Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The Real January 9, 2012 letter!

Well I felt like I should give everyone an update on such a
spectacular week, probably the most insane but rewarding week of my
mission, it was unreal!

So first off, President decided that he wanted us to go on interviews
with him so we will be doing a lot of traveling the next couple weeks.
This past Tuesday we were on Kauai, oh blessed Kauai that place is so
pretty. The missionaries over there are always so happy and there is a
reason why. I went out on exchanges with Elder Ence and Elder Taylor,
I love them so much. Superb elders and I learned a lot from them. We
had a really good time.

On Wednesday night I saw one of the biggest miracles of my whole life.
The family we found last week is unbelievable. So prepared and elect!
We went by to see them and only the Mom was home. She said it was
perfect timing, she barely walked in the door. Elder Menlove and I
weren't going to visit her because the next day we had to wake up at
4:30, so we were just going to go to bed but we decided to go see her.
This was probably the best lesson I have ever been a part of! The
Spirit was so strong, it was unreal! I have never felt it so strong.
She just started asking us questions like "how can I be less angry in
life, how can I become a better parent, how can I feel what I feel
with you all the time!" You'd think I was lying but she is for real.
We taught her about the Holy Ghost and how she can have it and then
invited her to be baptized and she said "I'd love to, I'll pray about
it tonight!" Unbelievable, she is so amazing! I have never met anyone
else more prepared in my life. She told us her New Year's resolution is
to come closer to God. I kid you not, this is for real, I am not just
trying to liven up my emails!! Haha this was a mission changer for me,
big rejuvination. Her daughter she said "seriously wants to consider
this church" so there will be many that follow in her footsteps. She
showed up to church on Sunday and loved testimony meeting. I have
never been so happy in my whole life, this was one of the coolest
experiences ever. I have learned that if you do what's right, the Lord
will put people in your path to change and shape you. I love this
family so much!

The rest of the week was interviews for us. We were on 4 different
islands on Thursday, there are some cool islands over in the Maui
zone. That's the excitement for the week. I hope all is well with you,
may the Lord bless each and everyone of you. My favorite quote this
week came from President Dalton, he said the purpose of a mission "is
to prepare the Hawaiian islands and build the Kingdom here,  to hand
back to the Savior at the Second Coming." If that doesn't touch you, I
don't know what does.

Love you all!

Monday, January 9, 2012

January 2, 2012 Late posting this! Busy week!

Well Happy New Year to all!

 This year wasn't nearly as big as last year.
Everything was banned starting this year, so it was harder for people
to pop fireworks. I mean people did and it was still loud, but last
year was unreal. It was fun for us, the Honolulu Zone all went to the
institute, hung out and ate. We got to stay up late, the only time the
whole mission, so that was nice. It was a good year, 2011 was a big
one. Looking forward to 2012, a lot of good stuff will happen!

So we had a couple of huge miracles this week, it was awesome! First
off, we found a new family to teach! About 1 month ago we were walking
around and we talked to this lady who had a baby. She was probably 23
or so, and we just small talked and then asked if we could come over.
She told us where she lived and said come over whenever. Well that was
right during zone conference and stuff so we were super busy and never
had a chance to make it over to her house. We always talked about her
and how cool she was and that we needed to see her, but never did.
Well on Thursday we a little time to go out to our area and we were
like let's go see her. So it was like 630, we had dinner at 7 so we
decided we would stop by. We parked and starting walking toward to her
house. A truck drove by, and when we met her she was driving a truck.
Elder Menlove & I looked at each other and were like was that her? But
we weren't sure. We got to her house and then we look behind us and
the truck is reversing toward us! She rolled the window down and was
like "hey I was the one you met in Pololo, I have to go pick someone
up but come back in like an hour."

So we went back that night and the family is so sick!!! Man they are the best. The Mom, the girl we met and her sister were super interested. It was funny, her sister in 19
and we were telling her what we don't do as missionaries and her eyes
were getting bigger and bigger. Her facial expressions were priceless,
we were laughing our heads off! The Mom was amazing, they know about
the Church, and have some extended family that are members. She was
golden man, telling us about how she wish she grew up as a member and
what not. We answered a lot of questions and then taught the
Restoration. It was so tight!! This was one of the biggest miracles of
my whole mission. I guarantee they will be baptized. Elder Menlove and
I love them so much, they are family already! So many things came
togther at the exact right time. We had extra time, we had dinner in
that area at 7, we parked right as she was driving away, so much. Oh
and even more, they were going to go out and eat as a family but they
saw us and said they would stay home. UNREAL! Take all these so called
"coincidences" and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, full of
miracles. I love this work man, this was one of the happiest days of
my whole mission. We are going to see many miracles happen with these
amazing people. We also have found a couple other people that are
super cool and we will continue to work with, it's going to be a good
month!

All is well out here, I love you all! May the Lord bless each one of
you as you begin this year of 2012!
Elder G OUT!