Short week!

We found a super huge, cool mural at Kahuku HS!🌊

It's awesome right??!?! gigantor!

Aloha ohana! Long time no email haha! It feels like I just had pday haha.

-We had "transfer news", but I guess things will be changing a little bit with the Allans in charge here, and we won't be doing as much of a celebration or game for the "reveal", but rather a more "dignified" meeting to learn what the next transfer holds. The STLs put together a powerpoint to announce the coming transfer. SOOOO, next transfer *drum roll* ........ I get to stay with Sister Talia-Hunkin wahoooo!! We'll be staying in the Married student 2nd ward, and we also don't have to move pads, which will be really really nice:) I'm excited to come to understand the things that God still needs me to learn from Sister Hunkin. I've learned a lot with Sister Hunkin about the importance of communication, as well as using our individual strengths and weaknesses to best further the Lord's work here at the VC (and how to help each other blossom!). I love her!! ❤ I'm grateful I get more chances to be a better trainer for her, seeing as I have a LOT to work on! There's such an important balance to be found for providing guidance and instruction, yet not holding them back or stunting growth.

-I've been studying the topic of "Grace" lately in my personal study, and it has been super awesome! I love it! I agree 100% with Elder Bednar in his comment of 'grace' and 'agency' being two commonly misunderstood topics in the church. A lot of times people ask about our belief of being "saved by grace, after all we can do." There is often a big misconception here! Through Jesus Christ we can overcome physical and spiritual death. ALL who have lived on the earth will  be resurrected and have a perfected body. But if we want to return to live in God's presence eternally, we need to also be cleansed from sin. We can do that by repenting! We accept Christ as our Savior by exercising faith in Him, repenting, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Sorry for the jumbled notes... I'll try to gather some more for later. God loves us all so much and wants to bless us. He requires us to make covenants because He respects our agency. With great privilege comes great responsibility. He won't force all of the blessings of covenants on us because there is great responsibility that comes from those covenants!

 I LOVE my Christmas present!!! Thanks mom and dad!

-Online Teaching center highlight: Chelsea from Washington! She was a member referral from a member who called into mormon.org with her information. Chelsea had been looking for a church, and the member had invited her to attend a service for our church! I've been in touch with Chelsea on and off since December. She's been really difficult to get a hold of in the past (the Local missionaries in WA were never able to meet her), but it turns out she recently moved to HAWAII!!! Crazy right?! Hopefully she'll make it up to Laie sometime soon so that we can meet her in person! How cool would that be?! God is working in her life.

-One more TC highlight: This was an experience that reaffirmed to me the truth that God is hastening His work through technology. While missionary work is still mostly us going out and finding prepared individuals, technology is allowing so many prepared people to come and find US!! It's incredible! It's helping all of God's missionaries use their time more effectively. KerriAnn is a perfect example of a prepared individual who reached out to us by requesting a free copy of the Book of Mormon through mormon.org. I called her and ended up having a 15-20 minute conversation with her over the phone. She has been facing some challenging times, and she knows the word of God can help her through them. She isn't very familiar with the Book of Mormon at all, but she saw an advertisement on Facebook about it, and decided to request a copy. I was able to testify of God's love for her, and that this is an answer to her prayers and searching. I taught her many principles about the message of the restoration, and helped her identify the peace she felt as the Holy Ghost. I testified that this is Christ's restored church, and that she can know truth for herself through prayer (and the Holy Ghost will testify of truth to her). I felt prompted to extend the baptismal invitation to her at the end of our conversation, so I asked her "when you learn more from the missionaries and come to know these things are true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority of God?" ...and she ACCEPTED!! Haha! Wow huh?! It was a pretty unique and spirit-filled experience. She is so prepared! I'm excited to see her grow and change, and to witness how the gospel blesses her😊

