Walk the Walk, We are NOT the teachers

6/15/15

Aloha Ohana!!!!

HAPPY MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!! So, this week in Mililani! Well I guess one reason I don't have quite as much to say about this week is because last week was so jam packed with awesome things that we ended up only having a chance to e-mail on Wednesday so it hasn't been that long, but still this week also seemed to be jam packed with quite a few odd things to report on. Most all of the day Friday was spent at the Dentist's office while I got a filling fixed and teeth cleaned (only to find out that apparently the assistant found another cavity on like the back of my back molar even after the actual dentist with the dozen x-rays they took said that I didn't have any.... I guess even with daily brushing and flossing the universe just couldn't fathom a trip to the dentist for me without them finding a new cavity).

After that we spent basically the entire rest of the time we didn't spend in the dentist's office, in traffic on the way back to Mililani. Word to the wise if you are ever visiting out here in the future and want to go to Mililani from Honolulu.... NEVER miss the turn off on the freeway!! You will end up in Pearl City and once you get there, there is no going back!!! We spent almost two hours just trying to get back on the freeway!!! Anyway, so yeah that was a long and kind of frustrating day sitting in traffic with a half numb face for almost 3 hours total.... but eventually we did get back and we had a good dinner and basketball night with pretty much entirely non-members. So that was cool! Actually I'd say it was extra cool because I didn't make a complete fool of myself too many times on the basketball court!! :) haha!

And then the other probably biggest thing this past week was that we had stake conference!! It was SUPER good! They talked a lot in the adult session on making the Sabbath-day more of a spiritual experience both in and out of church and then in the general session on Sunday about not just being a believer in Christ but a disciple of Christ, or in other words, not just talking the talk but walking the walk!! It was SUPER good! Probably the coolest part though was when the Stake President started to bare his testimony and went off on some tangent about literally EXACTLY what our less-active members we were sitting next to needed and honestly us too!! The spirit is just INCREDIBLE!! It truly is!! :) Anyway, but stepping back a bit, a little background on the fact that we were indeed sitting next to a few less-active members in stake conference!

 

So their story starts out a few weeks ago when we were just doing what we normally do and trying to meet and share messages with the less-active members in the ward (because like most places here in Hawaii that is the majority of the work). Anyway, we knocked on the door of this one family and Bro. W just let us right in and started talking to us like we had been coming over there for ages even though apparently missionaries hadn't been by for months!!! So anyway, we went by a couple times and every time it was the same, a LOT of listening and quietly nodding our heads and occasionally tossing in a comment or question here and there and then watching as normally well over an hour sometimes longer flies by without them seeming to take even a breath between sentences! This continued on for a couple visits and then finally just a little while ago we were talking with them (well relatively) and after a rather lengthy story about the latest work troubles Sis. W stopped and said "so what time is church again?" and they committed themselves to be there!

However, unfortunately two weeks went by and they never did make it, but with each missed Sunday we also got a call from Bro. W explaining why he wasn't there and inviting us to keep stopping by. Probably one of the most touching things actually to ever happen on my mission was during Elders Quorum when for the second week he had missed out on church and called to apologize and he told us "please don't give up on us!" And we didn't, we never planned on it but it was still hard. Anyway, long story short, this week we had a great lesson with them. It was funny because Sis. W started the visit with talking all about how she thought "he should go to church" and "he needed it" but that she wasn't ready and wasn't going to be there but that we will "definitely see him there at church on Sunday" but then after a lot of then venting and just letting out anger or malice that in some cases had been building up for YEARS and a lot of sharing our own stories and stories from the scriptures and so forth in a quiet moment when the Spirit was perhaps the strongest, Sis. W just stopped and said, "well, I guess you'll see me at church on Sunday!" haha! It was so incredible!! I LOVE lessons like that where the spirit teaches everyone including us! It is always a good reminder to me that we are NOT the teachers! The Spirit does the real teaching and when everyone is in tune with the Spirit is can flow freely and teach everyone whatever it is they need to hear.

hike to Makapu'u Light house

 Anyway, along with that I just wanted to close by say thank you so much for everything you do and that I am more sorry than I could ever even begin to express for all the different ways I have wronged people, ruined relationships, broken trust, lost friends, abandoned family and every other mistake I have and continue to make. I am definitely VERY far from perfect and when I think of everything I have done in this life I can truly sympathize with Nephi when he said "my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities... Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted" and in whom I continue to trust and because of him, well because of him I am out my mission in the first place! Anyway, to anyone who may have felt they wronged me in anyway, know that I forgive you and that you don't need to dwell on it! I'm trying by best to not dwell on my mistakes because they are MANY! But just know that I love you all and I am praying for you constantly!!! I wish you all the best this week and look forward to hearing more from you in the coming week!! Mahalo nui loa and Aloha au ia oe!!! :)

-Elder Powell

Bonus photo and note from Luke's mom -

This just in...A photo of Luke with some members of the Moody family who were good friends of ours (the Grobergs) when we lived in Hawaii many years ago. I've been hoping he would get to meet some of the good folks of the Kahala Ward sometime. Thanks Jane for passing it on.