What an amazing week for all of us here in Hawaii! The Laie Hawaii Temple was dedicated and Satan's power has gone down just a little bit now that we have a working temple here! Elder Paul Pieper told us that the missionary work in our areas is going to increase because of this opening, but I will talk about him in a little bit.
The temple dedication started off with a cultural celebration the youth did for the prophet! Wow that was amazing! They did dances from all different islands (Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, etc.). President Monson was his joyous self as always, just cracking jokes and laughing for no apparent reason! I love that man and there is no doubt he has been called by God to lead Christ's church. Then the dedication on Sunday was amazing! There were some awesome talks given before the temple was dedicated. President Eyring, President Monson, Elder Cook and Elder Walker were here for the temple dedication, and also Elder Pieper. Oh how blest we we are in Utah to have temples all around us. People here in Hawaii have had no temple (except on big island) for almost 2 years, and we have 5 temples within 30 minutes of each other. Take advantage of the blessings of the temple, they are the closest place on earth that we can get to heaven!
This week has been solid, I have had many spiritual experiences this week. First off on Tuesday night we had a solid lesson with L***. L*** is such a sincere person and is so spiritual. She has been Catholic for basically her whole life but doesn't agree with a lot of it. We taught her this week from the book of mormon and the power it brings, and man was that spiritual. We taught her about revelation thru prayer and the book of mormon, we taught her about baptism and what Jesus Christ expects of her, and so we are working hard with her. She was crying at the end of the lesson, and she said a closing prayer after I said a closing prayer and said "I thank thee for sending these 2 angels to me!!" That was so powerful to hear that, I hope we can help her see that baptism is what she needs to do!
This week we had another awesome lesson with Sister A** S****. She has been going thru a lot lately and EVERY WEEK the spirit directs us in the lesson we need to teach, and its just what she needs. I learned this week to NEVER ignore the promptings of the Spirit, because I ignored it once and it was a big mistake. And then I followed it 2 days in a row and it was just what she was expecting, it was so neat. Don't ever ignore the promptings of the Spirit ya'll, you are getting the promptings for a reason, SO LISTEN and ACT!
We had an interesting run in with a guy this week while tracting. We had about a 45 minute conversation on his doorstep and he just kept bringing up concerns, we would answer them and then he would say "we don't know what our church teaches." I finally at the end was like "sir, you are not a member of our church, and you are telling me, a member of the true church, what we do and don't believe. Doesn't that seem a little weird?" He did not like that but he had no response for it! Some people these days I tell you what!
Alright, so here is the most amazing experience for me this week. Probably one of the coolest things that has happened to me before. So last Saturday we had the opportunity as missionaries to listen to Elder Paul Pieper from the Quorum of the Seventy, He came and taught us, and he answered a question I had asked the Lord the night before. He actually talked on my exact question for 2 hours! It was super cool. And then, he wanted to interview a couple missionaries before he left, and who does he choose!? Elder Garritson baby! Holy cow it was super chill, we just talked, he got to know me and asked about the blessings I have seen in my mission so far. The spirit these men have is unbelievable, its just illuminating! It was a very neat experience to have a one on one conversation with a man like this! He only asked one thing of me, so he asked me to relay this message from him to you Mom and Dad: "Thank you for raising such a great son in the right way to come out here and to be an excellent missionary. You are amazing people and I can tell that from your son!" Straight from one of the Quorum of the Seventies! I love you Mom and Dad!
I will miss you all during this holiday season, it will be hard, but this is where I am suppose to be! I know why I am here, and the Lord will take care of us! Set me a place at Dinner, and I will be there in Spirit! You are all in my prayers, I love you all! Happy Thanksgiving!
Ofa atu.
Elder Garritson 
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