Sis Lin 2's drawing

-A Visitors' Center highlight: We met Maura and her family from Boston. They were so awesome! The lesson I learned for them was 1. to ALWAYS extend the guest card with an invitation to learn more, and 2. if you don't extend the guest card and invite them to learn more, GO BACK and extend it!! We had a wonderful walking lesson with them, and it came time to return to the tram. We shared some heartfelt experiences, and the Spirit was there. We had given them a copy of the Book of Mormon and bookmarked Alma 32 with a pass along card with our number on it, and we were walking back to the VC. I was reflecting on how we hadn't even extended the guest card, yet they seemed so open and receptive. I thought "what am I thinking??!" I stopped and turned to Sister Hunkin (we were halfway back to the front gate by now) and said "let's go back and extend a guest card to them!" So we turned around, went back, got back on the bus (they were the only ones on at the time) and extended the invitation to fill out the guest card and learn more. They did, and they checked the box indicating they would like local missionaries to visit when they return home! Wow huh?! Their family can be soooo blessed by the gospel! It was super neat because the dad said that he's been feeling God working in his life, and he knows that he'll be following God again soon. He was a Christian when he was young, but hasn't been since age 15. I know God is working in his life and his family's lives!!!

-One more VC highlight: We spoke with a family from Honolulu. The husband was somewhat familiar with our church. We were teaching about the restoration, and he said "well, why wouldn't Joseph Smith be a prophet?? God called prophets before, like Moses and Abraham, so why wouldn't He call one today??" It toootally caught me off guard because that's what WE tell GUESTS all the time... but this time it was a guest telling US haha! It was awesome! God really does show His love for us by calling a prophet still today! God is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

-Today for pday I attempted to take a nap with earplugs in, but I feel like I could still hear the roosters crowing in the distance hahaha aaaahhhhhhhhh there's no escape from the chickens here! Our friendly neighbor hen, "Hayhay" as we named her, has been dutifully incubating her eggs the past week or so. Hopefully we get little chicks soon! We decided to try out the new "waffle on a stick" food truck at the Fijian market... it was awesome! They even gave us our food for free!:') #ILoveBeingaMissionaryinLaie I tried the "weenie waffle". It had a hot dog surrounded by waffle. What a fun concept! They also had a bunch of different soda combinations, and we found one of the combos that was called "Go and Dew" so we HAD to take a pic of course. That's what we missionaries do! ...We take pics! ...and I suppose we "go and dew" (the Lord's command) too😉 It was fun to try some new things around Laie!

We decided to try out the new "waffle on a stick" food truck at Fijian market... it was awesome!
They even gave us our food for free❤ #lovebeingamissionaryinlaie

We "go and dew" what the Lord commands every day here!!!😉

so punny😉 I thought Colby and Bryson would get a kick out of these

Here is the one and only "weenie waffle"!!! It was a Hawaiian hot dog in the middle of a waffle... it was tasty! I also tried bites of the banana one, the oreo one, and the pizza one.. each were delish! The oreo was probably my fav😊

Love my mission grandma!😉

Love you all!
Keep smiling!
Sister Flake

We love the McOmbers!

we love all VC sisters!!

departing sisters... drowning in leis

Aloha 'oe. Sis Lundgren from Idaho

Sister Taki from Japan

Sis Otani from Japan

Sis Tu'avau from CA (Tonga)

