{ just leave me here to die }

But honestly, please.

President, just leave me here and forget about me.

Because I L O V E it here.

Purdue, where have you been all my life??

Coolest experience from this week:

There is this spot on campus called The Union and it's just this beeeaaautiful old building.
If you go to the top floor of The Union building and then go to this little red door (pray that it's open) it'll take you to even more flights of stairs and if you cliiiiiimb all of those, it'll take you to THE best room on campus: It's this big, open room and it has pretty, intricately designed windows on all the walls, and there's a stage, and a piano and it smells like old wood. 

I don't know, I just looooove it.

Well, we went up there one day and we heard someone playing the piano and singing. So we casually walk in and sit down and listen to this guy for a bit (not creepy at all right?). 

Eventually he notices us and asks if we sing too.

Um. No.

Sister Alexander: "I don't, but she does! She would love to sing with you!"

What.

Sooooo legit met this kid 5 minutes ago and legit sat down and sang "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" by Elvis together and it was legit the coolest thing ever.

Why?

We taught him (after the jam sesh of course).

He's now a new investigator.

And my best friend. 

Wassup, Bryan from the Philippines.

We also got to attend the temple this week with our recent converts and as cheesy as it is...

I love to see the temple.

I really do.

And also have a mini fam reunion.

baby come back to meeeee.

The best family reunion happened at transfers thooouughh:

Grandma, Mom, Me, Daughter, Daughter, and nooooow Granddaughter! 

But.

Let's be real.

The best part of this week was my girl, Glenda's, baptism.

a lot of mission support for our guurrll

Glenda's face sums it up perfectly.

Sincerely, Sister Soloa'i 

{ life in a nutshell }

Turned 20.

Ignore my companion's limbs

Taught a lot of lessons about how Jesus Christ is the only way.

One of those lessons being to Glenda about keeping the word of wisdom.

She accepted it.

Us: "Glenda, have you prayed to know Joseph Smith was a Prophet and that Jesus Christ has restored his gospel to the earth again?"

Her: "Yes."

Us: "How were those prayers answered?"

Her: "Well it just has to be true."

Us: "Why do you say that?"

Her: "I can't deny the way I feel when I ask God. It just has to be true."

Me: *crying as per usual*

Taught our main girl, Margaret, at the rest home deuces. 

Or as she says, "juices."

Got to do a session in the temple for the first time in 6 months.

Ended up booking the same session as the elders #westfieldhomies

Indiana is giving me whiplash from the constant changing in weather.

On wednesday. temp: freeeeezing.

On saturday. temp: 65 beautiful degrees. 

This is Susan. we asked Susan to take a picture of us. Susan took a picture WITH us and then promptly left. hence, the selfie above (had to take matters into our own hands). that's my bad though, I must not have been very clear with the request.

Sister Hunter (aka Cacis) goes hooooooome.

The district got together to say goodbyyyyyyyyyye.

Realized I loved Westfield and all the people in it with aaaaall my <3 and don't ever want to leave. 

Blestfield summed up.

Buuuuuut...

Got transfer calls:

Purdue University here I coooooome!

Sister Training Leader (what.) here I cooooome!

But, mainly, SISTER ALEXANDER HERE I COOOOOOME!

That's right, people.

The duo's back, baybee.

p u m p e d .

Sincerely, Sister Soloa'i 

{ muuurrickllllzz }

Miracles over there, miracles over here, miracles everywhere.

But mainly, riiiiiight here.

So.

Let's talk about Glenda.

Remember the investigator I mentioned who described feeling the Holy Ghost as "being touched by an angel?"

That's Glenda.

I love Glenda with aaaaaaaaaall of my heart.

I love the way that she responds to the gospel. Everytime we teach her something new, it's like she just soaks it up and you can literally see a physical change in her as she realizes the love God has for all His children, and especially for her.

I'm so blessed to have a front row seat of watching her grow closer to Heavenly Father, realizing her potential as His daughter, and finder great joy.

