Week 46 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Aloha Ohana and Haoaloha

 

Well weeks just fly by like all the mosquitoes that I try to kill all the time! This week has been another great one! Currently we are trying to find more people to teach because all the people we were working with just got baptized so now we need to build up our teaching pool which means tracting! YAY!!! Its a good thing that I actually kinda like tracting :) I make my companion walk more because our area is huge! like 30miles across in a car. UM.... that is bigger than any area I have ever served in so far. Lanai- 30miles was pretty much the whole island, and Palehua- it took 30 min to walk from one side of our area to the other. So yep, Im learning a new skill of how to time manage with a car and a lot of land.

 

All the people that I have gotten to know are members and they are awesome. Its crazy though because a few of them were taught and baptized with Sister Duke (my first companion/trainter) and Sister Clayson (who I just lived with in Makakilo). so I just throw out their names and people love me. Ha I guess I know the right people.

Apparently I have a way with less actives because these past 2 weeks that I have been here one guy who never comes has come for the first hour of church! Then a non member husband, wife is a member, Duggy came this past week to give me a maili lei which is famous here in Kauai! he never comes to church is what I was later told but he came and gave me this lei that is really expensive and an honor to be given! And Ill tell you I felt like a queen walking around with this beautiful lei on for church!

 

Thanksgiving: I asked if we could play in the Turkey Bowl and everyone kinda giggled but then said that I could. Well 5 minutes in and this grandpa comes out of no wear and full on tackles me. I was fine but okay this is flag football lets tone it down. Then 10 minutes later the same grandpa takes out his own player, cooliding with him mid air. The kid, about 20, falls and is now bleeding from both the nose and the mouth. For real, grandpa? Dont worry there was an actual doctor there so I didn't have to play doctor; though, it continues to amaze me how people just kinda sit around while I go get water to at least help get the blood out. I think everyone should have to take a first aid class to at least know tha basics. Ok no more preaching. I felt super bad for this kid who now has a thanksgiving he will never forget. Later that day we went to a families house for an early dinner and it was so good! A normal American Thanksgiving feast at 1 in the afternoon and then we sat and talked and got local with our ukeleles! At 5:30 we went to Thanksgiving round 2- another American Thanksgivig feast It was still delicious and I kept eating! Then the desserts were all home made so they were hecka good! Then we sang Christmas songs :) Once again, I know that prayers are answered because Thanksgiving morning I prayed that I would be able to eat a lot of food and not have my stomach explode! Well, my stomach didn't explode but I did gain 6 pounds in one evening whoops. I loose it after the mission.

 

Well, Im sorry that I dont have too much to report on this week! I love it here in Kauai! I love the people so much and as I meet more somehow my heart will expand I will love even more! I think my heart has grown so much here on my mission! The Book of Mormon is the word of God, it is true and brings peace to my soul everytime I read it. We have prophets today that receive revelation on where we need to go and what we need to do toreturn to live whit our Heavenly Father again. I truly love this gospel and the joy it brings me. I am so blessed to be here in hawaii on a mission! As my dad says, "I lived a charmed life." I still ask the question, "Why does God love me so much? Why has he given me so much?" I think my mom's answer whould be, "Where much is given much is required?" yes a lot is required but everytime I sacrifice a little I am given so much more in return. There is so much that I am grateful for and this week it was hanai families. Did I miss home? yes. Was I home sick? no. Because I have found hanai families wherever I go that love me and I in turn love them. I love you! Ofa lahi atu! Alofa ia te oe! Mahal kita! Yakwe yuk! Poake poake yuk! Gi higugma ko ikaw! (Vesayan) Aishiteru! Aloha wau ia oe!

 

Love Always,

   Sister Cassidy Jean Lang

Week 45 - Yakwe from Kauai!

Saying bye to Raymond

Ace (in the black) and DJ

Aloha Ohana and Haoaloha,

     Im back off the rock and it is good but a little sad especially before that holidays. I miss my old area, the people, my investigators, and the families that I had come to love so much. This new area there are so many good people but I know that it will take a bit of time before they know me and I build a strong relationship with them. 

