An Uke Miracle

Just a reminder: If you click the link (Preachinginparadise.blogspot.com) at the bottom of this email it will take you to Clare's blog and you'll see photos of her mission.

ALOHA family and friends!

Well, the time has passed and this last transfer with Sister N has flown by! We received transfer news on Sunday and it comes with lots of changes! It began Friday night when President Warner called me and asked if I would be willing to serve as a coordinating sister here at the VC. It was a shocking surprise, but I accepted. With that comes the assignment of serving online, so I will be leaving the YSA first stake, sadly. My new companion will be Sister K, my first non-asian companion ever!! We are already great friends, so I know that it will be a great transfer together. :)

This last week we had a pretty cool experience that made me think of Nate, and his Bob Marley experience in Guatemala. He inspired me! We were driving home and we still had about 15 minutes before we had to be back so we felt rpomted to stop at a house of some less-active Korean students. We had found out a couple days previously that they are good friends with sweet Jeongmin, a non-member that we have been trying to meet with. As we were walking to their door, we had no idea what we were going to say. But we had good feelings about it. We knocked, and they answered. They were reluctant, but happy to see sister na and began speaking to her in Korean. As we were standing in the doorway, we were getting attacked by bugs, and I knew that we needed to get inside so we could be less formal and get to know them better (doorways are always so strange for me...). When the time was right, I just kind of blurted "Can I use your restroom?" haha everyone laughed and they invited us inside. That is when I saw their nice ukelele's and was inspired with a great plan! After spending a sufficient amount of time in the washroom, I came out and asked them about the ukes and she asked me if I could play. I said I would love to play them a song! Thankfully, I know one church song (not super well though), but I started playing "Come unto Christ" on the uke and sister N sang with me. It wasn't perfect, but we could feel the spirit enter the room and we were about to talk about Christ and the Book of Mormon and get to know their struggles. We even talked about Jeongmin and one said she would invite her to our Book of Mormon study group that we have on Wednesdays. It was a miracle! We left that night as friends, and I owe it all to my inspiring brother!

I love being a missionary. It is not just work, but sometimes it can be so much fun. The greatest joy in life comes from reaching out of ourselves and our lives and seeking for ways to bring light in to the lives of others. I know I say that a lot, but that is a lesson I continue to learn every single day. It has changed my life. 

I love you all! Have a good week and stay cool!

Love Sister Willardson

Let Him In

Aloha beautiful family!!

This week was so great!! Full of miracles big and small. 

I don't have much time, but this last week, one of my online investigators (Karim) was baptized!! Sister Mount and I have been calling him every week since we met him, and it has been such a blessing to be a part of his conversion process. We literally didn't do anything -- we were just here at the Visitors' Center, waiting for a miracle. And it came the second Karim walked through the doors. We called him this last week -- the day before he was baptized -- to check in and see if there were any questions he had  that we could help him with before he entered the waters. We asked him if he felt like he was ready. We could hear him sigh on the other end of the phone, and he paused, then said "Sisters, I have been ready for a while." Awww it was the cutest thing ever. His faith has been so strong since we met him. I have been changed by my associations with this amazing man, and I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to know him.

This last week, Sister N and I were working really hard in the area and the Visitors' Center, trying to rekindle the fire that we knew we needed. We would plan everyday for miracles, and they came big and small. We had so many people come in to the center, asking about church and what we believed. I even had my own Korean tour! hahaha I absolutely love being here, and I never want this transfer to end. I love my companion, I love Laie, and I love the Lord. I wish I could stop time and enjoy these moments longer.

God is good. He loves us and He knows exactly what we need to continue on. Prayers are answered. Heavens help always comes. The church is true. I love my life. I feel oh, so blessed.

"Peace is not the absence of fear, but the presence of Christ."

Let Him in.

Aloha Nui Loa!!

Sister Willardson

Paradise

Aloha Family and Friends!! I'm emailing from a new place today -- the BYUH Library! Woooo!

We got to go to Kualoa Ranch for Pday today, and got back at the same time so all the computers were full at the VC.

Well this week was a rough one, but it was still so amazing. Sister N and I have been working hard to make some progress in the area, and it's been slow progress. But we aren't letting that stop us! 

We had a Friends of Other Faiths dinner for all the nonmember students on Sunday, and we had two of our nonmembers show up! And their friends all brought them! So that was pretty cool. Lots of them are coming to church but they don't necessarily want to learn more yet. Baby steps....

As far as the Visitors' Center is concerned, I had a really neat experience yesterday as we were doing the Tram Tours from The Polynesian Cultural Center. We had three empty trams in a row, which was pretty disheartening. But on our last tram, it was FULL. There were 4 different languages represented -- a huge Chinese group (complete with tour guide), a German couple, a Korean family, and a lady from Peru. It was a fun group. When we got to the Visitors' Center I felt prompted to focus on the German couple, and began to teach them more about the Temple. They were the sweetest! I showed them the Book of Mormon that we had in German, and explained to them what it was. They became very interested, and they both accepted copies to take home for themselves. I asked them if they would be willing to meet with missionaries and continue to learn more, and they happily accepted :) At the end of the tour, my smile was ranging from one ear to the other because of how sweet and kind this older German couple was.  I can't wait to keep in contact and teach them more!

That is all I have time for, I just wanted to quickly share how grateful I am to be here. I am so grateful for all the amazing people that encouraged me to serve a mission through their example. I love being here. Teaching more about Christ while strengthening my relationship with Him has changed my life for the better. This really is paradise. 

I love you all! Keep being a light, and shine bright!!

Love always,

Sister Willardson

Grace

Aloha Family and Friends!

This week... was so amazing. I sure do have a testimony of the blessings that come after the trial of our faith. I don't like to share the hard things that happen in my emails home because I like to focus on the happy things. But I just want to say that this last week was one of the best weeks of my mission. Not necessarily because there were any huge miracles (there were a few), but because my attitude changed, and I can honestly say that there is no place I would rather be but here, serving the lord, on this beautiful rock in the middle of the ocean! I have been contemplating how much my desires have been changed by the Grace of the Atonement of Christ. I am so eternally grateful that I have been given this opportunity to serve Him with all my heart.

I will share one cool story that happened this last week! On Sunday, the stake president of our YSA stake that we have been covering brought a man named J to the VC. J is a pro pipe surfer from north shore. He is super cool. But, he has gone through a lot in his life. He has been meeting with missionaries for months, and is planning on getting baptised in december after he finishes rehab and a couple other things. I felt so honored to be able to teach him because I have heard a LOT about him and his faith. Surfers all around the north shore know about him and his desire to change. He has so much faith, and has been through to much in his life. We got to teach him about agency. We read the Book of Mormon with him about Moroni, and talked about the atonement over and over. It was a long lesson, but the crazy and wonderful thing is that I can honestly say that I learned so much from him!  I could feel God's love for him, despite his mistakes and weaknesses. God really does love us and wants more than anything for us to let go of those mistakes by calling upon Christ and going through the necessary steps of repentance. Despite His mistakes and dark past, Jason was happy. He could feel the Savior's embrace and is beginning to sing the song of redeeming love. Words cannot adequately express how grateful I am for the atonement, for the enabling power it gives me as a missionary, a daughter of God. We should be using it everyday!!

How have you seen the power of the atonement in your life today?

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers and LOVE :)

Sister Willardson

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