Week 15- Oversized Pants!

Aloha Ohana and hoaloha,

Katie's fishy face up at Koele (a really nice hotel)

 

Thank you Mom for finding out the Hawaiian word for friend for me. 

 

The past few weeks Sister Duke and I have been helping Brandon (he was baptized a month or so ago) clear out his bamboo forest. He basically takes his machete and chops down the bamboo, whacks off the branches and then makes a pile for Sister Duke and I to load into the truck to take to the dump. He told us to wear pants and long sleeve shirts because bamboo is really pokey and also there are centipedes here and they will bite and I have heard that the bite is not an enjoyable experience. Well, I'm in Hawaii- I didn't bring any pants with me - all year round it is warm. I started looking around my pad (apartment) and I see a laundry basket that has a ton of clothes from the Elders that had previously lived here. I find a pair of pants and they are a few sizes too big; but they were going to have to do. So I grab my belt (thanks again mom for sending it to me), cuff the legs a few times and start to his house. As we work they catch dirt and leaves in the cuffs but protect from all the pokey branches and do their job because I haven't been bit yet. 

 

This week I feel as if a lot has happened but not much missionary stuff. We are working with a lot of members who do not come to church and then members who just need extra strengthening because sometimes life just sucks. I don't know how people manage sometimes because as my dad says, "I have lived a charmed life." I have never had to face some of the trials that I witness and this is in this country; I know there are worse things out of the country. Life is hard and we are all given our share of problems to face; the only thing that we can do about it is our attitude of how we look at things (thanks Rachel for your email last week about this). I have come to realize that my knowledge of my Savior and His role in my life has really helped me form a positive perspective that helps me get through the hard times. 

We are still working with Raven and Ryan. We can tell that Ryan is feeling the Holy Ghost when we come over and Raven is doing great. She is understanding what we are saying but I'm not sure if she is seeing what that actually means to her and her future life. Then with Flora, we are praying and fasting for a miracle because we really don't know how else to help her. We left her "Forget Me Not" talk by President Uchtdorf. I just feel so bad that she really doesn't think she is of any worth- that there is nothing good about her. She doesn't understand that she is a special, unique, and loved daughter of our Heavenly Father. 

 

We have started reading the Book of Mormon with Shaun (Big Easy) to help him get in the habit of reading everyday. Every time we go over I swear I see something new and I have read these chapters so many times! Then we have also started reading with a member, Elaine, who is trying to go on a mission. She is awesome and realizes that she has kinda let herself slack with her reading so she asked if we could help her get back into reading. She loves it and is really good at pulling out meaning from scriptures she needs. 

Mormon Helping Hands

 


On Saturday we participated in Mormon Helping Hands, we cleaned up trash on a road that leads down to the beach and then had a barbeque down there. It was beautiful. Really hard not to go in the water when everyone is telling you to get in and that they wont tell anyone.  We did witness Tuma, a member, swim out to some rocks and pick them up. To my surprise they were not rocks- turtles who had been completely asleep so when Tuma picked them up they were not happy to say the least. They were flailing their arms and as soon as they squirmed their way back into the water they took off swimming. I resisted, I am happy to say, all the invitations to get in the water. Instead, we played volleyball and it was really fun. We were down there for awhile then back up to town, got ready and back to knocking on doors and seeing people. 

 



Trying Opihi

Adventures of the week: I tried opihi with a less active family. we were walking by and they were outside so we stopped to talk and ended up staying for awhile. Opihi are little animals in shells that stick to rocks (kinda like the snails of the ocean. Well they were eating them and asked if we wanted some. I said I would try. Description that should have been saved until after eaten. They take one out of the shell to show us what it looks like and tell us that the orange part is the stomach and that is peoples favorite part to eat... I didn't really want to know that before I stuck this thing in my mouth. Well they throw a few on the fire to cook it. I start looking at a bigger one and it starts moving. Sister Duke and I just kinda look at each other and tell the dad, "Um... this one is still alive." He grabs it and throws it on the fire live. What an awful way to go. You know they are done when 1. they stop moving and 2. the water that collects in the shell starts to boil. We add some sweet and sour sauce and here goes nothing. It was surprisingly good. Kinda chewy and a bit weird when you bit the stomach and it pops. I ate a few more and I like them. I couldn't eat them as a whole meal but as a starter I could :)

 



Ice Cream night with the Bradfords

Tender Mercy: I got to play a sport I am actually good at. The other day we were at the Bradfords' and Brooklynn had missed softball practice for a school assignment she had to go to. Cody, her dad, told her that she would be getting up at 6 the next day to make up the practice. I smiled and he noticed and asked what I was smiling about. I couldn't hold it back, "Can we come?" He said we would have to shag the balls. Done deal! The next morning we did shag a lot of balls but we also got to hit and run drills and it was so much fun for me to do something familiar. At the end we were cleaning up and I asked if I could just pitch a few to see if I still could. (It's been about 6 years since I have actually pitched a ball) The first rolled across the plate. The second was good. Then Cody was like, "Ok, I'm gonna hit these." Next few right down the middle or outside but looking good enough to swing. I struck him out and it felt really good to kinda know I could still pitch. I hope we get to play again!

This made me think of Carly

 

Well I think that is it! I love you all. I hope God is blessing you as much as he is me. Even if our pants are oversized we can allow God to fill up where we lack. Let Him do what we
 cannot. All He asks of us is that we try our best and leave the rest to Him. "Take my yoke upon you for it is light and easy to bear." Email or write me! Aloha uwao ia oe!

Love Always,

    Sister Cassidy Lang