The Power of Prayer > Power in Honoka'a

Aloha Ohana!

First off, my missionary email is changing to ashley.flake@missionary.org beginning February 12. I believe that emails sent to my old email (ashley.flake@myldsmail.net) will still be forwarded to me at my new email address though.

There's a storm that passed through. It was super windy, so the power has actually been out in Honokaa since yesterday afternoon around 4 pm. It's rumored we won't have power for 2 more days. The work moves forward though! We were out in Paauhau trying to contact some people when the power went out. We had scheduled a dinner appointment (since we can eat with members on the weekends) with the Wolfgramms, and they were making food when the power went out. Soooo we ended up eating kerosene-camping-stove-cooked mac and cheese, chips, gas station burgers, and kerosene-camping-stove s'mores. It was memorable, that's for sure!

The flash was REALLY bright hahaha. The smores and scrabble were awesome though!

This week we met Tim from Maine. He is here in Hawaii working and exploring for about 6 months. He works at the same kava farm that Chelsea works at. We had a lesson with Chelsea on Thursday, and asked her who she knew that might want to talk with us. She said she'd been thinking about it earlier, and she thought Tim would like it! So we met Tim and set up an appointment for Sunday (yesterday). Anyways, that stuff doesn't matter haha. What does matter is that Tim is a new person we are teaching now! After talking with him, I have a renewed testimony of God's timing. Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. Tim didn't grow up in a religious home, and dabbled with it a little bit a few years ago in college, but nothing really came of it then. He said it was a pleasant experience, but he just didn't feel compelled to pursue it. However, he said that lately he's been thinking about it a lot more. He believes in God, but wants to know if God is a good God. He wants more positivity in his life. He wants to find answers to the questions of the soul... he has definitely been prepared to learn more at this time! He's super open with us, and he's willing to act on the message we share. I just love getting to teach people who want to listen and know more. Our lesson with Tim really turned my day around yesterday, and helped me to remember why I am here on a mission. I feel so much joy as I share the gospel with others!

There are a lot of farms here in my area. Things are pretty spread out. We met Uncle Elroy this week, and he picked us a few avocados from his tree in his backyard. The avocados are HUGE! I took a picture. It's almost as big as my face! I'm excited for it to get ripe so I can enjoy some good guac😍

We did some service this week at the salvation army thrift store in town. It was fun to get out and do some service in the community. We are trying to find more service opportunities here! We're planning to do some service at the city library this week, so that should be fun. We are continually trying to find more people to teach. Pray that we'll be led to those who are ready to receive our message!

I officially wish that I spoke Tagalog haha! There are soooo many Filipinos here. Many of them are kind and willing to learn more. We have given out several Tagalog copies of the BOM, and one Ilokano (oh yeah, and English ones of course😉). We are going to have lessons with Lily and Ben this week. They are both cute old Filipinos. We had a mini lesson with Lily this week. The language barrier is pretty severe, but we had a basic conversation about the BOM, and said a prayer with her. Prayer is able to bring the Spirit so powerfully, and the Spirit speaks a language that everyone can understand. After the prayer, Lily pressed her hand to her heart and looked to us with gratitude in her eyes. We didn't need words to know that she was feeling. It was a really special, Spirit-filled moment. Hence the title this week, The Power of Prayer > Power in Honoka'a lol. I mean, the power of prayer is greater than the electrical power in Honoka'a even when the electricity is working too haha!

I have learned (or re-learned I suppose) some important things the past few weeks as I've relied on the Lord extra. At church, one of the lessons was about finding happiness in our trials. Sometimes it's hard to find joy while we are going through difficult things, but we are promised that we can claim happiness in the midst of our trials! President Nelson has a talk titled "Joy and Spiritual Survival" from Oct 2016 general conference that talks about this. He says that when our focus is on the Savior and the Plan of Salvation, we can be happy in any situation. He says the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our life, and everything to do with the focus of our life. I know this is a quote I've mentioned before, but it's taken a new meaning and significance for me. This transfer has been challenging, but I know that I will grow so much from these experiences. When we do our best to focus on the Savior, and to appreciate the little moments where things are good and okay, we will find joy in any circumstance😊 I also was reminded to live in the present. Recognized that what you are experiencing right now is different from what you've experienced in the past, and embrace it. Don't wish for things to be how they were before, as wonderful as things may have been. Now is not then. Now is now (if that makes sense haha). It goes right along with the song I'm finishing up about treasuring what you have right now.

Keep smiling, and love the pace of life God has given you! I'll try to do the same😊
Love, Sister Flake

Beautiful rainbow...I love Hawaii!🌈