ALOOOOHA!

   Boy... this week was crazy. It was good though! So...to start out

1.  Pokemon Go.... Lots of our members have been talking about it and it sounds like the biggest waste of time. We were at dinner and one of our members was saying how it was super popular. When we left dinner, he texted us and told us that every person we stopped playing Pokemon Go he would give us a good referral. We accepted, of course! It should make tracting an even more interesting experience.
2. Hurricane! We kind of had a hurricane.. It just rained a lot, but it was pretty crazy. Lots of thunder and lightning. Kind of like the storm in "The Testaments" video...maybe a little less extreme. 
3. We met two women this week who committed to baptism. Their names are Tela and Melody. They are Chuukese. They are super super sweet. They said that they had come to our church before, but they hadn't been in a while, but that they wanted to come and that they wanted to get baptized.. They didn't come to church on Sunday, but we have an appointment with them this week, so I will let you know how it goes!
4. We had a lesson with one of our part member families. The grandmother, Doniba(the member), is such a sweet woman and her daughter and daughter's children are so prepared. We brought Sister Bekker with us, which was awesome! We taught about the Atonement and we used the lesson where you have someone do push-ups for every piece of candy that you pass out to the people in the room, whether they want it or not. I remember having that lesson in Sunday school and then another time for one of our Zone Meetings. It is very powerful. The spirit was so strong and when Sister Bekker bore her testimony, I felt that there was no way that they would not be at sacrament meeting on Sunday.Well, Sister Bekker came to the branch on Sunday so that she could be there when they came to church. We waited...and waited...and waited... they sang the hymn before the sacrament and we kept waiting.. I was praying as the sacrament was passed that they would come...but they still didn't... After sacrament, Sister Bekker came and gave us both hugs and President Bekker said that he looks forward to being able to meet them in the future. Then, I turned around and Doniba was standing with her daughter! We introduced them to President Bekker and Sister Bekker was so sweet to them! They didn't make it to sacrament meeting, but they are making steps towards it. I know that they will make it as they continue to try. The church is true! The gospel changes lives!
5. I have been thinking a lot about the atonement lately. There is nothing like the peace that fills your heart when you know that you are doing all that you can to apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in your life. So many people make the claim that they know Jesus, so they are saved. They don't need to learn anything more, because there are no immediate results to that attitude and lifestyle. This is one of the saddest most disappointing things I have seen on my mission. They don't understand that Christ didn't suffer for us so that we can sin. He suffered so that, through him, we can overcome sin. We have to do our part. Even if we don't always see immediate results from choosing against what we know to be right, there will always be consequences. 

• There is a family in Kahala ward who just got sealed. The husband served a mission and said that he never went to the temple after he got home. Because of this, he didn't see a need to keep his temple recommend renewed. Without an active temple recommend, it became easier for him to slip in and out of activity. Eventually, he stopped coming to church all together. He and his wife had 4 children, and they were not sealed. She took them to church all by herself for years. Finally, he realized that in order to have his family forever, he would need to get active again and go back to the temple. He shared how he knew that having an active temple recommend and consistently going to the temple with his wife is what will help them to stay on track and bring them the most joy in this life as well as the next. I know that that is true. 
• If there is anything that we need to change in our lives, to bring ourselves more in line with Christ's teachings, we need to change it now. Not later. The more we procrastinate repentance, the harder it will be to change in the future. We will be the same person in the next life that we are now. So, we need to make who we are now, someone that can stand with confidence in front of God. Alma 34:32-34

I love you all. I hope that you all have a great week and that we can all find one way to become more like our Savior. I know that I have a lot to change, but I know that through God, all things are possible. I know that through Jesus Christ, even I can become like God someday. 

ALOOOOHA!

    This week we saw so many miracles! One of these miracles happened Sunday evening. So, on Saturday, we had the baptism for Jiayu! He is really wonderful. If I didn't say before, he is 19 years old and he is deaf. He was taught by the deaf missionary couple who were in the ward before, but they left before they finished his lessons, so we were able to pick up where they left off. He is a great addition to the Kahala ward. He has a very special spirit and strong testimony. 

   Because Jiayu was baptized on Saturday, we no longer had 10 investigators with a date. We wanted to have 10 before the end of the week, and we had an appointment at 7pm. So, we went to our appointment, but the girl who we had originally set the appointment with was sleeping. However, her sister answered the door. She introduced herself as Mimi and she accepted our invitation for us to share the message with her her that we were going to share with her sister. Mimi listened very closely to everything we said and when we invited her to read a verse from the Book of Mormon, she excitedly grabbed the Book from my hand. We invited her to pray and read about the Book of Mormon as well as what we shared with her that night. She accepted. We then invited her to be baptized on the 20th of August. She also accepted that invitation. She is such an amazing example of those who are elect, whom God has prepared to hear the lessons and act on the message that they contain. These kinds of experiences are what make any hardship in the mission worth it. 

