Mission Accomplished!!!

Hi family and friends,

I DID IT!!! My Mission is complete!!!

I'm so happy to be home and so grateful for the last 22 months of dedicated service to my Heavenly Father and His precious children in the Marshall Islands! I am so grateful for all the love and support from my family...

  and friends!

I am even more grateful to be home where I can hug my beautiful, amazing children! I love you so much!

For those of you that needed the address for my homecoming its 10312 Ashley Park Dr. (2130 EAST).
So from 1300 East and Sego Lily  Dr. (10000 South).
head East and the church will be on the left at 2130 East.

There will be a gathering afterwards at the home of Richard and Nancy Perry. Their address is:
2097 East 10140 South. I'd love to visit with you if you have the time to stop by:)

I'm so happy to be home!

Love,
Liz

Endure to the end:)

Dear Family and Friends,

Before I start I have to say...

I'M COMING HOME!!!!!!

I fly in to Salt Lake City on August 14th. It will have been 22 months since I left, so needless to say, I'm SO EXCITED!!!!

Now to catch you up... I'm not sure where to start,  so here goes. A lot has happened since my last post so I will do my best to bring you up to date but It will mostly be through photos.

 
I got to help my friend Taraia start the foundation for her kitchen floor.

                        We had a great time.

My arms are much stronger now after carrying about 80 center blocks.

 So much of what goes on here in Kiribati makes me feel like I am in the garden of Eden. This little puppy and baby pig played together for a long time, they were just darling.

Oh how I love the children!  These are just a few of them that come nearly every day to visit and to get a piece of candy. Once in while I will have a project for them to help me with.  This project was at the front of my house, it was full of weeds.

                      Many hands make light work.

                  I was so grateful for all their help.

We had a wonderful spiritual feast at our last Zone Conference with Elder and Sister Hamula; his wife is so awesome! He was the Area President for the South Pacific but has since been transferred and now we have Elder Pearson. He spoke at one of our Stake Conferences a few years back. 

The night before their departure there was a big celebration held in their honor. It was very entertaining and a spirit of joy was in the air.

 

The former president of Kiribati, President Tito, took the senior missionaries on a tour of Parliament.

His granddaughter is Athy, the young girl that comes to my home for baking lessons, that I spoke about in an earlier post. They are the most humble and kind family. I shall greatly miss them. I even got to sit in the chair of the speaker of the house. 

The people of Kiribati were so blessed to have Dr. Chisholm return for the 8th time.

His daughter Riana Chisholm Jasperson and the rest of the crew worked long hours and blessed the lives of so many through their endless service. We held a senior missionary dinner with them at my home

and then there was a big thank you and departure celebration held for them.

I had a wonderful time at girls camp with the Eita Ward.

They loved learning camp songs. It was the first time for them; they had never heard any of them before. They can harmonize so beautifully.

 I will close with my testimony that I know God lives and that He sent His son to atone for our sins, all because of Love. I see and know that the Lord is hastening His work and it is truly been humbling to be serving a full time mission during this time.  I love my

Savior, Jesus Christ.

If you are struggling at all, I promise you, that you will find peace and answers to prayers in the Book of Mormon and the other scriptures. I love all of you, my dear brothers and sisters. May Heavenly Father continue to watch over you and bless you with His love.

Love,

Sister Cassita

Let Us All Press On.....

My dear family and friends,

  Oh my goodness!  There is so much to share. I've learned through serving others that we are the Lord's hands, and just how much He needs each one of us to build His Kingdom upon the earth. 

As I have been blessed with many talents and abilities and used them out here during my mission, people will cry and say to me, " The Lord has answered my prayers". It brings the love of the Savior to both of us and our heart are knit together as one. I love being missionary so very much.

 

Trying to keep the rats out of flats here can be a challenge so I went and bought some wiring that they couldn't chew through and put it on all the windows of the sister's flat in Bikenebue.

Cleaning the chapel's with some of my new friends...

The members here haven't caught on to helping in this area just yet...

but I continue to invite them to come and help:)

Taxi driver! Someone always can use a ride...

This is Athy. She loves to come to my house and learn how to bake. My daughter, Maddison, sent me her recipe for Snicker Doodles. They were a hit!

After we bake, she takes them home to share with her family. She is so darling.  Her grandfather used to be the President of Kiribati. They are not members...yet. They are truly wonderful people that I will miss when I leave. 

A big thank you to the Mansell's and their friends for donating T-shirts to the Service Center here in Kiribati.

The employees are so proud to wear them and some have told me that it has opened the door for them to do missionary work.

"I'm a Mormon! I know it! I live it! I love it"
 

Yes we do!

In loving memory, Glenn and JoAnn Haws

 

I had no idea when they took me to the MTC that I would not be coming home to see them again. But the Lord has called both of them home to be with Him.  I am eternally grateful to them, for all the love and support to me and to my children.

 

My heart goes out to my best friend, Marci, who is their daughter. My life is better because of you and your parents. Just look at me now... a missionary! Who would have guessed it? Like the song goes, " It only takes a spark to get a fire going."  In tribute to your parents: I know that they have been the "spark" in many people's lives and most importantly in their family. Their endless service in missionary work continues on.

I will be leaving Glenn's book here in Kiribati, titled " Who And What Am I... Why Am I Here On This Earth? 

 You can order a copy at this link: http://www.lulu.com/shop/travis-glenn-haws/who-and-what-am-i-why-am-i-here-on-this-earth/paperback/product-21447976.html

Til next time!
Sister Cassita

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words....

Dearest family and friends,

   Sorry for my absence in writing to all of you but I assure that I have been much engaged in doing the work of the Lord and being refined. It has not always been easy, that's for sure but oh, so worth every blessing that I have received and the increase in learning. I would not trade what I have learned nor the experiences that I’ve had. I love you and miss you all!

Since it has been so long and there is much that I want to share, I will be posting mostly photos in my next couple of posts.  The Lord is Hastening His work in miraculous ways and I love that I’m serving my mission at this time and that I get to share it with all of you.

  I have learned that as I feed His sheep, my spirit is being healed. It is quite a miracle!  I love my Savior with all my heart. My eyes are filled with tears of gratitude and love as I write these words. I feel such a deep love for each of you and for your love, support and kindness to me while I’ve been serving.

Thank you!!!
Love, Sister Cassita

 

Pictures of the children coloring for their first time. My best friend Marci sent some crayons and coloring books and what a hit they were! The children colored in them all 4 days that I stayed with them. Thank you so much Marci!

Just heading out to clean the missionary flat. I love this island!

This is Nana fixing dinner, fish, rice, breadfruit and coconuts, Yum!

BEFORE:

                                       AFTER:

BEFORE:

                                    

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                               BEFORE:
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                                 BEFORE:

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                            and AFTER...

These are two of my dear friends, Ntonga and Taraawa. They went with me to the outer island , Abaiang to clean a missionary flat where an elder used to live but now sisters will be moving there. The boat that we are on is called the Waa.

  Down on the main floor there are 4 large holding  spaces where supplies are put for transport.

 The Captain let us sit up on the roof, it was a spectacular view and plenty of sun.

 There were so many beautiful shades of blue as we traveled. On our way to the island we saw dolphins and two huge black and white sting rays just skimming the surface of the ocean, so amazing.

I'm sitting on a beautiful kia that was a gift given to me by the village, all hand made from Pandana leaves.

 This was a view from the top of the Waa as we were approaching the island. 

 Beebe's hut and two of her children and Kiribati pancakes for breakfast, Yum!!