She's on date to be baptized February 18th.

Also.

Remember the investigator who we debated dropping?

That was straight DUMB of us to even think that.

And I'll tell you whhhyyyyy...

She has been learning, researching, and taking the lessons for YEARS. She first heard about the church when she was a little girl living in Haiti and now she's 45, married to a member, and her kids are all baptized and love the gospel and know it to be true.

So what's the hold up?

Simple: she feels like her prayers haven't been answered and she is a faithful daughter of God who won't do anything until she feels like God has told her to do so.

How many of us feel as though our prayers are going unanswered?

Prayers that we have pled for time and time again over the course of countless years?

Buuuuuut do we stop to remember that Heavenly Father LOVES us?

What does that mean?

Maybe it means that sometimes, He won't answer our prayers until He knows we are willing to ACT on them. Otherwise, it would just be condemning us with the truth, being held accountable to something that we aren't ready to strive for.

He doesn't want us to fail.

His timing is perfect.

But I can testify (heck yeah, I'm getting all missionary on you guys) that HE DOES ANSWER.

The next step is to recognize His answers that do come.

As children of God, we are born with godliness in us.

We know better!

God is showing us He trusts us when we flounder a little bit.

He's allowing us to use that power of godliness we possess to seek out His answers for ourselves, rather than waiting for Him to dramatically shake us in order for us to listen.

This week, Milcar realized that divine potential she possess and the answers that have been coming for years and is now "baby stepping" towards the baptismal date of March 4th.

GUYS.

One of the top 10 BEST moments of my mission happened on Saturday.

So.

Once upon a time, I was 5 months out, serving in White River (wassup) training Sis. Pete (homegirl), and not knowing what the crap I was doing (still don't).

We were out tracting one fine, boiling hot day.

We knocked on this kid's door.

*knock knock*

He answers.

We do the spiel of the fabulous news of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

He doesn't seem interested.

He's not making eye-contact.

He's massively tall and my neck hurts.

He awkward hugs us goodbye on his doorstep (what).

But we set up a return appointment for the next day, tooootaaaally thinking he would flake.

But.

He didn't.

:)

We ended up teaching Michael for a while until we had to pass him off to the YSA ward because that's where he would be attending church.

I went on to serve in Logansport and later found out through the grapevine that Michael was eventually baptized.

Yaaaaaayyy!

But I never heard anything about him again and never saw him again.

UNTIL.

Our mission had a recent-convert temple day and both Sis. Pete and I just happened to come and guess who was there?

Miiiiiiichaaaeellll. <3 <3

It was his first time in the temple and I was fetching PUMPED to see him, and to see him THERE of all places.

*goes up to him*

Me: Hey Michael! Do you remember me??

Him: Um. Wait, take off your glasses.

*removes glasses*

Him: Holy *****!!

Me: Dude. You can't say stuff like that in the temple lol.

Him: It's so good to see you!!

Me: *quiet temple jumping* *quiet temple screaming* *super loud happiness*

Did he hug me right in front of President?

Yep.

The boy's still got that awkward hug game.

Sincerely, Sister Soloa'i

P.S.

t h a n k  y o u to the Kienlen fam for my super cute/yummy cookies! Good to know people still know I exist.

{ Birthdays, Miracles, & Invalids }

h a p p y  b i r t h d a y  t o  s i s  r o w l e y

 Basically obsessing over anything 20 these days.

Guess who also had a birthday recently?

Verna, that's who.

She's this little ANCIENT woman that lives at the nursing home we volunteer at.

We're homies.

Well we were walking down her hall last Thursday, visiting people, chatting about "the good old days" and whatnot when we see Verna outside her room, in her wheelchair, with a happy birthday balloon. So we were like:

"Verna! Waaassssuuppp! Hey! Is it your birthday??"

Her: *cute old lady voice* "No. It was the 7th."

Us: "Oh, right on! That's great! Happy late birthday!"

Her: "Boy, I wish I was as tall as you girls."