Sis Webb from Idaho

Sis Sicotte from NC

Apostles, prepared hearts, and RAIN

Aloha my ohana! This week was fabulous and it went by fast!! I hit my 5 month mark this week... THAT'S CRAZY!!! I learned something this week from Elder Bednar about why missions go so fast... we got to have a special Visitors' Center gathering with Elder Bednar on Sunday. He did a Q&A session for a little bit over an hour. IT WAS AMAZING. I KNOW that Elder Bednar is truly an apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ! THIS is Jesus Christ's church on the earth, and contains the fullness of Christ's gospel, as well as the restored proper authority! The "restoration" is ongoing today because this is the true and living church! What a blessing it is:) One of the questions Elder Bednar answered was about understanding God's timing. Elder Bednar answered the question by explaining that we as divine spirit children of God are uncomfortable in "time". We're not used to "time"! That's why we take pictures and make scrapbooks and such--it eases that discomfort/tension. God does not live in "time", but in "eternity". As you draw close to things of the Spirit, you draw close to "eternity", and become less constrained by "time". That explains why Spirit-filled meetings and experiences fly by so fast! In mortality, or "time", our brains work linearly. God's ways/thoughts are not our ways/thoughts, and we will understand one day how God's course is one eternal round. My mind was tooootally blown as he explained this hahaha. Elder Bednar also talked about how two misunderstood topics in the church are 'grace' and 'agency'. If you study his talks, you'll find that common theme. He talks a lot about being agents who act, and accessing the Savior's grace from His Atonement. We are each agents who act. Agency is to be used for righteousness, not to do what you "want" to do. Man, I could go on and on about the things I learned and felt! It was incredible, and I would consider it life-changing because of the things I learned and felt. I got to shake his hand after the meeting, and I felt the love of the Savior in his eyes as I thanked him.

-Friday was Chinese New Year!!! Since we've got so many Chinese-speaking sisters here, we got to have a party to celebrate!!! It was SO MUCH FUN:):) The Chinese-speaking sisters prepared a presentation/dance for us to learn more about the culture, and we had a potluck dinner where I got to eat lots and lots of yummy Asian food. I looove dumplings>>> We then got to watch Mulan, which is one of my absolute favs:) It's such a great movie! It's got a great message too about seeking to find yourself. I'm such a missionary... picking out the spiritual messages in everything haha!;) It was a wonderful evening:)

Love my Chinese comp!! holding my "red pocket"

Potluck dinner 

So many dumplings and noodles and rice and deliciousness:):):) ...except the chicken feet hahaha

Happy Chinese New Year!

hahaha i love being a missionary. someone made this

"Hu" means "lake" in Chinese. It's my Chinese name the sisters picked.

Also, at the Chinese New Year party came my food announcement for the week (I'm not going to call it a highlight because it was naaasty haha) was......
-CHICKEN FEET. Yep, the foot of a chicken. And no, I won't be trying it again if I can help it haha! It wasn't that bad... but honestly I mentally prepared myself to try it, then I [tried] took a bite, but it was all bone and fat!!! There was nothing to EAT! The fililpino sisters told me I had to eat the palm part, so I tried biting it and got a little piece of i-don't-even-know-what in my mouth, and I hurried and chewed and swallowed it so that I can say I've 'eaten chicken foot' hahaha. It felt like I was eating rubber. Well, you win some and you lose some... I'll stick with my dumplings;)

CHICKEN FOOT AHHHHH

-This week it rained. And I mean it really RAINED. We had flash flood warnings all Saturday night and Sunday. It was NUTS how much it rained! The people here said this is the most rain they've seen at once in years. So, my companion and I decided to make the most of the rain and ENJOY it!!!! One night after we returned home for the day, we put on exercise clothes and went out to dance in the rain! It was so much fun:) It made me think of all of the times I went and played in the crazy downpours in MN with my fambam:') Here we had a big puddle in our front yard, so I decided to make a slip-n-slide out of it hahaha we had a lot of fun just playing around, laughing, dancing, and getting totally soaked. It was wonderful! Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain;) (love you Julie Ann!)

3 Generations pictured haha... sis Blake is still full-field!

We love rain!

