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| Some of my Zone at the Aquarium on Preparation Day! |
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| Sister Coles and I ....we were at the Missionary Training Center at the same time. |
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| Sister Capener and I at the Aquarium |
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| JAWS!! |
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| Watching the Whale and Dolphin Show |
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| The Whale Show |
Oh, before I forget... if i don't get an answer to the following question (again) I'm strapping sea turtles together and floating to Washington to get an answer. Morgan and Hannah, did you get your birthday cards? That's all :)
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| Young Women from the Kadena Branch (Congregation) |
This week was SUPER! I love working hard. Things just work out when you're trying your best and relying on Heavenly Father. Being a missionary is incredible. And just to put a plug in for senior missionaries (they're not very senior in my opinion but...) just do it! Go on a mission no matter what age you are! It is a blast sharing the gospel. You get to meet your brothers and sisters all around the world and you get to help them learn about the greatest gift they can ever receive. I love it!
The most entertaining part of the week came from teaching the Young Women in the Kadena branch (congregation). Teenagers completely freak me out. And they can smell fear. I don't know about Sister Capener, but I was extremely nervous. I wanted them to like us! We planned out the entire evening (with lots of praying involved... I needed Heaven's help for this one!) and then we arrived with Sister Wedekind, the young women's president, at the Religious Education building on the Air Force base where we were going to have the Young Women's meeting. When we arrived, one of the leaders tried to unlock the building and then rushed back to us. There was a massive sign hanging over the door saying that there was an infestation of Habu in the building and not to enter. Habu is one of the poisonous snakes on the island. I took this as a sign... a bad sign.... a very BAD sign. What are the odds? After calling the Chaplin team on base and finding out that the danger was actually very real, we went back to one of the young women leader's home. (Mom, you would have loved her! Stacey Heaton. She reminds me of Sara England. She is so dar n cute! She had the cutest decorated military house I have ever seen!). After the slight bump in the road (POISONOUS SNAKES), the rest of the night went really well! We had each of the girls open a "missionary call letter" (luckily Sister Capener brought hers so we could use it as a reference) and read where they were going and what language they would be speaking. Coincidentally, all the girls were leaving in one week from Wednesday. What are the odds? :) So we had a crash course on missionary work. It was fun to talk about the preparation needed. Everything from what clothes are smart to get (like biking shorts!) and what we recommended reading in Preach My Gospel (start with chapter 3). It was a fun night! And the best part was at the end, Sister Capener asked if any of the girls planned on serving missions. Almost all of the girls raised their hands! Oh and the young women leaders and girls gave us a cute "thank you" basket. Toothpaste, a toothbrush, deodorant, and hair ties that come in packages bigger than 2 (yippee!). It was a fun night!
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| Just an editor's note! Not seen by McKenna |
NOTE FROM EDITOR :)
A habu (pronounced "hah-BOO") is a venomous snake found in southeast Asia (Japan, Phillipines, Taiwan, southeast China).
Habus are pit vipers, more closely related to the adder than to any species of North American snake. The actual "habu" (Trimeresurus flavoviridis) is relatively small, not usually getting longer than 5 feet. They are not typically aggressive but will bite if provoked. They are not as deadly as cobras or mambas, but are more much more dangerous than most North American venomous snakes. There are almost a dozen species of habu; the variety native to Okinawa (Trimeresurus okinavensis) is supposedly greenish or greenish-yellow; however, all habus are extremely rare in North America (less than a dozen specimens in all zoos combined) and photographs are very hard to come by.
When the A-12s (and later the SR-71s) were first flown to their new remote base at Kadena AFB in Okinawa, the local people thought that this strange and somewhat wicked-looking airplane was shaped like the habu snake. They started calling it the habu airplane, and later just habu. Crews who flew the airplane were also called Habu, and the name came to be recognized with the blackbird program and even incorporated into the insignia worn by the crews on their uniforms.
Speaking of Young Women's... I got a surprise in the mail from the young women in our ward! Girls, thanks for your cute card :) It's hanging up in our office! You girls are so creative! Thanks for making my day :)
Sarah is our newest investigator. She lives on Okinawa and her husband is in the army. She is just a super woman. She was originally being taught by the elders, but they were transferred so we were asked to continue the lessons. We had the best lesson I have ever been able to be a part of. However, she walked into the appointment upset and angry. She said she wished we had rescheduled and that she didn't have time for this. Well, if I wasn't praying before I certainly started when she said that! My heart just dropped. It was the first time we met her and I wanted her to have a good experience. We started by asking her about her religious background and she stated bluntly that she had none. So we eased our way in to the gospel of Jesus Christ and taught simply and plainly. We had a member there, Sister Westin, and the senior couple with us and their testimonies blended in perfectly with the lesson. Sarah asked great questions and the neatest part~the spirit was there. It was powerful! I felt like that lesson was orchestrated from heaven and when we ended none of us, including Sarah, had a dry eye. That experience just confirmed to me how crucial the spirit is. You can be the best, most charismatic teacher there is, but if you don't have the spirit then nothing good will come from it. After Sarah's stressful,hectic, bad day, that lesson was able to calm her down and redirect her. It was the neatest experience I've had here. I can't explain how cool it was. Sister Capener and I did a dance of joy when we got home. We seriously did. Great day!
Lastly, we have a non member who we are befriending. Her name is Miyagi. She is the kindest women. She is from mainland Japan and has two kids. Her daughter is a member, but she has never joined the church. Her husband was really active. He was from Florida and was stationed in Japan. That's how he met Miyagi. He tragically passed away a few years ago while he was deployed in Afghanistan. After that experience, their family became less active. Recently the mother and her two daughters moved to Okinawa. Her story is all about members befriending those around them. We introduced Miyagi to a member and that member has been such a great missionary. All Miyagi needed was a friend and this member did a great job of being a good example and was willing to go out of her way to invite her to church activities and other activities they did as a family. I really hope that Miyagi is able to start coming to church with her daughter. I am excited for her! And I am so grateful to the members who have been so kind to her. Missionary work is a group effort!
When I grow up, I want to be Sister Hawkins! "The gospel is not hard, life is." I loved that quote when Britt shared it during testimony meeting, and love seeing the source. Thank Heavens for sweet McKenna!
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