Shoot! This week has been crazy and definitely one to remember! We had 2 exchanges with the DL's in my zone, Zone Conference, I got super sick for like 2 days, I got betos and banana pie!!!.... haha don't ask me how... lol, we put 2 of our people on date and I saw one of my most favorite people in the world! This week was awesome! lol

I'll start with the exchanges! I went on exchanges with Elder Argueta on Tuesday and Elder Zenn on saturday! Elder Arguetas exchange was one of the most funnest exchanges I have gone on. He's just one of those missionaries that acts himself! In other words hes not a robot missionary. Haha he's from Honduras so he has some funny jokes in spanish and was cracking them all day. It was a good day, we got a lot of work done as well! Everyone we talked to too was like you 2 should team up cause yall are funny together! Haha it was one of my favorite exchanges! Saturday I went back to Yak East, my old area with Elder Zenn! This was a weird exchange because I was still recovering from my sickness so we did what we could haha, buta member took us to a buffet so that was probably the highlight of that exchange haha!

Zone Conference was sweet! We had a zone breakout during the afternoon session and it was super fun to plan for that and the way it went was super successful! We did a lot of role plays on different things that we have learned throughout the past couple of zone conferences! We talked about how setting expectations and using members is such a key part of missionary work! It was awesome and I feel like our zone benefited a ton from it! Other than that Zone conference was more of a pump up conference. President has challenged every companionship in the mission this month of august to get a baptism! it can be done but our mission just needs to have more faith! that would be about 68 baptisms in the month of August! It would be so sick!

So the day before zone conference I started to feel a little sick but you know I just mind setted out of it and kept on working... but then me and Elder Barnes slept outside on our deck haha and when I woke up I felt like death. But we had zone conference so I got up and went to zone conference feeling like death.. everyone was like you’re usually always smiling whats wrong with you?haha I was like shoot Im going to die. I didn't have any medicine either so I was just drinking emergenC off brand stuff that Elder Barnes had throughout zone conference. After zone conference was done... I was done. I laid down and the next thing I know Elder Bradshaw and Elder Barnes come back and tell me that they went on exchanges and put 2 of the people we had been teaching on date! Itzyana and Leti are on date for August 24th! Haha I was pumped but then I was like alright take me to Walmart so I can get some medicine... I started pumping the DayQuil and now I feel better so all is well! lol

Yesterday was the craziest day of my life! I got a surprise visit from one of my moms! Aunty Nica came to Yakima and brought me betos, banana pie, s'more bars and all of this other stuff! It was insane but seriously so nice to see her! Haha I'm not going to lie when I saw her I thought I was going to pass out! But the smell of the betos brought me back to life! haha.

Shout out to my aunty Malia, cousin Tupu, Noa and Nica who helped my mom put together my zone shirts! They turned out so awesome... I love you guys!

Crazy week! I love you all and hope you all have a great week! Thanks for your love and support! Next time you hear from me I will be a year out! Crazy how time flies!

Con Amor,
Elder Ka'ili

1)Cervezas! No hay otra manera. Modelo es la única manera jajaja #LaPalabraDeSabiduría

2)The Tagging from the gangs got way bad in our area after the shooting last week

3) hecka ghetto haha somebody took the taco bell mat and put it on there porch 

4) the sisters coming in clutch and bringing us food cause we don't got any haha 

5) making muddy buddies. Shout out to Elder Barnes 

What a week!

I'll start with a spiritual/ crazy experience that happened to Elder Bradshaw and I last Tuesday! So on Tuesday after dinner, we left the apartment a little late... and on the way me and Elder Bradshaw were trying to decide where we needed to go and tract. So we said a prayer. After we both felt like we needed to go to these apartments that we knocked on a few days earlier, but didn't knock the whole complex. So we headed there and last sec Elder Bradshaw said, "You know what? Let's go check the apartments on 3rd St first and then we can go to the apartments on 7th." When he said that, it felt good so we went. When we got there we sat in the car for a minute trying to see if this is where we needed to be. We said another prayer and after we felt like we didn't need to be there. So we went to the ones on 7th... now this is where the craziness comes in haha. On our way to the apartments on 7th we just hear all these cop sirens. One just flies past us and then another and then another. Before we know it, we are surrounded by cops. The whole block is surrounded by cops! The cop comes up to our car and was like, "We are looking for someone running on this block, you guys need to go!" So we go up a street and get out to walk to the apartments on 7th. When we get there,  everyone is outside freaking out! We were like, what happened? They told us someone just got shot right there, pointing like 25 yards away from us down the street. That's why all the cops were around. There were cops with AR-15s and with K-9's and everything! It was crazy but we continued to talk to all of them watching the cops waiting to see what was going to happen. All of a sudden the cops with the AR-15's just started booking it down the street right by us; and then we see the shooter pop out right in front of us in the alley across the street. He surrendered right then and there! SO many cops flew into that alley! It was literally the craziest thing ever... and I got the whole thing on video! haha it was crazy! But the spiritual part of that whole experience was that if everything didn't go as it did, we would've been at those apartments when the shooting happened! If we didn't follow the prompting to go to the 3rd apartments first, even though nothing was there for us, if we didn't follow those promptings we could've been there. It was crazy to me and Elder Bradshaw how everything worked out and how the Lord literally took us to another spot just for a little bit to protect us from something else! God knows everything and is looking out for us all the time, we just have to follow his promptings. A quote that I love from Thomas S. Monson, "Never, never, never postpone a prompting."

