April 21, 2014

Hey Everyone! Happy Easter. I love this time of year. What a special time to remember the sacrifice of our Savior and the glorious miracle of His Resurrection. I love the message of the Gospel. He lives! He lives and because He lives not only can we be forgiven of our sins, but we will all receive the blessing of a resurrected body someday. How incredible! Now, you probably have all seen the video already because you have social media and stuff like that, but if you haven't go to easter.mormon.org and watch the video. It's powerful. My favorite video of Christ so far. I have a testimony of the Savior and of His love and power. Yesterday at church I had the opportunity to sing "The Greatest Among Us" by Sally DeFord. It's all about how even the the Savior was the greatest out of all of us, He chose to serve us and showed us the example of being a servant. I try to emulate that in my life. As we follow the counsel of our Prophet, President Monson, and learn to develop the Love that the Messiah had, our lives will be better in every way. Everything good comes from Him. Everything good.

So what better way to celebrate the Atonement of our Lord than by the application of that Atonement? This week we had the marvelous opportunity to baptize a good friend. Charles Kalipinilokeakealoha Kekahu has truly been prepared by the Lord for this step in eternity to come to God. And yes, that's his real name! It means Charles "Rosy rosy ribbon of love" "Priest" or something like that. Haha. It's been such a pleasure to teach him and to become his friend. probably about 6 weeks ago, Elder Shaw and I were walking down an apartment complex parking lot. It was late at night and we were about to return home. As we walked, a big Hawaiian guy called out to us and asked us to come over. Usually, when people ask the missionaries to come over, it's a sign of trouble. But we went over and talked with him. He told us he had just gotten to Vegas the week before, was living with his cousin, and that he wanted to know where church was! We were really skeptical at first. But as we taught him, we realized he was incredible prepared. SO ready for the fulness of the gospel. He gave perfect answers. Sometimes a little too perfect. It was weird. But the Spirit confirmed in my heart that he was honest and a good man. So who am I to doubt that?

Charles is a man of great faith. He picked up the principles of the gospel so quickly and with great enthusiasm. When we taught him of the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy, he quit his job because it made him work on Sunday. Just like that. Then he got a new job. But when they told him he had to work on Sunday, he quit that one too. What faith!! Would I have been able to quit just like that? I hope so, but I don't know. He truly trusts God. The circumstances of our meeting him were amazing. He had lost almost everything back in Hawaii and had gone to Vegas to recuperate and settle things for a time. Everywhere he had gone before, he had seen the missionaries around. They taught and baptized his daughter years ago, but he wasn't interested. So in his humble state, when he saw us, he told us he thought
"okay, I have to see what this is all about." And so he did!

What's also incredible is that his cousin noticed the difference in him as he was learning about the gospel. He invited her to listen to one of the lessons and she accepted. She is just as prepared as he is. She soaked up the gospel in the same bubbly, incredible enthusiastic manner. It is SO fun to teach them because they feed of each other in excitement and talk with their hands until they're bouncing up and down in their seats. We always leave feeling the Spirit and being incredibly happy. His cousin, Ilima, is getting baptized on the day before Mother's Day (she's the one in the purple dress).

I call them the Ambassadors of Aloha because they are filled with Christlike love. They love everyone so much. They love the Lord more than anything. They are willing to sacrifice because they love him. They trust him and they always express their gratitude. I am so grateful for all that I've learned from them about trusting in God and extending His love to others. They will definitely be a part of my life forever!

Always remember that the Savior loves you. That He is working even now to bring you all the blessings you could ever imagine. And even though it make take trials, like Charles, what we gain is so much more than what we sacrifice. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

P.S. I got to baptize Charles. I practiced his middle name for days. And because He's a big guy, I got just as wet as he did!!!

April 4, 2014

This week was one of the greatest of my mission so far. The reason being Zaida Van Syckle. Zaida has become a lifelong friend and someone that has changed my life.

