Happy Turkey Day!!!!

Now you see what we're really like!😉❤

Aloha my ohana!!! I hope you all had a fabulous week filled with lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of yummy yummy food and treats on Thanksgiving (and leftovers😉😊) I know I sure did!

Last pday we went to the Fijian market and I bought my very first lava lavas!!!! They are so comfy and I wear them all the time at the pad now haha. I don't care what anyone else says when I go home... I'm still gonna wear them😉

After buying lava lavas we went over to the Ahyou's to help them prep for their 7th annual Thanksgiving meal they host at the PCC for the missionaries (the senior couples at the PCC and the missionaries at the VC) and the homeless of the community. HOLY TURKEYS that was a lot!!! I got the job of ripping the foil in loooong strips, and I felt like Buddy the Elf ripping off wrapping paper from the giant rolls over and over and over again😂 It was fun😃 That was the most turkeys I've ever seen in one place at once, dead or alive!! The Ahyou's are soooo kind and selfless, my goodness.

Prepping 200 turkeys at the Ahyou's for the PCC Thanksgiving meal!!!

On Thanksgiving, we kept the VC open this year! The day was pretty relaxed, but we still had almost 500 guests come in. We did our studies, and then we headed off to our first dinner with a YSA ward. I didn't eat too much because I wanted to save room for the dinner at the PCC hehe;) Then we went straight to the PCC dinner, and it was sooooo fun! and so yummy! I had soooooooooooooooooo much sugar... the majority of what I ate was probably sugar today hahaha.

YSA Thanksgiving dinner :)

YUMMMMM

The Ahyou fam❤

For our VC Thanksgiving party tonight, we watched MOANA!!!!!!!! It was so good, I love that movie😉 It was fun to watch it with so many other sisters, some of whom hadn't seen it yet! I'm so lucky to be here in a VC😊

Happy Thanksgiving party at the VC! #moana

I'm officially declaring myself a wimp to the cold already. I walked in from being outside and I asked Sis Goodman what the temperature was and she said it was 71 degrees--and I FELT COLD OUTSIDE. AHHHH what's happening😂 #RIPsisterflake  Then, on Tuesday, it was super rainy and humid, and so it made the chilly air conditioned VC feel even colder, and MY NOSE TURNED PINK. My nose is never supposed to turn pink while I'm here in Hawaii unless I get sunburned one day. 😉 It cracked me up. I was seriously freezing cold inside the VC.🌴

MY NOSE TURNED PINK!

WOW this week I had some crazy connections and fun happenings with people I met/saw!!! Sunday in particular had sooo many connections. I met someone who knew the Widmers very well so it was really fun to hear updates on all of their families!

The DeJongs, friends of the Widmers!

...and THEN, at the musical fireside that night, I looked out into the audience during our first number and I thought I saw DOUG HANSEN. I thought "there's no way that's Doug"... I was so confused. My brain was searching for an explanation of why there was a Doug look-alike here at the VC. Then I saw Linda and I started freaking out internally because my extended family was in the audience!!!!! They came with Kerilyn and her family to the fireside!!! It was SO refreshing to receive so many hugs, kisses, and I love you's from them (especially from Linda😊). My heart felt so close to home!

Uncle Doug and Aunt Linda!!

The Pollocks and the Hansens! ❤ohana

I love singing!!🎶

Love my Laie Angels❤  #LightTheWorld 

My VC guest highlight was definitely Gail from Alaska! She came into the VC with her brother Bill and his wife who are members of the church, but she is not. They were attending a session at the temple and asked me to show Gail around while they were gone. So I had a large chunk of time with her, and it was AWESOME!!! I was able to teach her the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration, and almost got to the Gospel of Jesus Christ haha. But most importantly, while we spoke, I felt so much love for her. I know that Heavenly Father answered my prayers to fill my heart with charity for the people I meet, because I for sure felt His love for Gail! It was incredible to speak with her. As I taught her the beautiful, simple truths of the gospel (found so clearly in the Book of Mormon), I felt so much JOY. It was incredible! I was reflecting on it after the fact, and was realizing that in those moments, I felt pure joy-- I felt like I was just radiating with the Savior's love! I feel so grateful for the opportunity to testify to people of the reality of Jesus Christ's atonement. I know that my Redeemer lives! I know that through Him, we can overcome our weaknesses and sins. He is our advocate with the Father. The time with Gail passed very quickly, and I wish we had more, but I hope that she feels prompted to allow me to connect her with the local missionaries where she's from so she can continue learning. I KNOW she felt the spirit stirring within her, as was made evident by her many comments of "that is so comforting". This is Jesus Christ's restored church upon the earth today and it is true! I know it!! and I know that you can all know that for yourself if you truly want to😊

