Week 43. One of my favorite weeks on the mission

 So y'all already heard about Monday and that fun day, and the week just gets better from there. And Summer finally came! There's actually a sun in Washington. But this week has been super awesome. Had lots of fun times and memories and amazing spiritual moments. Here are the highlights:

District Activities - made tacos and we ate as a district. The Elders also brought Walmart tamales and I was wary at first but they lived up to the hype and they are actually pretty good. And Tuesday morning we played chair soccer and despite being crippled I still won one of the games. 

Then we brought a whiteboard to a park and talked to people as they walked by and answered a question on the board. It was fun. 

Chip service - we helped Elder Juarez and Schow with this wood chip service and it took a combined 5 hours over 2 days to get it all done. It was actually fun and nice to be out in the sun and be hot. Reminded me of Utah. Hope y’all are surviving the heat 

District Council - I taught and I actually ended up speaking a bit on my spiritual thought from last week. Good talk to read, "If ye had known me" by Elder Bednar. 

Stalkfleet/Hood - after DC we went over for dinner, had a lesson, and stayed for games. It was super good and hopefully they will start coming back to church. 

Miles - had a great lesson on Tuesday and an even better one Wednesday night reading 1 Nephi 17. I asked him what he learned from it and he was like Nephi just told his brothers off. So freakin funny, and I love the chapter. 

Zone Conference - so this was one of the coolest spiritual experiences yet in my mission. We talked about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. It was super cool. We had this moment where we got to close our eyes and imagine Him speaking to us, what He'd say, how we would react, and how it would change us. That was a really neat experience for me and y’all should try it. I was literally crying and then right after they had a musical number: Oh Lord, My Redeemer (super good song y'all should look for it), and I sang it with a few others. It was so cool singing it right after that experience because I truly sang my testimony and it was amazing. 

I loved that conference. 

Mission Devotional - it was an amazing devotional had some really good thoughts: Remember your spiritual moments, to ask God to lift your burdens, He has a perfect plan for you. Be kind and make strong choices. 

Then President gave our whole mission a blessing and that was super cool. 

Luau - Saturday night they had a departing Luau for President and Sister Auna. It was pretty fun, good food, and a video that we made for them. Then we did a lot of pictures. The best part was driving home, they were behind us and we just kept waving to them and they did it back. 

Sunday - Elder Fuluvaka spoke and it was really good. Then that night we biked around and it was super hot, but the dinner we had was amazing and lots of laughs. Then they made crème brûlée for us with a flame torch so that was cool. 

And finally spiritual thought. I just wanted to share what I know to be true. I've shared a lot already but I know this Gospel was made for me and for you. It's there to help us, to guide us, and consecrate our afflictions for our gain (2 Nephi 2:2). I love this Gospel, I love Jesus and the joy I can feel because of Him and His infinite Atonement. 

And I love you too. I hope you all have felt His love before. It's so amazing, comforting, and life changing. 

I hope you all have a great week! Until next time... photo dump

Week 42 "I can do this all day"

 Hey, how's it going? This week was good. Not a lot stuck out so the highlights are a bit short but this week is going to be awesome so stayed tuned til next week. Something cool that happened today: We went to Red Robins today as a district and someone paid for us. We never found out who... super nice

But here's this week:

Miles - had an awesome lesson with him and he shared his testimony and said he's down to one smoke a week! That's so much progress. Please pray that he can quit this week!

Interviews - super weird. It was basically Zone Conference because it wasn't individual and he just talked about sustaining our new President. He's coming on the 30th so next transfer will be crazy. 

Soccer & Service - so we played soccer in the morning and it was the first time in a year. Granted it wasn't a real game or anything but it was fun. A friend that came had car trouble so we stayed longer than planned and then was late to a service and then walked to another one and did more service. I actually got to put together a bike so that was fun. It rained a constant light drizzle the whole time. Luckily we got a ride home and then we were so beat and tired our 20 min nap turned into 4 hours and we woke up to our district leader knocking on our door because it was 11pm and we hadn't sent in that we were safe. Wups 

okay, so my mom doesn't like it when I send my emails late at night, but if I did then you would all have to wait a week to hear this so you're welcome. 

Today - we played chair soccer. My District leader didn't want to because he didn't want to get hit in the head and I told him not to worry about it. Fast forward and I get hit in the nuts. Oof. Minute later, face shot (I also made the smart decision to wear glasses today). Another minute and another face shot. Both were solid hits to the face. My District is dying on the floor laughing. I'm just completely stunned and in disbelief. 

I eventually won that game though.

But my humbling was not through yet. 

As we were biking home after a lesson, completely done with the day, we headed down a hill into our apartment complex. Following us was sketchy ice cream man. He drives a purple minivan with random stickers covering the whole thing, a weird doll on top, and a personalized song. 

So he follows us in and my companion sees it and thought it was the weirdest thing ever I turn around, say something, and turn back to see myself heading straight for the curb. I tried saving myself, didn't hit it right on, but I fell right onto some decorative rocks hit my knee, shoulder, and head. Thank goodness for helmets. 

So thats how my p day ended. Lots of laughs, lots of pain, and a great memory. 

Spiritual thought tho... so as a missionary I get to see a lot of different people, at different stages of life, going through different trials and hardships. But they all have two things in common: they are all children of a loving Heavenly Father who has done so much for them. 

