1 year!

I GOT TO RECORD IN A LEGIT STUDIO!!! It was the coolest!!!!!

Aloha Ohana!

WOW what a week!! So much has changed over the past 8 days. Before I get into all of the changes though, I wanted to wish Colby and Bryson a very very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! I hope you have great birthdays this coming week! I sure love you two goobers😉

This week I hit my year mark! I have officially been serving as a full-time missionary for a year now. Time flies. It's been fun to reflect upon all I've learned and experienced. I'm sure grateful to be out here serving the Lord! To make it even better, Sister Taufa and I have been put back together as companions again!! Wahoooooo! We had such a grand time being companions in the Missionary Training Center a year ago, and I'm stoked to be serving so closely with her again! Not only will we be companions, but we'll also be serving as two of the four total Sister Training Leaders over the entire visitors' center. The other two are Sister Preslar and Mondejar. I am just jazzed for this opportunity to come to love these sweet sisters more and more.

Back at it again with Sis Taufa!!!!!!!! #MTCcomps...comps4ever

This was just a great day😀 Sis Morse found out she was training, I found out I was STL, a member dropped off Subway... life is good👍

Tuesday was "transfer day," and 7 new sister missionaries arrived at the VC (1 Korean, 1 Taiwanese, 2 New Zealand, 3 from the Mainland USA). The new sisters are so awesome! Two more will potentially be arriving mid-transfer, later in October. I can still clearly remember parts of my first day in Laie a year ago. I remember having lunch at the Swinton's house with the STL's, and being so excited (and also feeling so brand new at it all!!). It's different being on the other side of it all, still at the lunch, but this time as one of the STL's. Another change this transfer is how we organize our districts. Previously, some of the Elders serving in the neighboring towns were called to be district leaders, meaning they are sort of "in charge" of about 8-10 of the Sister missionaries here in Laie. This week we are switching to having SISTER district leaders here at the VC! Exciting, huh?! Instead of Elders preparing trainings at our weekly district councils, the Sister District Leaders will (No boys allowed!!!😉) Additionally, instead of the STL's going on exchanges with every single sister (which would be extremely difficult with 44 total sisters here now) each transfer, the STL's do exchanges with the Sister District Leaders, and the Sister District Leaders do exchanges with the other 6 sisters in their district. I'm excited to see these changes bring improvement and greater unity to the Sisters here at the VC!

District Temple Trip!❤

My District for Transfer #8

Being an STL at a Visitors' center is slightly different than serving as an STL full-proselyting. Here at the VC, the STL's work very closely with the VC director and his wife (the Allens) to lift, inspire, encourage, love, and serve the Sisters here. We are constantly seeking inspiration from the Lord on how to increase effectiveness and be greater instruments in His hands here in Laie. We create the schedule for all of the Sisters' VC, TC, and PCC shifts, as well as the newly implemented "area days" (no assigned shifts at the VC, PCC, or TC, but the sisters are given more time to work in their areas. We especially scheduled these for sisters serving in Family wards in Laie). We need a minimum of 38 sisters to run everything here at the VC, PCC, and the minimum requirements Salt Lake has sent for TC. The reason we will be receiving so many more sisters is for the TC. We want to be able to not just meet the minimum, but to FILL all of the available computers with sisters doing TC work! There is MUCH to be done with our online work😀 The Lord is hastening things! It's been a humbling experience to be given these opportunities to serve all of the Sisters here. I've definitely been reminded that I of myself am weak. I can't do it alone. BUT the wonderful thing is that I'm not supposed to take on any responsibility alone! It's really a daily choice to rely upon the Savior. His grace really can enable us to do more than we could ever do with our own talents/abilities (which, if you think about it, were given to us by Him anyways 😄). I definitely can't do this alone!

Another big change is that I've switched areas. Sister Taufa and I are now assigned to serve in a FAMILY WARD! Yipee!!! We are serving in the Laie 2nd ward. Both Sister Taufa and I are new there (it's called "whitewashing" an area when both are new), so it'll be an adventure figuring everything out in the area. The most exciting news to me??? We have people being taught in our area, and I get to teach them in the flesh!!! That might sound super weird or over-dramatic, but mind you I've been serving in a married student ward for 10 months (which I absolutely LOVED by the way, don't get me wrong!!!) that was 100% members of the Church. Sister Hunkin and Yamaji were in L2 before Sis Taufa and I, and they have several people being taught. We already taught a darling woman yesterday. She is from Chicago, but has lived in Hawaii for several years. Her husband and his brother own a delicious Mexican food truck at PCC. We were able to get to know her, come to understand more about why she wants to study with us, and begin discussing the Plan of Salvation. We'll be continuing that lesson next Tuesday evening. There were 3 wonderful sisters from the L2 ward that were also present at the lesson. My teaching skills definitely need improving, but it was a good reminder to me that I of myself will never convert anyone to Jesus Christ's gospel, but rather the SPIRIT is the true teacher. We'll be teaching a few more lessons on Sunday to different people being taught. I'm PUMPED to get out working in the area more, and to help people come closer to Christ through making covenants with Him! It's not about numbers, it's about covenants.

