So sorry that last week's was so
rushed! I didn't even get to talk about amazing book of Mormon reader. Okay so
he came to church yesterday! yay! He just told his boss that he needed to have Sunday
mornings off so he could go to church. SO we had a lesson with him this week
and talked about the plan of salvation. He said that he loves everything that
he is learning and it all fits perfectly with the things that he already felt
in his heart. Last time that we had a lesson with him he said he was in ALMA
20. and this time he said he was in ALMA 43. and I was thinking "Ok,
slowing down, only 23 chapters this week?" then I was like "wait, he
still read 23 chapters!!! that's awesome!" then he told us "ya I
wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing anything so I started back at the beginning
and read to alma 43" WHAT!? so he didn’t just read 23 chapters.....he read
the whole book over again up till alma!!!! Amazing! he said he read for 8 hours
straight once. He says he's watching the countdown at the bottom of the page
till the Savior comes and he's always cheering for captain moroni and he's like
"is he going to be okay?!" haha. so good!
This week we had zone conference and
Elder Reis from the district videos came and gave us a training on how to plan.
It was awesome! He taught us to really focus on the way that the brethren have
intended us to plan. One of his assistants talked about not just planning to do
"missionary things" but planning to do what the Savior would be
doing. It was super good! Sister Warner talked about integrity and President
Warner talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We also had a fireside in Laie last
night. All of the missionaries on this island got to come and hear Vai Seka
hema speak. He was the first tongan drafted into the NFL. He is currently a
stake president somewhere on the mainland. But he was so funny and
inspirational and just talked about how the things that we learn on our mission
will bless us for the rest of our life (and not just the spiritual things, but
like speaking and time management and everything!) It was super good! And the view on the drive was breath taking...gotta love the islands!!
We met with a less active mother and
her adult daughter who maybe forgot a little bit about living the word of
wisdom haha.....so we taught them about the word of wisdom and helped them to
set goals for that I love their faith
and willingness to be obedient.
On an much less spiritual and much
less mature note : this past week or so there have been HUGE swarms of gnats
hanging out in Wahiawa.......in case you have never had the pleasure of walking
through huge swarms of gnats, I'll just tell you it is extremely unpleasant. We
try to act as normal as possible in public....we just fan our faces, squint our
eyes and don't breathe....but when we get back in the car i'm like
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" i have one in my eye!!!! And we pick
them out of each other’s hair and stuff..........it''s so gross!!!
Our ward is so awesome and
supportive of the work here. Our ward mission leader is so dedicated and the
ward missionaries are great! We have made so many friends here in the ward. the
families who fed us lunch on Sunday packed us a sack dinner to take when we
drove to Laie for the fireside that night! so thoughtful!
By the next time I email, we'll know
transfer news!! We always go crazy to know! haha missionary life:)
love you mommy and daddy!
-Sister Hodgson