This week we also went on exchange with the elders that we live with and I went back to Yak East with Elder Barnes! Haha it was weird to be back with him so quick but it was so nice to be back in my old area and talk with those that I was teaching. It was especially nice to be back with Elder Barnes! We had a super cool experience together though! We went by this older member named Jorge and he has this older woman that usually lives with him named Panchita. She has been in Mexico for the past 2 months so I never got to meet her when I was serving in Yak East! But during exchanges me and Elder Barnes felt the prompting to go over there. So I finally met Panchita!! The crazy thing is Panchita came in the night before! She was so happy to see us! She can barely walk right now and her health is super bad too! But she told us that she has been praying to see the missionaries because she hasn't seen them forever. When she saw us walking up to the door, she started crying and said that God hears her prayers! It was such a spiritual moment that I will never forget. She asked me to give her a blessing. After we left me and Elder Barnes just looked at each other and said, "Man I love being a missionary!" I also made panikeke for Elder Barnes and all the other elders in the apartment. Bomb!

I love and pray for you all and hope you guys have a good week!

Con amor,
ELDER KA'ILI

 

Nothing to crazy happened this week but it was pretty packed! We did have transfers though and it was my first week as a Zone Leader. I always heard that transfer week as a ZL was crazy packed but I never really believed them, shoot but let me tell you the amount of things we had to do to help our zone get situated was crazy! The day of transfers I think we got to go to one lesson. The rest of the time was moving beds, dressers, and just helping the sisters in our zone get situated! We had 2 new companions getting doubled in so we were also trying to give them all the information they needed for their area too and then on top of them one of the hermanas in my zone lost her bedding at the transfer sight, so we had to call basically all the missionaries that were there and see if they accidentally took her bedding. We ended up not finding it that night so we had to go over to another apartment get some bedding and then we delivered it to them. I'll just say Wed, Transfer Day, was crazy! The rest of the week was super packed as well but first week being a ZL was super crazy/fun!

The beginning of the week me, Elder Barnes and Bradshaw had to trio up for a couple days because Elder Parkin went home! It was actually super fun but super weird to be in a trio! The lessons to me were definitely more powerful having three witnesses instead of 2! On Tuesday night we got to host one of the new missionaries that came in too! His name is Elder Kneeland and he is so tight! One of the Elders that I came in with is going to train him!

On Saturday we had a lesson with a guy named Erick! He's super cool and has been actually coming to a lot of the branch activities lately! #Miracle When we went over to his house for a lesson, we found out that he lives in the backyard of this house in a trailer. So we went to the back of the house and closed the gate. When we turned around this huge dog came running out to me and Elder Bradshaw. We both just stayed still and the dog came jumping all over us! If we ran... we would've got killed, I guarantee it! haha This dog was huge! But we just knocked on the door trying not to show too much fear, but if anyone knows me I'm low key scared of dogs.  So I was freaking out but then I had a prompting to say a prayer and so I did. I remember saying "bless us with the protection that we need to have this lesson." Right when I said amen the dog just walked away so calmly! We then had a bomb lesson with Erick and have a date in mind for him for August 3rd. So we are super pumped about that! It goes to show how strong prayers can not only be, but how much stronger our prayers can be when we have faith! There's a quote that I passed by this past week and it says, "The Devil saw me with my head down and thought he'd won, until I said amen!" My testimony is so real! I know that our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us so badly and bless us but we first have to humble ourselves and call out to Him. This life is just too hard not to have Heavenly Father's advice! We can get that advice through prayer! He knows everything, ask Him for that help!

I hope you all have a good week! I love you all and thank you for the support that I feel from each and every one of you! Les amo!

Con amor,
Elder Ka'ili

Transfers have come again and man these past 2 transfers with Elder Barnes have come and gone so quick! Transfer calls were this past Saturday and I have received a new assignment and have been called as a Zone Leader! I am kind of sad to be released as a district leader, I only had 2 tranfers as a DL but I had the best district ever! The good thing is most of them will still be in my zone! I will continue to serve in Yakima just in the Northern Part! I actually am still living in the same apartment as well and will be serving with my zone leader from this past transfer! Me and Elder Barnes will be living together still too haha I am basically just changing rooms so its nice lol but I am super excited for this change! Elder Zenn will be moving into the tree house with us 3 as the new District Leader and he was actually already in my last district haha so its literally just going to feel like we are all on one big exchange haha! I am excited though cause I am going to be able to do exchange with my trainer as well cause he is the other DL for the other district in my zone! I am super pumped!

This week though went by so fast with more exchanges and a tons of service! One of the days this week me and Elder Barnes were so motivated to find our 2 people that we set for our daily finding goal that morning! @ like 5 it started pouring rain but me and Elder Barnes just hopped on the bikes and went, real talk nothing could stop us and you already know rain is the best tracting weather! We prayed, we prayed and then prayed again to figure out where we need to go and then this area popped up in our minds and we went over right away! We found our 2 people and they are so tight! Just another reminder to me that if we follow the promptings of the spirit, we will be led to those that are prepared for us!

This week was so good! I hope you all have a great week and find someone that you guys can help! I know for a fact that there are people all around us that need us, we just need to open our eyes and ears and let the spirit guide us to them! I invite you all to pray for the opportunity to find those that need you this week! Sometimes they dont need to hear your testimony... dont force your testimony on them but live your testimony and they will be able to feel of your love through your actions! I love you all and have the best week!

Con Amor,
Elder Ka'ili