Sasakis! Dinner with them was yummy japanese dumplings.

Eastwoods from M2

Bye senior sisters!❤

Goodbye Dunns! I'll miss M2, but I'm so excited for L2

One super rad thing that happened this week is the opportunity to record my new song at the BYU-H recording studio on campus! It was SWEET!!! Elder Chandler knew someone who was able to connect us with a guy who studied music in Nashville for 4 months at a trade school. We took an hour and a half to record my new song "Unchanging Truths." We've just got the music done, but Elder Chandler wants to put visuals to it, so that's why we haven't posted it yet. Hopefully I'll have a copy of the audio file soon to send for you all to have a sneak peak. I'm grateful for the unique opportunities I'm getting here to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others! Music is one of the most powerful ways to help others feel the love the Savior has for them. More to come soon😃

Oh yeah, and Sister Morse went to the optometrist. She got her eyes dilated so she was rockin' some awesome shades at the doc's office haha. Enjoy the pics.

Optometrist #koolkids

Well, please let me know what questions you have about all of the changes!! Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything oober big.
Have a fabulous week, and keep loving the pace of life God's given you! That pace is constantly changing... Enjoy it😊

He > I
Love, Sister Flake

Bye Sis Pressley! Back to Utah.

Bye Sis Leung! Back to Hong Kong

Aloha 'oe!

My food is happy today!😄

Choose to Believe!

THE MOUNTAINS HERE ARE SO BEAUTIFUL! Can't wait for you to see them in person. I live in a postcard 😊🌺

Aloha Ohana!
Can you believe I've almost been out a year?! Crazy. This is the last week of the transfer too, so I'm not sure when my next pday will be. It could be anywhere from a week from today, or next Wed, Thurs, or Sat. There are LOTS of changes coming up at the VC! It's exciting!

We drove to Kailua to the orthodontist for my companion today, and being in a place that is NOT Laie made me realize that missionary life for other missionaries is quite different than how it is at the VC haha. I also realized how unique/out of the ordinary it is for most people to have a conversation about God. I struck up a convo with a lady in the waiting room at the doctors office, and we had a lovely, spirit-filled conversation about faith. I know she'll remember the conversation for several reasons. I'm so grateful I have the opportunity to have so many Christ-centered conversations each day! Being a missionary is the best😊 With it being pday, I also know I could have been so focused on writing letters or doing things I wanted to do, but instead I put this woman first, and focused on helping her feel Christ's love and learn more about the restored gospel... AND we got to eat panda express afterwards, so I'd call the day a success😉

This week I felt a little piece of home as I met the Fords from St Cloud, Minnesota! We knew a few mutual people, and Sister Ford will be keeping an eye out for my family back home now. I just love getting to make so many little connections all the way out here in the middle of the ocean😀

Here is Sister Ford from St Cloud, MN!

During personal study one day, it occurred to me that I am here to light, reignite, or intensify the fire inside of each person I interact with. The light of Christ is given to everyone. I get to make contact with that light, and help it grow brighter. What a happy thing I get to do 24/7! Man, I'm so lucky😊

We got to Facebook video call Chas again this week. She LOVED the visit from the Sisters in Texas, and her kids were present and all loved it too. She said "it was so awesome!!!" over and over again😃 The local sister missionaries called and told us that Chas said the biggest thing she learned from us (Sister Morse and I), or rather felt and expressed to the sisters, was that she could really feel Heavenly Father's love for her through us. That just melted my heart! Everyone deserves to know their divine worth and potential❤

Dinner with Josie (she was a convert at age 17, none of her fam are members). She served a mission and is now married in the temple! Her friends in HS introduced her to the gospel❤

