Whoa, is it Monday again already? The time seems to be flying by faster and faster. This week makes a month out in the field and almost 2 months into the mission. It feels like yesterday I was opening my call!
About a month ago, we did a zone-wide fast to improve our efforts as missionaries. When we came together again recently, we found that we had received 44 New Investigators as a zone! It was an amazing blessing and a testimony to me of the power of fasting and praying fervently. If and when we pray with true faith, the Lord can and will answer our prayers. If we do our best, God will take care of the rest. However, that means we truly have to try our best. My father would often tell us a quote that went something like, "If you pray to God to move a mountain, do not be surprised if He hands you a shovel." He has the power to move that mountain with a snap of His fingers, but He doesn't work like that. Instead, He will bless us with the strength and resolve to shovel that mountain over, one scoop at a time. By the end of it, we have grown spiritually, physically, and emotionally. He's constantly looking to build us up and make us stronger.
Every morning, we are blessed with personal and companionship study. We will usually predetermine what we will study. This past week, I would set something to study but as I started, I would find myself being led by the Spirit to study something else. I didn't know why and I didn't question it. At the end of the week, we met with a wonderful family, the Faleofa's. They lived in Hawaii and some of their kids went to Kahuku. Sister Faleofa's son is less active and he asked us a lot of questions about a lot of things. We were able to answer pretty much all of his questions and address his concerns. I realized that almost every question he had asked pertained to something I had studied that week for personal study. I am constantly seeing the blessings and miracles out here in the mission field that come with being obedient to the rules of a missionary.
This week, my companion DIDN'T fall off his bike and that is somewhat of a miracle as well. Sister Dartnell is in charge of assigning dinners for the missionaries and she does an amazing job! There is probably only one day a month that doesn't get filled in and even then, she usually gets it filled in. Well this week, we had that one day. I decided to make kalua pig (because I had gotten some ingredients and we had a crock pot). I put it in that morning for it to be done around dinner time. As we started back for home and dinner later on that day, we received a call from a member. He told us we were supposed to be at his home for dinner that night. It wasn't on our schedule but we stopped by anyway. Sadly, I had to refrigerate my kalua pig for the next day. Sister Faleofa also gave me a big bowl of poke fresh from Hawaii (someone in her family had just come back from the islands and brought that back with them.) It was suuuper ono. #blessings.
I just wanted to end by bearing my testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel and the blessings that come with missionary work. I've never prayed or studied the scriptures so much in my entire life. "...as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day" -Alma 38:5. I am learning more and more to put my whole trust and faith in the Lord and I am seeing the blessings and His hand in my life. I love all of you! Have a blessed week!
Love, Elder Kaitoku
PS We get to go to the temple on Thursday and I am super excited! I can't wait! #blessingsuponblessings
Oh yeah! Before I forget: Quick funny story, so every companionship has phones and every now and then, we'll get a text from the mission office concerning mail. If it's not addressed to an "Elder...." or "Sister..." or even their first names (like, if it is addressed to a nickname) they'll send out a mass text to the whole mission and ask whose letter/package it is. This past week, we got a text that said, "We have an unidentified letter at the mission home addressed to "Docta DRE" from "Snoop Lion" is this anybody's?" Me and my companion were cracking up. I asked my companion if anyone from home ever called him "Docta DRE" back home and he said yes and that the letter might be his. He hasn't claimed it yet.
About a month ago, we did a zone-wide fast to improve our efforts as missionaries. When we came together again recently, we found that we had received 44 New Investigators as a zone! It was an amazing blessing and a testimony to me of the power of fasting and praying fervently. If and when we pray with true faith, the Lord can and will answer our prayers. If we do our best, God will take care of the rest. However, that means we truly have to try our best. My father would often tell us a quote that went something like, "If you pray to God to move a mountain, do not be surprised if He hands you a shovel." He has the power to move that mountain with a snap of His fingers, but He doesn't work like that. Instead, He will bless us with the strength and resolve to shovel that mountain over, one scoop at a time. By the end of it, we have grown spiritually, physically, and emotionally. He's constantly looking to build us up and make us stronger.
Every morning, we are blessed with personal and companionship study. We will usually predetermine what we will study. This past week, I would set something to study but as I started, I would find myself being led by the Spirit to study something else. I didn't know why and I didn't question it. At the end of the week, we met with a wonderful family, the Faleofa's. They lived in Hawaii and some of their kids went to Kahuku. Sister Faleofa's son is less active and he asked us a lot of questions about a lot of things. We were able to answer pretty much all of his questions and address his concerns. I realized that almost every question he had asked pertained to something I had studied that week for personal study. I am constantly seeing the blessings and miracles out here in the mission field that come with being obedient to the rules of a missionary.
This week, my companion DIDN'T fall off his bike and that is somewhat of a miracle as well. Sister Dartnell is in charge of assigning dinners for the missionaries and she does an amazing job! There is probably only one day a month that doesn't get filled in and even then, she usually gets it filled in. Well this week, we had that one day. I decided to make kalua pig (because I had gotten some ingredients and we had a crock pot). I put it in that morning for it to be done around dinner time. As we started back for home and dinner later on that day, we received a call from a member. He told us we were supposed to be at his home for dinner that night. It wasn't on our schedule but we stopped by anyway. Sadly, I had to refrigerate my kalua pig for the next day. Sister Faleofa also gave me a big bowl of poke fresh from Hawaii (someone in her family had just come back from the islands and brought that back with them.) It was suuuper ono. #blessings.
I just wanted to end by bearing my testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel and the blessings that come with missionary work. I've never prayed or studied the scriptures so much in my entire life. "...as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day" -Alma 38:5. I am learning more and more to put my whole trust and faith in the Lord and I am seeing the blessings and His hand in my life. I love all of you! Have a blessed week!
Love, Elder Kaitoku
PS We get to go to the temple on Thursday and I am super excited! I can't wait! #blessingsuponblessings
Oh yeah! Before I forget: Quick funny story, so every companionship has phones and every now and then, we'll get a text from the mission office concerning mail. If it's not addressed to an "Elder...." or "Sister..." or even their first names (like, if it is addressed to a nickname) they'll send out a mass text to the whole mission and ask whose letter/package it is. This past week, we got a text that said, "We have an unidentified letter at the mission home addressed to "Docta DRE" from "Snoop Lion" is this anybody's?" Me and my companion were cracking up. I asked my companion if anyone from home ever called him "Docta DRE" back home and he said yes and that the letter might be his. He hasn't claimed it yet.
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