12/28/15
Yokwe!!!! :)
*Hey there family! Nice
to talk to you again! :) Things are on the up and up!! First major UP for this
last week was of course CHRISTMAS DAY!!!! AND GETTING TO SPEAK WITH (almost)
ALL OF YOU FACE TO FACE!!! Oh how I love you all and miss you so much! I'm glad
to hear though that you all had a great Christmas back home where I assume it
was also nice and bright and sunny like it was for us out here! :) In the words
of the Robert Anderson, Christmas was indeed "Green and bright" for
those of us here in Hawaii! :) Our Christmas had a very special extra flare to
it however! Besides the time we spent talking with you, we got to attend the
all-day Marshallese Christmas Party here at the Waipahu stake center where
pretty much all of the Marshallese on the whole island got together and just
had a blast, eating food, singing some traditional Marshall Island Christmas
songs and dancing "Beat" (as they call it). A sort of dance form
where they all line up and kind of "processional" out from the halls
onto the dance floor and then do a little dance kinda like... well... I really
don't know how to describe it... I guess you could kinda say it's like
Marshallese line dancing... just imagine Hundreds of Marshallese doing the Cha
cha slide or YMCA to very loud island style mariachi music... that's kinda
close to what it was like I guess... haha! either way it was fun! They even let
us "march out" with the Elders Quorum from our branch so that
was fun! :)
Anyway, other than that I
guess the highlights of this week include getting another call from the same
member who asked us to teach and baptize his grandson with less than a week’s
notice. Apparently he has ANOTHER grandchild who he wants to be baptized on the
same day as the one we already started teaching! haha! So while we now have
plenty (or at least enough.. I don't know if plenty is the right word for it)
time to finish teaching Travis (whose new baptism date is this Saturday, Jan
2nd) we now have to go find teach and prepare to be baptized ANOTHER child,
theoretically for that same date!! So that will be a blast I'm sure! :) Anyway, not complaining at all! I'm super
excited for them... it's just kind of out of the ordinary. But I'm sure it will
all work out! I love teaching little kids because they are so humble and honest
and just ready and willing to learn (most of the time... :) haha!) I just wish
all of our investigators would read and apply Mosiah 3:19
a little more... I mean theoretically I wish everyone would apply that
scripture a little more... including myself. haha! Obviously there are some
things that come with age and time and maturity and responsibility... but for
the most part I firmly believe that if we could just learn and apply the
lessons we teach our children in primary then we wouldn't have a lot of the
problems we have today in the world... also we would have a lot more fruit
snacks and cookies... and who doesn't need more of those in their life!!! So
moral of the story... everyone go back to Primary! :) haha!
Anyway, other cool things
from this week include confirming E. at church (who was sick last week so she
had to wait a whole week to get confirmed but seems very happy now to be an
official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!) One of our
new investigators, L. coming to church and staying for all three hours! Getting
a couple new referrals. Watching a movie on Christmas day. Also this actually
happened last week but I forgot to tell you about it.... this is probably the
first ward I've ever had a pancake for the Sacrament bread... that was fun! It
tasted good too! :) haha! Of course the most important part being the covenants
associated with that sacred ordinance was still just as powerful so it's all
good! :) Anyway, I'm starting to run out of things to say and time to say it
(we only have a half p-day today because of New Years which will be the other
half) so I will sign off. But thank you again so much for all that you do! I
love you and will keep you in my prayers! Have a GREAT New Years and I hope
that you will all set and achieve awesome new goals and resolutions! I know
I've already set a few to get a gym pass, get more in shape, and eat less SPAM
(although I'm already unsure as to how well that last one will work out considering
that's about all we can afford here... haha!) Mahalo again for your help and
your prayers! Have a great week!!! :)
Aloha au ia oe!
-Elder Powell
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