 

Zaida was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and quickly learned to love God. She loves Him and loves serving Him. For years she attended her meetings and served those around her. She made a few choices that weren't approved by her religion. She ended up being disfellowshipped from her church and disowned from her family. Still, she pressed on and kept her faith in God strong. A few years ago, however, she lost her 15 year old son, Jonathan, to suicide. It devestated her and her husband. They grieved beyond what I could ever imagine and the pain they felt left scars. I can't even begin to understand what they went through at that time, and since. So Zaida felt incredibly, immeasurably alone. As the years went by, however, she had several experiences where she knew that her son still existed. She felt him close and knew that he was somewhere nearby. This was new to her! She had grown up believing that people didn't have spirits or souls and so she didn't understand any of these things that she was experiencing. She tried many many churches to find answers, but couldn't find any (sound like anyone you know?) One night, she felt like giving up. She wanted to follow God, but couldn't find him. She felt desperate and about to give up. She knelt in prayer that night and pleaded with God to help her. She told Him that she couldn't find Him, but that she would do whatever He asked if He would send help. Her prayer was so sincere. As she related this experience to us, I felt the Holy Ghost SO strongly, testifying of the sincerety of her prayer. The next day, she met the missionaries.

 

I came into the area a few weeks after the missionaries had found her. I was able to take part in teaching her about the Plan of Salvation, that her son still existed, that he was learning about the gospel in the Spirit World, and even more importantly, that she would see her son again after the Resurrection. I was able to testify of my knowledge of the plan and to see the Holy Ghost work in her. It's amazing to me how little I did. My companion, Elder Shaw, was incredible, though. Because of experiences he's had, he was able to testify with power and authority from God. He promised her answers to her prayers as she acted in faith. And she did. One night, as she was reading the Gospel Principles Manual, she came across an answer to a question that she had had for over 40 years. 40 years!!! Can you believe that? At that moment, she knew this was the path for her to take. She showed courage and faith and accepted the invitation to be baptized. At her baptism, she testified that she knows for herself that this is true. She knows what God wants her to do. She bore the most poweful testimony I've ever heard and the Spirit confirmed it to all of our hearts. She is an example of how the Lord is preparing all of his children to hear the gospel. It has healed her, given her purpose in her life, and given her the comfort and knowledge she needed to continue on in faith. She's already sharing her testimony with others. I have been greatly amazed at her faith. And Zaida Van Syckle will be my friend for forever.

March 31, 2014

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long. Life has been good here in North Las Vegas. There are airplanes constantly flying overhead and missionary work always to be done. I'm sure you'll hear more about it in the coming weeks, but today I wanted to tell you a story! It's a true story, so pay attention.

Once there was a young missionary. He'd only been out for about a month and half and was still learning the ropes and trying to figure out how to do this missionary thing. One night, he and his trainer were biking when they got a phone call. It was the ward Young Women's President and she was calling to tell them about a family that was moving in soon. The mom was a less-active member with a new husband and 2 kids. The mom had called the Young Women's President and asked if the missionaries would come and teach her kids, a fourteen year old girl and an eleven year old boy, the missionary lessons so that they could get testimonies of their own. As the older missionary stopped to listen to her tell him about this family, he would sometimes repeat some of the words he heard back to her. The young missionary listened to him say a few words but it didn't mean much to him, since he couldn't hear the rest of the conversation. But when the trainer said the family's name, a subtle but powerful prompting from the Holy Ghost hit the young missionary's heart and it told him "This family is here for a reason."

So, they went to meet the family. The first meeting was definitely not ideal. The apartment was loud and there wasn't too much focus to the visit. But they met the family and set up a time to teach a lesson. The mom was grateful for the missionaries, the kids were a little less enthusiastic about it, and the husband told them that while they were fine to come and teach the kids, he was absolutely not interested, would not participate, and that they shouldn't expect anything from him. So they came back time and time again, doing lessons to keep the kids learning (one of which involved the young missionary doing 300 pushups), but mainly focused on what it would take to help this man see how this could benefit him. As time passed and the missionaries did lessons that involved him with the family, he noticed a change in the home. He could feel the Spirit in his home. There was less arguing, more peace, and a distinct difference in the home. He brought HIS kids over to learn from the missionaries. He adored his kids and would do anything for them. The more he noticed the difference the gospel made to his family, the more his heart warmed to the idea. Finally he decided that if he truly wanted the best for his kids, something in his life needed to change. He decided to learn about the gospel and had the missionaries teach him as well as his family.

6 months later, the young missionary had the opportunity to baptize his friend, Tim Brooks. He's now one of my best friends and I've come to love his family so so much. Tim showed me that a true father does what's best for his kids. He makes changes in his life because he knows that it's about them. He had become converted to the gospel because he could see that this gospel truly blesses family. Of that, I know for a fact. I am so grateful for the example and story of Tim Brooks. He's taught me a lot and I'll never forget the experiences I had with his family.