Howzit! September 13, 2010

Hello Travis & Jordon:
Good morning and thank you for the Wonderful & Kind Help with Cutting our Bamboo on Sept. 7.Also, I* have attached the Photo's.Take Care and Have a Nice day.Aloha,Bill C.

Aloha all ya'll! Another week down, man are weeks flying by or what!? Seems like just yesterday I was back on mainland, I am enjoying it out here. Work is slow but we are working hard and doing the things that the Lord wants, and I know he will bless us. Hope is on the horizon with the other area we took over, Hawaii Kai (we are now Kahala and Hawaii Kai missionaries, which is a huge area to cover). They got a new ward mission leader, Bro. A*** ( this guy is SOLID!) and a new bishop who is super missionary minded. They are going to have choke names for us to teach in a couple weeks, so we will be doing work there now as well. This is a good thing because Kahala is really dying down. This will get both wards going on the 15 name program (because where ever the work is, that is where we will go) and it will keep us busy! The blessings Heavenly Father gives us come in ways we don't expect! Sunday is super busy tho, we are at church and meetings from 7-3! Its good though, I really enjoy church!

So my birthday was a phenomenal day! I couldn't ask for anything better because I got to see Bro. J*** bless the sacrament! That was more than I could ever ask for! It was very cool and super spiritual, he is an amazing man! They also took great care of me, fed me on saturday and sunday night, got me a b-day cake and sang me happy birthday. Sister J*** got me a very nice Lei, so it was a great birthday. Thank you all for the birthday cards and gifts, you are amazing! I really appreciate all of you and not forgetting me!! Also, I am not sure if I have told you about Audrey S**** but she is a RC and is an amazing lady. We have been teaching her for a while and my relationship with her has grown so much from day one. I was sad because I thought I would leave last transfer and it was hard to say bye to her, but I get to stay which is amazing! We had a super spiritual lesson with her on Thursday and I was bawling, we talked about Christ and I told her about the boy who died from cancer and his testimony of Jesus Christ and his Atonement. (President Monson told the story in his talk last conference, go read it! My favorite talk, sunday morning session.) Anyways, she gave me a nice lei and made a picture for me from some of the lessons I have shared with her. I may send it home so it doesn't get ruined. But that was nice, I had a great b-day, and no I don't feel any different!!! (I had asked Jordan if he felt different now that he was no longer a teenager!)

Other than that, not too much is going down. Working hard (or hardly working, you will never know!) President Dalton is hilarious, without fail everytime he sees me the first thing he says is "how is the 3 ball coming along!" Haha I love this man so much, he is so personable and he is working wonders for this mission. His motto: Work hard, Play Hard, Have Fun! I love it, its so true. He knows what he is doing as a mission president!

I forgot to get a quote for you all but here is one of my favorites, I have shared this with some of you but I want all of you to hear it: "If we get everything we want, we will never get anything we need." I came up with this while on my mission. As times have been tough, those are the times that I have grown the most. There is a reason for every single trial we have, no matter what it is. They all strengthen our faith in the Lord. Put you trust in the Lord, and he will deliver you out of your trials. It talks about this in Alma 38:5, which is one of my favorite scriptures. Remember that!

Thanks for the letters and everything yall, keep them coming! Keep me updated on your lives. Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Garritson