his parents. I said 'I wish I could take credit for this one, but it was the sisters.' He expressed a lot of gratitude for bringing his family to this point. Thank you." And I had never thought of like how much more that invitation really was. It extends far beyond what I can comprehend, but here's what I do comprehend. So they will all be sealed together. Blake will serve a mission and share this with others. And really it just blows up from their, but it was just really neat. These small things that we're doing are actually helping. It blows my mind. But I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be here to do it. I think one of the most valuable lessons I've learned is from my mom. She's not perfect but she's always trying to help someone. And a lot of times, it probably doesn't seem like she's doing anything and she keeps at it. That's a Christlike love. These people hardly ever do anything in return for her, but she keeps doing it. Some people are just born with good hearts. And some people like me are just born with good moms. 

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms :)

Love
Sister Kwan