2/1/16
ALOHA MY OHANA!!!!!
As noted last week we had
transfers and Elder Livaie left for the McCully Micronesian branch (the other
Micronesian branch that we sort of share the island with) so he is still very
close to home and we still run into each other every now and then which is fun!
:) My new companion is Elder Teerlink and sure enough he is from good old Salt
Lake City, Utah!!! The hub of it all!! :) haha! anyway, he is super cool and
we've been having a lot of fun together as well as getting a TON of work done!
In fact, I don't think I've been busier or more exhausted on my whole mission
as I have recently!! It's awesome!!!! :D It's so great coming home at night and
just feeling absolutely overwhelmed and exhausted and worn out from the work
and knowing that you have to wake up the next morning early and it will all
start over again!! It is truly a blessing to be so worn out and tired because
that gives God the opportunity to really step in and "bear you up"
just like he promises us He would do! Truly, He is always good to his promises!
:)
So speaking on all of
that hard work we've been doing recently, it has most definitely NOT been
without success and miracles to follow!!! To put it as simple as possible, we
currently have FOUR NEW CONVERT BAPTISMS set up for the month of February!! I
wish I had sufficient time to tell you about all of them individually, but I
don't. Thankfully none of them are QUITE as random or sudden as all of the
other ones from last transfer were (although one was almost this week out of
nowhere, but thankfully they pushed it back and gave us a little more time to
teach the kids :P haha!) but they're all still unbaptized or investigator youth.
It seems like the Children are all a lot more receptive to the lessons than the
adults... which has its ups and downs. In some cases the child getting baptized
has softened the hearts of the parents, at least to letting us come a teach
them. But in other cases it has proved to be a problem because a lack of
commitment and casualness about the gospel at home has proven so often to pass
down from the parents to the recently converted and still fresh testimonies of
their children. It is a little scary at
times but I still am grateful for the people and especially for their humility
as a whole and their willingness to submit to God's will. Commitment is a
little tougher but I suppose we all struggle with that or things like it from
time to time. Anyway, long story short, things are going GREAT for us here in
the Waipahu 3rd branch!!
Likewise, things are
going great and REALLY looking up for the whole Hawaii Honolulu mission after
the recent training and counsel given to us by Elder Jeffery R. Holland!! He
came in this last week for a Stake Conference in Kane'ohe and a few other
meetings and even amid his very busy schedule still felt it important to fit in
time to meet with a talk to all of us, the full-time missionaries of Hawaii! IT
WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! Truly, he is a servant of the most high God and a
special witness for Christ the Lord! His spirit while teaching was just
incredible as was his training and just everything about him!! After the
initial fear was gone of having an Apostle shake your hand and look you in the
eye and ask your name and where you were from (which he made sure to do with
each and every one of us!) we were all relieved to hear that, based on the
impressions he had after "personally interviewing each of [us]" (with
nothing more than a brief two second hand shake and short exchange of
pleasantries) that he felt that over all we were a great group of young
missionaries with a lot of potential for good! I find it funny that they always
seem to note our "potential" instead of saying that we're just fine
where we are.... I guess an apostle would know better than anyone else that we
missionaries, however great we may appear at times, still have a very VERY long
way to go in our personal growth and spiritual maturity!!
Anyway, so he talked
about a lot of stuff and a lot of really important things and I wish I had time
to talk about it all in depth, but basically, the MAIN thing that he really
stressed to us, was HOW IMPORTANT THE BOOK OF MORMON REALLY WAS AND REALLY
STILL IS!!!!! It is the foundation to a testimony of this church and to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ because IT IS THE ONLY BOOK WITH A FULLNESS OF THE
GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!! True it is that all of the other scriptures are
holy and should be studied and cherished with GREAT diligence and fervency, but
the Book of Mormon was brought forth SPECIFICALLY and ESPECIALLY FOR OUR
GENERATION! FOR US!!! IT WAS THE SIGN that the dispensation of the fullness of
times was begun and the first sign that the Second coming of the Messiah was
soon at hand! And while there is still much of great importance for us to study
and to learn from in this life and in this church, that there is NOTHING which
could be of greater importance, than to study from and to cherish and love, the
Book of Mormon. I know that what he said was true... I may be paraphrasing a
little bit and I really don't apologize for that because the overarching
message is that the Book of Mormon has a LOT more significance than any of us
may now realize and that we all have a lot more studying to do of its holy
pages, and I know that is true! The Spirit has born witness of that to me
countless times and did again as he spoke of its significance in his life and
in the lives of millions of people all over the earth!!
We also got a super last
minute assignment from our branch president to talk in sacrament meeting this
last week on keeping the Sabbath-day holy, and so while I won't give you a
whole overview of my talk, I felt it important to note that the Spirit has born
witness to me countless times, but especially yesterday of how important that
simple commandment truly is and how sacred and holy that day truly is! Anyway,
I would encourage all of you to study it out for yourself more this week.
(Elder Russel M. Nelson's talk The Sabbath Is a Delight would be a great place to
start for anyone who is interested in taking on that challenge to study the Sabbath
this week.)
Well, I've once again run
a little over my allotted time... I guess it was a tender mercy in some ways
that our dinner cancelled on us because it afforded me a couple of extra
minutes here at the library to hopefully strengthen all of you as well as share
with you my love for this glorious gospel and the resplendent truths and
blessings that accompany it. I love you all and pray for you each and every
day!! Kommol tata for all you do and all you are! Iakwe, Bar lo eok and
ALOHA!!!!!
-Elder Powell
No comments:
Post a Comment