  I know the church is true! It is such an honor to be able to see others come to know that the church is true. God is so good. He truly does love us.

Love, 

Sister Sydney Barber

Aloha

Alrighty! I am going to have to keep things short this week, but here is a quick overview!

1. We have a new mission president and wife! The Bekkers! Sister Bekker is so so sweet and President Bekker is super nice as well!

2. We brought Sister Bekker out with us! Remember that drunk guy? We took her to see his family! Guess what?? He was drunk again! It was actually really sad. She was very awesome about it though. I really admire her. I hope I can be at least a little bit like Sister Bekker by the time I finish my mission.

3. We were able to set another baptismal date this week! Her name is Nona. She is such a sweet girl! I am excited to tell you more about her next week! 

So sorry that I can't write more! I love you all! Happy 4th!

Love, Sister B

ALOHA!

 This week was a very VERY good week! We had Zone Conference (the Warner's last zone conference). It was really emotional for a lot of us. A lot of us are going home in the next few months, so we had the Warners for almost our whole missions. We sang "Aloha Oe" at the end of the conference and we all brought leis for the Warners. They were completely covered up to their chins. That was the last time that I will probably see them. It is so crazy to me that we are going to have a new mission president. I feel like as soon as I start to get to know them, I will be going home. Oh well. I will just continue to do what I have, I suppose. :) 

  We were able to set a couple more baptismal dates this week. We are really seeing so many miracles in this area every day. I have really gained a testimony that, if you put your all into serving the Lord, He will put his all into blessing you. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that He will bless you the way that you expect or want, but He will bless you. 

  In one of our lessons, we were talking about counseling with the Lord. What a great privilege it is to be able to counsel with the most powerful being in the universe. Not only that, but He wants us to counsel with Him. Not only that, but He wants us to counsel with Him because He loves us. How amazing is that? We may be insignificant in many aspects, but to Him, we are absolutely priceless. 

  The strength of our relationship with God is up to us. He will love us no matter what, but we must show and develop our love for Him if we are to receive the blessings He wants, so badly, to give us. 

   I love you all so much! Thank you again for your love and your prayers! 

 Aloha nui loa!

Sister Barber

ALOHA!

   Once again, I am very limited in my time, but here are some highlights:

1. We are in charge of the song for Zone Conference. We will be singing the Emily Brown version of "I'm Trying to be like Jesus." I thought it was a good idea, until I found out that I would be doing most of the singing. Pray for me and wish me luck.
2. Tomorrow is Pres. & Sis. Warner's last Zone Conference. So strange... I'll have a new President for the last 5 months of my mission. It will for sure be an adjustment, but it will be good. I guess we all get to teach a part of the restoration when we meet him. Should be fun.
3. We have a lot of new investigators from this week 6 of them have committed to dates. We just need to help them come to church regularly and help them to continue to grow in their testimonies. 
4. Sister Ogawa is still amazing. Not much news there.

Love you all! Hopefully I'll be able to explain about the investigators in more detail next week! 

Sister B

ALOHA!

 Oh my.... I have so much to tell you... This week we:

1. Had a lesson with a drunk Chuukese man. We didn't actually realize that he was drunk until halfway through the lesson, when he started hiccuping and burping a lot and repeating the same thing over and over. Oh.. and when he started blasting a mix of Justin Beiber and Carly Rae Jepson on his stereo... yeah... we realized then that it was probably time to leave. So, we testified, said a prayer and started to leave. 
2. Had my shoes stolen after a lesson with a drunk Chuukese man. After we walked out the door, I noticed that my shoes were no longer outside their door.... Yeah. We looked for a few minutes and then I gave up. So, I walked back to the car barefoot.
3. Lost Sister Ogawa's wallet. Well, the next morning, Sister Ogawa and I were getting ready to leave the house and she couldn't find her wallet. So, we looked in the house, the car, the various areas we visited the day before. We even went back to the drunk Chuukese man's house. No wallet.. We still haven't found it, so if you happen to see a rectangular wallet with pink pineapples on it, please let us know.
4. Met a deaf Chuukese girl. You know, I have always kind wondered why the Micronesian branch and ASL ward were sharing missionaries. It just seemed like there would be an easier option. Well, I think I got my answer this week. We were trying to kidnap a LA member to come to church, but he wasn't home. Iolani, however, was home. Iolani is Chuukese and she is deaf. We communicated by writing in my journal. She told us we can come back on Tuesday. What a miracle! Hopefully she will be receptive to the signing member we bring and also, we hope that MI, the less-active member, will come back as a result. 
5. Met an apostle of the Lord. Elder Renlund came and spoke to us on Saturday. He is such an inspirational man. He spoke with complete confidence, but also with great humility. It really strengthened my testimony that our church leaders are called of God. 

Well, I am just about out of time. I hope that you are all doing well and that you enjoy this week. I love you all!

Love, Sister Barber