Christmas is coming!!!

Aloha Ohana!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving luncheon at the PCC with all of the young and senior missionaries, elderly in the community, and homeless individuals, hosted by the Ah You family. Junior Ah You is the grandfather (he was a pro football player).

We sat by some cute people from a Kahuku elderly community

We got to learn the hula dance for the hukilau song!

We hosted a 1st Annual Visitors' Center Turkey Bowl!!! It was our bonding activity Thanksgiving evening. We did a series of group party games, in teams by district. We all had a wonderful time together, and had some good laughs. My personal favorite round was the companionship pie eating contest. One sister was the "hands" and fed the other sister her pumpkin pie from behind her (sorry, poorly explained, but the point is that it was funny to watch)😁


Sister Nield, a senior sister, got luau tickets for me, my companion, and two others, so we went to a Luau today with Sister Preslar and Sister Boyce. It was so fun! I love the PCC😊

Thank you Sis Nield! She gave us the luau tickets😃

Sure love these sisters! Front row seats.

Look at the pigs leg hanging off the side haha

Oh! I realize I haven't even told you about Tiana and Treasure! They are the most precious girls that we are teaching. They are 16 and 11, and their mom is a member of the Church, but hasn't been in quite some time. The girls have been taught by missionaries in the past, but it just didn't seem to be their time to accept the gospel because of some reservations. Sister Taufa and I were really able to connect well with them. They are pretty shy, but are starting to open up with us. Tiana is a great example as a big sister, and she has had several experiences with having prayers answered and knowing God exists. She really wants to find more strength through Him, and she wants to learn more about Him. They are definitely prepared! My favorite question of the evening was from Tiana. At the very end of our lesson she asked "how did God know that Joseph Smith was the right person to restore His church?" We were able to explain that we lived with God in heaven before we lived on Earth. Each of us on the Earth today chose to follow God's plan of happiness, centered on Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith was chosen before he was even born because of his pure, sincere faith in Jesus Christ. We were impressed with her question and understanding of the experiences of Joseph Smith we'd shared with her.

Treasure and Tiana!💗

On Saturday we got to attend a baptism of two 8-yr-old kids in our ward in Hauula. The best part was that we had Tiana and Treasure with us! They'd never seen a baptism before, so we were excited to get to watch one with them. Hopefully it will help their desire to be baptized to grow. Now they've seen that baptism is so exciting, and not scary at all! There is always such a special feeling of peace at baptismal services.
On Sunday the Aunas picked them up and brought them to the first hour of church. We were so excited that they came! We'll be teaching them again this week, and we are so excited to continue getting to know them!

Christmas is coming!!! On Sunday we had the first Christmas musical fireside of the season at the VC! This one was the VC Sisters' fireside. Sister and Elder Luker have organized all of the musical firesides for each Sunday leading up to Christmas. Sister Preslar and I sang a duet of "The First Noel". I just love sharing my testimony of the Savior through music!

Sister Preslar and Sister Luker. Thanks Sister Luker for all your work on the fireside!

Funny highlight: On exchanges with Sister Wong, we talked to a lady over the phone who had some questions. Sister Wong was talking about the gift of the Holy Ghost at one point, but the lady thought she said "give up the holy ghost". The lady was SO surprised and confused, and thought Sister Wong was referencing death or something hahaha! The lady's tone of voice was the best part as she said "give up the holy ghost?!?!??" Sister Wong and I were cracking up😂

Exchange with Sister Wong!

This week I was reminded that everyone is in need of something. No one has a "perfect" life. Everyone has concerns or questions inside. I feel so grateful that for a year and a half I get to focus entirely on helping other people on their earthly journey. It is such a special experience getting to meet people and build such deep connections with them so quickly as they share the desires or concerns in their hearts. There's something about missionaries that makes people feel comfortable opening up--I guess it's that they can feel that we are special representatives of Jesus Christ (even if they don't recognize that, or know about our Church or our call as missionaries). This week we met Tiffany from California. She was recently laid off for the second time, so she has decided to go back to school for nursing. She is seeking direction in life. She's been reaching out to old high school acquaintances and asking them if she can go to their churches with them. She wants to find the right one for her. There's just been a lot that's been changing in her life right now, so she's trying to find some strength. She told us that her grandmother recently passed away as well, and it's been really hard for her family. As she opened up about her life experiences, I just kept feeling over and over and over again that she needs the Book of Mormon in her life. So many verses were popping into my mind that would help her! I know the Book of Mormon would help her find answers to her questions. Earlier in the day I actually felt prompted to bring my mini BOM with me to our tram tours, so I stuck it in my trusty muumuu pocket. At the end of our time with Tiffany, I felt like I should show it to her. She thought it was so cool! She looked at the various questions on the inside cover, and chose the one "how can I find peace and joy?" as her most pressing question right now. My life without the Book of Mormon would be vastly different than how my life is with the Book of Mormon. It brings me a stronger sense of direction.

Tiffany from California. She was super cool and definitely searching in her life for something more.

I just love online teaching so much! This week I met Kevin from Indiana. He requested a copy of the Book of Mormon online. I had a wonderful, 20-minute conversation with him where I was able to really get to know him and some of his concerns. He is definitely searching for guidance at this time in his life. He said he wants a church that will help him learn throughout his entire life. He said he appreciates his church, but it feels like it's the exact same thing every single week. He wants a church that can help him get closer and closer to God. I shared how I feel that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has done that for me. I told him of Joseph Smith's experience with the first vision that ushered in the restoration of Jesus Christ's original Church. I told Kevin he could know if it was true or not by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, and he told me he definitely wants to know!! The thing that stood out to me about Kevin is that he was so willing to ACT. He understands that being a disciple of Jesus Christ is really a lifestyle, it's not a Sunday-only thing. I was able to conference call the local Elders in and they set up an appointment to meet with him tomorrow afternoon! Woohoo!

Well, the Christmas season is fast approaching! I can't believe Christmas is less than a month away. I am SO excited for this month! The Light the World campaign for this year is soooo awesome. Check out lighttheworld.org for some great ideas of how to spread Christ's light! There are so many creative ways to spread the light.

Keep smiling! Love the pace of life God has given you this week😊💗

Love, Sister Flake

This is a family that's stationed in Hawaii. They were open to attending a church service near them woohoo!

Here's the dress I bought at Ross for 7 bucks!👏