Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit

Aloha, Ohana!!

So week one in the trio has been pretty.... hilarious hahaha. I laugh everyday at us. I think I understand why the work is meant to be done by two's. But we enjoy it and it's keeping me busy and focused, so what more could I ask for? haha. Man. I love serving a mission.  

So I have been thinking a lot lately about my mission -- the impact it's made on me. I still can't explain it in words but I think a lot about how all the challenges and experiences Heavenly Father asks us to go through in our life are like a trainer trying to break his horse. Because of our natural man, we are comfortable feeling "free" and solo and we think we know best. But the purpose of this life -- the only way we can truly feel fulfilled and purely happy -- is to come to know Heavenly Father. He is our Trainer/Master. I feel like before my mission I was some sort of a wild horse. I was happy but I didn't understand my Master. I feel like now, towards the end of my mission, I have had experiences that have broken and humbled me to Him, to His voice, and now I feel even more free. It gives a new meaning to "a broken heart and a contrite spirit." I am SO GRATEFUL for God's love and infinite wisdom. He knows us. We are His children. And when we come to know His voice, we can understand the "why" behind our challenges. He breaks us so we can become stronger. So we can become more like our Master :)

Sister Willardson

BEST WEEK EVER

Wow. This was one of the best weeks on my whole mission. It was full of powerful studies, amazing people, and tender moments. 

On Friday we met a man that has been studying with the missionaries in Kaneohe and is planning on getting baptized soon. He is a super spiritual person and the moment he walked onto temple grounds he said he felt like he had been here before. It felt like home to him (side note:he actually doesn't have a home he couch surfs). When he saw the Chistus statue he began crying and couldn't enter the visitors center. Apparently, he is a pastor for another church and wants to introduce everyone he knows to the Gospel. We got to walk with him up to the Temple lobby and share with him the sweet spirit that resides within the Temple. The whole time he kept telling us he was seeing angels and that we were angels and that this was all true. He may have been semi crazy but I know for a fact that this man has been blessed with a sensitive spirit and it touched my heart. He has been back to the VC almost every day since and can't get enough of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ :)

As the end of a transfer comes to a close, I am excited for a slight change! TRANSFER NEWS I am staying here at the VC and in Married Student / YSA wards but my new companions will be Sister M and Sister B!!! THAT'S RIGHT A TRIO! hahaha it will be very interesting :) 

And one last miracle for the day... Biggest miracle of my whole mission. Over a year ago I met a sweet young woman -- she came on the Tram with me and sister Ohno and we just hit it off. We have been good friends ever since -- emailing and calling. She's from Toronto, Canada. Even though we were close I could never get her to go to church or anything but last month she came back to Hawaii and visited me on the west side and had an amazing spiritual experience here. She returned home and went to church there and LITERALLY just called me and told me she is getting baptized on Sunday. If I served my mission for just one person, I know it was her. I can't express my gratitude for this chance to be here. To be serving the Lord for 18 months. I would NEVER change this opportunity for anything or anyone. 

THE GOSPEL IS TRUE. It is a gospel of love and mercy and grace and change. And it's here for everyone.

Love you all!

Sister Willardson

ALOHAAAAA

ALOHA OHANA!!

Don't have much time this week because we went on a super long hike today (sorry!!) but I had a really great week!! 

We worked a lot with less-active members in our area this week and saw a lot of small miracles. I also called one of my old investigators named C from earlier this year, and found out that she is meeting with missionaries again and attending a new ward and almost finished with the Book of Mormon!! That is my favorite thing about serving a mission. Seeing the light enter back into peoples lives after it's been missing. THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!!! 

Love you all!!
Sister Willardson

Another week.....

ALOHA OHANA!!!

This week was super great. Not much really to report... The Visitors' Center has been super slow and some days I just want to pull my hair out, I feel like I'm going insane!! Hahaha BUT the good news is... I am grateful to be here :) Really. I have fasted and prayed over this and I know that even though I don't know why... I am here for a reason. I am super grateful for my companion, Sis Kim for being so awesome and patient with me!

I've also been praying and fasting for Sister Kim and I to find someone that needs this gospel. This last week we got a new investigator in our area!! Her name is Hiba, and she's from Ghana/the Marshall islands. She received all the missionary lessons before she came here, and wants to get baptized!! Sadly, even though she is 18, her dad won't let her so she has to wait.  But it is a MIRACLE!!!! Miracles happen every day :):)
Nothing new to report besides that... Life is good. The gospel is true. Read your scriptures. And smile more often :)
Love you all!

Sister Willardson

ALOHA FAMILY!!!

Check out the pic of my new companion at the end of my blog!
Well, I have a lot to say this week but little time (why does this always happen? haha I am still trying to learn time management I guess lol). First I wanna say that this week was awesome!! It's been suuper muggy and humid, apparently there's lotsa hurricanes out there in the pacific (not close to us though no worries) which is causing it to be super weird. This is the first time since the beginning of my mission that I've been in a biking area, and I think Heavenly Father sometimes has a sense of humor. I just got used to looking like a slob every day and always feeling sticky hahaha

First of all, I met some cool ladies from my last area Waianae, and I got to take them on a language tour. We were speaking pigeon hahaha. I actually do like being here at the VC. I heard a quote this week which sums up a lot of the frustrations I've had on my mission. It says, "you can count the seeds in an apple but you can't count the apples in a seed." I know that someday we will be able to count all the apples though. And they will be the sweetest, most crispy apples ever! hahaha

I'm still working on following spiritual promptings throughout my day, and I've been trying to show Heavenly Father that He can count on me. Last night we were walking to a dinner appointment and we were a little early and a big black dog started running at us. In my last area, I would have taken off running or something, because those dogs are mean. But I had a flashback when I saw this dog to about a year ago. And I realized that I had met this dog before! A year ago my comp and I were serving in the same area -- YSA 1st stake -- and we were tracting and nobody was home. We didn't know where to go. So we saw this dog and it saw us and stood up and started walking in front of us, looking back to make sure we were following it. We followed this dog to a house that we had never been to, and met some students inside. So when I saw that dog last night, I knew exactly what we needed to do... follow it! hahaha so we did and he took us to this house of these guys that are in a reggae band and they are less active. We have tried to visit them before but with no success. That house is nicknamed the "Pot House" and is just super sketchy looking but I just kept going all the way to the front door and knocked! They didn't answer (even though I am pretty positive they were home), so I just left a funny note. Anyways. My comp thinks I'm crazy but I seriously will follow that dog any where. 

I'm outta time so that'll be my story for the week. haha. Do something crazy today! 

Sister Willardson