-This week I had another wonderful experience with fasting. Fasting is something I'm really coming to love, appreciate, and understand its purpose more here on my mission. One purpose of my fast this time dealt with seeking for continued meaningful service opportunities/interactions. And of course, the Lord answers our prayers/fasting, but this time it was QUICK haha! On morning shift we met Ricardo from Oklahoma. He bought a one-way ticket to Hawaii, and we came to discover that he's searching for his purpose. God definitely led him to us! He said he didn't like how "stuck in their ways" the people back home seem to be, and wanted to escape it for a while and come to know himself better. He decided it would be helpful to come to a place with so many cultures! Hawaii fits that job description for sure!! I think one of the coolest things with Ricardo was that we were able to so clearly and repetitively identify the Spirit's presence to him. He kept getting goosebumps as we spoke, and we testified that it was the Holy Ghost, this is Christ's church, and God led him here today. I was reminded to really focus on teaching to Ricardo's needs. We are not trying to "sell" the gospel like you would a product. We KNOW the gospel can help everyone, and we do our best to follow the Spirit, and invite action, to lead themselves to discover that. Ricardo was open and willing to learn more about his purpose. When he returns home(likely in a few weeks) local missionaries will be visiting him, and hopefully his family as well! I know the gospel can bless them in ALL aspects of their lives. The gospel brings more unity and love into families, consistent peace, and a confidence in who you are, where you come from, and God's plan for you. Man, I love this gospel!

Ricardo from Oklahoma

-God leads so many people to the VC who have prepared hearts! Rosalie from Canada, Kathy from Australia, and Jocelyn & family from California... they have all met, or are currently meeting with, missionaries! Also, Jake & Michelle from Ohio, and Samantha from Toronto were so prepared and ready to learn more. I thought Samantha's experience with the gospel was cool. She knows a little bit about the church, but it's all through social media through Al Fox and Hailey Devine. It goes to show that God intends for social media to be used as a great missionary tool! Sharing simple testimony on social media is not overlooked. It makes a difference in people's personal conversions! I challenge each of you to reach out and share a simple testimony through social media (or using technology in general) this week. It could involve a resource from mormon.org or lds.org, or it could be a simple personal testimony. You could post it on social media, call/text someone and share it, etc... and let me know your experience! Go be an answer to someone's prayer:)

Well, I'm learning lots about myself, God, and my fellow brothers and sisters on this earth! I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and friend. As it says in D&C 19:23, "23 Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me."
Learn something new of Christ this week! Love you all!
Sister Flake

Here is the update on Hayhay! 12 eggs she's sitting on!

Breakfast with Cece and Jess (Cece is Sis Hunkin's cousin, and Jess is her friend). They work at FiaFia farms at pcc, a snack shack.

Free smoothie from FiaFia farms:)) reminded me of Cancun ;)

fun little bus we found in the chapel haha

We played volleyball this morning!! So fun!

DAD!! There's a new "Meet the Mormons" that was recently released called "The Craftsman" and you would LOVE it!... sneak peak on what it's about ;)

Guess who I saw on pday evening last week??!?! Yep, the Winegars from Centerville!!!

 

Guess who else came?? The Hosmans!! And they delivered PB PRETZELS😍 and notes and love from home:) 

The Wilson family from Maple Grove MN!

Mary Winchester from Centerville! Recognized her from middle school hahaha!
She even remembered my name was Ashley! She's at BYU-H.

Apple pie dessert at Nakatsukas😍

Dinner w The Nakatsukas! We love them so much :) I ate THE MOST RICE IN ONE SITTING EVER. 

Eggs galore, spiders, and loads of personal learning!!!

Yep! We're missionaries!

Aloha my ohana!

-Saturday I had exchanges with Sister Edington from Vegas. We met several really awesome people, one of whom was Kelly.  Kelly came to Hawaii on her own for a weekend trip. She was driving around the island, saw the temple, and decided to pull over and explore (she sounds pretty typical tourist, right?! We get this sort of thing a lot). Her faith/belief in God is wishy washy and kind of comes and goes. She couldn't really articulate why though. We were really able to get to know her and some of her concerns though, and by the end we were all so much more comfortable with each other! Sister Edington is really good at being "real" with people, and being very personable/on their 'level'/straight up. After watching "Because He Lives" (SUCH a good video... https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-04-1010-he-lives-celebrate-easter-because-jesus-christ-lives?lang=eng), the Spirit was super duper present! I asked about her "strength" tattoo, and she said she got it after she was hit by a car and only had a sprained ankle from it. We pointed out to her that her survival/minimal injuries are a MIRACLE, and that God was protecting her! Deep down I feel like she knows there really is a God, there's just some other concerns that cloud her vision sometimes. I know she felt something today, whether she decides to act on the experience or not. I learned some important things from Sister Edington about really teaching to people's needs (not being on my own agenda), and fully trusting your companion. I knew I could always count on her to have something to say, and she is good at yielding to the Spirit!