    As far as the week goes. The beginning was saying farewells and teaching a few last lessons. We had lessons with Ace Sunday, and then Tuesday. We went over the baptismal questions to make sure that he understands all the pre stuff and he was so good. We had another young man, DJ, and they are super good friends, DJ is a convert of a year or 2 and is so good for Ace. When Ace gets off track DJ brings it back. So, we met again Tuesday with DJ and we find out bad news :(. Someone had really offended him and his family and he ended up drinking away his frustration. When he told us he was super shamed and it mad me so sad to see him beating himself up. We pushed the baptism back to December 21 instead of this weekend. It will give him time to grow and to realize that alcohol does not take away the pain/frustrations it only pushes them off for a bit. When I told him that I was going he was super sad and wished me luck in my new area. He said that he was thinking about going on a mission too! It would be so awesome for him! 

    Went and said bye to Raymond! Oh man it was so hard. When the dad found out that I was leaving he looked at me and said, "Wait, what will happen to Raymond with you leaving?" I didnt realize that even he realizzed how much I had done for his son. We had one last lesson with them, prayed with them and I just wanted to cry saying goodbye to them. He seriously became my little brother. I just hope that he will stay strong, receive the Priesthood in February, and go to the temple. It was so hard! 

    Kauai! I know a good amount of the people here in the zone already. There are a lot of white people but they are super good families! And I walked into a ward that is booming with missionary work among the Marshalese people. My first night there we had a baptism and there were 5 more the day before. Aka 6 people baptized in one week! What the heck! Im learning Marshalese from the people here and they are super humble people but there is a language barrier so we are teaching super simple and praying that the Spirit will make up the difference. I already love so many of the people here and it is amazing to me. When I can love people so instantly I truly see the Lord's hand not only in my life but in my heart. Yes at moments Im home sick for Lanai and Makakilo but I also look around and give a silent cry knowking that this place too will become home. Oh man, it hurts to love this much! 

    I have been able to meet a lot of the people that Sister Duke (my trainer) baptized and worked with because she served here in this ward right before she went to Lanai with me. I keep praying that they wont think Im crazy when I show up for the Turkey Bowl and want to play. 

   Im truly blessed to be here. Everyday is my time to grow, to be better, to keep learning. I dont know my future here, but Im excited for the adventure and know that it will be good because God is Good Always! A year out is coming way to quick, and it scares me! Well, I pray for you all, wish you the best, be strong and always help those who are in need! I love you all! Ofa atu! Alofa ia te oe! Aishiteru! Poake poake yuk! Mahal kita! Sarang heo! Yakwe yuk! (Marshalese) Aloha ia te oe! 

Love Always,

      Sister Cassidy Jean Lang

Walk into a baptism

Week 44 - And the Adventure Continues!

Aloha Ohana and Haoaloha,

 

Guess what???? Im being transfered to Drum roll please........ KAUAI!!!! Im super excited but also really sad. Ace is getting baptized this Saturday and I will miss it :( He is such a good kid. We have taught him a lot these past few weeks. He has been coming to church and recently said that he feels happier since he has been taking the lessons. We are so excited for him!  

Besides that the week was really good we had some awesome lessons and found some new investigators. I'm sad that I will not see them progress but I'm very grateful for all the time and people I have had the privilege of meeting here in Palehua for the last 4.5months. 

I love you all. Sorry this is so short. Lots of stuff to do before I leave! Alofa ia te oe! Ofa atu! Poake poake yuk! Aishiteru! and for the math geeks: 

9x - 7i >3(3x - 7u)

-7i > -21u

i <3 u

Aloha ia te oe!!!!!

Love Always,

    Sister Cassidy Jean Lang

Week 43 - Filled With Love

Aloha Ohana and Haoaloha,

Well, this week has felt super long. last Tuesday we went to the the temple which is always amazing! It was a long day but one that I wouldn't ever change, I just always feel so much strength when I am able to go to the temple :) That will be a happy habit that I will do when I come home- go to the temple once a week because it is that good! 

