This
was such an amazing week! the Lord really blessed us with miracles.
On
Friday, Jayden and Stetson (cousins) were baptized! They each have a mom who is
a member, but not fully partaking of the blessing church can bring, and a dad
who is not yet a member. So they have been such a good example to their loving
parents and we know they want to be a forever families.
On
Saturday Tehani and Tania were baptized! They
are sisters. Their Dad is a member and
their mom is not a member of our church.
But their faith has been such an example to their families as well. I just love
seeing these kids take the step of baptism. They can feel the spirit so
strongly, and they know that it is a good thing. They find joy in changing their
lives; And the baptisms are such special experiences for everyone who is there
to see it.
Sister Pantelakis and I also found
out transfer news. She is leaving to go to Honolulu. I am staying here and a
sister Willis from the other side of this Island is coming to join me. Sister P
and I have been through so much together and this was a perfect last weekend.
We are really going to miss each other, but we are grateful for the wonderful
time we have had here in Waimea.
There is a store here called Aloha
grown, that sells t shirts and such. They have some shirts that say Waimea
grown on them. Sis p and i both got one because we feel that we have really
grown a lot and learned a lot here. I am such a different person now than I was
even four and a half months ago because of the things we learned from each
other and with each other. Also, Auntie Lahi gave us our Hawaiian names this
week. She went and got them from one of her old kapunas, who prayed about it
and dreamt on it. The name she gave me is Uluponi, which means to grow well and
be successful.
On Sunday, Kaila was baptized. Kaila
is stetson's cousin . All of their parents have been talking saying maybe this
is a sign that they need to focus on coming back to church and again
strengthening their relationships with God themselves. These kids are such strong
warriors for Heavenly Father, and
they are teaching all of us adults how to have faith and follow Christ's
example. After Kaila's baptism, Jayden's dad came up to me and said that his
son, Jayden, had inspired him and he wants us to come and teach him to work
towards that himself.
Our hearts are SO full of gratitude
to our Heavenly Father who has prepared these children to be examples for all
of us through their choices. Heavenly Father is really moving His work forward
in this area and
we feel so blessed to be a part of it. It is so amazing to see that none of
these blessings came about because of sister Pantelakis or myself, but they
came about because of the Lord. He sends His spirit to testify that His gospel
is true, and that changes hearts. He allows us to be here to see all of this
miracles, and it is changing my life.
This is one of my favorite scriptures : "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am
weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty
miracles ... have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name
forever. " Alma 26:12
Love you all!
-Sister Hodgson