Hawaii is so beautiful😍

I had a few good mind-blowing moments during studies this week haha. See PMG ("Preach My Gospel") pg 91: we MUST take the ordinance of baptism upon us or else we don't allow the Holy Ghost to stay with us always!! He won't stay with us always unless we are worthy. Baptism qualifies us or makes us worthy in this case to have Holy Ghost with us always as our constant companion! whoa!!! Baptism makes it possible for the gift of the Holy Ghost to be received. PMG pg 99 The Spirit always EDIFIES. D&C 9:8-9 are so helpful in learning to recognize how the Holy Ghost speaks to us. So many people come on chat with questions about grace. During companion study this week we talked about how the point isn't just to be "saved"... it's to be CHANGED! and if we simply say we believe in Christ, but we don't act on it, we won't change one bit. Through faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, we become more like Jesus Christ--we change for the better, and we become better prepared to meet God again after we die.

Sorry if those thoughts seemed a bit jumbled, they made sense in my head and they were good 'mind blown' moments haha:)

Well, I can't believe it's going to be December this week!!! What beautiful fall/winter days we have here in Hawaii... it's been really rainy the past week, but we still get lots of sunshine and warm breezes and palm trees and LOTS of chickens running around🐔 haha. I love it here🌺

Sending my love and as much warmth and sunshine as I can!
Sister Flake

ps if you have the chance, go onto mormon.org and print off the LightTheWorld calendar! It's a great way to fill the world with more of Christ's love and light this Christmas season😊🎄

Raiders are the mascot of the high school. Their football team is huuugely popular here... #kahuku raiders

Dinner appointment with V and Tasha and Noku!

We made shepherd's pie mmmm

Megan (Emily Tennant mutual friend😊)

Sis Gray is related to me through William Jordan Flake :) #smallworld

Two Months??!?!?!!!

Aloha everyone!!! Happy 2 months on the mission! I can't believe it's already been two months... holy cow. Looking back on it it's gone by super quick, but SOOO much has happened. I've learned and grown so much!

Well, happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day full of gratitude for your many blessings. God blesses us all so richly! We are forever indebted to Him. I love Alma 34:38: "That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." Strive to have that spirit of thanksgiving DAILY! When we focus on what we are grateful for, and what is going RIGHT in our lives, we are sooooo much happier than when we allow ourselves to get down about what goes wrong. Your happiness is really up to you!

Breakfast before our Christmas Devotional song practice. Thanks Goodmans! The devotional is on Sunday!
I'm in a quartet singing "The First Noel." Super fun!

Food highlights:
First of all, I was realizing that the majority of my pictures have to do with food hahaha, not sure what that means exactly, but I sure love food.

-I bought my first jar of Peanut Butter in Hawaii!!! I know... quite the milestone achievement hahaha but it makes sense when you know about my obsession with peanut butter haha. Also, I've got THREE cottage cheese containers in our fridge right now that are mine hehe...

First time trying Chop Sui!!!!!

-We had lunch at the Swintons this week!! It was sooo yummy!!!! It was refreshing to spend time with them--they are INCREDIBLE! I feel honored to have the chance to get to know them. Their faith is rock solid. Having lunch there felt like eating lunch at grandma's on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Loved it! ❤ It's cool to learn more about the prophet, President Monson, through Sister Swinton's eyes. She knows him quite well. Prov 3:5-6 is one of his favs! #twins😉

Swinton lunch!

