Sister Flake's Mission Blog: Happy Halloween!

I LOVE HAWAII!!🌴

Aloha Ohana! Happy Halloween!

I reached a milestone this week. On Sunday we had a wonderFULL schedule. When I say full, I mean FULL. It was busy!! Because of that, we didn't have much time to eat haha. Soooo I got to the end of the day and I realized that I didn't eat a single vegetable that day. TRAGIC, huh?! That may have been the first day in my life that I didn't eat a single veggie. As weird as it sounds, I can feel a difference the days I eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies vs the days I don't eat as much (or ANY... yikes!). 🥕🍅🥒

A huge highlight this week was meeting Odett and Zoltan from Hungary. They live in the states now. They came on our tram tour from the PCC. We showed them the Christus narration in Hungarian, and it really touched them to hear it in their own language. Then I got to share my testimony about the power and truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I told them how special it is, and how it's blessed my family. I told them they can know if what I said is true or not by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. During our entire interaction, the Spirit was nearly tangible. I know they felt something very very special here. I pointed out the feeling that they were feeling, and promised that they can have it with them more as they continue learning about the message of Jesus Christ's restored gospel. I offered them the Hungarian Book of Mormon as a gift, and as I did so, Odett turned to Zoltan, said something in Hungarian, and then began to cry. Her husband gave her a quick side hug, and then she immediately reached out to me and embraced me. Without hesitation, they then accepted my invitation to learn more from missionaries near them. On the tram ride back to the PCC, I was reflecting on the experience we had with Odett, Zoltan, and their young daughter. IT was in those reflective moments that the Spirit whispered to my heart that Odett was one of the people I was specifically sent here to Hawaii to help. She came all the way from Hungary to the USA, then to the PCC on vacation, and I came all the way from Minnesota... and we crossed paths here in the middle of the ocean. As they departed from our tram tour, Odett looked back at me and said "I hope to see you again!" I knew she meant it. I believe she'll be someone that I'll keep in touch with. It's hard to describe an experience like this one in an email, but just know that it was one of the most meaningful interactions I've had on my mission so far.💗💗💗

I love learning from other people's perspectives. For example, this week I talked with Sandra from New York on the phone. We were talking about the Book of Mormon. She said she's not too familiar with it, but she's very interested to learn more about it because she has heard that it's a "lost book about Jesus" and how it testifies of Jesus Christ. When I asked her what her thoughts were about the things I shared concerning the Book of Mormon, she said it makes complete sense that we have the Book of Mormon. She said "it's impossible for someone as important as Jesus Christ (the most important person to walk this Earth) to only have one record written about Him." SO TRUE. The Book of Mormon is another record written about Christ, from a different group of people in the world. I have since used that perspective several times this week, and it's really helped people to see that concept that we have the Book of Mormon is not strange, but actually quite logical!

Yesterday I saw a double rainbow, and you could see both sides of the arch from where I was standing. I tried to snap a pic, but pictures just don't do nature's artwork justice. It was SO vibrant! Hawaii is one of a kind. I love it here. There's always a rainbow after rain--whenever you have a hard day, week, month, etc, just remember that there is hope! You'll see a beautiful rainbow soon if you just move forward with faith a little bit further😊