I hope you all know that or will have the desire to want to know, because then I know that you will have that knowledge for yourself. 

The second thing was that the Gospel of Jesus Christ helped them. No matter what they were going through, how rich or poor, how smart or ignorant, or when they chose to listen to the Spirit. 

Because our Heavenly Father loves us so much, He gave us something that would help each one of us. I've been able to see people change, people grow and learn what He has offered them. 

I'd encourage all of you, no matter where you are in life, to pray and study the scriptures because the change that can be wrought in your heart and life are amazing. And I know that. I'm currently living through it and it is amazing. 

I love you all and I know God loves you more than you or I can fully comprehend, but it's definitely something we can feel. I hope and pray you feel it too. 

Pics

Week41? When life gives you balloons...

 Ummm. Today was fun. Made tres leches for the first time and that was awesome. Forgot to take pics but it was delicious. Here's the rest of the week:

Crazy lady - lots of people always ask me what's the weirdest thing that's happened and I think this is the new champion. We go to this lady's house to give her a blessing before she has to leave because she's on a "tight schedule" she then proceeds to talk to us for 1½ hours in which she tells us random stories, sees things that aren't there, and then starts flirting hard with Elder Fuluvaka. It was super awkward. 

Another crazy lady - this one was way less crazy. She was only crazy because she was stressed out from getting ready to move. Granted I think half of it was her fault because she was kinda a hoarder. But she did give us a good amount of food so that was awesome, except for the fact we are on bike. So we put it all in a backpack and healed 50lbs of food stuff home. 

Karrina - She's a convert for over a year and we were able to talk with her and hear her testimony and conversion story. It was cool. We also brought a youth but he didn't say much so that was funny.

Khimani - you might not remember her but she was on date for April 30 but then the devil got in the way and she ghosted us. But because of seeing her again last week and meeting with her she wants to be baptized and is ready to take the steps necessary to do it. She chose July 2 as her date and she went to church again and loved it. Pray for her to stay on the covenant path.

Balloon animals - so we got a random text from a member asking if we knew how to do balloon animals. For whatever reason my comp said yes despite neither of us knowing how to. So we used Facebook and learned how to make 5 different animals. We show up at this "last week of school party" and get swarmed by kids. And let me tell ya, they were savage. I'm glad I didn't grow up in that neighborhood. We ended up being there for 2 hours and it is now one of my oddest P day memories. 

Spiritual thought - it's a short one this week but it helped me out a lot so I hope you can get something from it too. 

This week lots of stuff was happening and I felt like I could be doing better. And during our mission devotional some one talked about remembering the plan. Sometimes we get so caught up in the moment that we forget the big picture. We forget who made the plan and that He is perfect. And when we remember that and understand what it means for us it can bring a huge sense of relief. I experienced that this week and it was amazing. I hope you can all do the same if you're feeling like that. 

I love you all and I think you're all amazing! Sorry for the late email but have a great rest of your week!

Pics

A member had some swings

And a cool quote

Week 40. Elder Fuluvaka is back

 Hey, crazy week. Hope you y'all had a great one too. Here's my highlights:

Ali - he is Islamic but had talked with missionaries in the past. He is really open to learning more and even about coming to some services so that is cool. 

Miles - saw him again before transfers and he's really doing well and really progressing. It's super awesome. Please pray for him to reach his goal!

Transfer - today was the day. The Zone leaders decided to stick us all in a minivan which was a mistake because we had 6 people, 2 with luggage, and a bike inside a minivan. We made it and it was so fun talking with everyone. I said bye to Albright and met my new companion... Elder Fuluvaka!! 

It was so crazy. For all of you who don't know, I was with him during my training in the trio. But he's coming with me to Beverly Park and I'm super excited. 

Layna - she was our first lesson together and she loved Elder Fuluvaka. She was very invested in the lesson and talked with us and asked a question and she really liked it. She texted us later and said she wanted to feed us next week, which means a lot so that was cool.

Conrad's - member family we visited and their 7 yr old kept talking about  plants vs zombies. Then he was looking at my tag so I let him wear it and he said, "Before I wanted to grow up to be an astronaut or a firefighter, but now I want to be a Missionary!" This kid made my day

Khimani - Saturday I got a text from Khimani to help her move her parents. So we went and helped and set up a lesson with her the next day. We brought the Sisters from another building and she expressed that she really wants to be baptized still but wants to go to another building. Cue the Sisters. So we will still be meeting with her and hopefully she can have a good experience in her new ward. 

Spiritual thought: I wanted to talk about Gideon from the book of Judges. For all of  you keeping up with Come Follow Me, you should know the story. But Gideon was chosen to fight the Midianites and free the Isrealites. In the scriptures it describes the army of the Midianites to be multitudes and Gideon only has 32 thousand men. 

But God said that that was too many and so with some tests they sent most of them home until only 300 were left. And with that 300 Gideon was able to free the Isrealites because God was with him. 

I know that if we follow Christ that we can have that same strength with us to help us in our struggles and hard times. I love this Gospel and I love all of you. I hope each one of you knows that and will turn to the Lord to get that strength, even if you're doing good because then it'll make your foundation stronger. If you don't know what to do, pray and ask God and listen, and if you are still not sure send me an email 

I miss y'all and I hope you're all doing great. Keep pushing forward. And until next week...pics

Just the district and a playground