Gratitude

Aloha, and Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

The season of family and celebrations is beginning, and I am so grateful to see it from a different perspective this year! Boy, is it hard to be away from home amidst the Christmas trees, carols and family gatherings, but I am ever grateful for the warmth of the people here in Hawaii. There really is a special spirit amidst the people here, in this cute little town of Laie. I love this place. 

Every week I struggle to know what to share, and what stories to tell.This week I think I'll go through a day in the life of Sister Willardson, directly from my journal :)
11/20/14

Today was such a great day! We had morning shift at the Visitors' Center, and we got to decorate some of the Christmas trees! We didn't have many visitors' because the front of the grounds is under major construction, and the main pathway to the VC was being ripped out. It was so loud! After shift we met with a girl named Sarah to do studies with her. She is preparing to serve a mission, and she is in one of the wards that we are covering. We meet with pre-missionaries a lot to try to help them to prepare to serve. Today, studying with Sarah made me think back to 6 months ago when I was preparing myself to serve! I thank my Heavenly Father for helping me get here. Then we went home and finished our studies. Then we had dinner over at the Black's house, a young couple in one of our married student wards. It was such a spiritual dinner, they are such a solid couple. We shared a message about the Book of Mormon and missionary work. The spirit was so strong. My testimony is always strengthened from visits like this. I love missionary work! At the end of dinner, brother Black gave us a referral for one of his friends from high school, so I will contact her tomorrow. After dinner, we made our visits to the Hale's on campus. We finally met a girl named M that we have been searching for. We saw C, our new investigator, but she was running down the hall because she was late for basketball practice. After a few more visits we were on our way out when we ran into another non-member, E, who we have been trying to meet with. Our last visit with her was pretty bleak because she was kind of upset that we had come to visit her. But this time she was super happy to see us! (probably because we opened the big heavy door for her and she had a big heavy bike so she couldn't get in alone). We talked for a few minutes and she said that she wanted to meet with us after all, and was super nice. It was a miracle! Then we had to rush home to be back in time and do our planning. And now I am writing in my journal! And I am super tired so I am going to bed now."

Well, I recognize that that was probably the most boring thing that you've read in a long time, but I thought it was necessary so you could experience the busy day in the life of Sister Willardson. Next week's episode: the day in the life of Sister Willardson, Sunday version! hahaha just kidding. But I just want you all to know that I am so grateful to be here serving the Lord, and every day is a blessing. That is something that I have been thinking a lot about lately -- How truly blessed we are to wake up each day and have another 24 hours to work hard and enjoy life! Let's make it all count!

Sister Willardson

The Gospel Blesses Families

Woaaaa this week was awesome, dude! (that is my surf lingo in celebration of the competitions going on at North Shore this week)

And speaking of lingo, I met the man who played Mahana's dad in Johnny Lingo a couple weeks ago. So that was pretty cool! There are famous people all over the place...

So to begin, I just want to give a shout out to my cuz Brandon for signing on with the BYU Men's Volleyball team this last week! I am so proud and excited for you :) 

So this last week, the Elders set up the Christmas trees throughout the VC. I have counted 17 brightly lit trees, and we have garland throughout the center too. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!!! Even if it is still 80 degrees every day...

Sister De Leon and I had so many great experiences at the VC this last week. We also had zone conference. It has been a week of spiritual highs! I will share one story of a miracle we had this week. This last week, I have really been focusing on prayerfully preparing for guests. I have been asking Heavenly Father to lead people to me that need my testimony, in any shape or form. We had many part-member families come in this week. I met a couple from New Mexico, and they were from the Navajo tribe! They had just gotten married and moved off the reservation there. The wife, S, was a very less-active member and has been through a lot in her life. This is her second marriage. She wanted to bring her husband, V, here to learn more about the Temple and the beliefs she grew up with. We began showing them around the Visitors' Center, but he was very quiet so we couldn't figure out what he was thinking. We decided to take him through God's Plan for His Family, a 15 minute video presentation about God's plan for us and our families, and why the temple is important. It is powerful. We showed it to them, and at the end they were emotional. We talked for a long time, testifying of God's love for us and how the Gospel Blesses Families. The spirit was so strong, and finally I asked them if a Temple Marriage was something that they wanted together. S looked at her husband with tears in her eyes and said yes. Because V grew up on the reservation, he does not have much of a religious background besides the traditions of his tribe, but he said that he wanted to learn more. He wants to come to church. He wants to meet with missionaries. They know that the Temple is where they want to go, and soon. That was a very meaningful experience to me because I truly felt God's love for this couple. Our Heavenly Father always gives us second, third and fourth chances to choose Him and His plan. To choose happiness. To choose eternal life. He loves us so much that He sent his son to provide a way for us to receive these chances to repent, change and come unto Him. I know without a doubt that this Gospel is the only way. It is the only way that we can live forever with our families, in God's presence, with happiness greater than anything we've felt before in this life. And this makes me happy :)

Sister Willardson

Written in your hearts

Well, Ohana and friends, another week has come and gone. Time flies!