      Wednesday night we found out that we were moving- we knew that we would be soon because the Senior Sisters that were in our zone moved to work at the Polynesian Cultural Center and so their pad was open so the mission office told us to move there. This new pad is super nice!!!! We didn't have ton of time to pack in an organized fashion so I'm still trying to get stuff in the right place but at the same time transfers are next week and if anyone is going... its me :/ I have been here for 4.5 months- the longest in the zone... I wouldn't mind staying because we are making really good progress with some less actives and our investigators. If I go I will be so sad to leave these people I have come to love. 

     Sometimes all people need is love. This week Heavenly Father filled me with love for those around me:

 The Fa'aifo Ohana. We went over Friday evening- were talking to the 2 younger girls. The dad struggles with addictions and the mom feels hopeless in trying to constantly be the leader in her family. The girls want to come to church but don't want to go alone. Well, we get there and just talk story with the younger girls and keep it gospel related. Then we find out our dinner canceled so the girls ask us to stay. Then the opportunity to serve comes- "How about we make you dinner?" Well, we end up washing the dishes, making crazy good eggs (eggs, onion, pineapple sausage, spam, spinach, and cheese), pancakes, then while the brownies were cooking we read from the Book of Mormon. We ate as a family, well all the girls at least, the dad didn't come home and the mom wasn't feeling good. We talked about their day and their likes and dislikes, told jokes and gave them a family dinner which I don't think happens very often. I know that they had fun and enjoyed us coming, eating (our cooking), and learning from the scriptures. As we left the mom came out and thanked us for coming. Most of the time I just yell back to her and say thanks but she came out to say goodbye to us. I was filled with love, gave her a hug, and told her that I love her and her family. ... Sadly, they did not make it to church :( We will keep trying. 

Ace- We were able to teach him twice this week about the Plan of Salvation, Word of Wisdom, and the Law of Chastity. He feels the Spirit. He told us that he feels happy when he is with us taking lessons, he feels like it is right. We asked him to be baptized on November 23 and he said yes! I know that his mom is going through a rough time medically and he has been at the hospital a lot lately with her. He has a lot of faith and made it to church this week. He took notes, and we were able to talk to him. He just makes me smile because he is dealing with so much and yet he remains happy and joking. 

Jean- she is Joe's biological mom (Joe just got baptized a month ago). She knows that she is going to get baptized but she knows that she needs to give up some bad habits before that can happen. I said the opening prayer and asked that we would get to know her better- well normally she doesn't open up to many people but after the prayer she told us that she was going to be honest and gave us a really good background of her. She is so good and is trying so hard to be better! She sees a light in members of the church and she wants to have that light too. We explained that this light comes from the restored gospel and also the Holy Ghost (which we receive after we are baptized). It comes from knowing who our Savior, Jesus Christ is to us. We taught her about the Atonement, which she had heard but didn't understand. We bore testimony and she loved it. She is praying about being baptized in December. 

Groendyke Ohana- Well early in the week we stopped by and were able to talk to the wife. she is super nice and really wants to come to church but when she does she faces contention with her husband (they are both members she is a convert and he was raised in the gospel). She expressed how she really wants her whole family to come to church again. We asked how we could help and asked if we could come over Sunday before church and talk with her husband. She said we could try but to not get our hopes up. She is such a wonderful lady who is trying and having her kids go to church without her. Well, Sunday came and we went over and we see the husband out in the front looking under the hood of their car. We walk up, and he is frustrated- the car is not working and he just fixed it. We talk to him about faith. He says he has faith- he prays and he knows that Heavenly Father listens and answers. We talk to him about how faith is action and how maybe Heavenly Father wants him to exercise the faith and to come to church and then see if He won't bless him. We talked about how when we put God first everything else falls into place. We invite him to come and he flat out says no. A rush of love comes into me and all I can say is, "We hope to see you next week or soon. But, no matter what we love you. We will always love you. Your Heavenly Father loves you. There is nothing you can do that will stop our love." We walk away and I just love him so much and am grateful for at least the honesty. Well, church ends and I turn around and I see him quickly walking out of the chapel, I catch his eye and motion him to come here; he does not want to get stuck for more church and points to the door. I mouth, "I want to shake your hand." He agrees to that, so I go back shake his hand and tell him I'm so happy that he made it. He tells me, "We were only here for the last 30 minutes." "That doesn't matter, what matters is you came. I love you." And he is off! 