Exchanges w/ Eister Edington! She got a kick out of our little farmhouse🐣

-Official Egg Count as of 2/15/18??? NINE!!!!!!!! There are 9 eggs sitting just outside our front door as we speak 😂... I'm not sure what we're supposed to do with them 🐣! We did find and name our culprit though. We named her Hayhay, after the chicken in Moana. We can count on a new egg every other day! By Easter we'll have plenty of free eggs to color;)

-Food highlight: I gave Sister Goodman money to buy Peanut butter pretzels for me from Costco, and she got me some this week WOOHOO. I think I'm addicted to them... they're not as good as Seven Brother's french fries, but they're still a Sister Flake favorite😉 AND they make me think of my travels in Paris and London with mom last year around this time when we ate PB pretzels on the daily!

"I'm in love I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!!!" -Elf 😂💕

-SO, a super neat update on Clement and Chandra (Sister Hunkin picked up their request for a free Bible her first week here). It's conversations for Bible requests like theirs that help me understand why they have missionaries contacting these requests. When we called to confirm information with them for their free Bible, before Sister Hunkin hung up I felt prompted to ask Clement a few questions. We came to find out that he recently moved and has been trying to find a church! We invited Clement to attend church with the local missionaries and he agreed to do so! It was neat to see God's hand in the situation. Clement submitted a simple request for a free Bible from mormon.org, but God helped us to know his needs--he needed to attend church at this time and learn more about Jesus Christ's restored gospel! The Holy Ghost really does guide our conversations and helps us discern people's needs. It's SO cool! ANYWAYS, so we've been in touch with Clement and his wife, Chandra, and GUESS WHAT??!! They've gone to church the past few weeks, and Chandra even bore her testimony on Fast Sunday! We got to talk to them on the phone, and they both have such great faith. Chandra said she feels God has a calling for her in this church. We promised her He DOES! God has a calling for ALL of His children in this, His church! They are planning on being baptized the second week in March. Sister Hunkin and I are soooo excited for them!

Clement's wife Chandra and their son and granddaughters. Chandra is DARLING.
She tells us she loves us and sends us uplifting messages💕

-SCARY HIGHLIGHT: On Sunday night we came home from online teaching, and I leaned onto my bed to grab something, and when I did so, I startled a HUGE SPIDER that was chilling right by my headboard on my bed. IT WAS GIGANTOR. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was nearly the size of my palm with it's legs spread out normal. I think it was a cane spider?? Look it up... nasty creature ewwww. Normally spiders don't freak me out, but this one got to me! The picture I took doesn't really do it justice. Sister Tu'avao came to the rescue with her broom to kill it. It took me forever to fall asleep though because my heart got going so fast from the initial scare. I'm grateful that we don't see those things very often! I'm also grateful I'm serving my mission in a place that doesn't have many creepy-crawlies!

SCARIEST MOMENT OF THE ENTIRE WEEK OMGOSH--it took my heart a long time to start beating normally again after a run in with this fellow. Yikes!