Spiritual Highlight:
-"The 4th Missionary" by Lawrence E Corbridge from June 2002 is AMAZING holy guacamole!!!!! You can find it online (click here), PLEASE study it for fhe or something!! It's definitely one of those life-changer talks, especially for a missionary. A few fav quotes from it:

• "To believe that weaknesses and deficiencies in your character are unchangeable is to reject the central truth of the plan of salvation." 
• "Everything is stacked in your favor to become like [Christ]" 
• "The process of change, this process of evolving, becoming, is the object of the gospel." 
• "In the end, your heart and your will is all that you have to give that the Lord does not already have. ... Everything that you have to give the Lord has its origin in Him, except one thing: your will... it is the only gift you have to offer that He does not already have." 
• "But you and only you can place yourselves in those masterful, loving hands." 

You've gotta read the whole thing! It's amazing! It's up to us how much we get out of life!

My shirt-style tag I ordered came! This is my homemade scripture case for my mini scriptures.

-This week I met Doina from Vancouver (originally Romania). She had such great faith, holy cow. Her mom taught her the importance of prayer, and she in turn has taught that to her daughter. Family seemed very important to her, especially her daughter. She was so open with me and shared several meaningful spiritual and life experiences. I feel like we really connected well... she was the sweetest! The time came for them to return to the PCC on the tram, and I offered her a copy of the Book of Mormon in Romanian as a gift. She looked hesitant and I said "you don't have to feel obligated to take it." She then looked up at me and said "no no it's not that... how much??" I said "it's free! It's a gift for you!" and WOW did she LIGHT UP or what!! She accepted it, held it close, and exclaimed "this is the BEST gift!!!" She was sooo happy😊 I'm so excited to stay in touch with her! She filled out a guest card. WOW it's crazy what can happen in 15 minutes with someone! I felt the spirit, and I felt God's love for her so strongly. It was such a spiritually edifying experience❤  It made me consider how important the Book of Mormon (BOM) is to me. It truly is one of the best gifts that God has given us! It is able to bring us SO close to God. I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is God's word, and that Joseph Smith translated it by the power of God. This is Christ's restored church on the earth today, and I feel so blessed to be a part of it... so blessed that I can't help but desire to share it with everyone I meet! Missions are the best!!!!!!!! I'm so lucky to be serving in a visitors' center😊

The new guest cards for this Christmas season! So cool huh?! That's an ornament you can peel off and put on your tree!

VC highlight:
-SETTING UP CHRISTMAS TREES AT THE VC!!!!! (before Thanksgiving!! *gasp*) Wow, I know I say I'm in the best mission like every week... but I'M IN THE BEST MISSION!!!😉 Seriously! Specifically because I get to be in the VC though. We set up a BUNCH of Christmas trees all around the VC (about 20 trees). We decorated some, but most of them will be decorated by nearby stakes/wards! What a fun tradition! They are all fake trees and it made me think of home to 'fluff' the branches. Mom taught me well😉 Unfortunately we couldn't listen to Pandora while we set up and decorated, BUT I hummed/sang all of the traditional Christmas songs instead (who needs Pandora when you've got Sister Flake?!?!;) It was so fun!!! I love getting in the holiday spirit😃 The Swintons bought us pizza for lunch too>>>😍 It was such a fun morning!!

Swintons bought pizza>>>

I was a super good light tester haha😉 I got the lights that worked!!

pros!

Well, time is going by so fast, but I'm doing my best to soak in every single day😊 I feel so blessed by the Lord for the amazing experiences and growth I'm seeing. I know that the Lord is beside me, every day, just like it says is D&C 84:88.

Trust in the Lord. Keep being amazing missionaries and lights unto the world! God is oh so good❤

Aloha! Love you to the moon and back my ohana!!!
Sister Flake

Free Pounders from PCC! Mango mascarpone pizza YUM

Classic Sis Flake breakfast! Good morning!

3 generation fam picture (Sis Staheli trained Sis Blake who trained me... grandma, mom, me haha😊) #missionthings

The Book of Mormon (B.O.M.) is BOMB!!!!!!!!!!

The closest I'll get to surfing while I'm a missionary! #pro

Aloha my ohana!!!!!

Wow what a great week this week! It flew by! I love it here in Hawaii... being a missionary is the BEST! Well this week was awesome!