Sometimes all people need is love. There are too many people in this world who are tough, hard, persuasive, and win their debates... we don't need more of them. We need more people who are going to love people no matter what. Yes, that means we will be taken advantage of... no matter- love them anyways. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and that means I love others the way He does. Was Christ taken advantage? You bet, he was rejected by all and judged and killed. Why? Because He loved us. So many times people think a mission is about baptizing and that is important. But to me, my mission has taught me to love more. LOVE is my mission. Will I love perfectly? No, but I will try my best to keep loving others as my Savior loves them. I love this work! I love my family and the support they give me! I love my friends! I love the people I can serve her! I love the Book of Mormon, Priesthood Power, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints! I love you all! Ofa atu! Aishiteru! Pueko pueko yuk! Nalong secom! Alofa ia te oe! Aloha wau ia oe! 

Love Always, 

     Sister Cassidy Lang

Week 42 -

Sorry everybody this will be short I don't have too much time but; Happy Halloween! Much of the week was seeing people and using the Trunk or Treat as a great way to invite nonmembers to come and get to know some members and have fun. There was a really good turn out. Small miracle: one of our less actives came and we were able to have a really good talk to him about coming back to church. He  is super nice, knows the church is true but struggles with living some of the principles. He didn't make it to church this week but hopefully soon! 

We were able to teach some really good lessons to our investigators: Wayne, Danielle, Krystle, Yelenese, and some kids that live over by Raymond. It was great because we had gone over to see Raymond and Renuma; we ask the kids outside if they are home and they say, "Oh, they just left like 10 minutes ago. But, you can talk to us and teach us." Well, of course we would love to teach you. So we sat down in the grass and taught about 8 kids about how we can come closer to Jesus Christ through prayer, scripture study, and going to church. 

Another miracle, for the past month we have been working out with a guy that lives in our area and trains people for free. So all 4 of us sisters go and have him train us from 6-7 Mon to Fri. Little by little we leave spiritual insights with him. At first we asked if we could leave with  a prayer. So we do ohana style prayer (more of like a football huddle) all sweaty and stinky and then we pray. We leave and he loves us; I seriously think that we are his favorite people in the world! Well last week, Sister Haws and I stopped by on a Sunday and were just going to share a song with him (Sister Haws plays the violin) to say thanks for all that he does for us and also to help him have another spiritual experience. Well, he said he was busy. Come Monday, he felt so guilty for saying no to us, he made us cookies, and then told us to come over this Sunday. So this Sunday we sit in his garage with him and his wife and share a message about Jesus Christ and how He is the reason why we have joy in our life even though life is hard sometimes. Sister Haws played a few songs and I read a few poems. It was really good! We invited them to church and the wife said thanks but that she was okay, but they want to do this every Sunday! Then as we are leaving the wife comes up to us and says thank you so much, it had been years that she has been trying to help her husband become more spiritual, she thanked us for helping her husband pray again and be open to Him. We are going to keep working with them little by little! 