-One of my absolute FAVORITE people we met this week was Kyle. She was SO AWESOME. It was a cool experience for me that helped me see how inspired our approach to missionary work is here at the Visitors' Center and the PCC. We were at the PCC inviting people to take the tram tour, and it had started raining pretty hard a few minutes prior. Kyle walked by and stopped for a second under the big ticket-taker umbrella. I'm not sure where she was headed, but I invited her to take the tram tour, and because it was raining, she said she might as well! Both Sister Hunkin and I felt drawn to speak with her as we disembarked at the VC. She was sort of shy, especially at first, but really warmed up to us. When we headed back after our tram tour time with Kyle, it was essentially done raining. I know that one reason God sent the pouring rain was so that Kyle would come on the tram tour and feel the Spirit at the temple here! I'm sooo glad God made it rain;) On our way back to the tram, we asked her what her favorite part about the VC was, and she sincerely responded, "you two!!" We felt so much of God's love for her, and I know she felt something special here. We tried our best to really teach to her needs, and it made ALL the difference. She's got faith in Jesus Christ, but I would say she's still working on "spiritual confidence." I could sense her soul is searching for truth and guidance. She's got some distractions, as do we all, but one reason I love weekly church attendance and regular temple attendance is that they refocus us on the eternal, and clear the fog of distractions. (see Elder Bednar's talk from oct 2017. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/exceeding-great-and-precious-promises?lang=eng). We were able to testify of God's love for her and give her the opportunity to feel the Spirit testify to her heart. She'll be reading Alma 32, and we will be following up with her to send local missionaries!

Our new friend Kyle! We built a great connection with her, and are trying to help her find even more purpose! She was darling💕

-Speaking of which...Alma 32 is amazing. I use it a lot in my missionary work, so I decided to study it more this week. I LOVE the entire chapter, but I want to point out something from verse 6. "And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word."
I can testify that God IS preparing people to hear His word--the message of His restored gospel. I try to cherish every opportunity I get to "behold with great joy" the people I meet who our Heavenly Father has prepared to receive His word! I love this concept and I know it still applies today, because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God is preparing people NOW, and it's our job to follow the Spirit to find them. You can ALL do this too! It's not just full time missionaries. God is preparing people that YOU interact with on a day-to-day basis. They are noticing your example. Follow the gentle promptings of the Spirit and you will see miracles happen! I promise;)

-This week I saw lots of progress with following promptings and teaching to other's needs by the Spirit. We followed lots of promptings! I had many prayers answered💕 It's a neat experience to be prompted to say something (especially when I was planning to say something else), and it turns out to be just what the person needed to hear/understand/be reminded of to take a step closer to Christ.

-I've been studying this talk a lot lately... in both district meeting and relief society! It must be something God needs me to focus on;) It's a great talk!! I know God DOES have a special and specific work for EACH of us to do. click here for the talk

-I LOVE 1 Nephi 13:20-29, 40-41, Isaiah 29:4, 11-18, Ezekiel 37:15-17... The Bible and the Book of Mormon support and enhance one another! The Book of Mormon is the second witness that the Bible talks about. The Book of Mormon gives us those plain and precious truths that were taught by Christ, but had since been changed or lost. Also, in D&C 87 Joseph Smith predicted the Civil war so that's kinda cool.

-Mosiah 18:30 "And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever."
Hawaii is becoming the "waters of Mormon" for me! Hawaii is sooo beautiful to me, not just because it really is a naturally beautiful place, but because so many people have come to a better knowledge of our Redeemer here, including myself!
I love serving as an instrument in God's hands. Keep up the great work this week everyone! God has a specific work for YOU to do, and I encourage you to pray and ask Him what it is if you feel you do not already know. He will answer your prayers in His time and His way!

Much love,
Sister Flake

Hahaha I got to drive the scooter to the front for a tram guest who took one of the last trams. (They get dropped off at front by the night show).
It was sorta freaky how fun it was hahaha!!!😂😂

We got heart attacked by the Laie 1st ward laurels! How sweet❤ It made us smile😊 I was trying to blow a kiss but felt too awkward and so I started laughing...

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! Sister Goodman made us all rice krispie treats😊

Silly sisters coming back from tram😏

Met Kiyah, who's friends with Aunt Krista...

...and Kelly (super awesome)...

...and Barringers from Eagan, MN!

Temple trip this fine pday morning! It's nice having the temple as our next door neighbor.

McD's cones are the BEST>>> and it's even better when you get them FREEEE from a coupon😉