Us: "Ohhhh...kay? Yeah, thanks!"

Her: "Everyone calls me Shorty. Because I'm so short!"

Sister Rowley: "Aaaaaayyy! Shaaaaawtyy!"

Me: "It's yo biiiiirffday! We gonna party like it's yo birthday!"

Verna: "No. It was the 7th."

Sister Rowley: "Yeah, you're right. Let's not do that. Well, we'll catch ya on the flipside!"

Her: "I don't know what that means."

Me: "You know, me neither. It's just what the cool kidz on the block are saying these dayz, ya knowwhat I mean?"

Her: "Oh. I know."

Also this week, our woooooonderful investigator Glenda came to church for the first time!

Not just for the first time at our church either.

BUT THE FIRST TIME TO ANY CHURCH IN THIRTY YEARS.

30.

It was so special to watch her slowly start, in her words, "baby-stepping" back to God again and she seemed to really enjoy it and feel the Spirit.

We also had THE most incredible lesson with an investigator we had debated dropping because she just wasn't progressing.

BUT.

We decided to teach about The Book of Mormom and the Spirit was SO strong and she was super engaged and she also came to church that week!

The Book of Mormon is powerful. It's true.

Also.

God is good, people. He really is.

Guys.

I'm the most awkward person alive.

I just am.

Our area is preeeeetty wealthy and we ended up knocking on a door that belonged to a guy who plays for the Jazz.

His house is beautiful.

His wife is beautiful.

His life is beautiful.

And I was extremely intimidated.

So what did I do?

I got awkward.

He was SUPER kind (& massive) and we talked for a while, but he already knows a lot about the church because (hello) he lived in Utah.

So we did our little missionary thing and he nicely declined our message and so I'm all like, "Heh heh heh okay well *cough* nice to meet ya and all" and I notice that he was on crutches...

If you know anything about me, I use humor in awkward situations and I laugh too much and my jokes are dumb.

Well. After almost 11 months, guys, nothing's changed.

So along with my "Nice to meet you! See you later!" spiel, I had the bright idea to tack on"Well, nice to meet you! Sorry we made you crutch all the way over to the door since you're an invalid and all."

Wait. What.

Him: *looks down at crippled leg* "Oh. Ha. Yeah."

My thoughts in that moment: Oh my heck. Why did I just say that. What is wrong with me for real. What if he's actually handicapped and it's like chronic or TERMINAL and oh my gosh he's gonna die and I just joked about it. I'm the literal worst. Okay escape. Escape, escape, escape."

Me: "Okay. BYE."

*Walking away* Sister Rowley: "Dude. You just called an NBA player an invalid. To his face."

Have a great week everyone! Don't hurt yourselves, okay?

Sincerely, Sister Soloa'i

{...I think you mean, Happy Birthday Month}

H A P P Y  N E W  Y E A R ! !

                 just remember, behind every great picture is an even greater mess. confetti = regret.

 But let's be real, people...

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  M O N T H ! !

word of advice: don't try to Sasha Fierce on your mission. the Lord will just make it so you look high instead. #wordofwisdom

The great thing about this birthday month is that Sister Rowley will be joining it toooooo!

That's right.

January babies.

We gonna be t w e n t y.

This week.

Oh, this blessed week.

We spent the majority of it puking. If not puking, then straight dying.

Warning: Don't come to Indiana because you WILL get sick.

A ton of us are sick throughout the mission.

accurate representation of our current state of mind...

Sis. Rowley: chill about being sick and basically life. she's my rock.

me: *constant weeping*

BUT.

The Lord's work will go forth!

we take "talk to everyone" very seriously.

And in an amazing way! We saw toooooonnss of miracles this week and had a lot of amazing lessons with new investigators. This area has been kind of "dead" for awhile and it's been amazing to see and witness the Lord prepare His children to receive the gospel and for us to play a part in that great work has been so amazing!

post-amazing-lesson pic.