Well, I am out of time :( I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom here on the Earth. I know that our salvation has already been payed for by our Savior, Jesus Christ. All we have to do is accept Him and apply His Atonement in our lives everyday. I know that we are each asked to climb different mountains; but, we are never asked or supposed to climb them alone. I know that the family unit is of God and because of His love for us He has made it possible for families to be together forever. For relationships to never end but to only be continued in the future. I know that Joseph Smith was called by God to restore God's kingdom and all the powers of the Priesthood. I know that as we read the Book of Mormon we can know that this is true. I know that God knows us individually and loves us. I love you all! Alofa ia te oe! Ofa atu! Aloha wau ia oe! \

Love Always, 

     Sister Cassidy Lang

Week 41 - Get Strong Live Long

Dad/Mom- so there is the Mafi family in my ward here (Manu Mafi) and he came and stayed with the Claverts for a little bit this past summer. Do you remember seeing him? Tell the Claverts that  i met him... also tell Brother Ray that I met Elder Ludivico. He apparently is really good fam friends with Ray. 

Jamie/Jon- So my District leader is Elder Paul Morris. He grew up in Jons ward and Bro. Mattews was his youth leader for about 10 years. 

Aloha Ohana and Haoaloha, 

     Well,another week has come and gone; it flew by and it was really good. 

Highlights: we have been boxing and lifting every morning at 6am and I love working out and being some what fit. Oh and I guess our mission is getting I-pads... if anyone knows me they know that Im awful with technology so im not sure if im looking forward to it. 

     We taught a part member family: the mom is a member and the dad is not. the daughter wants to be baptized but the dad is saying no. We were able to go by and teach the mom and daughter a lesson. It was an object lesson about baptism. Afterward I was able to talk with the mom while my comp got a tour from the daughter of the apartment. It was really nice because I felt so much love for her. I was able to just talk and uplift her... no there was no set lesson, no perfect scripture that came to my mind but I was able to help with just the few things I know . I felt such a strong connection to her and want to help as much as possible. 

    Wayne- the guy we met the other week. We had a lesson with him and it was really good. We read the introduction to the Book of Mormon with him and he had a lot of questions, and we were able to answer them. He is really interested in reading more. He is super educated and knows his stuff which is good because he already has a really firm foundation of Heavenly Father and His love for him, Wayne. We are going to keep meeting with him! 

      Ace- well... to make a long story short: he was baptized in Samoa. We had a lesson with him and a Samoan Elder came with us thankfully. They had a 12 min conversation in Samoan and all I understood was Samoa and baptism so I knew the topic of the conversation. Then when they finished the Elder was like, "Ace has something to tell you..." Then Ace looks at us, puts his head down and says, "I was baptized in Samoa." he didnt tell us because there had been a misunderstanding about if he was baptized and someone telling him he needed to again here in Hawaii and then when he was just learning English there were more misunderstandings and then he just felt shamed. So that was Tuesday night... Friday we check to see if he has records...well he doesnt. So we need to now rebaptize him. The problem is when he was baptized the first time none of his family came and he was reawlly hurt by that. "If my family loved me they would have supported me in my baptism." When he told me that I just wanted to sit with him and cry because that would be so hard.  I jsut want to help him so bad but sometimes there arent really words to help it is just going by the Spirit and loving someone.

    Danielle and Krystel- we were able to teach them the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. It was really good! They are super sweet girls and absorb everything. They want to keep learning and are interested in being baptism once they find out that the church is true. We were able to have a member come with us and it was really good becasue she was able to share her story of the coming to know the church is true and being baptized. 

     Well, life is good. The Book of Mormon is true. I love this work and the gospel. yes it is hard but it is a good hard. Kinda like when you work out and its a good kine sore. I love my Savior, He is so good to me! Im so lucky to have tomorrows to keep working and improving. I love you all. Ofa atu! Aishiteru! Alofa ia te oe! Pueko pueko yuk! Aloha wau ia oe! 

Love Always, 

     Sister Cassidy jean Lang

Week 40 - Sweatin Bullets!

Elder Kim and I at a tongan baptism. yes they gave me a whole plate of cake and expected me to eat it all... I shared but ate most of it... Things Hawaii has taught me... being full is a mental state. 

