Greetings and Malo e Lelei! Kuou tuku ha Fakamalo mo fakafeta’l kihe ‘Otua Mafimafe kihe tauhi ‘ofa kuo ne fai ma’mku mo kitutolu hono kotoa. My name is ‘Ainise ‘Isama’u and what an honor it is to be with you all! I thank God for the opportunity and blessing!

My United Women in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women) story began with a conversation with Brenda Tuita, who was the California-Pacific Conference United Methodist Women Limitless Young Women Coordinator, regarding an event for UMW. The conversation led to talking about Limitless. That’s when I attended my first conversation with the West District Limitless team. As we know, Limitless is a UMW Life Mentoring Program for Young Women. To be brutally honest, I admit I was a skeptic at first because growing up, UMW wasn’t exactly my “cup of tea.” I thought it to be a group of seasoned women who gathered and talked about things from 1869, had long drawn-out meetings and spent time in a circle just sewing their life away. Little did I know that attending a conversation with Limitless would lead me to be a United Methodist Women member for the rest of my life. Today, I am a mother of an 8-year-old girl, a wife, a friend, a mentor… a leader. Since that conversation life hasn’t been the same. Almost everywhere I go I meet someone with a United Methodist Women connection. I always feel welcomed and like I have a place at the table.

I have served on the district level and also on the conference level. I still remember how nervous I was to send out my first newsletter to all United Methodist Women of the California-Pacific Conference. My nervousness was automatically put to peace because I never felt alone. As the former Communications Coordinator for Cal-Pac Conference UMW, the lessons I learned in this role taught me so much about being organized, working with women of all ages and making sure information is sent out in proper time. Trust me, there were many learning curves, but the California-Pacific Conference UMW Team were amazing teachers from day one. It’s not really that they taught me, but they embraced me and showed me the way while allowing me to have my own voice. These women have stepped into my life to continue showing me. This group of very special women … bold, courageous, daring and loving women opened their hearts and mentored me.