There are some powerful stories I could share from this week, but the greatest thing I learned and loved this week was just how amazing the gospel is.

We had the blessing of teaching several lessons about the restoration of the gospel to people who had never heard it before.

Can I tell you how wonderful it is to have a front row seat of watching the Spirit witness truth to those that God has prepared?

Can I tell you how just warm and happy it is to watch their eyes light up in recognition as they remember truths that the Father had once told them even before this life?

Can I tell you how beautiful it is to be a missionary and how b e a u t i f u l the gospel of Jesus Christ is?

An investigator described this feeling as, "Being touched by an angel." :') aka THE HOLY GHOST.

So. 

I have a story.

Would I even be Sister Soloa'i without one?

Yesterday, at church, a member who we absolutely ADORE comes in and we hug her and say how wonderful it is to see her and blah blah usual talk.

But then.

She looks at us and goes, "Hey I'm giving the opening prayer, could you guys do something for me?"

Us: "Oh yeah! Sure! Absolutely! Super!"

Her: *hands over purse* "Could you watch Willow for me while I'm up there?"

Us: "Wait. What."

LEGIT HAS HER DOG IN HER BAG AND STRAIGHT BROUGHT IT TO CHURCH.

Us: "Oh yeah! Sure! Absolutely! Super!"

Guys.

I've never liked dogs.

But as a missionary, I hate them. Loathe. I don't see the point in their existence.

So we take dear, sweet Willow with us to go sit down and she's moving around and I'm thinking, "Ew. Ew ew ew what are we even doing right now?" then Willow starts BARKING.

In sacrament meeting.

The missionaries have a barking, moving bag.

In sacrament meeting.

nbd.

The members: *whispering* *giving weird looks*

Us: *smiling* *kicking the purse when needed* jk lol I don't do that.

Random member: "Uh. Sisters, do you have a dog in your bag? Maybe you shouldn't...?"

Us: "Yes. Yes we do. It's cool though, don't worry about it. We're just holding it for a friend."

Have a wonderful first week of 2017 everyone!

Sincerely, Sister Soloa'i

P.S. Enjoy these pics of muh frieenndzz

 the Westfield missionaries (before they split our ward).

the Fishers district (before they split up all the surrounding stakes lol life).

{ the reason for the season }

Christmas was definitely different this year, but it was honestly one of the best Christmases I've ever had.

And that was probably because this year I truly remembered the reason for the season...

C H H H R R R I I I I I S S S T T T.

And also, I just felt really grateful this week to be a messenger of Him. Especially, during this sacred time of year.

Something that touched me in my scripture studies recently was found in Luke 2:17 when the angel appeared to the shepherds to tell them that Christ had been born:

"And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child."

I sat and pondered that for a while and thought to myself, "If I saw an angel, OF COURSE I would tell people what I had seen and felt and OF COURSE I would share the message that was given just as the shepherds did."

Then I realized that the spiritual experiences we have are absolutely the equivalent to seeing angels.

How wonderful is that??

The Spirit is the Spirit. The message is the same: He lives. He is the only way.

How grateful I am to be able to make it know abroad the glad tidings of great joy. How grateful we should be that angels can minister to us everyday, just as the shepherds, when we truly go seeking our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Why wouldn't we want to share that?

So do it.

Share it.

Have a beautiful week everyone! Enjoy the following pics of my life.

P.S. To those that are sad about the end of the Christmas season, don't worry! The party has only just begun!

Why?

I'll tell you.

THIS SUNDAY IS THE BEGINNING OF BIRTHDAY MONTH THAT'S WHY!!!!

Lauren, you get me.

Sincerely, Sister Soloa'i

HAPPY 10 MONTHS TO MEEEEEE. double digits baybayyyy.

The love for Sis. Rowley goes on. 

a member took us to the zoooooooo for Christmas. no complaints. even when it started raining.

   

look closely and you'll see said member. el oh el.

am I pumped that it's Winter? yeah. yeah I am.