Funny highlights:
- Apparently not only do the missionaries in Hawaii gain weight and grow out of their clothes... the bananas do too!!! This happens a lot here... the banana just splits open! It happened to me for the first time this week and I thought it was pretty funny😂

- We took a bus from the PCC to the VC this week that had 6 sister missionaries (no Japanese speaker) and 2 Japanese tourists. They knew hardly any English at all, so we couldn't really do anything for them on the way over to the temple (they wouldn't have understood an English tour). When Sister Blake said "my name is Sister Blake" in Japanese, they started CRACKING UP and they were DYING of laughter the whole way to the temple. It was definitely one of the most uncomfortably weird experiences of my mission so far hahahaha I didn't know how to react so I/we all just started laughing too... 6 sisters and 2 Japanese women laughing on a bus tour in Laie. love it :)

Spiritual highlight:
- Emma and Kate came into the VC this week. They're from Australia. We had some great conversations with them and they had SO MANY questions. It was AWESOME!!!!! We were standing over by the Book of Mormon table and they were asking a bunch of questions about how the church came to be. I got to explain the Restoration briefly, and then I felt prompted to recite Joseph Smith's experience in his words as I explained. I did so, and it was SO COOL what happened... the VC was really crowded at that moment and was quite noisy. But as soon as I started reciting the First Vision, it was like the spirit was physically turning down the volume dial of the VC around the four of us. It was INCREDIBLE!!! I KNOW Sis Blake and I both felt it, and I'm confident that Emma and Kate both did too. God is with me every second in His work! He is leading my every word, step, and action. I am an instrument in His hands! It's so neat to get glimpses of His hand in this missionary work. Wow it's the best!!!!!

New wall going up in the VC!

Finished the new Plan of Salvation wall!

- I FINISHED READING THE BOOK OF MORMON AGAIN WOOHOO!!!! I started reading it again back when I came home from spring semester, and I just finished it! IT IS SUCH AN AMAZING BOOK... and it's not just any old ordinary book. It's a testament of Jesus Christ that has brought me SO close to Him! I have felt so much peace and joy through studying the Book of Mormon. It has helped make Christ the anchor of my soul :) God is a God of miracles... still!!! Faith precedes miracles, and we need to doubt not. Mormon ch 9 is so amazing!!! and 1 Ne 19:9. and Moroni 9:25 (don't get down about the world, instead let Christ lift you up). and Ether 12 too... Gosh darn it the whole book is the best haha ;) Go read it!!! Right now!!! It can improve your life. I promise!!! Try and prove me wrong, I dare you ;)

Hawaiian highlight:
- There's this super cool grass here called "bashful grass" that contracts it's little leaves when you touch it. Super fun! Also, the ocean is BEAUTIFUL. It's so blue!!! I'm so lucky to have the most gorgeous landscape to look at every single day of my mission.

- We've had some pretty crazy/fun rain adventures haha. NEVER underestimate a Hawaiian cloud! Ever!!! It may look nice and fluffy and white.... but it could POUR on you 5 minutes later hahaha--and the rest of the sky looks so nice and sunny! It's crazy!

This week Sis Blake sent referrals to both Sis Corbridge and Sis Grover in MN!!! Crazy huh?! Small world. Missionaries are bringing the world God's truth!

I love you all soooo much. Continue to trust in the Lord. Try to apply what Moroni 9:25 talks about... don't let the things of the world get you down, but instead let Christ and His mercy lift you up! Also, live in a spirit of Thanksgiving daily❤😊

Aloha,
Sister Flake

PCC canoe show on pday!

Samoa show...😂it was really funny

There's a person up there! It's like me climbing the rope at gymnastics;) 

Me trying green banana cooked in this coconut garlic sauce stuff... it was actually quite good! It's Samoan.
ft Sis Shimabukuro in the background hahaha she's adorable

Another new food to try...passion fruit mochi!! So good!!!

"A harmonious combination of creamy and gourmet ice cream wrapped in a sweetened rice confection." Mmmm!

Last food item: Triscuits! Not new, just a FAVORITE❤❤❤ Yay!

This is at Laie Point from this morning:) We got to explore the area some more. It's beautiful here, no doubt about it!!!! I'm so lucky:)

ALOHA!!!

Drove to the southern part of our zone to an elementary school with this fun wall art

spot the similarities😂😂

Dinner apt with Serena! Mongolian food❤

I got mail!❤❤❤😊❤😊❤😊❤😊❤

I love being a missionary. I know this is exactly where God wants me to be.