He Lives!

Aloha everyone!

Just thought I would let you all know that I ate lunch with a bunch of sisters on a lawn right next to the beach in the middle of all these trees with a nice breeze coming in off the water.... It's been a rough P-day.

Haha. In all seriousness, Hawaii has all the challenges of any other mission and is pushing me to learn and grow in a lot of ways. The weather is a blessing though. (:

This last week has been so great. Tiring, challenging, even disappointing and frustrating at times, but great. I think I'm starting to lose that "deer-in-the-headlights" look and I'm getting to know the people here. Most are members of the church, but even members need strengthening. They prepare dinner for us most night and are very kind. Sharing short messages is fun an so inspiring. They strength in the gospel and as people in general is so powerful.

I had the opportunity to go the the Polynesian Cultural Center this week and watch the night show. It's all about families and has really entertaining Polynesian music and dancing to go along with it.

My companion and are getting along really well and we end up laughing a lot. She's a super cool person. Always happy and excited too! All 4 feet / 10 inches of her. It cracks me up. 

How the Visitor's center? It's great! When we are having a slow day we watch videos and get to know the resources there. They are so wonderful. We taught a lot of member families this week. Also after a week with no knew investigators we had some high-school seniors come in. They went to a baptist school, and didn't view God as being active in our lives today. Because of this, we got to share with them some of the most hopeful news  - He Lives! He lives and is totally aware of every single one of us, whatever our circumstance. He loves us and wants us to return to him. We showed them this video... https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

They were very interested. After they left, they actually all came back in a few minutes later asking for copies of the Book of Mormon. So cool! I love missionary work!

Anyway... spiritual thought...
Some of the most hopeful words ever spoken [in my opinion] are these...
Luke 2:11 - "For unto you is born this day in the city of David aSaviour, which is Christ the Lord."
and
Matthew 28:6 - "He is not here: for he is risen."

Why does He live for YOU?

I hope you are all doing wonderfully! 

Much love,

Sister Lindsay Evans

Photo 1 - A little friend I found on my bedroom floor. So cute! My companion thought he was gross though... 

 

Photo 2 - The sunsets are short here, but wow.... they are always beautiful.

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Extra Photos

Photo 1 - the downstairs of my beach view apartment. woo! I study at the desk closest to the backyard.

Photo 2 - the view

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The Mission Home!

Photo 1 - A nice panorama of my first beautiful lookout in Hawaii. Gorgeous!

Photo 2 - My MTC sisters! Sister Miao [meow] and Sister Kim were quiet at first, but when I started joking with them they opened up. Turns out - they are hilarious. This is at a transfer meeting. They put us in a side room because the newbies weren't allowed to see anyone right away. They made us walk out with our eyes closed and then open them to see our VC sisters who came to get us. haha

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Aloha Hawaii!

Aloha Everyone! I haven't sent an email in awhile, but Mondays are my
official Prep-days.

Where do I start? How about a fun fact?
My roommates caught this big spider in our apartment and now keep in
on top of our fridge. His name is Gary.

Departure
So.. I left the MTC Monday in the morning and hopped on a plane to HI
for starters. I sat next to a really nice girl who had the cutest
service dog. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and I invited her
to visit the VC sometime. Cool!

Arrival
The first 2 days we got to stay in the mission home. Our mission
president and his wife picked us up from the airport. They're are so
nice. They gave us kukui necklaces. Usually these kukui nuts are used
as candles and burn for about 3 minutes, but to us the necklace
represents the never ending light of Jesus Christ. Anyway, I love my
mission president and his wife. They are wonderful people and she is
very strict on manners. It makes me laugh a little. Although it
probably shouldn't...

Mission Motto
Our mission is the ALOHA mission and this is why [our motto]..... "We
are grateful to be in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. The ALOHA mission.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is our message, love of God and others
is our motivation, and obedience to the commandments and mission rules
is our strength. By sharing the gospel with others we can give them
the "Ha" - the breath of life, even eternal life. Aloha!"
Pretty cool right? [In reality that isn't even a question. It's way
cool.] I am so blessed to be a part of this great work in Hawaii.

As far as how Hawaii is?
Humid. You feel it the second you step out of the airport, but I don't
notice so much anymore. The surroundings are BEAUTIFUL. [I know you
are probably all shocked... haha]. It is green everywhere and I live
in a small apartment on the beach! The view is wonderful. It's been
hot, but usually a nice breeze blows in. Thank goodness.

The Work
My companion is 4'10". She a Filipino and is so sweet. It's funny when
she aloha because her voice is so cute sounding. The work is hard
because I'm new and don't know exactly what is going on, but the more
I have the chance to share what I know the better I feel. We give tram
tours from the Polynesian Cultural Center to BYUH, around the Laie
community, and then they end at the VC. [The tram tours are
interesting, but not enough (don't tell the senior couples I said
that... :) ..so I have come up with a few jokes to throw in there. I
will be testing them out next Thursday.] Tours at the VC are sometimes
great and sometimes not so great. That's just how it goes, but the
great ones with people who are interested make it worth it/

Fourth of July!
The fourth was great! We worked then had Karaoke with our Zone. Later
we had a BBQ with all of the sisters and played Cambodian
Duck-Duck-Goose. Instead of tagging someone you drop a towel behind
someones back. Then the person grabs it and tries to wack the person
who was next to them as they run around the circle. We were laughing
pretty hard. It's great getting to know everyone.

I hope you are all doing well! I read every email and if I don't
reply, then I will at some future time, but just know that I
appreciate everything I read. It is so uplifting.

Hawaii is wonderful! Everything is new and some things are hard, but
the gospel is the same wherever you go. The simple truths are so
powerful. Even if you have heard it before, open your heart. Ask "What
more can I learn?" or "What more can I do?" You will be greatly
blessed. God loves us. Jesus IS our personal Savior. I will do my best
to testify of this through every second of my mission because it is so
important. Aloha brothers and sisters!

Sister Lindsay Evans

[Pictures may not come today, but will come in the near future because
I know that is half the fun of the email] (: