CHERYL GOT BAPTIZED! After teaching Cheryl since last November, she finally got dunked! Man I learned so much from teaching her, probably more than she did from us teaching her! Seeing her so happy on her baptism day and all the members around her made everything worth it! We went through a lot with Cheryl especially on her battle to quit smoking! She had been smoking for her whole life since she was 20 and she now is 73, so it wasn't super easy to quit! But with the power of the atonement and a lot of good support from the members she finally broke the chains that Satan tried putting on her and it was honestly the best thing to see! I remember so many lessons of just being so disappointed when she would say... I smoked again elders... but looking back at it, everything worked out just the way it needed to for Cheryl and for us to learn through this journey we took together to get on the right path for Cheryl! PATIENCE was the biggest thing I had to learn during this time but it was just another testimony builder that God knows us so personally and know what's best for us, and he definitely knew that Cheryl needed a little bit more time before she could be baptized! We also sang her a song, I played "When I am Baptized" on the uke and we wrote her a personal verse and sang that! It was sweet! Cheryl will forever be one of my favs in my mission haha! Shes' my adopted grandma! Elder Despain, Woodbrey and I got so close with her over these past couple months and it was so nice to see her smiling in the font! The next step is the temple and hopefully we can get her there ASAP!

So the other week, my district leader Elder Kneeland called me in the morning and said, "Elder Ka'ili I have an idea!" He told me we should hold a 3v3 basketball tournament as a finding idea! It was a crazy idea but for some reason I felt super good about it. The next thing you know we had flyers, shirts, assignments, buildings reserved and a facebook event all done and up within that morning! Shout out to Alvin and the Stake President for helping us out, and all the other missionaries who hung up flyers because the event went awesome! There were about 100 or more people in our church and about half of those were non members! It was awesome, we had a Book of Mormon experiment and a family history booth going too! We had 15 teams sign up and the bracket was awesome! I reffed with my boy Elder Van! It was the funnest finding idea I have ever done and it was super successful! So many were able to read a page in the Book of Mormon and highlight something they liked! Everyone was also able to feel the difference that our church has then others! It was so fun! Cheryl was even there and she was loving it haha!

We also had transfer planning this week which is always crazy! But I will be staying here in the same area which I'm hyped about because we have some people that are progressing good and looking to baptism soon! March is going to be a good month!

The Corona Virus has hit the mission which is sad because we were suppose to have Elder Cook and Bishop Causee come and speak to us this Saturday but due to the virus they aren't coming anymore which is a bummer!

This week was a good one though! I hope you guys had a good week and are looking forward to a good week this week! I love you all and miss you all! Have the best day ever!

Con Amor,
Elder Ka'ili

Book of Mormon experiments, Exchanges, and loving the work! This work is the best thing! And the sun is coming back so it makes it that much better!

Cheryl is doing good! She's looking promising for the 7th! She bought a dress and keeps saying how ready she is for her baptism!

When I think about missionary work there is so many different ways you can do it and this week we did that! We did book of Mormon experiments in Moses lake and Yakima and they were super successful. So the way it works is we street contact people and invite them to read a page of the book of Mormon and highlight what stands out to them. A lot of people have heard about the book of Mormon but not many of them have read it and felt the power it has. It was crazy successful. We had so many people asking more questions after they read or just telling us they are so thankful for the opportunity to read something so special! It was a testimony builder to me of how powerful the book of Mormon is!

This week we also went to a stand up comedy place as a district and our district leader Elder Kneeland killed it up there. Haha everyone was dying laughing and we got a lot of respect earned as missionaries. The guy that ran it was saying he was skeptical when he first saw us but that if he saw us again that he would definitely let us in! Haha so it was all worth it and it was super fun!

Man I love this work so much and have such a big testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon!

I love you all!
Elder Ka'ili

These past two weeks have been full! Sorry I haven't been writing, but Ill cover everything right now haha!

So this past week we had 3 zone leader exchanges and zone conferences, so the week was crazy! Haha but here are some highlights...

Elder Despain and I made a hype video for the mission about raising the bar! Haha it was lit. We got tons of clips of missionaries doing different things of how they were raising the bar. Then we put a little clip of a general conference talk and put it over an instrumental! It was sweet! We showed it at all the zone conferences and everyone went crazy! Haha the mission is at a high point right now!

Cheryl who we have been teaching for a long time now, that I seriously love so much, is on date for March 7th. We are so pumped for her! This past Saturday,  Elder Nissinen and I were on exchanges, and had a heart to heart with her.  She realized that she does have the power to shake off the chains that Satan put on her, and it's been so nice to finally have her realize that! She struggles with so many things in her life and has been through a lot. It's  awesome to see the joy of the gospel enter into her life! 

During my studies of the Book of Mormon this past week, I have learned so much about the importance of obedience! It has never really dawned on me how many times it talks about obedience! Going on all these exchanges with all these different missionaries, there is one thing that I see all the time. The most obedient ones are the most happy. Yeah the other ones that aren't so obedient look "happy" and look like they're having "fun". But they all have a little bit of guilt and sorrow in their mind and body when I talk to them about it because they know they could be better! I feel like that is the same way in life. We know so many people in our lives that look "happy" but aren't keeping the commandments . A simple example, they aren't reading everyday or praying or maybe not going to church every weekend. I have come to realize that those people aren't really happy because they know they are not living up to their potential! They aren't living the way that they KNOW they should be living. So that's where we come in and we help them get back to the path that they actually want to be on. Talking to somebody about it is the first step, but helping them see the blessing of obedience is the next. And there are so many different ways to go about it, especially with loved ones, but during my studies it hit me that I need to be doing more to help bring the joy of the gospel to everyone that I know. Not letting people that I love just live in "fake" happiness. I need to share with them of what can actually bring them true happiness! It's definitely hard to do, but I invite everyone that reads this to think about someone that might be in that "fake" happiness, maybe not living to their full potential ( and maybe it's you) and to plan this week to help them get into true happiness! Like I said, there are many different ways to go about this and everyone is different, but find the needs of that person and help them! A quote that comes to mind all the time is "NO EMPTY SEATS." We should strive to have everyone we know be with us in the next life! I promise you as you do this, you will recognize things in yourself that you can do better and also help those around you! Think about it!

Another highlight starts with Jesse and ends with King! Haha Last Sunday we received a referral from the Temple Square sisters for Jesse King! He is GOLDEN! It's so crazy. He is on date for March 7th and literally just wants to learn so much so quickly! He came to a baptism this past week and to church and loved it! On his facebook he talks about his baptism all the time and honestly just has a good heart! Biggest miracle/ blessing ever!

There are probably a ton of other things that happened but I can't remember haha! But these past 2 weeks have flown by! I just can't put into words the joy that comes from living the gospel! I hope everyone is preparing for the special general conference! its going to be big and we have to be PREPARED! Read the Book of Mormon and review the 1st vision! I love you all and hope you have the best week ever!

Con amor,
Elder Ka'ili