One thing I feel like I learned a lot about this week is seeking for, and receiving, inspiration through the Holy Ghost. I know that God hears and answers our prayers in His time and way!
One thing that I've learned a lot about over the past several weeks relates to gaining conviction and surety of gospel principles. Some people feel like they have to work for hours on end wrestling with every single principle or question in order to find an answer and gain conviction, and until they have that sure witness from the HG for each individual principle, they doubt that it’s true, or consider other religions/mindsets/ideas. They doubt their faith before doubting their doubts. They do not feel confident saying “I know” for hardly anything, thinking that it’s too bold to say you ‘know’ vs you ‘believe.’ I, however, am somewhat the opposite way. I told Elder Allen I feel like you don’t need to have a magnificent sort of experience to know something is true with surety. For me, I just know the gospel is true, and that includes ALL of it! It’s just simply true… because it is! The Holy Ghost has told my heart and my head that this IS the restored gospel and Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I’ve had spiritual experiences to build conviction about particular topics, and I’ve just felt an abundance of the HG all growing up that helps me know this is Christ’s church. I just don’t doubt it one bit! I know it’s true.😀
Choose to have believe! It's the best choice you'll ever make.

I know last week I wrote a ton about the Book of Mormon... but this week I had even more experiences confirming that it was written for our day! Not only that, but there are so many scriptures being fulfilled in our day...
The Book of Mormon and truths of the restored gospel will be "read upon the housetops". Elder Allen suggested that this is coming true. Look at all of the internet wiring, cables, and satellite dishes on top of homes. These things are bringing in all sorts of information, including access to learning about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! (2 Nephi 27:11)
I also meet many sweet and sincere Christ-followers who decline the Book of Mormon and say "I've got my Bible, and that's what I'll stick with" in a kind, but firm, way. It's a literal fulfillment of the scriptures in 2 Nephi 29:3 where it says people will say "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible." Interesting stuff.

I'm almost finished with the song I've been working on called "Unchanging Truths". Hopefully I'll be able to sing it with Elder Chandler before transfers. Here's a sneak peak of the chorus: You can find hope through the things that don't change--God is your Father, He knows you by name. His Son gave it all for your sake. His love never fails; it shows you the way [...] Hope for a better world will carry you through. Hold onto unchanging truths."🎶

Hold on to the simple truths of the gospel! Love the pace of life God has given you this week, and keep smiling😊 I love you all!

Sister Flake

The ultimate hot dogs... I'm serious, dad should open a restaurant like this!!🌭

Here's my delicious "Cali dog" (see #1 on the menu)😋

TCT training with Sisters Huang (Taiwan) and Clark (Philippines). Accurate photo of how tall Sis Morse is😉

The BOM is the BOMB!!!

ʻEhukai Pillbox Hike

Aloha Ohana!

Wow, what a week! It's fun to see the different "theme" of sorts each week takes on. Heavenly Father is always trying to teach me something new😀 I'm so grateful! I'll share some of the things I was taught this week. But first, we've got to get a funny highlight out there. We had a dinner apt with some members in our ward, and they packed up some extra food for us to take with us at the end of our time together. We had eaten fried chicken, among other tasty traditional Tongan foods. On the drive home Sister Morse suggested we give Sister Wu the fried chicken (I've told Sis Morse how obsessed Sis Wu is about fried chicken haha), so we stopped by their home to deliver it. When we walked in, Sis Wu was sitting at her desk facing the opposite direction than us. All of the other sisters were in the kitchen, so we started talking to them. Sister Morse said "so we hear that Sister Wu..." and I finished "loooves fried chicken." The moment Sis Wu heard the words "fried chicken", her head whipped around with the widest eyes I've ever seen, and excitedly said in her adorable accent "fried chicken??!!??!?!?!?" She was SO excited haha! It was the best reaction ever. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget her facial expression haha. I love Sis Wu.

Hurricane (technically "tropical storm") Olivia is on it's way, due to hit us tomorrow I believe? Don't worry too much about us though, we'll be just fine. We're prepared! Prayers for the people on Maui especially though, I think it's supposed to hit them worse than Oahu.

I made beach salsa this week and it reminded me of home. I miss mom's food! My time, talents, and resources are somewhat limited for making food, but it all works out😋 Nothing beats mom's cooking.

I made.... BEACH SALSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got to do a beautiful hike this morning in Sunset (ʻEhukai Pillbox Hike) with Sis Harkness and Takatori. It was super fun! The view from the top was incredible. The ocean here is SO blue. I am in constant awe at all of God's creations. He really really really loves us 😃 Notice the little joys around you each day. God gives us each daily mini miracles to remind us of His love and care!

Cool grafiti inside the bunker thing... someone wrote Phil 4:13 on the wall! The rose among thorns.

