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 out to God in a prayer about how tough everything was for me and that all I needed was a hug, text, or even just the comfort from the spirit && thats when everything started to fall into place. Our day resulted in us going to the mission office & after awhile of being there I had a letter come in from my mama/dad -- the biggest surprise & blessing from God! It was like my very own hug from my mom/dad && God ! So again, I bawled my eyes out for the reason being that God is so so aware. He hears your prayers & He has everything perfectly aligned for you. It was a testament to me that God knows everything before we do. He inspired my mom days before knowing full well that I'd be struggling 2 days later. So, any time you feel alone, reach out in prayer to God & let Him know the things you need (even though He already knows 😉)

Manuia le vaiaso !! Alofa atu 🤍

sister fin <3

Comments

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 ...

Small things

talofa lava !! it was a special week full of so many blessings from God. it was so special. I felt so many prayers & fasts answered as we went about our week !! ☆ i got to poi ball dancing !! best day of the week. I walked into an activity for our Samoan youth ward & one of the ladies asked if I could perform a number & i totally freaked out lol. She taught me something quick & it was so much fun. I miss it & I love my culture !! ☆ so. many. activities !! youth activities have started back up so we are busyyy with being with them since our leaders want us with them always !! ☆ we visited SO SO SO many families. we want to meet every single member... and they're 493 . . . in just one of our wards. talk about crazy. busy. !! ☆ i am staying in the ward of zion for another 6 weeks <3 I feel SO BLESSED. God is so so good. No other way to describe Him. This week I have learned so much about how the simple things are God. Sometimes we ...

Sister Leilani Kalona Finlayson