I don't have any super crazy stories to share this week, most of the people I talked with were not interested in the church. I got to talk to a man about the Book of Mormon musical, though, and that was pretty fun! #theBookisalwaysbetter
However, we had a breakthrough in the singles' wards! Every week we have visited the homes/apartments/dorms of the non-member or less-active students that we were referred, but they were NEVER home! It was beginning to get frustrating, but Sister De Leon and I did not give up! We were praying for miracles, and we were led to knock the door of a non-member student on the BYUH womens' basketball team named C. And what do you know, she answered the door! She was happy to see us, and invited us to come in. We got to know her, and talked to her about the religion class she is taking here. She didn't seem to have any questions, or much interest in the church, but she invited us to come back another day and teach her more! MIRACLES HAPPEN WHEN WE BELIEVE! hahaha

I know that Heavenly Father is in the small details of our lives. I know that He loves us so much that He wants us to return to live with Him again with our families. That is why He sent His son, our brother, Jesus Christ. Christ suffered for all of our sins, weaknesses, pains and heartaches. He knows how we feel when we feel all alone. I know that sometimes true conversion comes during the most trying times in our lives, which is why He allows us to face adversity. Conversion comes little by little, principle by principle. And He is with us every step of the way :) 

My invitation to you all this week is to do a little more to allow the atonement to be written in your hearts :)

I love you all! Mahalo nui loa for your prayers on my behalf. I can feel them every day. 

Sister Willardson

Highs and Lows

This last week was so so good. First off, we were able to go to Pearl Harbor to do some service on the USS Missouri. We swept the decks. It was so cool! I loved seeing all the WW2 planes and artillery and stuff. Plus I was the one that drove across the island to get to town, and nobody died, so that was a great day! hahaha

And I also have a story to share, and I hope I will be able to effectively convey my feelings and this experience. It really changed me. So on Wednesday Sister De Leon and I were on tram shift, which is when we take the guests from the Polynesian Cultural Center to the Temple visitors' Center. Our first three trams were completely empty, but our fourth (and last) was completely full! When we have full trams, it is usually very difficult to establish relationships with the guests, but today was different. When we arrived at the VC, we showed everyone the Christus statue, and played a short narration that goes along with it. When it ended, I felt very strongly that I needed to testify of Christ, and specifically how he can help make our burdens light and that He lives, loves and knows us. I didn't know why I was inspired to say that until after, when two women came to me and asked me what the difference was between a church and a temple. I answered, and then she thanked me sincerely for my testimony and choosing to serve a mission and share about Jesus Christ. I asked them what religion they were and she said "we are Catholic. We are from Australia, but originally from Iraq. We are called Chaldean, but you probably don't know what that is." My face lit up and I got super excited and said, "OH! I know what that is!" I explained about where I am from, and how many Chaldeans live in my town and they got very excited. She mentioned that she speaks Aramaic, and I told her about missionaries "like me" who are called to speak Arabic in San Diego and then I took them to see our Arabic Book of Mormon. I just began bearing my testimony again about Jesus Christ and the Atonement. They both just started crying and said that they had really been struggling with some things and that they had taken vacation here just to get away from it. They called me their "little angel" over and over again, and I told them that it was no coincidence that they were led here to the Visitors' Center that day. I bore my testimony of the atonement, and gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon, testifying that they could learn more about Jesus Christ and find happiness in their lives by reading it. We were all in tears. Their visit tied me back to home and the people I love dearly, and it was such a sacred experience for me to share these things of my heart with these wonderful women. When it was time to get back on the tram, we embraced and I offered them a guest card to keep in touch, and to send them missionaries when they return home. They were excited to learn more. When the tram arrived back at the PCC, the crowd was so large, and they disappeared into it, and I never saw them again. My heart literally broke. There are so many times that I am unable to receive guest cards back from amazing guests, but this time was so different. I felt so much love for these women, and in a second all of it was lost. I will never know the rest of their conversion story, until after this life when we meet up again and embrace. What a reunion it will be. I thank God for allowing our paths to intersect, and I'll never forget these beautiful women. I'll never forget the way I felt as I testified of the Book of Mormon that night.

Sometimes serving here is difficult because we have to say goodbye so much. But memories like this will last a lifetime, and I just know that Heavenly Father is aware of all of us, and our desires and needs. 

Love Sister Willardson