Precious

This morning Amy and I got together- i have decided that wednesdays are definately my favorite day of the week! I love spending time with Amy so much...she just is such an encouragement to me and so open. And she encourages me to keep dreaming and living out God's purpose that He has for me...as I was driving home I was just in awe of God and His hand in my life. I still can't get over that I use to tell my parents that I was going to be a missionary to hawaii, and sure enough- here I am! And believe me, sometimes you feel like a missionary while living in maui! Haha Amy and I were in walmart today, and we totally felt like it as we were buying cockroach bombs for her car! ;) (PS- I killed my first cockroach today...yep! it was a baby one...so it wasn't all crunchy...but it was a big step for me. I was going to let it go but then i thought of little brooklyn and my mom instinct kicked in, and i squashed that sucker!) Anyways, I was just praying on the drive home, surrending my life up to the Lord, asking that His will be done in my life, and if that's living in hawaii for a long while...then okay! I am His vessel and I definately see an opportunity and need here to pour into these girls- and how i would love to stay around to see their fruit! (Is that selfish?)

The Brodster

So the story of the day, which i hope melts your heart as it did mine, is about the little Brodster. (Amy and Brandon's 4 yr. old son) Oh! I wish ya'll could meet him- he's so precious! Everyday I am so tempted to ask brandon to tell me a brody story because he is just the sweetest thing...so!
Last night we had small groups and brody was there. We split up into a guys and girls group, and prayed together. Well the girls finished before the boys, so we got to hear the boys pray, and little Brody prayed for the boys....oh! We girls all quieted down and heard little brody's voice saying with such confidence, "And God, I just pray that you would unify us, and that you would show us your might and power. And I know this is going to be hard God, but I pray that at the end we'd know you more. Amen." AH!

Oh the happenings...

This weekend is the Maui County Fair! I know- I never would have thought that Maui had a fair either! But they sure do...and we have a booth there! We're making mexican baja tacos- and believe me, they are going to be DELICIOUS because I've tried so many of them seeing as how I work for Brandon who has been trying out every taco imaginable and cooking them himself to get just the right one...and i believe it's going to be a winner :) So this week is a little crazy with finishing up all the touches with our fair booth- you wouldn't believe all the details to think through. Yesterday I went out there to paint a bit (and loved it!) and then today Brandon and I revised it to fit the fire code- yes girls! I learned all about sheet rock and drilling and cutting, etc...haha- i really don't know all the terms. It was so great! I love hands on things I have learned- and working up a sweat...you know, feeling like you really worked! And being at the fair totally reminds me of all my mission trips to Montana :) But if you think of it, please be praying for all the details to come together and esp. for Brandon and Tony- for strength and wisdom in overseeing the booth.

This weekend the interns went on a hike to Iao Valley- and it was incredible!!! Let me just say it was a dream come true hiking barefoot, in my bathing suit, eating fresh guava off the trees and then jumping into a frigged stream!

So I just realized that this weekend is October! Crazy!!

1. I've been here a whole month already! It's gone so fast- and everyday I am so thankful and just praise the Lord for His goodness- that He has a purpose for each of us and uses us, regardless of how weak and frail I am.

2. That means next Wednesday night is our first girl's event- a sleepover of course!! I can't wait- but please be praying. I want to lead a couple of devotions, and am not sure yet what to talk about. Please pray for wisdom~

love to you all!!!! and if any of you would like a little vacay to maui anytime soon- please come!!!!

s U r F i N g

Yesterday morning the four of us got to go to the Cove to surf with our Pastor Craig and Mark. It was so fun!!! I fell in love with surfing yesterday :) And I absolutely loved spending time with Craig and Mark. The more and more I talk with people from the church, the more and more I'm amazed at God's grace and healing. So many people here have stories that just amaze me of how God called them to Himself, and of how He healed their broken hearts and lives.

