California Dreaminnnn

Hey yall!! I finally arrived in the field today so not a whole lot to say :) I will tell ya though that I was honestly quite shocked when I didnt cry saying goodbye to my family :') Typically I'd bawl...so just gotta give myself a pat on the back for that one lol! (Not because I dont love them but because Ive been SO READY for this moment!!) The Lord has been preparing me for this mission and Ive been way too eager to get out here! Ive gone through some tough times to get here, but the scripture Phil 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" has given me so much encouragement to be here. But even more strength has been received from the enabling power accessed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I read this poem and just wanted to include it here (let me know your thoughts because I LOVED it!!) -->

"more skillful in self knowledge, even more pure,

as tempted more; more able to endure,

as more exposed to suffering and distress; thence, also, more alive to tenderness"

With trials come more strength, endurance, and love. God does not give us trials that He knows we cannot overcome. But He does ask of us to look unto Christ for help. It can be difficult at times but just as Elder Holland has said we never stray too far or sink too deep from that infinite light of Christ's Atonement shines. I hope each and everyone of you can look to Christ and find strength through His Atonement and the enabling power accessed through it to get through your trials no matter how big or small !!

but I dont have much time anymore so I hope y'all have an amazing week,

sister fin <3

ps I'm in the Yorba Linda area... I think lol! Ive honestly had to ask them our area like 13 times now. I am in a trio with S. Hoopes and S. Ritimati (pronounced like christmas without the c lol!) S. Hoopes has been out for 9 months and S. Ritimati has been out for 21 months and is waiting for her countries borders to open!! they are theeeee sweetest girls ever. we have already gotten along SO well. anyways love yall !!

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Absence

The clock strikes 12:47am. My companions rush hurriedly to the door. I make my way down the stairs, trying not to fall asleep. As I felt the cool air brush against my face, I pull my blanket to me, angrily mumbling. I stare at the asphalt covered in droplets of rain but when I eyes revert to whats ahead of me, I deeply longed to go back in time 20 seconds prior. My heart sunk deep in my stomach as if it was the titanic. I look to my phone and the word 'absence' appeared as my daily common word from the Word Web app. I chuckled at how ironic this vocabulary applied to my very situation in the moment. Our car was absent. We won't go into detail but we actually found our car hahah after like 20 mins, we are just dumb ! I actually laughed so hard when I saw the word absence though because I truly felt called out by my own phone haha. But it was a wild adventure... I got to spend the night at some sisters apartment on the hardwood floor. Got 3 hours of sleep with a 6 hour me...

Thanks Pickles!!

Kia ora family&friends !! I have heard rumors that our world is still crap. That has to be rough out there. I feel so protected and safe here. But it was a great week, we were able to invite David to be baptized...if you dont remember, he was* Atheist about 1.5 weeks ago! Except he just barely sent us a YouTube link to why mormonism is false and asked us to give it a thought . . . so keep him in your prayers :)) Another amazing person we have met is already a member, but she got out of a psych ward 3 weeks ago. When I saw her, you could tell she was not in the right mindset and just overall her vibe was depressing. She struggled a lot feeling God's love, but she wanted so desperately to feel it. We taught her about the Atonement of Christ and left her with a few tasks to fulfill. This last Saturday we saw her, and I have never seen the Atonement of Christ comfort, care, and heal someone as much as I did that day. I have such a strong testimony of the reality of Christ's ...

Changes and miracles

good morning everyone! It was a great week full of changes. ☆ The biggest change tho? Tahia became a member of the church of Jesus christ of latter day saints aka she was baptized !! it was a day we have been long awaiting for & I am so proud of her; she really is like a baby sister to me :') ☆ we got put into a trio with Sister Bradfield from TX ☆ and the Fourth of Julyyyy !! My favorite holiday; the best day ever....but not in CA. nothing will beat Soda lol....it was pretty sucky here. We spent the day with Tahia's baptism but then at night did nothing; my comps didn't wanna watch the fireworks so I sat in our somewhat open parking lot just listening to the fireworks that sounded like WWIII -- still a very good one <3 !! I saw so many miracles this week and one being --> I was having a few tough days this last week. From Tuesday - today 🤣 lol But it was super tough for me and one day I stepped outside for my personal study & just cried my eyes ou...

Sister Leilani Kalona Finlayson