Burrito bigger than a baby

Aloha Ohana!

This week was wonderful😀 It's crazy how much can change in a week! The most exciting announcement of the week was definitely being able to call home every week. It is an inspired change that I am certain will hasten the work of the Lord even more! It was such a boost to get to talk with the family today. My weekly emails will probably be shorter now as a result.

I went on an exchange with Sister Ahlers this week. She is so awesome! She's been out 6 months, she's from Salt Lake City, and she is so happy to be here😊 We spent the day in her area in Hilo. I was reminded of the importance of being creative in the work that we do, no matter what the work may be (missionary work, school work, employment work, etc). While we were on our exchange, we decided to do a "gratitude project" during our 5-7pm finding time. They had made cookies the day before, so we brought cookies with us, as well as expo markers and a white board with the question "what are you grateful for?" written on the top. We walked around and asked people to write something they were grateful for on the board. People were really digging it! So were us missionaries! It was neat to see the things people are most grateful for. Most people were grateful for other certain people, particularly family. God puts people in our lives for a reason. I definitely believe that we need more gratitude in this world! I have such a testimony of the blessings of gratitude. It brings so much joy! Even during the hardest days or weeks we have in life, if we take time to be grateful for the blessings God has given us, we will be able to have peace and joy in our heart. That gratitude could take form in simply saying thank you to God for 3 things that day in a prayer before you go to bed. He will help you see His hand in your life that day! This week as I tried to recognized God's hand in my life more, I was happier! It's a principle that applies to us all😊😊😊 It blows my mind what some people's realities are, but I know that EVERYONE has something to be grateful for. We will always have something to be grateful for because of Jesus Christ's perfect sacrifice. That will never change💗

Here's the results of our gratitude project we did around Hilo during finding time! It was super fun😀

I love Sister Ahlers. She is 6 months out, from SLC, Utah, and such a great missionary! We were very happy together💗

On exchanges with sister Ahlers we had a lesson with Antone

Also on exchange we went to lunch at a Mexican place and the burrito I got was literally the BIGGEST burrito I've seen in my entire life. It was the size of a small child. It was HUGE!!! Haha!
While we are on the topic of food, I had some BOMB shave ice today. It had sweet potato ice cream on top... which sounds gross, but was actually the best part! I learned to love purple ice cream today.

THIS WAS THE BIGGEST BURRITO I'VE SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE (hand for scale)

Bro Featherin and Sis Ahlers at Lucy's Mexican restaurant

A member owns this shave ice truck "big island shave ice" and gave us free shave ice... it was SO good. The purple part on mine is sweet potato ice cream. Sounds gross but it was the best part😃

YUMMMM>>>

We were able to find a lot of new people to teach this week! We did a "district flood", which is when all of the members of our district (us and 2 sets of Elders) come to one person's area, and we all go out for a few hours and try to find people to teach. It boosts finding in the area. The Waimea and Kohala Elders came to our area, and as a result 3 new people were found to teach! It brought unity to work all together. I'm excited about the new people found this week, especially about Eliana and her brother Elijah. Sister Lavaka has seen Elijah around a lot, and has felt several times that we needed to talk with him, so it was a tender mercy to finally be able to set something up. Hopefully more to come on them next week! We did great getting out and talking with more people. We also found another service opportunity at the library, and of course we had to have a little fun in doing so... see the pic of us looking at the 3D books😂

Here we are having too much fun at our service at the library...it's 3D books!!!! so cool!!!

it actually worked really well... I was entertained😄

Chelsea moved to the Waimea Elders' area, so we won't get to teach her anymore. She is still wanting to be baptized March 10 though, so we'll hopefully be able to go to it! Junior is still thinking about baptism. We have set a tentative goal for baptism on March 9, so please pray that if it be God's will, Junior can feel at peace about moving forward with that. He is such a cool guy!

I also gained a testimony of the importance of having members at our lessons this week. We had a lesson with a Filipino family, and a Filipino member came with us and was able to help work through a lot of their concerns. In fact, the member was previously Catholic, so she knew exactly what the people we were teaching felt like! She was able to bear her testimony of how the Book of Mormon helped resolve a lot of things that were a mystery to her about faith/God before. The Filipino family really listened to, and respected, her. Having her with us made a night and day difference in how the lesson went! I encourage you all to get involved with missionary work in the ward. I know you already do a lot, but continue to look for ways to do even more, and you'll feel the joy of sharing the gospel in even greater measure!!

Okay, well I've got to get going, but I hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep up the good work in all of your wonderful pursuits. This week we have interviews and zone conference, so it will be a busy week.
Keep smiling, and love the pace of life God has given you this week!

Love, Sister Flake

Mango malasada!

We had an FHE at the Seiverts with the power out... they told us that 15 min after we left the power came back on! They thanked us for bringing a good spirit to turn the lights on 😉 Their family reminded me of ours in a few ways, it was so fun.

FHE with Auntie Charlotte and her two nonmember grand-nieces, Josslyn and Mekaelah!