After surfing we went to Jamba and got some acai cups- oh so delicious- although i'm really looking forward to having Mark's wife's acai cups- i hear they are amazing!

OH! I wanted to share some fun stories of the week- hopefully they bring a smile to your face :)

Oh, the Deathstar

On Wednesday morning i was walking out to our car to go to See You At the Pole. Now, you must know that in Hawaii you always leave your windows rolled down, car unlocked (and rarely wear a seat belt :) ) Well, as I was getting my keys out and walking towards the car, a black cat jumped out of the driver's window! haha- I guess it had a nice little home for the night.

Oh, sorry- I should fill you in. The Deathstar is one of our lovely intern vans that belongs to student ministries- so Glenn and I have the pleasure of driving it around. And truly it is a deathstar- haha! I don't know why it is a star- except that it's white like a star- because really it's just death to us. Not that I'm not thankful- but oh boy! It's been unusable more than usable since we've been here. But on Thursday morning I was driving it to work and as I started to accelerate when i got on the highway, it slowed down...and down...and down. I went to turn it and could hardly move the stearing wheel. Praise God the church isn't far, and the last turn goes down a hill- because it completely died on me. But I could go off of the momentum of the hill and turn it into the Jehovah Witness parking lot :) Oh cars...but apparently it had just ran out of gas- so last night Steven and Glenn filled it up with a gas tank- haha! I was dying laughing because

1. it was completely dark

2. they were talking in their new zealand accents

3. steven- poor fellow- poured gasoline all over his foot!

BUT- The deathstar is back to life! It's like the cat with nine lives...

Toads

The other night Jena opened our front door, and there staring at us what a toad! A TOAD! I've never seen an actual toad before except in the movies. I secretly wanted to catch it and kiss it like a princess, but it hopped away from us before I could. But good thing! The next day Amy told me that they're poisonous! Did you know that? I never would have guessed that. She said that Brandon hates toads with fervor because they kill dogs- and he has a hunting dog that he loves like none other. So he catches all the toads in their yard and plays baseball with them- yep...haha And then she proceeded to tell me a story that will forever leave a smile on my face...

So last year when she and Brandon first moved here, some of the high school girls decided to TP their house- and fork their lawn, etc. Well, they weren't the sharpest tools in the shed because they did it at 8pm when brandon and amy were in the house and able to see exactly who did it. So Brandon and Puff went and collected 60 TOADS from their yard and put them in a paper sack...then they drove down the street and waited for the girls to come out from their bible study. When they did, the boys started chucking the toads at them! CHUCKING THE TOADS AT THEM! haha Needless to say, none of the girls have tried anything on brandon since then...

Oh and Ps...the other day brandon tells me, "Tomorrow I am going to kill a dear!" He was so stoked- yep, that's my boss :) love it!

Today was See you at the Pole where kids from all over the US gather around their flag poles at 7am and pray for our country, schools, teachers, friends, family, etc. I got to go to Baldwin High School- one of the schools that a lot of our kids in the youth group attend. When I got there they were singing praise songs to Jesus- which was awesome because the two leading it were guys from our youth group! Then we prayed together for awhile. Towards the end we laid our hands on those who were sick and prayed for them, and then we laid hands on the seniors and prayed for them specifically. I can't tell you how encouraged and awesome the time was! How powerful and uplifting it is to pray with the body of Christ...and to see these kids on fire for God- in love with Him and zealous to share Him with those around. I pray that I would have a passion for the gospel as they do...

I met with Amy for the first time too this morning! She is discipling me and it was so wonderful to just sit and talk with her- for like 2 1/2 hours! What a woman of God she is- so encouraging, uplifting, and truth giving too. I am so thankful that the Lord so sweetly answered my prayers for a discipler- and someone i feel totally comfortable to tell anything and everything to. I'm so excited to grow with her and learn from her.

