ALOOOOHA!
Boy... this week was crazy. It was good though! So...to start out
- Pokemon Go.... Lots of our members have been
talking about it and it sounds like the biggest waste of time. We were at
dinner and one of our members was saying how it was super popular. When we
left dinner, he texted us and told us that every person we stopped playing
Pokemon Go he would give us a
good referral. We accepted, of course! It should make tracting an even
more interesting experience.
- Hurricane! We kind of had
a hurricane.. It just rained a lot, but it was pretty crazy. Lots of
thunder and lightning. Kind of like the storm in "The
Testaments" video...maybe a little less extreme.
- We met two women this week who committed
to baptism. Their names are Tela and Melody. They are Chuukese. They are
super super sweet. They said that they had come to our church before, but
they hadn't been in a while, but that they wanted to come and that they
wanted to get baptized.. They didn't come to church on Sunday, but we have
an appointment with them this week, so I will let you know how it goes!
- We had a lesson with one of our part
member families. The grandmother, Doniba(the member), is such a sweet
woman and her daughter and daughter's children are so prepared. We brought
Sister Bekker with us, which was awesome! We taught about the Atonement
and we used the lesson where you have someone do push-ups for every piece
of candy that you pass out to the people in the room, whether they want it
or not. I remember having that lesson in Sunday school and then another
time for one of our Zone Meetings. It is very powerful. The spirit was so
strong and when Sister Bekker bore her testimony, I felt that there was no
way that they would not be at sacrament meeting on Sunday.Well, Sister
Bekker came to the branch on Sunday so that she could be there when they
came to church. We waited...and waited...and waited... they sang the hymn
before the sacrament and we kept waiting.. I was praying as the sacrament
was passed that they would come...but they still didn't... After
sacrament, Sister Bekker came and gave us both hugs and President Bekker
said that he looks forward to being able to meet them in the future. Then,
I turned around and Doniba was standing with her daughter! We introduced
them to President Bekker and Sister Bekker was so sweet to them! They
didn't make it to sacrament meeting, but they are making steps towards it.
I know that they will make it as they continue to try. The church is true!
The gospel changes lives!
- I have been thinking a lot about the
atonement lately. There is nothing like the peace that fills your heart
when you know that you are doing all that you can to apply the atonement
of Jesus Christ in your life. So many people make the claim that they know
Jesus, so they are saved. They don't need to learn anything more, because
there are no immediate results to that attitude and lifestyle. This is one
of the saddest most disappointing things I have seen on my mission. They
don't understand that Christ didn't suffer for us so that we can sin. He
suffered so that, through him, we can overcome sin. We have to do our part.
Even if we don't always see immediate results from choosing against what
we know to be right, there will always be consequences.
- There is a family in Kahala ward who just got
sealed. The husband served a mission and said that he never went to the
temple after he got home. Because of this, he didn't see a need to keep
his temple recommend renewed. Without an active temple recommend, it
became easier for him to slip in and out of activity. Eventually, he
stopped coming to church all together. He and his wife had 4 children, and
they were not sealed. She took them to church all by herself for years.
Finally, he realized that in order to have his family forever, he would
need to get active again and go back to the temple. He shared how he knew
that having an active temple recommend and consistently going to the
temple with his wife is what will help them to stay on track and bring
them the most joy in this life as well as the next. I know that that is
true.
- If there is anything that we need to change in our
lives, to bring ourselves more in line with Christ's teachings, we need to
change it now. Not later. The more we procrastinate repentance, the harder
it will be to change in the future. We will be the same person in the next
life that we are now. So, we need to make who we are now, someone that can
stand with confidence in front of God. Alma 34:32-34
I
love you all. I hope that you all have a great week and that we can all find
one way to become more like our Savior. I know that I have a lot to change, but
I know that through God, all things are possible. I know that through Jesus
Christ, even I can become like God someday.
