Week 52 - Yakwe!

Aloha Ohana and Haoaloha! 

    Better yet I should be saying Yakwe! (ill come back to that). Well thisweek has been super random with all sorts of meetings and a few changes to the mission and then the end part of the week finally started feeling like it was back to routine of work your hardest andcome home at night exhausted thingking "By golly sister, we have done again and not died." ;)

    Our missionary leaders had a special meeting on Monday so three of the missionaries went over to Oahu on Monday. Tuesday we had president's interview which went better than expected. He otld us that we are allowed to start learning Marshallese so we have some books and are starting to work with our recent converts on pronounciation.  And then Wednesday we have a Zone Meeting which we will now have once a month or so that is about 3 hours! So this week wasfilled with a lot of meetings but they were all very good. The missiona is really trying to stress obedeince, so for about an hour and a half of our zone read verry carefully through the white handbook to page 17 and talked about what this means. It was good and I think this step towards obeience will be really good for the work. Oh and I hit my year mark on Thursday... what a busy week!

    Finally towards the end of the wek we were able t oreally get to work because everyother day was half days and just threw the schedule up in the air so Im glad to be back to a normal week where I know what is going on so I an plan accordingly. Awesome news: Dolly is going to be baptized on Sunday January 26! We are rewally excited for her and she is doing so ell. We have been able t osee her a lot this past week because our ward is doing a Micronesian Culture night and the Marshallse people are going to be dancing for it and singing so they have been practiceing every single night! So we go there almost every night too and are able to teah Dolly or one of the many recnt converts. 

      Little miracle that was huge to me: this Sunday we almost had all of our marshallese familes at church! We knew that we had to makesure that Dolly would be at church so she could be baptized so we called one of our members that live near her and asked if he would be able to give her a ride possibly and he said that we should make sure that she was up. So we drive there and the grandpa is there and has told us that everyone in the family has left for church already! That is so good because they haven't come in about a month! They struggle when it comes to getting up and not sleeping. So my heart is already so happy because they are already on their way to church. And wehe we pull into the chruch parking lot we see them walking in and then another Marshallese family pulls up right after us and I get to see them. My companion and I sat with them and multple times throughout the sacrament I was just so happy that all of them came and came as whole families not just a few! I teared up a few times becuase my heart was just so full! 

     We met a lady at a park and found out that she had been baptized years ago in the Marshall Isalnds and has not gone to church since she has been in Hawaii. She is so nice and really wants her family to join the chrch as well because she knows that it is good. Plus she is really good friends (probably related to) with one of our recent converts. We have a meeting with her this week and we are really excited for that! 

    I feel like I have a forever amount of time but at the same time, I will be home in no time at all. 6 montsh is one more Lanai and that flew by. As my dad keeps telling me, now is the time to sprint to the finish. There is so much work to be done here in Kalaheo and I am so excited for it and I hope that I stay her efor awhile because I would love to see this place truly expand! Im so grateful to be a missionary and grateful that I still have time left to keep working eern harder and that I will see more miracles. My time is short but now that I know how to run I must sprint and not slow down. This is the best work that I could be doing. And I will be so sad when my time is finished and my own life will have to start. It is a constant reminder and motivation to loose myself now morethan ever in the work because it is a good work, it is the Lord's work! I lve the gospel, I love my Savior and I am so grateful for all that He has given me because he has given me so very much! I know that we have modern prophets who proveto us thatGod still loves His children here on earth. I am so blessed and I hope that I can bring the Lord's blessings to more of his children as I become a better tool in His hand.  I love you all! Poake poake yuk. Aishiteru! Ofa atu! Mahal kita! Alofa ia te oe! Te amo! Nalong secolm! Yakwe yuk! Aloha wau ia oe!

Love Always,

     Sister CASsidy Jean Lang