We had our weekly intern lunch with the head pastor Craig today too- he made us kahlua pulled pork- oh! mouth watering...and i don't even like pork! The Bagsby's (a missionary couple in Nicaragua) had lunch with us too and told us how they met and came to the Lord- so awesome! She was a buddhist...but her auntie came to the Lord and wrote down the Lord's prayer for her- so she prayed it twice a day, just like another god to worship but the more and more she prayed it, the more and more she got stuck on "in Jesus' name"...so she went to the library and looked up all the books on Jesus. She read a couple of them, and realized that this Jesus was God- the One and Only! So she gave her life over to the Lord and started walking with him- and after awhile, her whole family was saved too. AMAZING! GOD YOU ARE AMAZING!

To top the day off, i got a call from my poppi...which was the sweetest, most endearing call from him. I love my daddy so much- and love how gentle and caring he is with me; how he so longs to be available to mom and I and open to talk about anything and everything. I love you daddy- ever so much!

This is the lovely Rio! She is a stud- totally loves the Lord and loves people. We went out to coffee last Wednesday night and it was so encouraging to get to know her and hear her heart for our Jesus. And...i had a pumpkin spice latte which was like fall in my mouth! Rio is so cute...she told me on Saturday, "Alyssa, I had my first fall moment with you at starbuck's on wednesday!" On Saturday she put together a service project for the high school, so we went to the homeless shelter and reorganized their library. Only two of the kids came, but that's okay! Hopefully more next time :) Please pray that our kids would really have a desire to serve- they love coming on Thursday nights, but it's hard to get them to come to other activities.

Afterwards Rio and I went out to lunch and she got this GINORMOUS burrito from Maui Tacos- haha! I love her so much- she ate the whole thing- so proud :)
Risa, my dearest roomie. I love you so much! It's so crazy how God has blessed us together and how alike we are...down to the perfumes we wear and have worn in the past! haha She is my kindred spirit and so encourages me to seek the Lord and love people. She encouraged me with this verse on saturday, "Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told." Hab. 1:5We got to go on the Trilogy cruise with our young adults on saturday- it was so beautiful! This is by Lahaina...it reminded me of the picture of my aunt debi and her husband when they went on their honeymoon...

This is my favorite picture yet! I love these guys so much- it's such a blessing to have a family away from family...

love to you all- please let me know what i can be praying about for you!! And let me know what GOd is doing in your lives- He is at work in you and among you- He is doing a work that you would not believe if told!

Happy 29th anniversary!

Today was our church's 29th anniversary! How exciting- it blows me away to think of how God works when I think of how our church here in Maui got started- it all began with 3 guys who were in their 20's- sold out for God- surfer dudes, saved by God's grace- who wanted to plant a church in Kihei, Maui. (I love it too because it reminds me of my daddy. He was 19 when he came to the Lord; a surfer himself, realizing that he was missing Something in his life) The choir sang and the hula dancers danced to "God of our city" It brought me to tears, it was so beautiful! I feel like I got a glimpse of heaven this morning...

I am so thankful that the Lord so encouraged my heart this morning at church. How sweet it was to worship together and get to talk with some of those at our church. I love looking around and recognizing kids' faces now! It was a huge comfort and blessing from our Lord because my heart has been a bit discouraged this week...just with being sick and feeling a bit homesick. I know God has me here for a reason, and I do love it and am starting to really love those here, but it is still hard to be away from family and friends. But how comforting it is to know that Jesus is with us always, he never leaves us or forsakes us- He is my Love and Light and Joy.

"yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the deers; he makes me tread on my high places. " Hab. 3:18-20

My 22nd birthday consisted of:

snorkeling

pumpkin coffee :)

work...and seeing a plague of cochroaches! ah! I will never be the same...and forever i will have trash-o-phobia!

balloons from my dearest Cait

coffee with Jason, one of our pastor's...so encouraging to get his wisdom on theology

talking with Mama and Papa!!!

the sweetest card from Leanne that brought tears to my eyes..love you lea

cards from sweet megs!

phone messages from sweet friends

dinner at Brandon and Amy's with the high schoolers

a surprise party with the interns! ...and princess plates :)

It was such a wonderful day- we all went snorkeling in the morning. I just couldn't get over that the Lord had given us such a beautiful day and that I could start it by marveling at His creation- under water! The water wasn't super clear because the surf was coming up, but we did see bright yellow fishies and Risa saw a sting rey...i was thankful i didn't see a sting rey or the eels...uh! Eels remind me of Ursela on The Little Mermaid, and I'm still terrified of them! Anyways, it was such a great birthday. Thank you so much for all your love and encouragement! Really, it was so special because of all of you guys- I was just so humbled by how the Lord has blessed me with such sweet, God-honoring people in my life who encourage me to love the Lord more and more each day!

Yesterday Brandon and Amy took me to Napili (up north, past Lahaina) for banana macadamiun nut pancakes with whip cream that was to die for! haha We spent the rest of the day at the beach by the Ritz Carlton...I officially fell in love with Maui! I was sitting on these rocks, just thinking and praying, and watching the waves hit. The water was so clear...when i saw a sea turltle pop its head out! I was so excited and overwhelmed at God's beauty, that all I could do was clap and laugh before my Lord. Then as I sat there and sang, I kept seeing all these sea turtles- you could see them through the water as the waves rushed up, and then once the waves broke, the little sea turtles would pop their heads out! It was incredible- sea turtles are officially my favorite animal now! (or reptile?) I was so overwhelmed by God's beauty and His grace in blessing me with the opportunity to live in Maui...God You're so good! Thank you! I found myself telling Jesus that I would love to live here for the rest of my life :) But really, my dream still is to help plant a church somewhere...if that was here on the island, then awesome! But if not, then I'm excited to see where God calls me- but i must admit, i do pray it's not somewhere cold like Siberia :)

This is Amy, Brandon's wife- whom i love and who is going to start mentoring me on wednesday mornings!!! She is a blessing in my life and has the warmest, most welcoming heart. She is such an answer to prayer too! I was praying all summer that GOd would provide a woman into my life when I got here to mentor me- someone who I could be totally honest with, and who I could learn from and love Jesus more together- and someone who I could love on her family and get to know them as a second family...God You amaze me!

AND....this is their oldest son, Brody...my new best friend and love of my life! It was so fun hanging out with him yesterday. He is such a little Brandon it cracks me up! He's 4...so you can just imagine the cute things he says! Some of my favorites are:

"I'm going to marry...um...someone with green eyes...and brown hair..." "ME Brody!?" "NO!" "You're right...i'm too old huh!?" "Yes!"

"Hey, do you want to have a secret handshake!? Okay...we'll shake, pound, and then I'll kiss your hand, and you kiss my hand! But don't tell anyone...it's our secret."

"This is my direction bible. Do you want to see where the dinosaurs live and the volcanoes?" (while looking at the maps in the back of the bible)

Catching up...

This past week:

paddleboarding- L-O-V-E it!

sunbathing in the wind! haha covered in sand- and burned

Beach baptism!

laughing hysterically with the interns

sweet conversations with shanny and my mama

surprise packages!

Lahaina

running by the chickens and peacocks

first small groups

seeing God answer prayer with discipleship and fellowship

Sorry I haven't been keeping up! This weekend was pretty packed with events! We had our first beach baptism, and we interns were in charge of setting up, organizing, and tearing down. But it was so worth it to see believers publicly show their committment and love for our victorious Savior! Risa and Christy, two of the interns, got baptized too, and emily one of the high school girls who has had a hard background and family life. I'm so excited to see her grow this year and hopefully to get to know her more on a deeper level.