Thug life😜

I'm realizing more and more that I can talk to anyone about family. Family is the best! AND the family is central to God's plan, so it all connects perfectly in the end!!

Also, I've been reminded lately that it's all about LOVE. Love is the greatest commandment, and the love of Christ (true charity) is a gift from Heavenly Father to all who are true followers of Jesus Christ (see Moroni 7:48 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/7.48?lang=eng#47). There was a family with two deaf parents who I got to communicate with using my primitive ASL (I mostly spelled out words using the alphabet). After our short conversation, they drove away on the tram tour. They looked back and did the "I love you" sign as they drove away, and mouthed "love you!" It was such a tender and special experience getting to feel sincere love for these precious children of Heavenly Father ❤ It makes me so grateful that the language of the Spirit is universal! "For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding." (2 Nephi 31:3) I love loving!!! ❤

This week I was taught more about the power of the Book of Mormon. Not only is it able to bring sustaining strength as being the word of Christ, but it has some sort of drawing power as well. It draws people to read it. It speaks for itself, really! One of the Facebook lessons Sister Morse and I had this week was with Chas from Texas. She is absolutely incredible, and I'm so excited for her to continue learning more. It was special to get to teach her a lesson via Facebook, and to build a connection with her clear out here in Hawaii. Chas requested a free copy of the Book of Mormon through mormon.org and she said she has a coworker who's always reading the Book of Mormon. Her coworker told her the she (Chas) needs to get herself a copy and read it! Chas decided she wanted to do that. She said her coworker has lost a child, yet is so strong. Chas knows that strength has come to her coworker through the Book of Mormon. She witnessed the power and strength that her coworker receives, and she desires to have that herself too! It's neat that she already knows there is so much power in it, and she hasn't even read it yet!

As a VC we've been focusing on studying the Book of Mormon (BOM) and learning more about how it answers the "questions of the soul". This week we met Aruna and France from the Netherlands. Aruna told me that she has a plethora of religious texts back home that she likes to study to find similarities between religions, and to learn more in general. She said that in all her studying, she's never been able to find an answer to why God allows wars and fighting to happen. I excitedly told her that the BOM contains the answer!! We gave her a copy in Dutch, and wrote down 2 Nephi 2, Helaman 12, Alma 14:9-11, and Alma 60:13 for her to start with. She was VERY interested to learn more! In fact, we met her on Thursday, and she is back home in the Netherlands now and will be meeting with the missionaries there for a second time already! We sent her referral, called the Elders there, and they met her that very day (Monday I believe). I'm so excited for Aruna to continue to find answers to her soul's questions as she studies the Book of Mormon.

On Thursday we gave out copies of the Book of Mormon in Dutch, French, Portugese, and one in English. My mission boundaries really do feel like the whole world!

We also had a facebook lesson with Jas from Texas. She is such a sweetheart. She needs the strength the BOM brings. There will be more to come on both her and Chas!
The Book of Mormon is the BOM(B)!!!!

The Savior brings steadiness in a world full of uncertainty. Trust in Him!
Keep smiling, and love the pace of life God has given you this week😊

Love, Sister Flake

We met one of Logan Shield's mission companions (Logan is Brooke's husband. Brooke was my roomate at USU) Small world!

Scatter Sunshine in September

Alooooha Ohana!
Most important things first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you feel extra special and remembered on your special day. Thanks for being so supportive and loving. I've got the best mom in the universe.❤❤❤❤❤❤

I can't believe it's already September! Time flies. I feel like so much happened this week! I'll try to be concise and not ramble on and on today haha😉

We'll start with some FOOD highlights😋😋 There's lots of those here in Hawaii haha. First, at a dinner appointment with an Indonesian, they made a special Indonesian smoothie. Ingredients? Avocado, sugar, and water. Ha! It sounds super plain, right? But it was actually SUPER good! [I can hear Colby and Bryson now saying "Ooo let's go try it!!!"... make sure to put a cap on the sugar they add. It's sugar with avocado, not avocado with sugar 😂] I'm not entirely sure how much sugar was in it, but regardless, I'd recommend it to you all! An unlikely smoothie mix if you ask me, but the Indonesians do it right.

We also bought a Korean "plate" from someone in our ward trying to raise money for college. They made a yummy Korean fried chicken, egg, rice, onion, pickled raddish dish, and sold it. The verdict? They should start up a food truck here! I love getting to try food from around the world😊

We also had a little breakfast date at the one and only, famous Hukilau Cafe this morning before our VC missionary meeting. It's a fun little restaurant! Sis Morse likes the vibe there. Some tourists from Utah paid for our food, and then sent a picture to our moms. We are so spoiled here. I just love people!