Aloha ohana and haoaloha,

Well, I feel lke so much has happened this week. Ok, Ill start with Tuesday and go that way throughout the week... sorry if this gets confusing. Tuesday morning I get a phone call from our mission president, President Warner. Basically, I found out that I am the Sister Trainer for our zone. Originally we didn;t have ione and then Sister Clayson (she has been out the longest) brought it to his attention and he asked her to be the trainer; then, he realized that he had originally wanted me to have the oprotunity to learn more and so asked if I would do it. I said yes, but I feel like I have no idea what a Sister Trainer does because I missed the meeting at the beginning of the transfer... what i do know is that I look out for the sisters in my area (they all happen to live with me - convenient), help where I can, serve them, love them, and be a good example for them. Im excited for this opprotunity to grow and I feel connected to my sister, Hermana Lang (she is serving a mission as well in Cusco, Peru and has been the Sister Trainer there in her mission). Even though we are miles apart we are still on the same path of learning and growing in the same direction. Ok that was my morning, that night we had a super awesome lesson with Ace. We went to Brother Magaoay's house and we asked Ace about his reading of the Book of Mormon. He loves it and retold us the first 10 chapters which he has read. We had asked him to read a specific chapter but he forgot so he started at the beginning and loves it! We talked a lot about repentence and he is so good and really wants to be baptized to have his past mistakes gone forever and he can be completely clean again. He is going to go to the Samoan ward this week and see if he likes it. 

Wednesday: Mission Tour- Elder Schwitzer came and spoke to us as a whole mission. All of the missionaries came (minus the ones on the island of Hawaii) so there were so many missionaries all together which never happens because we are all usually on seperate islands. Then, my first thing to do as Sister Trainer I had to go to an extra meeting and it was really good. We talked about how we can receive revelation. There are 3 Ps to it: 1. Purseue the facts 2. Ponder the Solution 3. Pray for Confirmation. Another thing that he said was that we have to find where each person is and then we have to take the gospel/ Jesus Christ to them. We have to teach wherever they are. We cannot expect people to take 20 steps all at once so we have to find them and then help them make one step then the next and then you keep helping them grow. How do you do this? You love them! At first I was overwhelmed by the amount of growing that I still have to do. Then I realized I was taking the wrong message away.. I just need to be a little bit better everyday. So that is what I am trying to do- be a little bit better than I was yesterday. 

Thursday: We had 2 really good lessons with a recent convert and then a less active family! We taught the recent convert with her member boyfriend about the Plan of Happiness. They both want to serve missions and we asked them if they will bring a friend with them to the next lesson and they both have people in mind that they want to invite. Then the less active family, I have been there a few times and the husband always goes in the back room but the past 2 dinners he has been coming out and having our lttle lessons. It has been really good to see him coming around more. 

Friday: We found one of our former investigators and werre able to talk with him. He wants to learn more so we have a lesson with him next week! 

Saturday: We were out hitting some pavement (aka walking a ton and trying to find people at home to see if they would still be interested in learning about the church. Well we weren't finding anyone home so we started walking down this huge hill that we had just walked up then there are 2 girls on the corner just tlkaing. We started talking with them and they are the nicest girls. They love leawrning about Jesus Christ. We found out that they are sisters and are 21 and 17. One is a bit more religious than the outher but both want to learn more. We were able to pray with them and then invite them to be baptized. They were interested and want to learn more. We have a lesson with them next week! 

Sunday: Is always my favorite day. I love being able to go to church and to feel the Spirit. Even missionaries need a spiritual boost every week. By the time the weekend cmoes Im usually so tired that I cant wait til sunday even though Sunday is still a busy day for missionaries. 

The work is picking up and I love it! We work from 6 to 10:30 and I am so exhausted. yes I feel overwhelmed a lot, but I keep praying to be able to handle everythng. I keep wondering if I will ever feel on top of everything. Probably not because if I have any spare time I usually do something else to add to my plate. (aka make banana bread or now pumpkin squares) ahha. Im always getting requests for more banana bread all the time. I love the work, I know that we will see miracles. God is good always! I love you all. Aishitiru! Alofa ia te oe! Ofa atu! Pueko pueko yuk! Aloha wau ia oe! 

Love Always, 

    Sister Cassidy Lang