Last night we had our first small group meeting for high schoolers. It was just an intro to see who was interested and to talk about why we do small groups. Growing up we didn't have small groups in youth group, but after talking with Brandon, I totally see why we do them and the importance of them. You get to meet once a week and talk through a study and share what GOd's been doing in your life, what struggles you have, and to pray with one another. Community...GOd's really been showing me lately how important that is- to have accountability and vulnerability with believers! I was so encouraged by the girls who showed up last night- what sweethearts! I wish you could meet all of them- they are so welcoming and open and excited for discipleship and to hang out. One of the girls, MacKenzie- what a doll- invited me to her birthday campout this weekend :) I'm just continually amazed at God's sweet gifts- how open these girls are. So many come from broken homes or just hard family lives...I was encouraged this morning by a friend to pour out unconditional love on them. They are so hungry for it- so please pray that I would be faithful to shower them with God's abudant love. I think I will have the freshman/sophmore small group! Unless if we can get another girl leader- then i may have a different group...but i'm so excited! Brandon mentioned last night that he was stoked about the kids that showed up last night too- a lot of them are new believers, so the fact that they are hungry for discipleship is awesome! GOD YOU'RE AWESOME!

Sending you all much love~

week one

WOW! Week 1 down...i can't believe it's been a week already, and yet it feels like i've been here for a month! Risa and I were just talking yesterday about how we almost feel like we're home in Maui- like we were made to live here!

1. Always sunny and warm (and you know how i am usually cold!)

2. beautiful beaches- all around! I forget that i'm living on an island and can see the ocean on both the north and south side! (well and i guess east and west too- but there's two mountains on the east and west side)

3. can walk around the office (and anywhere really) barefoot :) i love this...

4. Office/church attire: shorts and tshirts- i love that all the pastors wear boardshorts everyday

5. there are no snakes on this island! Praise God!

6. Fruit and fish are the mainstays- yum

7. hawaiians run on island time, aka 15 minutes late to everything- not that i'm typically a late person, but i just like that it's laid back and not time-oriented

8. t.v. and media is not a big thing here, esp. with the high schoolers- they just love to be outside and go to starbucks...which leads me to #9

9. starbuck's- coffee is plentiful here! haha Starbuck's is almost as common as in seattle- i love it! and the high school girls love to go out for coffee- and you know i'm always up for that!

This week has been sweet. The highlight for sure was when Risa, Jena and I got to go in a hawaiian canoe Monday morning at a resort and swim with sea turtles in the ocean. The water was the clearest I've ever seen, and we saw 5 sea turtles- do you know they just cling to the reefs at the bottom of the ocean? They can stay under there for 3 hours! Aw man, that was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! God is so creative, and so beautiful. And to think how vast the ocean is, filled with trillions of sea creatures that I've never even heard of before- all because it brings Him glory and He delighted to create them!

It's also been fun to get to know the other interns better- we're becoming a family, which is such a blessing. I'm reminded though of how we need to depend on the Lord to love people in general- love is supernatural! But I really love all of the interns and love laughing together- we're pretty much all in the same office so it's super fun to laugh together throughout the day.

Last night was my first offical youth group night! It totally reminded me of youth group when i was in high school, which was so sweet! I did the slide show announcements and music- so I got to observe from the back. I loved watching the kids worship our Lord, raising their hands in the air. And I loved hearing Brandon preach- he's so good at engaging the students and giving them truth. The highlight for me though was talking with Rio, a senior (i think!) and having her ask me to coffee next week! she's so cute- i can't wait! Throughout the night though I was also reminded of the hardships and reality of high school- the insecurities, anxieties, fears, guy/girl relationships, etc...that some of those kids (or a lot, i dont know) don't know Jesus, and even those that do are still growing and need discipleship- as we all do! God's really taught me this week about grace- and how we are all at different stages, and all need to show grace and mercy to each other and patience- to be learners, humble to learn and change. So I'm super excited to invest in these kids lives, but also humbled realizing that i need to depend on our Lord for strength, wisdom and grace every step of the way...

i'll try to take photos of the church and our lovely condo this weekend and get them posted soon! for now...aloha!