Guess who I saw this week?! Sister Lin from China!!!!!!! (my second companion) She's went home back in March, but she's here in Laie again for school at BYU-H now! I got to see her at the VC and it just made me so darn happy😊 It's funny, but it seems like all sister missionaries gain weight on their mission, but then as soon as they head home it always goes back to normal haha. She brought some yummy Hainan snacks/treats for us to try. It really did just make my heart happy to see her again, and it made me realize just how grateful I am for this mission experience and the incredible friendships made, among countless other blessings from serving.

We had Zone Conference this week, and learned tons about working together with members in doing missionary work. Really the missionary force is hundreds of thousands of people around the world (all of the Church members!), with 70,000 of us being full-time. When we as full-time missionaries actively seek to simply assist the ward members in sharing the gospel with their own friends and family, more of God's children are brought to feel the joy of eternal, restored truths:) Sister Morse and I are super excited because two of the members in our ward have told us that they have friends who they're going to invite over for dinner, and they want us to come teach them. Now some of you might say "wow, just two?", but you have to understand how exciting this is for us haha! 100% of the people within our ward boundaries are members of the Church. 100% haha. So we're pumped to get to help these members with their friends, and hopefully connect the friends with the missionaries covering their area! So, hopefully we'll be meeting Nikki and Pati this week (the two friends). Pray that things will work out!

One of the big things I learned from my interview with President Bekker is that I need to learn simply. As missionaries, we're constantly reminded to teach simply, but President pointed out that I need to also learn simply. Sometimes we look want it to be some complex, grandiose answer or solution, but often the answers to our questions are simple. Have faith. Seek to happily accept the simple answers. Don't make something more complicated than it has to be. Simplicity is beautiful!

Oh! On Thursday I got to meet a super rad Italian family from Rome. It made me think of Dad and his mission when he was my age. It was fun to be able to tell the family that I'd been to Rome, and love it there. I got to tell them about the temple, which will have an open house soon that I hope they'll go to. We were able to give them a copy of the Book of Mormon in Italian, and share simple testimony in English since my Italian vocabulary is just slightly less than average;)

I know last week I mentioned meeting Dominique. He had told us he didn't want to meet with missionaries yet, or give us his info so we could help him, but we gave him our number. Well, guess what? He texted us!! We were pumped to hear from him, and we're excited to help him learn more. He went to church with his friend on Sunday, and went to family home evening last night. He texted us "I gotta say I am blown away by chapter 14-The Book of Mormon. :-)" We're so excited for him to see these truths bless his life!!! 😃

Man, I have absolutely loved getting to be a teaching center trainer. Even thought it's technically an opportunity to train and lift others, I definitely feel like I've been the one to be blessed by it the most! The gospel of Jesus Christ has all sorts of counterintuitive things like that haha;) I will forever be indebted to the Lord. I really appreciate that being a TCT has helped me learn how to love more. While doing a one on one training with Sister Cho, she told me "you have so much love in your heart!!!" It made me reflect on the growth I've seen in myself so far on my mission, and made me so grateful for the blessings Heavenly Father has given me for serving a mission. I'm so lucky to get to be a part of this work for this short 18 months!

I had exchanges with Sister Withers this past week, and was taught again the importance of enduring to the very end. With only 5 minutes left of our shift, I started a convo on the temple grounds with a couple I'd talked to at PCC earlier. We showed them around the VC super briefly, introduced the Book of Mormon, invited them to have missionaries bring a copy back home, and they accepted! Keep moving forward with faith until the very end! When you move forward in faith, miracles happen.

Exchanges with Sister Withers

Oh yeah, and all of you out there on Facebook, search "Scatter Sunshine in September" and add yourself to the group! Sister Morse and I will be posting an uplifting message there each day during the month of September, with messages coming from the Book of Mormon, the Bible, mormon messages, and general conference quotes. Pray to know who of your Facebook friends can use an uplifting message each day during September, and add them to the group too! Scatter sunshine this September!!! 😀 ☀

Well, I sure love you all! Keep smiling, and love the pace of life God's given you this week😊

Sister Flake

Here's our online coach, Ben Maughan! He goes to BYU provo and works at the MTC.

Dad's spirit animal😉

Spot the crab. the one that blends in...

Surfers at Turtle Bay!

What fruit is that?! It looked like pineapple but was on a tree and is not pineapple😂