What happened this week? A brief overview...

- I made it to my 18th months mark (March 7th) as a missionary! 

- After I got my hair cut, there were three other sisters who also decided to cut their hair, we had a good laugh about it!

- We cooked twice! Spaghetti and meatballs, and broccoli chicken fried rice!

- We also did consistent language study this week, so Sister Domingo could work on her Korean :)

- Zone Meeting focused on teaching by the Spirit! We want to be prepared so that the Spirit can draw on our well of knowledge. It's Him who gives us capacity to do so much more than we can by ourselves!

VC:

1) We met a big group of employees on a work trip from California. But we mainly talked to one couple, who was originally from El Salvador. The man was an inactive member of the church while his wife was a Catholic. She believed that it didn't matter which church we belong to because we all believe in the same God, and we shared with her the blessings of the temple. They didn't have any kids, but suddenly I felt impressed to share an experience Sister Castaneda told me when we were companions in my second transfer. Sister Castaneda was my step-trainer, and originally from El Salvador too! This story was a real experience about Sister Castaneda's grandpa, and the blessings that came from temple covenants. 

I've never even shared this story with others before, but I testified that temple covenants bless our families, and are an example of our faith in God and Jesus Christ. I got a little emotional, and I'm not too sure why, probably because the Spirit was working through me, to remind the man that there is power in keeping covenants you make with God. I'll never know the effect of my testimony, but I know that our interaction wasn't a coincidence! Only a few sisters knew Sister Castaneda personally, and it helped me to connect to this couple on a personal level. I knew just enough about El Salvador and hope that they found inspiration here on the temple grounds.

2) Sister Domingo called someone named Daniel for a Bible request from mormon.org. Turns out it was actually his fiancee, Ceballos, who borrowed his phone for a few minutes. We had a great conversation about the importance of scripture study, and introduced the Book of Mormon, meeting with the missionaries, and learning more together. He was a super open guy and asked us if we help with therapy, because his fiancee thinks he needed some for jealousy. We pretty much said "sorry we don't really have the knowledge for therapy...but we know that as you learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and make changes in your lives to live more in harmony with God's teachings, you can overcome all the challenges you face, and your relationship will become better as a result of it." It was kind of a funny question, but hey! The gospel is the answer to anything :) Through Jesus Christ, we can be changed, and we can find strength to overcome, forgive, love, etc.

3) We also met a Chinese couple who were visiting from Boston. The guy actually came here to the Visitors Center, when he was an exchange student in high school(from China)! He was at BYU Hawaii for a few weeks back then, and remembered how beautiful this place was. They were only in Hawaii for a day and the Laie Hawaii Temple was their first destination! I thought that was so cool! He came back to visit so he could have more flexibility to understand more about the temple, our beliefs, and just appreciate the visit. I was so happy that he shared his story with me, because we talk to high school students from Asia often, who study English at BYU Hawaii. And to be honest, I never know how their lives will be affected, because they're only here for such a short period of time. It was such a tender mercy to see him come back to visit! Seeds of faith are planted in high school, and many of these students continue to study in a university in the States!

This morning when we learned about gratitude, I think of how grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father. I'm grateful to serve as a missionary here in Hawaii, in the Visitors Center. I'm grateful to be a missionary, to share the light of the gospel. I'm grateful for every lesson learned, ever hardship faced, and every person I've encountered. A year and a half is pretty long, but I wouldn't have spent it any other way! I've learned how to look deeper for the good in people, to serve without expecting anything in return, and most importantly of all, to love my Savior more. I've truly gained a testimony that with His help, we can become so much better, and we can gain so much more happiness and peace. 

Quote of the week:

President Joseph F. Smith, “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life.” He continued: “Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!”

​Charity is a student at BYU Hawaii, and she was so sweet to have us over for dinner this week! Fun fact! She served as a missionary in Sister Domingo's home stake back in California and now we're serving in her YSA Ward!

​We went on a short hike this morning! Sunset Pillbox. Sister Domingo has slight asthma and hasn't hiked in years, so we didn't make it to the very top, but this was pretty good for me :)

​The best homemade pizza I've ever had, the four of us (including Bailey and Tim, from our married student ward) just devoured it!

​At the end of a busy evening, we sometimes take silly pictures haha.
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​We also went to "The Banyan Tree," where a few major movies filmed. Like Hunger Games, Pirates of the Caribbean. Nature is so cool.

Love,

Sister Wu