God is waiting on you!

ata marie everyone !

**note** if you're not gonna read the whole thing at least read the last paragraph 🤍

it was a blessed week here in anaheim 8 & 12 wards :) our Samoan ward was very busy this week preparing for our ward camp next week -- lots of dance practices ! && our Tongan ward was even busier with funeral services -- so heartbreaking !! it was a little hard at first this week trying to adjust to everyone's busy schedules, but by the end of the week, miracles :) patience is key!!

i was able to really see God's hand & witness miraculous changes in the front row seat ! its interesting being a missionary, because you randomly (but not really randomly) get placed in front of peoples paths who ask you when they can get baptized . . . and they're serious about it ! I never ever thought I'd experience this on my mission until it happened. Her name is Cila & she is one of our members girlfriends. I'm excited for her ! The poly wards are so so so amazing. I never want to leave !! I was thinking about how I have 4 months left & it made me so so sad to think about leaving these 2 wards. Theyre my absolute FAVORITES!! 🤍 Would you believe me if I said I've never had to ask anyone to be baptized in these wards ?? Never !! Our members invite our friends just fine😆 This upcoming month our stake is designating August as the missionary month. There will be A LOT of fasting, prayers, firesides, devotionals, etc. I am ready for it !!

Keep your heads up, God loves you so much !! And just a reminder: do ALL that you can to be with God. make the sacrifices, make the changes, & don't let others stand in the way of who you want to be but even moreso who God NEEDS you to be !! go to church, pray, read your scriptures ;) do the basics & God will provide the rest. He is waiting on you !!

sister fin <3

Comments

I loved this week

This week was one for the books !! It was a crazy busy week & the days just flew by. I realized I don't share too much about my week or anything too spiritual lol but that can change !! So to start off, Monday night our entire mission got chastised by the president lol. Then Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday we had exchanges & Sunday we had a baptism with David !! It was a week of A LOT of self reflection & seeing the areas I can improve . . . plus a lot of fun !! This weeks exchanges I got to be with Sister Ratcliff, Sister Mattice, and Sister Ware !! I learned a lot from each sister & since it was a self reflecting week...I asked each sister & every return missionary member what they learned from their missions && believe it or not, every single one of them said they learned their identity as a daughter of God. It was tender to hear because I do forget my identity as Heavenly Fathers daughter, very often. Seeing the past experiences of my miss...

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 ...

Choose to Stay ...

hello my family and friends♡ I miss each one of you so much !! I love each of you as well. I have been searching every reason as to why I'm here. Why am I apart of this church? Why am I a member? Why do I decide to go to church every Sunday? Why did I decide to make covenant(s) with God? **Why do I choose to stay?** For me Ive noticed the gospel has given me structure. It is something that allows me to recognize there is greater potential in myself as well as in others. I feel like I have been stripped to the core by trials and its only been 2 months in my mission waaa hahah. Every aspect of my testimony is being tested and every detail of it is being questioned and tried by God to strengthen me and my testimony further. IT. IS. HARD. Despite these challenges and trials, I choose to stay because of the feelings I have received from God testifying of this gospel. No matter the experiences, no matter the trials, no matter the hurt, anger, shame, hatred, envy, and sorrow that we can e...

Sister Leilani Kalona Finlayson