Changes, Dog and Fun

hi all :) so some big changes are coming this week. yesterday we got a text from President asking if we could go over right after church & so we headed over as fast as we could, turns out we are being released as stls, satini is going to train in long beach, Bradfield is getting kicked outta the polynesian wards, and I get to reign here in the 2 languages I dunno anything about lolol. This was truly my dream: be released as stl AND stay in the poly wards :') God is so so so good to me hehe !!

Sister Satini has been my best friend though so I'm really sad to have her go honestly. She is like my sister, annoying one I wanna punch but can't help to love & hug ! (If u ever see this sis, hi 😂🤍) Catch me truly heartbroken by next Monday lol. But it was just a random transfer, so it'll be a wild ride I guess. I'm still not sure who my new companion is but President let me choose who my options were so I guess I got somewhat of a choice !! Yay !!

But, other than that, it was a blessed week. We met a lot of people, experienced miracles, and I realized that my mission isn't so bad. I celebrated my one year & now I have that feeling where I don't wanna go home ?? Like I never thought I'd have this feeling. It'll probably last 2 minutes tbh hahah. Also, we had exchanges this last week & I was able to really see God's hand !! It was so cool !! We went to a random lady's house who opened the door confused, saw our tags, and said can you teach me more about your religion ? Crazy...yet so prepared by God. There are so many people that I met this last week that really made me realize missionary work is so worth it. Seeing God perform miracles is worth every minute of being here !!

In addition, there was this random trailer at our mission office & the owner had came by, chucked his dog in there (it was in a cage), and left. For about 2 hours we were trying to break open the trailer bc it was like 90° outside so we couldn't imagine how hot it was in the trailer :( we got some big cutters for the bolt & got it open && oh my freaking goodness !!!! This dog was so bloody cute !!!! We decided to name him CAM (california anaheim mission acronym lol). But then the cops came and I had to hand him over, but the dog and I really bonded. He wouldn't let me go :') pure love.

manuia le vaiaso, hope to hear from you soon ! tofa !

sister fin <3

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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